[ddelise]

I was recently fit into and purchased a set ( 4 – PW) of Wilson FG Tour V2 irons, with KBS Tour Stiff shafts and Golf Pride New Decade Multi-compound grips with 2 wraps under right hand. I was fit into standard length and loft, and 1* upright lie from 5 – 9 iron (we left PW as standard).

To provide some context, I traded in a set of 5 – AW TaylorMade R9 with KBS 90 Stiff, standard loft, length, lie. With the TaylorMade irons, I was hitting the 7 iron around 165 yards. I really liked these irons for the 2 years I owned them, and I found them to be a huge improvement over my previous set. However, I was looking for something a little more compact with less offset and more feedback.

I’ve always been a fan of Wilson, and as luck would have it my local Edwin Watts had a special fitting event one day, and after the first swing I knew I was going to buy a set.

Review on the Wilson FG Tour V2:
Looks:
Beautiful. These are clean, classy, and look like they are meant to do one thing - hit the ball at the flag. They have a slight offset – just enough to inspire confidence, and not too much to make it difficult to align to the target.

I know some reviews have said that the cavity is busy. For me, I don’t find that to be the case, and even so, it is obviously not something that is distracting or that you can see at address.

Feel:
Ahhhh! Well struck shots leave you with a satisfying solid thwack. It is not mushy, but solid and powerful. It’s addictive, and something you want to repeat with the next swing. I really think I am swinging more under control with these irons (and subsequently more accurately) because I want to hit the sweet spot. When you hit a shot off on the toe or heel, you know it, but it is not punishing.

Performance:
I was a little nervous taking these to the course because I figured my 8 handicap game was not good enough for these irons. I was wrong. While I have lost about 1 club in distance (which I believe is more due to the lighter shaft’s that were in the R9’s), I am hitting more GIRs because the distance is more predictable. I know my 9 iron is going to go 135 yards, not anywhere from 130 – 145.

The narrow and slightly beveled/rounded sole is also good for my game. I find it versatile and forgiving – slightly fat shots don’t get punished as much as expected. Granted, you will end up short of the green when hitting fat, but the club won’t dig and totally lay the sod over the ball. I have hit much better 5 and 6 irons than I did with the R9’s, and much of this I attribute to the sole design.

I want to point out that I had assumed a club like this (cavity back blade) would hit low shots. I find I hit these just the same height, if not a little higher, than the R9’s. They are not ballooning, but high and soft landing. I demo’d these with multiple shafts (DG S300, Nippon, KBS C-taper, Project X 6.0) and in all cases I saw similar trajectories.
I am able to work the ball both ways when needed, and most definitely can hit low punch shots. This has proven to really be helpful since it has been windy lately.

Hits of the toe do lose distance, around a club’s worth. The R9’s did not lose as much distance on toe hits, so this is something to consider if this is a main miss for you. The good news is that the ball seems to hold its line quite well on these toe hits.

I did notice that off a tee, if teed too high you can lose distance if the ball is hit high off the face. I’m speculating this is due to the weighting of the club. I’ve taken to teeing the ball down with just say a 1/16th of an inch or so of the ball above the grass, and haven’t experienced any “pop-ups” since I started doing this.

My main miss with these irons has been aiming right for a draw, and over cooking it. I had to do this with the R9’s due to their wanting to hit straight no matter what, and I am learning to shape this shot with a less severe move through the ball.

Overall:
I alluded earlier that I have a soft spot for Wilson. The reason is that the first clubs I ever bought were a set of Pro Staff woods/irons – the kind you buy as a complete set in a Sporting Goods store. I used those for 5 years, and still remember hitting my first shots on a course with them.

As I am sure is obvious by now, I really like these clubs. I have tons of confidence when setting up to the ball, knowing that a well struck shot will be rewarded both at impact with a wonderful feel and on the green with a birdie putt.

As an aside, I’ve been complimented by both friends and strangers on how beautiful the clubs look. Multiple people have grabbed the clubs out of the bag and asked to hit a shot or two. I’m always accommodating, and hope that I convert a few of them to game these or at least give the Wilson lineup a demo.

[GolfSpy Frank]

Great review..I love the looks of the club and have always been telling myself to test them out..I might just do that now haha Good luck with them!

[ddelise]

FLV02, on 30 April 2012 - 02:06 AM, said:

Great review..I love the looks of the club and have always been telling myself to test them out..I might just do that now haha Good luck with them!

Thanks for the feedback. They are definitely worth a demo - see if the Wilson Tour Van is coming to a location near you soon. You will get a complete fitting and then they build the clubs for you there on site to your specs, pretty cool.

[jmiller065]

Great review,

From when I was pretty young I was taught two things when it comes to tee and irons, rescues, fairway metals 'tee it up so bottom of the ball is barely above the grass', I might tee a fairway metal a little higher but not by much I still won't see much tee sticking out unless I lay on the ground. Also the statement of 'the tee box is the only place you can control the lie put it on a peg' there is no reason not to use a tee when you can

KBS Tour 90 is not only lighter it is a higher trajectory shaft then the KBS Tour. I think it probably has a little to do with the shaft and the over all design of the two clubs.

FG Tour V2 plays more like a blade type with a little extra forgiveness from what I read, and the R9 plays a little more AP2 ish in-between Players CB and GI I guess.

[R.P. Jacobs II]

Ddelise, nice review...Siunds like you made the right choice cuz I can tell by your writing that the Staffs inspire alot of confidence in you..That's 90% of it on the course..Have a great season...Fairways & Greens 4ever....

[ddelise]

jmiller065, on 30 April 2012 - 06:42 PM, said:

Great review,

From when I was pretty young I was taught two things when it comes to tee and irons, rescues, fairway metals 'tee it up so bottom of the ball is barely above the grass', I might tee a fairway metal a little higher but not by much I still won't see much tee sticking out unless I lay on the ground. Also the statement of 'the tee box is the only place you can control the lie put it on a peg' there is no reason not to use a tee when you can

KBS Tour 90 is not only lighter it is a higher trajectory shaft then the KBS Tour. I think it probably has a little to do with the shaft and the over all design of the two clubs.

FG Tour V2 plays more like a blade type with a little extra forgiveness from what I read, and the R9 plays a little more AP2 ish in-between Players CB and GI I guess.

Thanks for the feedback. I have never played a pure blade iron (other than wedges), so I don't have that as a reference point. The R9's were definitely more forgiving, but mostly on toe shots. I don't find the FG Tour V2's to be unforgiving (which I am assuming I would see in a pure blade), just not as forgiving as the R9's. In fact, I am pleasantly surprised on how thin hits more or less reach the target - trajectory is definitely lower, but overall distance is about what was expected (hoped for...).

[ddelise]

R.P. Jacobs II, on 30 April 2012 - 09:32 PM, said:

Ddelise, nice review...Siunds like you made the right choice cuz I can tell by your writing that the Staffs inspire alot of confidence in you..That's 90% of it on the course..Have a great season...Fairways & Greens 4ever....

Thanks, I agree. It's interesting to me how quickly I adjusted to the smaller footprint of the Wilson's. The first few times I played with them, especially when looking at the 5 and 6 iron, I was a little intimidated and worried I would miss the ball (exaggeration, but not too much). Now, a month+ later, I don't even think twice when setting up to the ball. I think the best thing I did was trade in the R9's so I don't have the option to take them back out to the course and compare them to the Wilsons at address.