(photo from MyGolfSpy.com)
So, I was pretty stoked about the V6 Tour irons when they were announced about this time last year. I mean, it was a forged offering from Wilson Golf that had a touch more forgiveness than a blade, but still looked amazing from the top. That said, I had just jumped all in on my FG100 blades and wasn’t even thinking about landing another set that fast, regardless of the benefits of the clubs. Fast forwarding a year, I’ve really dialed in my bag to fit my game much better this off-season and the addition of the F5 Hybrids has really made life much easier off the tee and from 200+ yards out. But then today happened and my bag, may just find some new toys in it come spring time. All of this is dependent on actually hitting these new offerings from Wilson, but for a shield junkie, today is about as exciting as things get, short of them bringing out a new blade.
(photo from MyGolfSpy.com)
The C300 series was officially announced over social media channels today and it looks downright impressive from top to bottom. Comprised of a full line of drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and a few iron options, the C300 could be the lineup that returns Wilson to the consumer market in a big way. The driver is available in 3 lofts in right handed or 1 loft in the left handed model. The fairway woods and hybrids are both available in 3 lofts in right hand and 2 lofts in left hand. Finally, the C300 irons are available in a cast or forged variety with steel or graphite shafts. Taking a look at the clubs themselves, Wilson has taken to heart the public opinion on their driver’s noise factor – though not having hit one yet, I can’t verify that the C300 line is any louder or less “powerful” than my F5, the Triton or the D300. The fairway woods seem to be a perfect blend of the driver being downsized and compacted for swinging from the fairway. The hybrids take it a step further and offer an easier to hit long iron experience from less than desirable lies. Finally we reach the two iron options in the C300 lineup. The cast C300’s are a blurring of the lines between a player’s iron and a game improvement iron. The forged counterpart in the C300’s takes the blur the opposite direction and moves the needle from player’s iron to a performance club.
(photo from MyGolfSpy.com)
First up, we have the C300 driver. Touted as an alternative to the F5 driver that I currently carry, the improvements of the C300 cold easily make their way into my gamer bag this Spring. Though Wilson only mentions a 5-7 yard gain on drives, the forgiveness of the newer model will significantly pick up distance on off center hits over the older F5. With a custom Fujikura Speeder Pro 58 shaft on board, the C300 should be able to fit most users swings very well. While the specs of the 58 aren’t available anywhere that I have found yet, the X rated 60 model features a mid/low kick point with medium spin level. This makes for a medium to high launch angle. I’m willing to bet that the Wilson 58 model will probably be very similar, with just a touch less weight to accelerate the club head. The club is also fitted with the standard Lamkin Crossline grip and the new Fast Fit 3.0 hosel system. I personally can’t wait to check out the new hosel and see if my existing F5 shafts will work in the new heads as well. From there, we get to the head itself. The tri-weight system is back from the Triton, but this time, there is no removable sole plate to get in the way of the action. By adjusting the weights, you can add a draw or fade bias and also change the launch angles to your own personal preferences by just moving around the weights. Overall, the C300 appears to be an upgraded, more adjustable version of Wilson’s top tour model driver.
(photo from MyGolfSpy.com)
The C300 fairway woods and hybrids are both another incremental increase in technology over the F5 models. The fairway woods come in three right handed lofts, 13, 15 and 18 degrees. The 2 left handed lofts are 15 and 18. The hybrids come in a 17, 20 and 23 degree lofts for right handed players and a 20 and 23 degree for left handed hitters.The same Fast Fit 3.0 hosels are in place on both the fairways and hybrids, but the fairway woods feature the same three weight design as the driver, whereas the hybrids only feature a heel and toe weight. Both new models feature a Fujikura Speeder Pro 79 shaft, again, a custom flavor for these clubs and should fill the gap nicely for those looking for more distance out of their longer clubs while keeping a consistent feel from top to bottom in the set.
(photo from MyGolfSpy.com)
Then we have the blur as I like to call it. Wilson’s “crossover” clubs have always been a nice meld of their game improvement clubs, or D series and their player’s clubs, or their F series. Things got strange last year when the V6 irons came on the scene. The feel of the V6’s was similar to my FG 100’s, but they had a touch of forgiveness in them that my 100’s definitely do not have. With the V6’s being a home run in every review that was posted online, it was difficult to figure out where Wilson could possibly take the Staff line next. The C300’s seem to be that answer. The D350’s are a solid choice for game improvement and the V6’s are a definite must for low handicap players to test out. The two varieties of C300’s fit perfectly between the two and offer golfers the ultimate in club fitting and customized makeup of their sets.
(photo from MyGolfSpy.com)
The C300 irons are the first step up from the new D350 hybrid set. They feature a 3 part head construction with new Power Holes that fill the airspace left by the technological breakthroughs that fill the new C series irons. The big “new” advantage to the C300 irons is the fact that the new face technology should allow the average golfer to pickup an additional 2 MPH of ball speed off the face of the club. This translates to a few extra yards, maybe even up to half a club length in distance overall. The C300’s are definitely targeted at those players still needing more forgiveness, but wanting a bit less “chunk” in their clubhead.
(photo from MyGolfSpy.com)
The C300 forged irons are at the opposite end of the blending spectrum. They feature fewer Power Holes around the clubhead due to the elimination of them on the top line of the club. While I haven’t gotten to take a look at them, the MyGolfSpy preview of them really made them look like a solid option for lower handicappers that want a bit of extra distance. In fact, most of the comparisons and marketing related materials have the C300 Forged pinned as a replacement to the legendary FG Tour F5 irons. This means in the last year, everything except for the FG 100 blades have received a full market replacement.
(photo from MyGolfSpy.com)
Now, this leads me to my quandary of - will they roll out a replacement to my beloved FG 100’s or will the C300’s be what I’m looking for in my next set of irons? The extra forgiveness of the C300 Forged irons certainly makes me feel like they are something I want to consider, but at the same time, after dropping my 3 and 4 irons in favor of my new F5 hybrids, I’m not feeling that I need to make any changes right this second. Good thing these beautiful clubs won’t hit the market until next year. I have the winter to remember how amazing my set is before I’ll have a chance to fall in love with something new from my favorite club maker.
UPDATE: I had a few requests for more information on the lofts of the C300 Forged vs. the V6 and have to admit to striking out a bit. According to the information online, the C300 Forged are a degree or two stronger than the F5's that they are targeted to replace. This pins them about 1 to 2 degrees stronger than the V6's. It's also worth noting that there is no indication that there is a 3 iron in the C300 Forged, nor is there a 'stock' X-Stiff shaft available either. It definitely looks like the V6 is still aimed at the 'player's iron' section of the crowd while the C300F is more geared towards the mid-handicapper that's looking for a bit more feel.
Also, I can't stress this enough. The images above were taken from the MyGolfSpy.com first look at the C300 series posts at their site. They do amazing work and I highly recommend adding them to your read list to keep up on the latest, non-biased testing in the golf industry. From balls to drivers, they cover just about everything. I want to make sure that I give them proper credit for the images since they really tell the story of the look of the new C300's. I placed the link below to their articles for more information on them.
Make sure to check out the Hands On First Look of the C300 woods and irons at MyGolfSpy.com - https://mygolfspy.com/first-look-wilson-staff-c300c300-forged-irons/ and https://mygolfspy.com/2018-wilson-staff-c300-metal-woods/
You can hit the links below to check out all the new offerings in the C300 lineup.
Driver - http://www.wilson.com/en-us/golf/drivers/staff-c300-driver
Fairway Woods - http://www.wilson.com/en-us/golf/woods-hybrids/staff-c300-fairway-woods
Hybrids - http://www.wilson.com/en-us/golf/woods-hybrids/staff-c300-hybrid
C300 (steel shafts) - http://www.wilson.com/en-us/golf/irons/crossover/staff-c300-irons-steel
C300 (graphite shafts) - http://www.wilson.com/en-us/golf/irons/crossover/staff-c300-irons-graphite
C300 Forged (steel) - http://www.wilson.com/en-us/golf/irons/crossover/staff-c300-forged-irons-steel
C300 Forged (graphite) - http://www.wilson.com/en-us/golf/irons/crossover/staff-c300-forged-irons-graphite
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