2015 Ultimate Product Reviews: Wilson Staff D200 Driver

April is the first full month of spring, and with that comes the Masters and the start of the golf season. Learning about all the new products out there is one of my favorite ways to prepare for another year on the course. I hope you’ve been enjoying this new series where I compile all the best product reviews and put them into one place to make it easy for everyone to find. I hope you find these ultimate product reviews helpful! – Matt

Club Name: Staff D200 Driver
Brand: Wilson
Category: Game Improvement
Price Point: $299
Specs: Weighs 268 grams (189g 460cc driver head, a 44g UST Elements Chrome Shaft and the 25g Golf Pride Tour grip). Lofts come in 9° (adjusts 8° to 10°), 10.5° (adjusts 9.5° to 11.5°), 13° (adjusts 12° to 14°). Club length is 46 inches. Shafts available in light, regular and stiff.

Summary

“Each of the clubs in the new D200 family embodies The Right Light™ technology, which optimally positions limited available mass to create a powerful, balanced, solid-feeling and sounding golf club. Wilson Staff research and testing shows that players of all calibers benefit from swinging lighter clubs because they apply the same amount of effort, but achieve greater distances due to increased club head and ball speeds.

For us, it’s not just about being lightweight,” explains Michael Vrska, Global Director of Innovation. “The challenge with engineering The Right Light is optimizing the limited available mass for proper distribution among the head, shaft and grip to achieve the best performance for each club. Using our research from the predecessor D100 family, we continued to innovate The Right Light and fuse it with other advanced technologies, like adjustability in the new D200 driver.” – Wilson Golf

Special Notes

You can purchase your Wilson Staff D200 driver directly from the Wilson website.

You can also follow Wilson Golf on Twitter or tweet them @WilsonGolf.

THE REVIEWS

1. Golf Digest: Gold Rating. Almost all companies have explored driver adjustability, and a few have pursued ultralight weight. Wilson is the rare one to emphasize both. The club’s weight (268 grams) is less than that of six golf balls, and the driver’s balance point is designed to make it easier for the club to move faster with the same swing. Each loft can be adjusted six ways, including three draw settings. Finally, the driver features a variable-thickness face for more consistent off-center-hit performance.

2. Golf Magazine: Love it. The club’s strongest attribute is its accuracy and forgiveness; several testers describe the D200 driver as consistent and automatic; this stick helps to both straighten and lengthen your errant drives. The classic shape avoids distractions, while the angular alignment aid is useful; matte black head pairs nicely with the shiny chrome face. Some guys complain about a tinny impact sound; others believe that consistency and forgiveness come at the price of distance loss; aggressive swingers beware—this model reacts best to slow and smooth.

3. Plugged In Golf: Like It. f you’re searching for more distance off the tee, the Wilson Staff D200 driver is worth a few swings. Not only is it incredibly light to boost club speed, but the face is very forgiving and the spin is low. Add in the ability to adjust for loft and face angle, and you have a driver that should be showing up on a lot of tee boxes this season.

4. Bunker’s Paradise: Like it. Wilson Staff developed the F-C-D system to meet the technology needs of every golfer. Defining players into three categories, Feel, Control and Distance, this system matches club features and benefits with individual playing styles. The Distance player is defined as the golfer needing power, accuracy and a confidence-inspiring look at address.

5. Golf Magic: Silver Rating. The new Wilson Staff D200 proved very easy to hit straight, work to the left and easy to adjust. While not the longest in the world or necessarily the nicest to look at, it certainly represents good value for money at £200.

6. Golf A Lot: Like It. Wilson has been able to make the driver head so light thanks to what they call Right Light technology. By chemically etching the crown they have reduced weight and added structural support closer to the face for durability. This means the mass available has been distributed to key areas in the heel and toe to increase MOI and therefore forgiveness on mishits in these areas. This combines with a larger face that has less thickness in the lower half to increase ball speed from impacts lower on the face.

7. PGA.com: Like it.