Wilson Triad

[OnTheBag]

I've always thought that Wilson should pursue the Champions Tour/LPGA/LET audience.  They make great equipment, but have struggled since the 80's to be relevant in the market.  The D7, D9, and Staff model irons are some of the best out there, in my humble opinion.  But with a younger generation chasing every last yard of distance and forgiveness, they are never going to compete.

 

I am a huge fan of the Duo and Staff golf balls.  They aren't for everyone, but as a controlled golfer whose game relies on precision and control, they are a very good option.

 

A low HC female that I play with often uses a D9 combo set and loves them.  

 

Maybe they need a new marketing director.  I also have never heard of that Manolo guy.  

 

 

[Red4282]

30 minutes ago, OnTheBag said:

I've always thought that Wilson should pursue the Champions Tour/LPGA/LET audience.  They make great equipment, but have struggled since the 80's to be relevant in the market.  The D7, D9, and Staff model irons are some of the best out there, in my humble opinion.  But with a younger generation chasing every last yard of distance and forgiveness, they are never going to compete.

 

I am a huge fan of the Duo and Staff golf balls.  They aren't for everyone, but as a controlled golfer whose game relies on precision and control, they are a very good option.

 

A low HC female that I play with often uses a D9 combo set and loves them.  

 

Maybe they need a new marketing director.  I also have never heard of that Manolo guy.  

 

 

In my opinion, they need to focus and perfect a niche- to create a clear identity. A ball, a wedge, irons. Or whatever it may be. The global focus of lets try and make everything good hinders them. Take an approach like mizuno or tour edge. Mizunos niche is irons. Perfect that, then slowly make small gains and improvements in the other areas, woods, etc. Tour edges niche was the fairway woods, now their drivers are starting to grab a bigger hold. 

Edited January 22, 2022 by Red4282

[Gsea]

1 hour ago, hahanice said:

For reference I don't follow that dude but his content does entertain me.

some people entertain easily lol

[scott406]

Look like a Snell Black

"Cast urethane, three-piece ball"

And it cost more

I will stick with the Snell Black

 

Then again if they offer a deal or a sale price I would give these a try.

 

 

[xkilgorextroutx]

10 hours ago, OnTheBag said:

  Maybe they need a new marketing director.  I also have never heard of that Manolo guy.  

I have no idea who he is either. 
 

I’ve played lots of their irons going back to Di9. Great SGI sets. But you can never find them in stores and they have no idea how to tell people why they should buy their irons. 
 

Too many golfers confuse Wilson and Wilson/Staff with boxed beginner sets.

 

Until they can have a defined consistent message people will pass them by. I hate to say it but it’s true.  

[wayne18]

2 hours ago, scott406 said:

Look like a Snell Black

"Cast urethane, three-piece ball"

And it cost more

I will stick with the Snell Black

 

Then again if they offer a deal or a sale price I would give these a try.

 

 

My thoughts exactly when comparing it to the Maxfli Tour I play (85 compression also). Bring the price down and I’d consider it.

[gibbiesmalls]

On 1/21/2022 at 8:36 AM, TheBear95 said:

 

I had never heard of the guy until this morning. I guess I need to spend more time on Instagram. Priorities, right. Anyway, I checked him out, wow! I am sure he moves the needle with some, but not me, lol. 

 

Worst is that Manolo isn't even his name!  His name is Eric Carrigan and he's a fringe actor who's apparently created this Manolo character.

 

 

[deepred]

Price needs to be lower to give people a reason to try it and it needs to be available in yellow.

 

[ProStryker]

I had to go look this Manolo guy up on video.  He reminds me of the guy on Seinfeld who stole Kramer armoire off the street, and also tried to force Kramer to wear the ribbon in the AIDS walkathon….  Lol….   Anyone get this reference?  😂

[Red4282]

Heres a “review” if your interested…

 

 

[Jeff58]

IMO Wilson castrated what could and should have been a significant sales generator by pricing it at $40. At $34, it would have been a great DTC fighter. At $40, few players who are willing to pay that much are going to buy it regardless of its potential benefits.

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Jeff58

[OnTheBag]

I've got a sample sleeve on its way and will report back after a round.

[Andygolderson]

Sounds like the crazy jacked up tight T guy who's always aggressively shouting and talking trash on social media posts i see pop up. Not interested to google him. Anyway;

 

I read about these balls before the weekend and they sound quite interesting. As someone mentioned, target release is mid february and they will also come in "raw" version. This is something i'm interested to try, since i can't get my hands on any of the staff model balls in my area.

Triad sound as though they are aimed at the average golfer, which is what i've noticed all stores here are selling, rather than tour caliber balls. I thought they were going to be cheaper than 40 dollars as well. Otherwise, i don't see a huge advantage over staff model.

 

The marketting makes sense. There arent' many new thigns you can do to a golf ball to make it any different or stand out in the market. "high greenside spin" "low driver spin" "distance". At least they are playing for a forgiveness angle, which is what a lot of people might feel more confident with.

If you read how they claim the MOI works, it's an interesting concept. I don't know whether someone has done that with design before, though.

 

I'd be curious to see how they feel and perform for me.

[Londo]

On 1/23/2022 at 8:34 PM, Andygolderson said:

Sounds like the crazy jacked up tight T guy who's always aggressively shouting and talking trash on social media posts i see pop up. Not interested to google him. Anyway;

 

I read about these balls before the weekend and they sound quite interesting. As someone mentioned, target release is mid february and they will also come in "raw" version. This is something i'm interested to try, since i can't get my hands on any of the staff model balls in my area.

Triad sound as though they are aimed at the average golfer, which is what i've noticed all stores here are selling, rather than tour caliber balls. I thought they were going to be cheaper than 40 dollars as well. Otherwise, i don't see a huge advantage over staff model.

 

The marketting makes sense. There arent' many new thigns you can do to a golf ball to make it any different or stand out in the market. "high greenside spin" "low driver spin" "distance". At least they are playing for a forgiveness angle, which is what a lot of people might feel more confident with.

If you read how they claim the MOI works, it's an interesting concept. I don't know whether someone has done that with design before, though.

 

I'd be curious to see how they feel and perform for me.

 

The design to me is interesting with the structure of the ball too, Wilson taking a chance at something different is a good move for them. I think that they likely have a good idea to target the "younger, athletic golf crowd looking to break 80" However, their market strategy of hiring "influencers" and making it almost about a lifestyle is a bit annoying to me, even though I probably overlap a bit with their target market. I think that unless the ball really stands out for great performance, their pricing is likely a tad high for their target market.

[deepred]

It shouldn't be any higher priced than the Tour Soft and it should come in a bright color. 

[displayname]

On 1/21/2022 at 9:10 AM, Steve o said:

Had no idea who Manolo was. Interesting ball and marketing campaign. Still normal Wilson way of making the launch......weird.

 

On 1/21/2022 at 10:37 PM, ShakeyT said:

The influencer guy is a strange choice, but they did need to find a way to reach a younger crowd. Other than a few blips on the radar like Woodland's major, they've been fading into obscurity compared to the big OEMs.

If they were going to chase an influencer, they should have went after one of the TXG guys. Even though Club Champ bought the TXG brand, if Wilson signed Ian or Matt and had them subtlety shill their stuff as equal or better than the big boys, that would have moved the needle.

Another thing I find strange is the continued push of the old school Wilson logo/brand. The red & black W/S shield was much cleaner & modern look.

The influencer route is likely exponentially more affordable and will have a stronger market impact than Wilson’s current staff players. 
 

I’d also expect to see more of this with various bands. We’ve seen. Crossfield on YouTube with a few different companies. Currently with Srixon. Speaking of, I also saw a Cleveland TV ad with Jake Hutt - another young focused influencer. https://instagram.com/jakehuttgolf?utm_medium=copy_link

Manolo has 680K followers on Instagram. Another 630K on Tiktok. 
Jake Hutt has about 100K on each platform. 

Manolo has more reach on those platforms than Padraig, Woodland, Streelman and Stelle combined. Like 5x more reach. And when is the last time that tour staff got screen time? Manolo is pumping out content 2-3 times a week. To the under 40 audience, he’s probably more recognizable than the Wilson tour staff. 
 

If you’re under 40ish, you’re probably on social media more than TV. I recognized both these guys from their Instagram accounts before they were tied to brands. And I can tell you that I have a lot more buddies that will send me one of their posts during the week than guys that asked if I watched the last 5 PGA tour events. Even if they were watching the tour weekly, they still wouldn’t be seeing Wilson. 

Love these influencers or not, this is how you reach a younger audience. Even if the Triad is over priced, if a new player looks for them at a store, and then decides to grab some Duo’s at a lower price… that’s still a win for Wilson. 

Edited January 26, 2022 by displayname

[Andygolderson]

1 hour ago, displayname said:

 

The influencer route is likely exponentially more affordable and will have a stronger market impact than Wilson’s current staff players. 
 

I’d also expect to see more of this with various bands. We’ve seen. Crossfield on YouTube with a few different companies. Currently with Srixon. Speaking of, I also saw a Cleveland TV ad with Jake Hutt - another young focused influencer. https://instagram.com/jakehuttgolf?utm_medium=copy_link

Manolo has 680K followers on Instagram. Another 630K on Tiktok. 
Jake Hutt has about 100K on each platform. 

Manolo has more reach on those platforms than Padraig, Woodland, Streelman and Stelle combined. Like 5x more reach. And when is the last time that tour staff got screen time? Manolo is pumping out content 2-3 times a week. To the under 40 audience, he’s probably more recognizable than the Wilson tour staff. 
 

If you’re under 40ish, you’re probably on social media more than TV. I recognized both these guys from their Instagram accounts before they were tied to brands. And I can tell you that I have a lot more buddies that will send me one of their posts during the week than guys that asked if I watched the last 5 PGA tour events. Even if they were watching the tour weekly, they still wouldn’t be seeing Wilson. 

Love these influencers or not, this is how you reach a younger audience. Even if the Triad is over priced, if a new player looks for them at a store, and then decides to grab some Duo’s at a lower price… that’s still a win for Wilson. 

no press is bad press

[ShakeyT]

Well it's nice to see that Tim Clarke has a GolfWRX account. 

 

No need to explain influencer mktg angle. That dude is just a weird choice to hitch your wagon to.

[ShakeyT]

And I'll eventually try this ball once it starts getting discounted.

 

IMO, the gold standard for performance in this range is the Taylormade Tour Response. It will be interesting to see how the Triad stacks up.

[TallGuy90]

The kid that does the I’m going to play a par 4 with some wierd club plays Wilson. The need some retail space. I have been two fittings and not once did the fitter even bother to offer them as an option 

[jwb10]

Wilson hasn't made a good ball since the Orange Pro Staff with truncated cone dimples  !!

 

 

 

 

[Sandman-]

Been gaming the Wilson staff for the last few rounds, played my best golf ever so far with it. Very interested to try these balls out!

[golfmarshall]

On 1/21/2022 at 9:10 AM, Steve o said:

Had no idea who Manolo was. Interesting ball and marketing campaign. Still normal Wilson way of making the launch......weird.

Don't know if you did any research on Manolo and if not check him out on youtube or facebook, Manolo teaches golf. He makes it fun

[m_w]

On 1/29/2022 at 9:11 PM, Sandman- said:

Been gaming the Wilson staff for the last few rounds, played my best golf ever so far with it. Very interested to try these balls out!

the Wilson Staff Model is a legit ball as validated by pretty much all tests and reviews its been through, regardless if its TXG or MGS etc. - I think the big mistake Wilson is making is to price it at the same point as a Pro V1. If they would've entered the market at 39.99$, I think it would've been a very hot item.

At 49.99$ they are competing with folks with 50x the marketing budget and 25x the brand recognition. 

[deepred]

7 hours ago, m_w said:

the Wilson Staff Model is a legit ball as validated by pretty much all tests and reviews its been through, regardless if its TXG or MGS etc. - I think the big mistake Wilson is making is to price it at the same point as a Pro V1. If they would've entered the market at 39.99$, I think it would've been a very hot item.

At 49.99$ they are competing with folks with 50x the marketing budget and 25x the brand recognition. 

Exactly correct, they don’t give the public a reason to try them.

 

[Steve o]

On 1/30/2022 at 8:34 PM, golfmarshall said:

Don't know if you did any research on Manolo and if not check him out on youtube or facebook, Manolo teaches golf. He makes it fun

I did check out Manolo the day of the launch. It is a good way for Wilson to chase the beginning to getting better golfer. They have to stay on it. It cant be a one time thing. We tend to forget quickly.

[scott406]

So I broke down and got a dozen of the new Triad and I gave them a quick try out today

Will let you know what I think about them.  This is only my experience with them in a head to head with my ball a Snell Black.  Just did 9 holes this afternoon

I played both balls as the course was empty and I was the only person out there in 50* weather

The course was a little wet as we have had about 2 inches of rain the past few days.

 

So here are my thoughts

 

Off the driver:

The Wilson was right there with the Snell on almost all of my drives.  

Within a few feet.

Sometimes a few longer sometimes a few shorter really no difference

They also flew about the same height in the air and trajectory.

 

I don't have a 3 wood, I use a 5 wood turned up to a 4 wood:

Off the tee the Wilson was shorter by a club.  Maybe 9-10yds shorter.

Off of the deck was the same, club shorter.

The Triad flew just like the Snell except when hit off the deck with my 5 wood

The Triad seem to rise up as it flew, almost like going up a flight of stairs.

I have never experienced that with a ball before. 

 

I tried it with my 4 Hybrid and it flew just like the Snell and maybe a 2-4yds shorter but I only hit a few with my hybrid.

 

Off the irons it was the same flight as the Snell but with less distance

I was consistently shorter on all of my iron shots into the green.

Every shot landed in the front of the green or on the front of the green

 

*There was about 10mph wind out there today.*

I find the Snells are the best ball in the wind IMO so the Wind could have been keeping the Triad short on all of these shots

Also the course was wet so maybe the Triad wasn't getting the roll out the Snell was getting on some of the wood shots.  I am only speculating  

 

When chipping or out of the sand the ball reacted just like the Snell

Good bite into greens

 

Off the putter it felt the same, but the sound off the putter was a pitch lower than the Snell

I have a PXG that "DINGS" when you hit a putt and the Triad was a little bit lower in pitch than the Snell.  They felt the same off of the putter not any firmer or softer.

 

 

I went into the trees only once and the Triad didn't have any damage to it.

Wasn't sure if it hit a tree, maybe a few branches

Ball looks good after 9 holes so durability seems good

 

Tomorrow the wind should die down and I am going to give them a try again and see if the wind was the main reason for loss of distance.

 

I really wanted to like this ball, but it just maybe a fair weather ball

 

I am looking for a good replacement for the Snell in case Taylormade decides to kick them out of their processing plant.

And I don't want to pay $50 for a dozen otherwise I would play the Bridgestone RX

 

Will update if I get a chance to play tomorrow

 

 

Edited February 9, 2022 by scott406

[deepred]

Sounds like you are hitting the 5 with backspin possibly on a slightly descending blow like an iron. 
 

[miamistomp]

 

[scott406]

11 hours ago, deepred said:

Sounds like you are hitting the 5 with backspin possibly on a slightly descending blow like an iron. 
 

I try to sweep it but sometimes I know i come down on it like and iron

 

Everytime I hit the Triad with the wood off the deck , it would look like it was climbing stairs