Wilson’s legacy in golf goes back decades. The company’s gear has won basically every major championship in the business. But somehow its brand position has dropped behind some of its competitors. The company is aiming to change that with some big alterations to its driver and fairway lineup, which now sees three driver heads, as opposed to two as was the case in recent years.
“This line will add a little bit more variety for that slightly middle of the road goal but also towards a better golfer,” says Jon Pergande, Wilson’s Global Manager of Innovation. “I would say whatever you are—a scratch all the way up to a high handicap—could play all of these drivers if they really desired to.”
Like most major manufacturers, Wilson is offering three versions of its DYNAPWR driver—a low spin model, a carbon and a max version. All are aimed at different golfers, and already some of the pundits are asking whether these drivers will make golfers reconsider their perspective on Wilson.
Like PING, Wilson has worked on the hosel in the drivers using what it calls “open hosel construction,” which allows the face to have more flex, creating a larger sweet spot, more forgiveness and higher ball speeds. Using artificial intelligence, Wilson has optimized the face and body locations for each driver to add to the sweet spot on the face and increase speed across the club face. Precision rib placement throughout the body creates a powerful sound.
DYNAPWR LS Driver
Engineered to remove any sense of a hook and keep spin down. A compact head takes its cues from the tour, and delivers great speed, control and adjustability.
Shaping: A more streamlined raised skirt and curved crown were crafted to reduce drag and increase speed.
Workability: With adjustable weights in the back and front, the driver can be configured for lower spin or made more forgiving. The hosel is adjustable in six ways to optimize the face angle.
Key surprise: Pergrande says the biggest surprise is the LS model may appeal to a broader constituency than first expected based on how they see the driver. “I think different golfers have different visual cues at address, and the LS does appeal with the face height in the compact head design, and you can see more of the face,” he says.
DYNAPWR Carbon Driver
A driver designed for workability and forgiveness, this is the driver that will appeal to a wide variety of golfers. It has already drawn raves from many online pundits, with critics noting its great look and mix of forgiveness and distance as a reason to check it out.
Shape: By increasing the head from front to back, Wilson made the Carbon driver more forgiving.
Adjustable: Like the LS, the Carbon driver is adjustable and features a larger 460cc head.
Notable: The Carbon replaces the Ti driver Wilson offered in the past. “We’ve now got the Carbon where we’ve expanded MOI so they’re all more forgiving than predecessors,” says Pergrande. “We wanted to make it more customizable for the golfer to dial in their game, whatever that swing may be.”
MAX
As one might expect, this is the most forgiving driver in the line, designed with a draw bias to help limit any slice you might have.
All-titanium: The titanium head construction brings down the cost of this driver, making it slightly cheaper than the other versions.
Shape: Increased front to back and heel to toe length provides for a higher than ever MOI for the straightest tee shots.
Adjustable: The flippable 19-gram rear weight allows golfers the ability to fine-tune their left to right shot shaping to deliver straighter tee shots.
Fairway Woods
The DYNAPWR fairway woods use AI again and the PKR-360 face concept to bring higher ball speeds using 455 forged steel face material.
“We have traditionally had one fairway wood in our line,” says Pergrande. “And those typically haven’t been adjustable. We’re adding the adjustable weight because we talked to enough players and one of the things we wanted to really knock spin down or have some adjustability built into the club. This is by far the biggest family of products that we’ve offered.”
DYNAPWR Carbon
There’s no LS model in the line. Instead, Wilson extends its Carbon line through the fairway woods. This offers a penetrating ball flight and lower spin.
Carbon crown: The lightweight crown allows for discretionary weight to be moved and centre of gravity to be moved lower.
Workability: With a front 30 gram tungsten weight, the Carbon offers a lower launch and spin, while the 6-way adjustable hosel increases adjustability to optimize face. Open hosel construction, which is also found in the drivers, is used here as well.
DYNAPWR Max
Seeking to eliminate your slice, as well as stability and forgiveness? This is a 3-wood worth investigating.
Improved dispersion: With a steel crown and improved weight distribution, the centre of gravity is low and back, creating a fairway finding machine.
Forgiveness: With a 12 gram weight in the back, the MAX gets the ball in the air—and fast.