Wilson C300 Irons

We have all heard the phrase, “it’s not the club, it’s the golfer”. While there is certainly a lot of merit in this philosophy, there is clearly an argument to be made that a better set of golf clubs can make you a better golfer. I think this is particularly true for the mid handicapper who is not blessed with a repeatable swing. Personally, I have tested a dozen different irons during real course conditions but it was not until I got fitted for my current set of clubs that I came to fully understand how critical it is to get fitted before you purchase a set of irons.

With that said, I still believe there is merit to reading reviews of clubs to at least narrow down the selection process. What is true for me, may not be exactly true for you, but it can at least give you a sense of whether a given club should be considered. 

As I mentioned, I have reviewed a lot of irons, but never Wilson irons. In fact, I have never even hit a Wilson iron. Worse, I once wrote “take Wilson Staff who despite a long prestigious history, now only has street cred with castaways.” (with a picture of a Wilson ball next to Tom Hanks). 

Well it looks like they are turning back time with the Wilson Staff C300 Forged Irons. For my review of the Wilson Staff C300 irons I decided to take a slightly different approach. Since I had recently been fitted for my Taylormade M4, I was not really interested in putting a new set into play. However, my regular playing partner was in desperate need of a new set of iron since his current set was an aging Taylormade RAC 

My thought was this would be a perfect opportunity to see what happens when you put a new set of irons in the hands of someone who has always played using outdated equipment. My testers name is Roderick, but in order to protect his identity, I will refer to him as Rod. Here he is with the big stick at Congressional (yes, we need to upgrade that driver).

Rod does not carry a handicap but he typically shoots in the mid 80’s (83-86 is his sweet spot). Rod is a big guy who hits the ball with distance. For reference, his 150 club has been an 8 iron. For my on-site testing we started at Finley Golf course where we have been playing every Thursday this summer. Again, Rod had been shooting mid to low 80’s this season at that course. 

What I am now going to tell you should not be construed as repeatable or data-driven testing, but with as many rounds as I play with Rod, I do take it with some merit. 82, 77, 75. Those were the first three scores Rod posted with the new Wilson Staff C300. Included in those score were back to back career low rounds. Distance wise, Rod is hitting his PW 145 yards and his 6 iron 185 yards. I have even seen him muscle his 9 iron nearly 170 yard. My rough math has the Wilson Staff C300’s giving Rod and additional 15 yards over his older clubs.

From a shape perspective, these clubs launch the ball high and are absolutely workable. Rod’s stock shot is a high draw but with the Wilson C300 that was doubly so. With today’s irons being jacked up, you can argue the number on the club does not matter, but if you can drop an 8 iron 165 from way up high, it is going to help the GIR stats.

So, the first learning is that new clubs can make a huge difference in distance. With that said, I am sure there are any number of clubs that would have added distance versus the Taylormade RAC, but the lesson is that unless you check out a new set you will never know.

Secondly, despite the fact that Rod’s scores have fluctuated back into the low to mid 80’s, two career low rounds should not be discounted. Mid handicappers know that our scores vary because the reality is “we are not that good”. Sometimes however, the golf gods shine upon us and our game is better than most. I contend that on those days, having a better set of clubs can really help. Moreover, added forgiveness will always be a blessing since we struggle to make consistent contact with the ball.

Wilson Staff C300 Technology:

Ok fans, this is the part where my head starts to spin explaining why clubs go farther and have more forgiveness so bear with me. The new Wilson Staff C300 utilize Power Hole Technology. It seems like this is similar to a lot of new golf clubs that fill part of the irons with some type of lighter material to improve ball speed and forgiveness. In the case of the C300, you will note the 5 spots on the sole of the club and 2 on the toe.

This is where the magic happens and the area where I am going to NOT pretend to know how it works. What I can tell you is that these clubs are hot. While I did not play a full round with these clubs I did hit them a number of times and saw distances very similar to my Taylormade M4 which I believe are just about the longest irons on the market (at least for my swing speed).

Wilson Staff C300 Looks:

Now this is where I can confidently speak to these irons. I know it is dumb but golfers want to have a pleasing top line to their golf clubs. For most golfers a thin top line implies that the clubs are being used by “players” independent of the actual ability of the person to be a “player”. Unfortunately, in order to build a forgiving iron, it is typical for the club to have a fatter profile. Why this metric of a thin profile is important begs a number of questions, but in my experience, golfers will not buy a club that does not suit their eye regardless of how it performs.

Fortunately, the Wilson C300 are great looking from any angle. The top line is quite thin with all of the technology hidden below eyesight. With that said, the technology looks pretty bad ass with just the right about of texture, contour and fill. 

Why demo a Wilson Staff

For starters it might lead to you shooting a personal best like our man Rod.

Beyond that, golfers are creatures of habit. We get locked into a brand very early in our career and tend to rarely branch out. Often those reason are based on TV commercials or other brand driven factors. As a reviewer of golf things, I am always looking for the outlier. The brands that people are not taking about. Ironically, one of the oldest brands in the golf business is in that category. To that point, Wilson has long been the object of ridicule. I mean, who among us has not tossed a found Wilson golf ball back into the woods? The fact is Wilson golf has not been taken seriously for a bunch of years. Personally, I think this is because they are positioned as a sporting goods company rather than a golf company (much like Nike was).

I think this may be changing with the release of their new golf clubs and specifically the C300 irons which are getting a lot of good reviews. So the next time you are getting fit for irons (and if you are buying clubs without being fit, shame on you), make sure you put the C300 in the mix.