2020 Official Member Review: Wilson D7 Forged Irons

[revkev]

@Matt

So I have to ask the obvious - hues the dispersion with the D7 forged 8 iron?

Given that you are in a different shaft maybe the 5.5 is the better fit for your swing than the 6.0?

Just reminding you that there maybe more than one way to read the data and you should consider that possibility.

Great review and thanks for being an awesome test partner


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[HardcoreLooper]

9 hours ago, fozcycle said:

Really enjoyed your review Hardcore, you captured the essence of Wilson Staff in the forged D7’s. As I read your performance review, I cold picture myself striking the irons. I went from F8’s to D7’s and am glad I did.


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Thanks Foz!  I had such a good time reviewing these clubs.  It was hard not to get too nostalgic thinking about my grandfather and his old Wilson Staffs.

I'm not so nostalgic for his old 1200s 

 

[Rickp]

The Review 10/17/2020
Wilson D7 Forged – Official MGS Forum Review by Thin2win
 
Intro:
Time for the sun to set on this Wilson D7 Forged review period. It has been a fun adventure and I’ve made some new friends along the way. For those who didn’t read my Stage 1, or just those who want to know more about me. My name is Christopher and I live up in the PNW with my wife and 20 month old son.
 

 
I’m 39, and currently playing to a 5.5 Handicap. Assuming the 7i is about 33° I carry it about 165y. Up until a few months ago, I would say the strongest part of my game was my driver. I definitely played the bomb and gouge version of golf(even if my bombs weren’t that long).

The Wilson D7 Forged first showed up on my radar as a club to look at following the 2020 MGS Players Distance Most Wanted. Winning tends to do that. I hadn’t hit a Wilson iron since their Fatshafts back in the late 90’s. And that club was known for well, the shaft and not even the club. It seems Wilson has made strives since then to make the clubhead the focus. And the D7 Forged irons pack all kinds of tech and key words into them: Power Holes, Power Chamber, and forged 8620 Carbon Steel Cavity Construction.
The quick dive on those, Power Holes
Their goal is to improve ball speed on low strike, call them thin shots. As a foremost purveyor of thin shots, I can get behind this and testing these didn’t prove that hard.
Power Chamber:
The Wilson speak for hollow with cream filling.
 
8620 Carbon Forged
This one is, I’ll call an accepted industry misleading statement. From what I can find, if the metal isn’t a 10xx, it isn’t billet forged. 8620 is used in cast forging. IE, it is melted to a liquid, poured into a cast to get to shape and then whacked with a couple hammer blows afterwards to give it a claim to being forged.  The benefit of casting is that you can make the club head much more intricate than by forging alone. This is probably what lets Wilson create all the Power structures and cavity shape.
I couldn’t get fit for the D7 forged before ordering them. I found that none of the WA State Golf stores carried these with any shaft options for fitting. Just what they had on the rack. So I had to best guess it. That lead me to order these with the Recoil 110’s, the Wilson Midsize grip and all standard lofts/lies.
The testing of these was going to be 3 pronged for me. The set I got was GW-5i. To stay in my bag after the test they would need to work better for me than my current clubs in those spots. The GW would have to outperform a Cleveland CBX2 50°.


The PW-6i would be up against my Sub70 639CBs.


The 5i would be trying to knock a Ping i500 out of my bag. 


 felt the winners would be pretty easy to determine, I use ShotScope, so I would have data behind all my feelings. Ideally, % of greens hit and proximity to the hole would be the biggest factors with these clubs. Distance really isn’t a factor for me assuming that it wasn’t abysmal or outlandish. I didn’t want to hit my PW 190y or my 7i 130.
The Results:
Looks: 9 out of 10
These were my first Chrome finish set of irons, and I think I’m converted for life. They are really beautiful to setup to. The topline, offset and finish are basically exactly what I would do if I was building my own clubs. I am docking ½ a point for the Power Holes, they are just busy. They aren’t bad, but the club would just look better without them, i.e the GW which doesn’t have them is just stunning. I get that they are for performance, but this rating is just based on looks!

I’m also docking ½ a point for the location and font of the numbering they use. Too big, too loopy, a little too old school for me. Also, since the power holes take up most of the sole, the number has been moved out to the toe, which doesn’t do it for me.
Feel: 10 out of 10
Every club I’ve hit in the last few years feels good on a good shot. Not every club feels good on a thin or mishit. For me these do. Period. The combination of Power Holes, Power Chambers, magic filling sauce and the Recoil shafts is spectacular. The club isn’t dead, I know exactly on the face where I have hit each shot so the feedback is great, but the feel and sound on contact regardless of location is the best I’ve ever experienced. These don’t feel and sound like a Mizuno to me, they feel and sound much better.

Basic Characteristics: 19 out of 20
I checked all the lofts and lies against the sheet they provided me in the shipping box.
Everything was spot on, except for the 5i, which was ½° weak. I had it bent to speck.
The biggest difference I noticed on the LM with the D7 Forged irons vs my gamers, was a much tighter dispersion. Launch angles, backspin and ball speed were all comparable. But the shot areas were all much tighter, about half the SQFT of what they were being compared to.
The deduction is one that I would give to pretty much any set on the market. The loft gaps between clubs get smaller and smaller as you get to the higher clubs and the gaps in distance for me get smaller and smaller. There is a yardage that I would use the 6i, but it is only like a 5y window. I’d almost always use the 7i or the 5i instead.
On Course Performance: 29 out of 30
Ummm. My average GIR per round has gone from 7.6 to 12.4….
Shot scope says that my average distance to pin with every iron has improved by at least 30%. 60% with my 7 and 8 irons.
Over the last 5 rounds, I have dropped my handicap 3 points down to a 5.5 and hit every green I have looked at.
Approach shots from my last round:

These have been the best club I have ever used at keeping poor strikes online and on distance. I’m trying to watch my word count, so I’ll elaborate in a bend the rules way. These hit them CLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE.
-1 point, they did not provide any Hole-In-Ones. I would like Wilson to directly address this for the next version.
Miscellaneous: 8 out of 10
I have a few random issues, but not with the clubs themselves.
 -1 for Wilsons Website, it is easy the worst layout of any of the major brands. Their website clearly says that Golf is something they do. Not that Golf IS WHAT THEY DO.
-1 for the name D7.  Was there a C7? No. A D6? No. The club these seemingly replace is the C300. Wilson should really try to build some name loyalty and keep with a naming standard.
Play or Trade?: 20 out of 20
They are in the bag in a clean sweep. The CBX2 was the hardest to take out, and without Shot scope keeping metrics, I would have kept the CBX2 over the GW.  But Shotscope shows some real reasons to keep the D7, also, it did give me a chip in on my first greenside chip with it.
For the short to mid irons, it was a bloodbath. The D7s are so much better for me that it is silly. Queen has a lyric that describes these clubs in great detail, dynamite with a laser beam guaranteed to blow your mind. I can’t add to that.
At 5i, the D7 and the i500 are both really good. Again, without Shotscope, I would probably keep the i500 in the bag. But Shot Scope again show that on average I’m .75 shots to finish better with the D7s. That is big.
 
Final Score and Conclusion: 95 out of 100
Wilson has a true winning club here. The performance I saw matches the overall ranking that the Most Wanted Testing showed. I unequivocally recommend anyone trying new irons this year try these. You would be wrong not to. Don't be wrong. 

Well done


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[Thin2win]

21 minutes ago, Rickp said:

Well done


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Thanks @Rickp they were a fun club to test, and a good group to test with

[MattF]

8 hours ago, revkev said:

@Matt

So I have to ask the obvious - hues the dispersion with the D7 forged 8 iron?

Given that you are in a different shaft maybe the 5.5 is the better fit for your swing than the 6.0?

Just reminding you that there maybe more than one way to read the data and you should consider that possibility.

Great review and thanks for being an awesome test partner


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

The problem with the 8 iron is the fact that it just pushes left every time. How do I combat that, aim extremely left all the time? Now you've got me second guessing.

[revkev]

The problem with the 8 iron is the fact that it just pushes left every time. How do I combat that, aim extremely left all the time? Now you've got me second guessing.

:)

Is it a tight dispersion right? If so you could change the lie a few degrees. You may wish to go to a fitter and try your 7 iron and then both of your 8 irons to see what he thinks.

I’m simply suggesting that the distance differences between the two sets of irons could’ve the shaft.

Let us know how it goes and I will be interested to see what’s in the bag come March.


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[russtopherb]

Excellent, excellent reviews everyone. Great job all around, you all really put them through the paces.

And if Wilson addresses the HIO issue that @Thin2win brought up in his review, then I am absolutely throwing my name in for the next W/S testing opportunity

Seriously - fantastic job by every tester here. These are the review threads that make MGS gold.

[MattF]

13 minutes ago, revkev said:

 

Is it a tight dispersion right? If so you could change the lie a few degrees. You may wish to go to a fitter and try your 7 iron and then both of your 8 irons to see what he thinks.

I’m simply suggesting that the distance differences between the two sets of irons could’ve the shaft.

Let us know how it goes and I will be interested to see what’s in the bag come March.


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You're absolutely right. I'll give him a call and set something up because I'm curious myself.

[MaxEntropy]

12 hours ago, revkev said:

Given that you are in a different shaft maybe the 5.5 is the better fit for your swing than the 6.0?

@MattF - after reading your review (nice job, BTW), I came back to make a similar comment, especially after seeing that the 8 was the only club longer than the B'stones - since you are so used to S flex, maybe the 5.5 could be a better fit for you, but you just aren't used to the ball flight/launch. Not that I'm suggesting you should adjust yourself to fit the irons, but perhaps it means there is a fair amount of room for optimization.

I agree with your comment on the B'stones - when you flush one, the lack of feeling is beautiful. It really does feel like there was no ball there at times. It's like crack for me. When I'm on a roll with the irons I keep chasing the buzz.

[JohnSmalls]

5 hours ago, MattF said:

The problem with the 8 iron is the fact that it just pushes left every time. How do I combat that, aim extremely left all the time? Now you've got me second guessing.

The guys beat me to it with the 5.5 vs 6.0 flex.  The case of the rights could very well a lie issue.  If they messed up that one shaft, I would be very intrigued to check if loft and lie were correct to spec.   Who knows and @revkev I think is on to something, get the lie situated on that 8 iron,  5.5 flex'ers might be your distance potion and accuracy potion---and goldilocks has found her honey hole...er shaft. 

[MattF]

@revkev@MaxEntropy@JohnSmalls I'm booked in with Windmill Training Centre November 7th for a club evaluation. Watch this space.

[JohnSmalls]

1 minute ago, MattF said:

@revkev@MaxEntropy@JohnSmalls I'm booked in with Windmill Training Centre November 7th for a club evaluation. Watch this space.

[MaxEntropy]

1 hour ago, JohnSmalls said:

The case of the rights could very well a lie issue.  If they messed up that one shaft, I would be very intrigued to check if loft and lie were correct to spec.

Great point. If it was a matter of messing up orders instead of just grabbing the wrong shaft off a rack, who knows, maybe that 8 iron is set a few degrees flat for someone else.

[revkev]

Maybe I’m the only one or maybe everyone has moved to Players Distance irons off maybe a lot of guys just play the Players category and are content but the look of short irons transitioning to wedges has always been troubling to me if I’m using an iron set that allows me to hit 6 and 7 iron well.

The D7 forged definitely fixes that so much so that I’ve gone from “Nuts, do I have to” from 100-125 to “Yes, I can’t wait to see the ball fly and land by the pin.”


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[Thin2win]

I had a few other items that I wanted to toss out to the group. Things that didn't fit into the review, but things that I've noticed with them.

Overall, I think they are a touch draw biased. They are slightly harder for me to work L-R than R-L. 

The club that I still need to really decide on is the 5i. I can work the i500 both ways reliably. I can't work the D7 L-R with any consistency. That said, normal ball flight shots I hit it more consistent and accurate. If I just hit straight shots or if every green was ideal for a R-L entry, the D7 would definitely be king, but the every other round where I need to hit a cut 5i... the i500 works a lot better for me.

The other thing I real should have mentioned in the review is overall distance. And this I attribute to the shaft(Recoil 110) more than the club head. This really hit the number with my standard swing, consistent and true. I expect about 155y from my 8i right now, and this 8i is really good at hitting that for me. But if I go at one with a little more, it goes a lot further. Up a hill or a little into the wind. I've been able to hit 8i's out to 170y with these. The added pop these can deliver when asked to is impressive/shocking. I think early in the testing I thought I was just hitting some crazy fliers from the rough, but having tried this specifically on the range and the course, I wasn't hitting flyers exactly, I was just swinging harder because of the lie, but then hitting a pure shot. I've never had a iron/shaft combo that has this firepower in reserve. Normally, if I step on an 8i, I might get it out to 160y. Definitely the case with my previous i200 8i or my Sub70 639CB. 

I played a round on the Oregon Coast this week. Played from a tee that I shouldn't have and went off at 8am with temps in the low 50's and the course very wet. Played an extra club until the course warmed up and dried out a little. Had to take 3i into 7 greens... like I said, wrong tees. But when I was able to use the D7s they did really well in the conditions. Carded 4 birdies and all from D7 approach shots. 

[revkev]

5 hours ago, Thin2win said:

I had a few other items that I wanted to toss out to the group. Things that didn't fit into the review, but things that I've noticed with them.

Overall, I think they are a touch draw biased. They are slightly harder for me to work L-R than R-L. 

The club that I still need to really decide on is the 5i. I can work the i500 both ways reliably. I can't work the D7 L-R with any consistency. That said, normal ball flight shots I hit it more consistent and accurate. If I just hit straight shots or if every green was ideal for a R-L entry, the D7 would definitely be king, but the every other round where I need to hit a cut 5i... the i500 works a lot better for me.

The other thing I real should have mentioned in the review is overall distance. And this I attribute to the shaft(Recoil 110) more than the club head. This really hit the number with my standard swing, consistent and true. I expect about 155y from my 8i right now, and this 8i is really good at hitting that for me. But if I go at one with a little more, it goes a lot further. Up a hill or a little into the wind. I've been able to hit 8i's out to 170y with these. The added pop these can deliver when asked to is impressive/shocking. I think early in the testing I thought I was just hitting some crazy fliers from the rough, but having tried this specifically on the range and the course, I wasn't hitting flyers exactly, I was just swinging harder because of the lie, but then hitting a pure shot. I've never had a iron/shaft combo that has this firepower in reserve. Normally, if I step on an 8i, I might get it out to 160y. Definitely the case with my previous i200 8i or my Sub70 639CB. 

I played a round on the Oregon Coast this week. Played from a tee that I shouldn't have and went off at 8am with temps in the low 50's and the course very wet. Played an extra club until the course warmed up and dried out a little. Had to take 3i into 7 greens... like I said, wrong tees. But when I was able to use the D7s they did really well in the conditions. Carded 4 birdies and all from D7 approach shots. 

Nice stuff

I will say that I haven't found any sort of draw basis.  My natural shot shape is a draw.  These draw less than what I was gaming or anything that I've gamed in a while for that matter.  As I wrote in my review I'm really not a guy who works the ball anyway so not being able to hit a fade would be irrelevant for me.  

 

My question to you would be doesn't the overall accuracy and distance benefit easily trump the inability to hit a 5 iron cut every other round?  How much would you actually use if you just played for the center of the green or away from the pin on that rare occasion that you needed a cut?  How much do you gain from a tighter dispersion and greater flexibility with distance?

[GregGarner]

25 minutes ago, revkev said:

Nice stuff

I will say that I haven't found any sort of draw basis.  My natural shot shape is a draw.  These draw less than what I was gaming or anything that I've gamed in a while for that matter.

Similar here. My i210s are a half-degree up and I went with standard on the D7s, but I went from a 2-5yd draw to 2-5yd fade. Through the testing I made a few swing tweaks to straighten them out, but I definitely didn't have an issue with overcooking to the left.

[Thin2win]

2 hours ago, revkev said:

My question to you would be doesn't the overall accuracy and distance benefit easily trump the inability to hit a 5 iron cut every other round?  How much would you actually use if you just played for the center of the green or away from the pin on that rare occasion that you needed a cut?  How much do you gain from a tighter dispersion and greater flexibility with distance?

Yes. And ShotScope tells me the the D7 is better. But my ego likes the cut

And for me, the D7's are definitely the the straightest club I've had time with. Maybe that is why I feel they are a little draw biased, that's my natural shot. And they just want the ball to fly straight so me moving it to the right is more challenging. 

[revkev]

10 hours ago, Thin2win said:

Yes. And ShotScope tells me the the D7 is better. But my ego likes the cut

And for me, the D7's are definitely the the straightest club I've had time with. Maybe that is why I feel they are a little draw biased, that's my natural shot. And they just want the ball to fly straight so me moving it to the right is more challenging. 

That is totally consistent with what I found - I suspect its because irons in this category tend not to spin as much.  Fortunately I've never been one to work the ball.  Early on I decided that I wanted to play a draw and it's been that way ever since but as you've written it's a baby one with these irons.  I've pretty much adjusted to it at this point.  I'm going to the range this afternoon - weather permitting, there's a drill that my teacher gave me where I hit 3 quarter cuts, I haven't done that one with these, I will try it and see what happens - probably nothing but honestly I'm not great at it with any club type.  

[fixyurdivot]

20 hours ago, Thin2win said:

Yes. And ShotScope tells me the the D7 is better. But my ego likes the cut

And for me, the D7's are definitely the the straightest club I've had time with. Maybe that is why I feel they are a little draw biased, that's my natural shot. And they just want the ball to fly straight so me moving it to the right is more challenging. 

Wouldn't it be fun to see how your PING's perform with the Recoils?  Did you ever test composite shaft options on those?

[Thin2win]

1 hour ago, fixyurdivot said:

Wouldn't it be fun to see how your PING's perform with the Recoils?  Did you ever test composite shaft options on those?

I didn't, they weren't an option in the Ping fitting cart I had access to. But they sure are nice

[Rickp]

I didn't, they weren't an option in the Ping fitting cart I had access to. But they sure are nice

My Ping G710 irons have Recoil Shafts. They were offered as N/C option when I tried them.
It’s also the reason I’m still waiting for them, Recoils are backordered.


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[GregGarner]

Took the day off and played 36 with my old irons to see what changed, if anything. Overall played ok, but probably 75% of my iron shots were toe-y. But the solid ones did seem a little shorter than the D7s. Took me a few shots to get re-acclimated to my yardages, but I did have a few shots that hit and stopped a few yards short and I found myself wondering if the D7 roll-out would've put me a little closer

[HardcoreLooper]

On 10/22/2020 at 8:13 PM, revkev said:

I will say that I haven't found any sort of draw basis.  My natural shot shape is a draw.  These draw less than what I was gaming or anything that I've gamed in a while for that matter.  As I wrote in my review I'm really not a guy who works the ball anyway so not being able to hit a fade would be irrelevant for me.  

Same, same, same and same for me.

These draw less than my F8s, but I chalk that up to the 1* flat setup more than anything else to do with the club.  

 

[fixyurdivot]

Just read all the final reviews.  Really good job guys!    Looks like most have new gamers, so another round of applause to the folks at Wilson .  Having played a handful of times with Chris @Thin2winand seeing his prowess with the PING's, I had my doubts they would get bumped. 

One last question to those who chose the composite shafts and who played steel previously; did you notice any less joint fatigue?

[Thin2win]

47 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

One last question to those who chose the composite shafts and who played steel previously; did you notice any less joint fatigue?

Great question... And I can better answer that in the coming months. With winter /the rainy season arriving my range sessions will be moved to hitting Matson of turf. That is normally when my wrists and elbows start to feel it. So I'll get back to you on this one. All I can say as of right now, no fatigue at all. 

[Sluggo42]

On 8/13/2020 at 9:30 AM, revkev said:

Wilson D7 forged irons – Official MGS Forum Review by Rev Kevin Loughran 10/16/2020

Intro

As I start out I wanted to thank Wilson and MyGolfSpy for this great test opportunity!

I am as the screen name suggests, the Senior Pastor of a fairly large church and school community who is 64 years old.  I primarily play at two private clubs, mine, The Bayou Club in Largo, FL, and St. Pete Country Club in St. Petersburg, FL.  You will see in the following video that I’m between a 6 and 7 iron at 150.  I have a moderate swing tempo with a driver swing speed from 90-95 and currently have a 4.4 handicap index.  I have played Ping G30’s for the past three years, prior to that I was gaming Wilson C200’s and before that the C100’s.  I was fit for the C100’s and G30’s. 

My issues with each of those iron sets has been the transition from middle irons to short irons and PW to my SCOR wedges.  My typical miss with iron is left or thin and right.  When you look at my ARCCOS data I am more accurate with 7 iron than 9 iron or wedge and that is a problem.  I’m only at 50/50 hitting greens with my short irons when I should be thinking about getting it inside of 25 feet.

Here I am hitting a 7 iron:

 

 

I did not get fit for this test because I had just met with my fitter met to adjust an iron set.  I used the specs from that adjustment session to have my order placed with Wilson:  D7 forged 4-GW, 2 flat, Mamiya Recoil 460 R flex, plus .5 inches, Tour Velvet 1 extra wrap.

 

First Impressions

COVID has made everyone’s life interesting.  We were selected for this test in early August, put in our orders shortly thereafter and then waited. My irons arrived on September 14 and were exactly as promised, the lies were all 2 flat and no loft was off by more than .5 degree of what was listed on the Custom Fit sheet.  A special shout out to Wilson for overnighting these to us once they were ready.

 

 

Wilson has touted its “power hole” technology since it released the C200 irons.  While I was a bit longer with the C200’s I found the C100’s, without the holes, more consistent and more forgiving. 

If I’m not mistaken this is the third iteration of that technology and the promise on the website is that “the power hole placement has been optimized for the forged heads, increasing face deflection and contact time between ball and the face of the iron.”  It also states a bit about Wilson’s Power Chamber technology that fills the Power Holes and the Forged 8620 Carbon Steel Cavity construction that give the “look and feel of a traditional forged iron with game-improving distance.”

 

From the beginning, when I applied for this test, I was wondering about several things.  Could my more moderate swing speed and shallow AoA approach handle a gamier sole?  Also, how would I do with far less offset than what I have become accustomed to?  Could I actually hit a 4 iron?  At the same time I really wanted to shore up the issues that I was having hitting my short irons. 

 

The practice areas at Bayou were ideal for this test.  I was able to try my irons from a variety of lies (on the range) and my trusty little Rapsodo gave me a lot of good data.  The one thing that it doesn’t record though is ball spin.  I did also have them on the course on four occasions.   I would say that it took me close to the full month to get used to the irons as they were a radical departure from what I was used to. 

 

I had originally intended to have a trackman session as a part of this test but contact tracing shut my fitter down for two weeks.  I will be able to post that data in a follow up.  I doubt that I will have anything earth shattering for you there though.  Players Distance irons launch higher and spin less than Players irons with the idea being that you will stop the ball through trajectory rather than spin.

 

Let’s see how all of this has played out.

 

 

Looks

I normally don’t care much about this but in this case I do.  I’ve been searching for an iron that will fit my swing profile with a thinner top line and a less exaggerated difference between the PW or GW and my bottom of the bag wedges.  These truly fit the bill.  I’m going 10/10 here.

 

 

 

Sound & Feel

I do actually care about sound although I will get used to a sound if the club produces results.  There’s really no need to get used to anything with the D7 forged irons though.  These clubs have a very nice report, like a pistol shot on the range.  I love the way the sole interacts with the turf.  It took a couple of weeks for me to get used to that feel but this is what I want out of a club – there’s forgiveness, I can tell when I miss hit the ball but I still get something out of balls hit a bit off the toe or down a few grooves. 

 10/10

 

Basic Characteristics

 This is where it gets interesting.  The stock shot is a nice high shot with a hint of draw.  What I’ve found is that I handle less offset really well.  I have a much larger draw with my G30’s and have to allow for it.  That’s fine when it’s working but I will miss shots left when I get tired or right when I swing too hard and don’t release.  Not with these D7’s.  Distance is very similar but there is no comparison in regards to dispersion, as you’ll see below. 

 

Please note that these are carry distances, not total.  On course results show that I hit the 9 iron between 120 and 125. 5 iron however does not work for me.  In fact, I carry my 6 iron as long as my 5 with a much nicer ball flight and there is no comparison between the 5 iron and 9 wood. (The 9 wood is pictured in purple above)

In regards to workability I’m not a player who works the ball right to left or left to right.  I can hit a cut with these if I need to, on the range at least.  Still, I find them difficult to curve much.  What I can do is hit them up or down.  The 5^th hole at a course that I frequently play has a line of trees that obscure the entire right half of the fairway.  It’s a medium length par 4 so for me driver 8 or 9 iron.  I dropped a few balls behind the trees and had no trouble launching over them and onto the green.  At the same time, I am able to flight the ball down.  I have not had that shot in quite a while.  Welcome back!

I’m going 16/20 here because I know that some guys like to work their shots.  I think that they would not be happy with these.  Also I love the way that they look but I’m coming from GI irons.  I’m looking forward to reading what someone going the other way, from a players club, to these, thinks.

Performance

I know that this category is often the guts of the review.  Weather and COVID though changed a lot of things for me in regards to what I had originally planned.  I took a staycation the first week of October and planned to play three times during it.  Two of those three rounds were washed out and the one that I started stopped after 5 holes.  I have managed to get them on the course 4 times and played numerous simulated holes on my practice range. 

 

For one of my practice rounds I was able to move up to the front tees and go iron only.  They really do fit my eye and the optic between GW and SCOR 52 is far more appealing than whatever else has been filling that spot. 

I was able to play a for real round last Sunday and hit them great.  Especially heartening were my short iron shots.  Everyone flew hole high, many were straight at the pin and all had enough stopping power even out of heavy rough.

 

My stock shot is a medium high draw which should be apparent in each of the earlier shot videos.  These babies produce that one for me only it is far less pronounced than with my gamers.  That’s good IMO.  I had no issues using them to punch out under tree limbs or from a fairway trap.  They have plenty of forgiveness for my game.  Shots that are down a few grooves tend to fly a bit left for me while toed hits start right and come back on target.  Any time I practice with the launch monitor the dispersion pattern is tight.  Data with my former irons would show fairly tight patterns but always left of target.

I’m thinking the forgiveness and tight dispersion is due to the Power Holes so Wilson gets prop for its technology.  I suspect that less offset has moved my shot pattern from left to nearly dead on center. There was some chatter early on in this thread about those holes picking up dirt.  I’ve not experienced that at any time during the test.

 

I maxed out at 6 iron in terms of the proper ball flight, carry and consistency.  I hit some very nice shots with 4 and 5 iron but am not consistent enough to game them.  However, this is not the fault of the D7 forged but rather an idiosyncrasy of my swing type.  My legitimate concerns would be that the hot face makes it tricky to use these for bump and runs around the green or to use the GW for shots that require a bit of spin as well as the difficulty in really getting them to curve for a player who likes to work the ball both ways.

In some ways this category remains in process for me as I’ve become familiar with the irons and will play much more golf with them.  Let’s just say that I believe this may be the start of a beautiful friendship. 

 27/30

 

Miscellaneous

I’ve been waiting for this category since I was selected.  I do have a question for Wilson.  Why this name?  For some time they’ve had the C and D categories.  I knew that I was a C (Control) player.  I did try a friend’s D7’s and liked them but with their offset, I hit them even farther left than the G30’s.  I don’t know that Wilson will be able to get the word out to the general public that these are Player’s irons while having the D designation in the name. 

The clubs themselves look great in the bag.  They have a wow factor to them.  One of our assistant pros hit mine on the range a couple of weeks ago and loved them.  I played with an assistant at another course last weekend and his comment at the end of the round was, “You really hit your irons great today, Rev.”

8/10 Deducting two points for the name.
 

Play it or Trade it?

Playing the 6 – GW 

Score here is simple enough, 20/20

Conclusion

These really are a must try for anyone interested in this category.  There’s a reason why they won the coveted MGS Most Wanted Player’s Distance Iron award.  They are ideal for an aging lower handicap or someone who is honest enough to admit that he needs a little distance boost, realizes he’s not spinning the ball back 10 feet with his short irons and wants a nice looking club with some forgiveness, good feel, high launch and great ball flight.

The downsides are the hot face when hitting shots around the green and some difficulties in working shots. The Wilson D7 forged irons are an ideal fit for a player like myself, older still with some game looking to shave off those last few strokes towards scratch at an extremely competitive price point with lots of options for customization.  I’d also say they are also a good fit for a lot of mid cappers who could use an iron that is a no brainer when it comes out of the bag – high and straight approach shots are what these babies were built to produce and they don’t disappoint.

Final score 91/100

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why do you call yourself 'older', when you're the same age as this young stud? 

[Sluggo42]

Im hitting my 7i 150 at 34* loft. I wonder if the D7 7i distance would be the same as my 6 iron at 30*... right? 

[revkev]

5 hours ago, Sluggo42 said:

Im hitting my 7i 150 at 34* loft. I wonder if the D7 7i distance would be the same as my 6 iron at 30*... right? 

Not exactly because the shaft on your 6 iron will be longer than the shaft on the 7 iron and shaft length matters.  All things being equal it will end up somewhere in between.  

 

I hit 12 greens in my round today and I hadn't touched a golf club in 2 weeks - wanted to go to the range yesterday after work but ended up working later than I intended and needed a nap to stay up for the World Series more than I needed to hit golf balls.  Two birdies, several other chances, really liking these irons.  

[HardcoreLooper]

20 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

Just read all the final reviews.  Really good job guys!    Looks like most have new gamers, so another round of applause to the folks at Wilson .  Having played a handful of times with Chris @Thin2winand seeing his prowess with the PING's, I had my doubts they would get bumped. 

One last question to those who chose the composite shafts and who played steel previously; did you notice any less joint fatigue?

So much of what I played was less than 18 holes, I'd like to get in a few more 18 hole rounds in to make a firm proclamation on that.