As an equipment reviewer, I am fortunate enough to be able to sit through new product presentations prior to releases and really get a flavor for the direction companies are looking to move. Having sat through Wilson's version, it felt to me that there was a big push to move more into the consciousness of the elite player and perhaps rekindle some of the historic successes of the brand.
Within that push comes the new Staff Model X golf ball hoping to take its place among the best premium golf balls. Designed for players looking for a firm, fast feel but with plenty of spin, I liked the sound of it, so decided to give it a go.
From a tech standpoint, the new Staff Model X ball retains many of the same characteristics as the previous Staff Model ball, but slight modifications have been introduced to optimize iron-spin levels based on tour-player feedback.
Wilson says that the advanced V-COR performance technology amplifies energy around the core composition to generate maximum velocity off the club-face and provide greater distance. The 3SIX2 seamless urethane outer cover provides high levels of spin, increasing stopping power on wedge shots, chips and pitches.
I put the Staff model up against my current gamer ball, the Titleist Pro V1x on a Trackman 4 launch monitor to gather all the vital information. After all, if you are looking to gain market share, you might as well go up against what is widely regarded as the benchmark to see where you stack up.
In terms of raw data, the Staff Model X held its own. Ball speed was fractionally down on Pro V1x through the bag but certainly not by much. 1.4mph in driver. 0.9mph in 7 iron and just 0.2mph from the pitching wedge. Through the bag, the Staff Model X launched a touch higher than the Titleist equivalent but it produced marginally less spin on my iron shots.
However, from the driver, it actually produced a little more, 130 rpm on average to be precise. In truth, I would be hoping for this to be the other way round if I was looking to make an improved ball. Lower driver spin and higher iron spin is generally the desired combination, but I guess that is why Titleist is considered to make the best golf balls for so long in this market.
That said, the differences are hardly massive in any of these parameters, so it would be fair to say that Wilson has done an excellent job in engineering this new ball. However, to drag people away from a trusted model like Pro V1x I fear you would have to significantly improve on performance rather than just get competitively close to it, and with an RRP of £52 per dozen, this isn’t enough of a saving to convert the masses, in my opinion.
In terms of the unquantifiable areas such as feel, the Wilson ball is a strong performer. A slightly firmer feel than I expected from full shots is far from unpleasant, and it feels very responsive around the greens with good levels of grab on shorter shots. The ball feels nice off the putter face and offers good overall short-game performance.
I really like the Wilson Staff Model X ball, it performs well and just about holds its own against the market leader, but will that be enough to make serious inroads into the market share? Only time will tell…
