2020 Official Member Review: Wilson D7 Forged Irons

[HardcoreLooper]

1 hour ago, greggarner said:

Woof. Well I'm glad things are going well for the other testers. I'll just leave this here and withhold other comments for now... Not sure what's going on for me.

@greggarner - Did you grab your approach handicap before we started?  I'm seeing a bad trend in strokes gained in the app, but an improving approach facet handicap.  Although I did jump up nearly an entire shot today after a round where I did not strike the ball all that well.

[Thin2win]

I'm not sure how scientific or useful for this testing it was, but night golf was fun. 

The D7's, well, you can't really see the top line, or the offset in the dark. Also, no sun glare off the club, so that was good. They were so powerful they exploded golf balls with 8i's. Literally 2 tee shots in a row the ball cover exploded into glowing shrapnel flying down the fairway. I mean, I was basically Roy Hobbs out on the course. 

Yes, I also took the onewheel, it does have a headlight for a reason. Had to put that to use. 

[revkev]

I'm not sure how scientific or useful for this testing it was, but night golf was fun. 
The D7's, well, you can't really see the top line, or the offset in the dark. Also, no sun glare off the club, so that was good. They were so powerful they exploded golf balls with 8i's. Literally 2 tee shots in a row the ball cover exploded into glowing shrapnel flying down the fairway. I mean, I was basically Roy Hobbs out on the course. 
Yes, I also took the onewheel, it does have a headlight for a reason. Had to put that to use. 

That’s pretty cool - I’ve seen night courses but never played one - I’ve certainly finished many rounds in the dark especially when I was younger. I’ve also played a hole or two in the dark but there may have been alcohol involved


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[GregGarner]

18 hours ago, HardcoreLooper said:

@greggarner - Did you grab your approach handicap before we started?

Yeah. It's not a wild change in terms of raw numbers, but in terms of percent-change, it's definitely frustrating.

On a happier note, I did finally hit a couple 3-irons today that weren't awful, both off a tee. One was 216 and the other was 224. That's basically exactly where my i210 3-iron was, so not the same gains as with shorter clubs, but at least it was more than 175 yards!

[revkev]

We had a nice little party at my house to celebrate several October birthdays. I was told to get out of the house for two hours so I went to the range.

My birthday is coming up and they had a surprise for me:



You can tell which number it is.

At the range I was predictably faster and longer - averaged 92.5 with driver after 89 in the morning earlier in the week.

Likewise with irons - there was a flag that I guessed was 140 (it was 142 when i shot it). I was landing balls all around it and many past it. I didn’t hit a single shot that reached it with 8 iron when I hit balls in the morning the other day.

I hit a number of 6 irons towards a flags that was 181. Didn’t reach it but was on the front of the practice green that it was perched on consistently. I also hit one thin that still had a beautiful ball flight.

I find these irons very easy to hit. I can’t wait to start actually playing with them. I’m supposed to play tomorrow afternoon but the forecast is not good.


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[Rickp]

We had a nice little party at my house to celebrate several October birthdays. I was told to get out of the house for two hours so I went to the range.

My birthday is coming up and they had a surprise for me:



You can tell which number it is.

At the range I was predictably faster and longer - averaged 92.5 with driver after 89 in the morning earlier in the week.

Likewise with irons - there was a flag that I guessed was 140 (it was 142 when i shot it). I was landing balls all around it and many past it. I didn’t hit a single shot that reached it with 8 iron when I hit balls in the morning the other day.

I hit a number of 6 irons towards a flags that was 181. Didn’t reach it but was on the front of the practice green that it was perched on consistently. I also hit one thin that still had a beautiful ball flight.

I find these irons very easy to hit. I can’t wait to start actually playing with them. I’m supposed to play tomorrow afternoon but the forecast is not good.


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Happy Birthday, let me guess....64th


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[revkev]

Happy Birthday, let me guess....64th


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Thanks - it’s actually on Weds but we have three here celebrating this week does merged them.


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[Rickp]

Thanks - it’s actually on Weds but we have three here celebrating this week does merged them.


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Well at least it’s not a belated Birthday wish


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[MattF]

On 9/23/2020 at 6:37 AM, MattF said:

I have to throw myself off #TeamNoPractice. I had to go out yesterday and hit. A few of the range balls were dead but experimenting with hovering the club worked very very well. So much so, it looks like I'm joining #TeamHover.

[HardcoreLooper]

1 hour ago, MattF said:

I have to throw myself off #TeamNoPractice. I had to go out yesterday and hit. A few of the range balls were dead but experimenting with hovering the club worked very very well. So much so, it looks like I'm joining #TeamHover.

It's never too late to stop practicing. 

 

 

That said, my daughter has a lesson today, so I'll probably hit some balls. 

[revkev]

Construction in front of my house says it all. Rained out again - 3rd straight rain out. :(


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[Rickp]

Construction in front of my house says it all. Rained out again - 3rd straight rain out. :(


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Yup, rained all day today. I think TB got more than us.


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[HardcoreLooper]

13 hours ago, HardcoreLooper said:

It's never too late to stop practicing. 

 

 

That said, my daughter has a lesson today, so I'll probably hit some balls. 

Well, I did hit some balls, and I tweaked my back.  That'll teach me to practice.  I'm hoping I can get right in a few days.

[MattF]

Can confirm toe hits are a killer. I lose about 10 yards or so.

[GregGarner]

3 hours ago, MattF said:

Can confirm toe hits are a killer. I lose about 10 yards or so.

I've had more than a few shots that didn't feel solid, but not awful. But then it just falls out of the sky and off to the right, 10-20 yards short.

Yesterday I had 188 to the flag and since I wasn't warmed up and it was about 50 degrees out, I pulled 4-iron. Left it in the bunker front left. I had brought a couple Pings with me, so hit my Ping 4i with what felt like a similar swing/strike and flew the green. Happened again a few holes later with a 6i that only went about 150. I suppose if nothing else, these irons will teach you to hit closer to the center/heel!

[HardcoreLooper]

@MattF / @greggarner - Could you tell if they were high/toe or mid/toe?

If I can get my back right, I'll try to get in some Trackman time this week with a can of Dr. Scholl's and simulate both high and mid toe hits.

[MattF]

1 hour ago, HardcoreLooper said:

@MattF / @greggarner - Could you tell if they were high/toe or mid/toe?

If I can get my back right, I'll try to get in some Trackman time this week with a can of Dr. Scholl's and simulate both high and mid toe hits.

Mid were mid/low toe. Not quite mid but not down on the bottom of the face either.

[GregGarner]

10 hours ago, HardcoreLooper said:

@MattF / @greggarner - Could you tell if they were high/toe or mid/toe?

Mid to low-toe for me. My miss is thin (I have a tendency to stand up and flip through impact combined with these irons being a little flatter than my i210s). I've found that low-center to low-heel feel really solid still with minimal distance loss. Unfortunately for me, when I miss with these, it's mid to low toe and it's punishing.

Increasingly, I'm wondering how these would play for someone who's coming from a pure blade. I've never played a blade, but I'm familiar with the 'shank is almost a perfect shot' mantra and wonder if someone whose miss is heel-side would really see a lot of benefit from these, both in terms of distance and forgiveness. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by greggarner
grammar

[JohnSmalls]

How do thins translate to your hands with these?  Strangely enough, the cast D7 irons can make your hands scream when you catch one thin. 

[revkev]

How do thins translate to your hands with these?  Strangely enough, the cast D7 irons can make your hands scream when you catch one thin. 

You feel them for sure but nothing terrible - they feel
much better than the regular D7’s quite honestly. Both have a nice sound IMO.

I greatly prefer the turf interaction of these to the regular D7 as well. The D7’s launch a bit higher and are longer for me. These are much straighter, tigger dispersion.


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[MattF]

7 hours ago, JohnSmalls said:

How do thins translate to your hands with these?  Strangely enough, the cast D7 irons can make your hands scream when you catch one thin. 

What @revkev said. You can tell but not near as bad as my Bridgestones.

[fozcycle]

Arccos is installed and ready to go.  The F8's are unpaired and the D7's are paired.
 

Hey Hardcore.....will be interested in your comparison from F8’s to D7’s.....

I went from F8’s to D7’s as well, but not the forged.


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Cobra F8 (12*)w/ Mitsubishi Tense ck Blue Regular; 3W & 5W Cobra King F8 w/ Mitsubishi Tense ck Blue Regular shafts; Tour Edge CBX119 22* Hybrid w/Project X Evenflo Regular shaft; Wilson Staff D-7 5-PW + GW + SW w/UST Mamiya Recoil 460 Regular graphite shafts; Cleveland RTX Zipcore LW(58*) w/DG Spinner shaft. Putter: 33” Slotline SSi 693 Bag: Cobra Ultralight Cart bag, Peaccoat Blue.

[GregGarner]

17 hours ago, JohnSmalls said:

How do thins translate to your hands with these?  Strangely enough, the cast D7 irons can make your hands scream when you catch one thin. 

The feel on thin shots is comparable to my i210s, maybe a touch more muted. I've actually had some shots that felt thin that seemed to fly pretty normal. The overall feel of these is pretty firm/solid anyways, so, as best I can tell, the thin ones are really benefiting from the urethane "filling" and power holes, both in terms of feel and flight.

[HardcoreLooper]

21 hours ago, JohnSmalls said:

How do thins translate to your hands with these?  Strangely enough, the cast D7 irons can make your hands scream when you catch one thin. 

Ditto on the other testers on mid/low toe shots.  A high toe shot is like catching one off the end of an aluminum bat on a cold day.  And a high-toe shot is often fat, so add that to the fun.

[Thin2win]

Different swings and different results. I haven't hit any dead toe shots. I generally hit between center and hozel, so maybe these play too that, but I've found the distances to be really consistent. 

I played with a couple new players at my club today and they both pulled the D7's out to look at them, they are a very appealing club. The chrome finish has really grown on me. 

Also, had another round today where I didn't miss a green with a D7 in hand. My confidence with them is skyrocketing. 6 Birdies in my last two rounds, 77 / 76. 

Still no Wilson Staff hole-in-one tattoo, the wife is glad about that. But the test isn't over and it could happen

[revkev]

These are very attractive irons in the bag or behind the ball IMO. I’m hitting them very well on the range.

Sadly weather and an absolutely crazy work schedule has made it difficult to see how the work in a round. I’ve played with them once since I got them and that was in a hollowing wind.

I’m scheduled to play after church tomorrow but the weather is iffy.

I will also get to an LM before posting my review. I have lots of practice tee data that suggests a tighter dispersion pattern than the G30s, certainly a more centered one. They are comparable distance wise, similar lofts the G30’s are 1/2 inch longer. But I suspect the G30’s spin better.


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[fixyurdivot]

On 10/5/2020 at 8:47 PM, revkev said:

I greatly prefer the turf interaction of these to the regular D7 as well. The D7’s launch a bit higher and are longer for me. These are much straighter, tigger dispersion.

Just clarifying that you find the non forged D7's higher launching and longer?  Did these have the same shafts?

[revkev]

Just clarifying that you find the non forged D7's higher launching and longer?  Did these have the same shafts?

 

 

They have the same shaft. At this point though I’d withdraw the comment on being longer with the regular D7’s. It just took some practice with the D7 forged. There’s a big difference in offset. I’ve found there’s a real launch angle sweet spot for distance with 7 iron - between 17 and 18 degrees for me.

 

It’s a very nice ball flight at that launch angle

 

 

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[revkev]

My first round in a month -

“Man you hit a lot of great iron shots today.”

A legitimate 79 after not playing in a month in wet, thick rough and windy, gusty windy conditions. I am very happy. I chunked one on 1 and hit one in a bunker left on 9 (hole high). Other than that I was right there. Just some rust in other parts of the game including an embarrassing topped 7 wood. :(


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[Thin2win]

I'm going to get 1 more round in before writing up my review, looks like it is going to be cold and rainy. Guess I'll be able to report how they handle adverse climate and the cold.