WILSON STAFF FG TOUR Wedge Review

[pitbull808]

lots of pics!

Wilson…for me that name takes me back to my youth when companies like Wilson, Macgregor, Ram and Hogan ruled the fairways. No fancy paint jobs or flashy badges. Just superb looking forged irons and woods that were judged on the grain pattern on the head, and not their adjustability.

One of my first sets of irons as a kid were the 1969 Wilson Bulletbacks. Still in my opinion one of the finest looking blades ever made. My last set of Wilson irons were from the late 70’s. The Wilson Staff Tour Blades. It’s been years since I’ve looked at Wilson as a company whose clubs I wanted to play. I guess the fat shaft years weaned me away from them. They seemed to be playing catch up instead of leading the golf industry as they did for years. Just looking at the PGA tour, seeing that familiar red/white Wilson bag was a rarity.

Now, almost 30 years later, I’m looking at the Wilson brand again. Ricky Barnes, Padraig Harrington and this year Kevin Streelman joining the team are familiar faces on The Golf Channel and they’re using Wilson. How about that! Those three will surely help bring Wilson back in the limelight so there are no more questions regarding the company that has won the most Majors in golf.

Wilson has come out with some great stuff this year. I haven’t played a blade in years but the FG62’s they’ve produced are some of the sweetest looking blades I’ve seen this year. Their new Wilson Staff FG Tour Wedge also caught my eye. Its sleek simple classy looks fit perfect to my eye. No fancy colorful badges, or multiple stamps everywhere you look from the flange to the face. The sleek dark satin mirror finish and black paintfill accomplishes so much in its understated tone.

Wilson means so much to me because I started golf with them and the FG Tour wedge was so pretty, I had to try it!

Review-

Wilson Staff FG Tour Wedge
Shaft- True Temper Wedge Shaft
Grip-Lamkin Crossline
Loft- 58*
Swingweight- D5
Metal- Cast 431 Stainless….CNC milling, hand finished

In short…….

Pro’s
Super looks, cnc milling, superbly ground sole, soft touch and great feel.

Con’s-
Most loft options that anyone would want are offered but compared to the competition like Vokey, some may prefer more bounce options.

Bottom line-
Wilson Staff is coming back strong! If the FG Tour wedges and the new FG62 musclebacks are their entry into what we GolfWRXer’s have been looking for in a brand that is filled with tradition and history, then the future is extremely bright for them.


The long….

Looks- Wilson really got the shape of the head right. When you think about it they should since they’ve probably been in the wedge business longer then all the other brands around. I actually still have an original R-20 by them that’s probably over 40 years old. The FG Tour is not too tear dropped or round in shape.

The dark colored head with slight satin finish looks almost to pretty to be slamming into a bunker or hardpan. The sole grind is very well done. The thicker sole and the trailing edge relief allows quite a bit of versatility and the heel grind is perfect for opening. With many wedges, there just doesn’t seem to have enough heel grind and I’m left staring at the sole thinking of how I’d fix it if I was the grinder. This 58* is just right in the sole for me.

The mill marks across the whole face are gorgeous. Wilson has added to the already maximum depth of grooves allowed under the new rules of competition, what they call a “micro mill” texture , which runs at a bias on the face. These grooves are to assist in gaining spin on open faced shots, wet grass and from deep rough.

Performance/Playability- The Wilson Staff FG Tour wedge offered a great level of predictability in how the ball would perform. Initially I would have expected less spin due to the conforming grooves but found that the grooves provided a great amount of spin. The combination of micro-milling and the cnc’d grooves, works very well. The wedge doesn’t chew up the ball but it definitely makes it spin well from close shots near the green and from full shots outside of it.

From the bunkers, the thicker sole worked very well. I had thought I might have a problem from tight lies at longer distances in the fairway but the curvature on the sole worked very well. For a 58* I found that I was able to play it front and back in my stance with great results. I actually checked the loft after my initial round with it thinking it might be off because I was able to loft the ball so well with it closer to what I’d expect from a 60*+ wedge. I was wrong as it was spot on. The heel grind on the 58* is done very well. Again, I thought because of the thicker sole I’d have problems opening it up and flopping it but was proven wrong. I was very pleased with how this wedge performed for me.

Feel- The FG Tour Wedge is cast from 431 Stainless. The faces are then milled flat, grooves milled to maximum depth allowed and then the face is micro milled. The head is then hand polished.

Initially I had expected these to play similar in feel as a Ping wedge but 431 stainless is softer than the 17-4 that Ping uses. I was curious as to why Wilson chose stainless over most of the competitions carbon steel and found out that they chose it for durability. Basically the grooves and finish on the wedge would last longer. This makes sense if you’re playing the new conforming grooves and unlike the Pro’s can’t get a free one every week, you’ll want the grooves to last longer.

Through testing I was thoroughly pleased with the feel on the FG Tour’s. Like I said, I had initially thought they’d play hard but as with many things on this wedge, I was proven wrong. The feedback on the FG Tour was excellent. From shots close to the green and far, the feel was very alive with this wedge. No dead feeling and questions about how far the ball would actually go.

Overall Bottom Line- Wilson Staff's return to the competitive club making market with clean designs in their iron lines and now a super looking wedge to match up with them takes me back to my youth where they were one of the kings of companies on the PGA tour. The FG Tour wedge is a great wedge with all the looks, feel and performance that you would expect in a wedge. It will definitely help all the young golfers who have no clue about Wilson realize what a great company they were before and how they’re once again returning to that greatness today.

[Geo]

Nice little review you got going on there, Reid, as per usual. You had me wistful for a yesteryear in golf before I even picked up the game. Nice looking wedge though. I'm only curious how long it will stay in the bag. Without a mate or a set of Wilson irons backing it up...like I said, I wonder how long it'll stay.

[MadGolfer76]

Excellent review.

The Wilson lineup is next on my list. The wedges, forged irons and tour ball have all peaked my interest. Wish they would shore up the driver line. This is what will get them some interest.

[pitbull808]

[quote name='beruo' timestamp='1298536215' post='3004794']
Nice little review you got going on there, Reid, as per usual. You had me wistful for a yesteryear in golf before I even picked up the game. Nice looking wedge though. I'm only curious how long it will stay in the bag. Without a mate or a set of Wilson irons backing it up...like I said, I wonder how long it'll stay.
[/quote]

LOL...it does look a little odd in my Cobra bag filled with Cobra clubs..but then again Cobra doesn't have any wedges!


[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1298536477' post='3004799']
Excellent review.

The Wilson lineup is next on my list. The wedges, forged irons and tour ball have all peaked my interest. Wish they would shore up the driver line. This is what will get them some interest.
[/quote]

Thank you much and true..a driver might get them interest but back in the '70's as much as I loved all my Dynapower irons and Tour Blades, I don't ever remember playing a driver from them. Macgregor was the only club to fill that spot in my bag. I say..baby steps Wilson..you've got a SUPER looking muscleback out, super looking wedges..now get a matching players CB out with less flash on the back closer looking to the FG62 irons. Then later, classic pear shaped driver and a new fully CNC'ed 8802.

[3 piece]

Nice job on the review. I'll definitely take a look at them.

[Mr.Mizzy]

Nice write-up and very good looking wedge.

[CrisPy3]

Great review - Thank you very much. Wilson is most def making a come back. God knows we need them to help push the TaylorMades aside!

[Smoothduffer]

[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1298536477' post='3004799']
Excellent review.

The Wilson lineup is next on my list. The wedges, forged irons and tour ball have all peaked my interest. Wish they would shore up the driver line. This is what will get them some interest.
[/quote]


Demo the new DXI and you will see its as good as any driver of 2011. Its not white and it doesnt come with a toolbox with little wrenches in it but, it flat out performs, seriously. Give it a go.

Pitbull,
Thank you for the great review i for 1 have been waiting patiently to hear about the performance of this new wedge. I think it along with scratch wedges look better than any other wedges on the market. I did not know it had those milled grooves on the face does anybody else make them at an angle like the FG's have. Again great review and, thank you maybe more W/S equipment will be reviewed on this site in the future, cheers.

[Prut]

I liked the Smooth driver and played it for close to a year.


[quote name='Smoothduffer' timestamp='1298559653' post='3005184']
[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1298536477' post='3004799']
Excellent review.

The Wilson lineup is next on my list. The wedges, forged irons and tour ball have all peaked my interest. Wish they would shore up the driver line. This is what will get them some interest.
[/quote]


Demo the new DXI and you will see its as good as any driver of 2011. Its not white and it doesnt come with a toolbox with little wrenches in it but, it flat out performs, seriously. Give it a go.

Pitbull,
Thank you for the great review i for 1 have been waiting patiently to hear about the performance of this new wedge. I think it along with scratch wedges look better than any other wedges on the market. I did not know it had those milled grooves on the face does anybody else make them at an angle like the FG's have. Again great review and, thank you maybe more W/S equipment will be reviewed on this site in the future, cheers.
[/quote]

[Smoothduffer]

I'm with ya Prut i have gamed my 9* Smooth for 9 months now and, i luv it. It is just as good as any T.M, titty, Cally or any other driver out and, i've hit all of 'em.

[QuigleyDU]

very nice looking wedge I just wish more wedges came out with a straighter leading edge.

[mihi4]

Thx a lot for this great review.
I played Pi5 for the last 2 years, these wedges would fit perfectly

[blackcourse53]

Always enjoy your review pitbull, keep em comin! Now I'm interested in a wedge I previously had no intention of buying lol.

[boabola]

Good looking wedges. Thanks for the review.
I remember Johnny Miller saying what he liked about the old Wilson wedges was the thicker blade from the topline down. This gives you more muscle behind the ball when hitting from the rough as there is a tendency to hit high on the clubface (as he pointed out about Kaymer). These appear to have that same classic design feature.
It seems that the rounder leading edge is prefered by many pro's and must have some performance advantages. Prehaps they cut thru the rough better and have less tendency to dig. I have always prefered a straighter leading edge but will be giving these a try and see for myself.

[luxman]

Thanks for the review. As someone looking to replace my old 50* Vokey, the FG Tour wedge may be the way to go.

[Skaffa77]

Hmm...maybe I should look at Wilson FG Tour wedges as a future purchase. They would look great with my FG62's.

[craz-e]

Awesome review, in the market for new wedges this year and gonna take a good long hard look at these. My instructor is sponsored by W/S and he has these in the bag as well as the beautiful FG62 irons, I will be trying his wedges before I make my decision.

[mflores]

Does anyone know why Wilson only offers (stock retail) their wedges in 35.75 length for everyone of these wedges? It's standard for a 50 as well as the 60. I know other makers vary the length by .25 inches as the lofts change. Just curious as to why they are going this way. Thanks

[Mr.Rob]

How do these compare with the mizuno wedges? mp-t11 and mp-r12

[topr]

Nice write up...thanks. I was bumping around over in the pre-release forum and jumped into the Wilson thread and even though I don't play blades I remember saying to myself (even after looking at all the botique and other new releases), "man that 62 is an outstanding looking club" good on you Wilson. I have been waiting for these wedges and the V2's to show up in my area and I'm thinking it may not happen. Wilson has some great offerings and I think they could they could make a much bigger impact if they could only figure out a way, maybe though some kind of dealer incentive program, to get their product in front of folks.

[jerryo]

I think Wilson has some new wedges coming out soon. Streels mentioned them in the chat he did on here a couple weeks ago. Any know any more about them?

[cheeks]

[size=2]In my opinion, the best thing these classic brands like Wilson can do is to keep it.....well, classic. That means clean.

Get rid of the "FG Tour" and "CNC milled" or whatever on the back of the blade. A simple "Wilson Staff" with the logo shield is all that is needed. Less is more, and it would look great.[/size]

One change that would be good on ALL wedges regardless of brand is to move the loft / bounce numbers to the toe to keep the sole clean and not collect sand / dirt.

I also have fond memories of the "old days" and miss seeing the Wilson, Hogan and RAM staff bags on the course. All of them were easily identifiable from 200 yards even if you couldn't read the name.

[Jack Pearsall]

I just like to think of Wilson as the company that makes/d awesome forged clubs, not cast crap drezsed up to look like a pro "tour" [b]forged[/b] wedge/iron.

Still, I root for them to return to glory...