Wilson Staff Dynapower Drivers, Fairways and Hybrids

Wilson Staff Dynapower Drivers, Fairways and Hybrids Key Takeaways

Wilson Staff revives a classic name from its past. Two new adjustable drivers: one all-titanium, one with a carbon-fiber crown AI-optimized dynamic face thickness $499.99 in carbon fiber; $429.99 in titanium Presale starts Feb 22; at retail March 1

The new Wilson Staff Dynapower drivers, fairways and hybrids have an awful lot going on. Not the least of which is the name.

Wilson’s social media has been warning us that something retro is brewing. And that something is the resurrection of Dynapower. The original 1956 Dynapower was an iron-focused weighting technology. You can read more about that technology in our companion piece on the new Dynapower irons but you’ll notice the “buy-a-vowel” labeling on both the irons and metalwoods reads “DYNAPWR.” So in text, it’ll be “Dynapower,” but on the sticks it’s DYNAPWR.

Just so we’re CLR.

But give Wilson Staff credit. As an outside-looking-in player in the driver game, this modern take on a retro-classic name is bringing something unique to the table: dueling drivers.

Made from different materials and with different performance characteristics.

You could call it an intramural Driver vs Driver, but it is outside-the-box thinking. Hell, it doesn’t even acknowledge the existence of the box.

Wilson Staff Dynapower: Carbon and Titanium

Along with Spalding and MacGregor, Wilson is the industry’s most iconic name. While the other two aren’t around (although there’s more to that story), Wilson is still in the game 109 years later. But, as they say, the first 109 years are the hardest.

And while Wilson Staff has a recent history of churning out solid- to very good-performing irons, drivers have been middle-of-the-road. There have been one-shot performers like the 2013 D100 driver and 2019’s sneaky-long D7. We can have a separate discussion on whether Driver vs Driver was a success but neither the Triton nor the Cortex moved the needle.

There’s hope for the Dynapower, mainly because it’s not flying solo.

“The origin of Dynapower came out of our W-Labs Staff Model prototype drivers from over the past two years,” Wilson Golf Club Innovation Manager Jon Pergande tells MyGolfSpy. “We wanted to build a driver for the better player first and then work towards commercialization to hit two very distinctly different segments of the marketplace.”

As a result, we have the Dynaower Carbon driver and the Dynapower Titanium driver. Dynapower Carbon features, obviously, a carbon-fiber crown and is a low-spinning, low-launching neutral-bias head. The Dynapower Titanium driver is, also obviously, all titanium. It’s a higher MOI driver with a low and back CG, higher launch and spin with a slight draw bias.

“This is not a high handicap-low handicap type of thing,” says Pergande. “At the elite player level, on the PGA TOUR, there are golfers who play drivers with each of these characteristics.”

Driver vs Driver, Dynapower Style

“We feel very comfortable about our ability to fit people with these two drivers,” says Pergande. “There are players who want to play titanium because of the forgiveness and MOI it delivers. The carbon version is for players who want the lower ball flight and lower spin.”

The big difference between the two is the center of gravity location. The titanium version is low/back while the carbon version is low/front. OEMs use carbon fiber to save weight although, in the big picture, that weight saving is offset by the frame structures needed to support the carbon fiber. That’s one reason Srixon has shifted away from carbon fiber in its new ZX drivers. Wilson, however, has been able to save enough weight to make the juice worth the squeeze.

“There’s carbon fiber in the sole along with the crown,” says Pergande. “So even the sole design changed a little to maximize the toe-side carbon we’re able to include. That frees up more weight that we can move low and forward.”

That means a low and forward CG which, when coupled with a heavier stock shaft, is the recipe for low spin with a neutral ball flight.

Meanwhile, the Dynapower titanium version keeps its junk in the trunk.

“We have a 16-gram sole weight in the back of the titanium driver while the carbon driver has only a 12-gram rear weight,” says Pergande. “Any discretionary weight gets shoved to the back. So we’re delivering performance in two different ways.”

The result is a higher launching, higher spinning, more forgiving driver with a slight draw bias.

Dynapower-AI

Both Dynapower drivers feature Wilson’s second-generation PKR2, an AI-designed variable-thickness face. PKR (Peak Kinetic Response) was first used in the D9 driver. And if the iterative improvement shown by other OEMs is a template, PKR2 should have a larger high COR area than its predecessor.

And not for nothing, Wilson is now calling it DYNAPWR-AI.

Also worthy of note: both new Dynapower drivers are adjustable. Cortex was Wilson’s last adjustable driver, as the D7, D9 and Launch Pad are all fixed-hosel. Part of that was price point and part of that was simplicity for the target golfer. Dynapower, however, aims higher.

“The functionality of our adapter is similar to Triton and Cortex,” says Pergande. “But the goal is to reduce weight and this one went on a diet. It’s the lightest adapter we could come up with and still provide the up-and-down adjustability we want.”

You can adjust each driver in half-degree increments, one full degree down and two degrees up for six overall settings. And at each setting, you adjust spin up or down roughly 125 rpm and 3.5 yards or so in left or right bias. One degree down, for example, lowers the loft, spin by 250 rpm and gives you seven yards of right bias. Two degrees up increases spin by 500 rpm and provides 14 yards of left bias.

“We’ve been in the stick-and-glue segment of this category for a while now,” says Pergande. “We took our time to come out with something that’s really smart. And part of being smart is being simple. We have two different drivers and fitting a consumer is pretty straightforward. We can quickly get you into the right head based on a simple questionnaire. After that, we’re into the fine-tuning knobs.”

Dynapower Fairways and Hybrids

As with its new Dynapower drivers, Wilson Staff is taking the Tour-first approach with the family’s fairways and hybrids.

“This is a whole new look,” says Pergande. “DYNAPWR-AI shaping, head design and face design. We have variable face thickness to get ball speeds where we want. Because the faces aren’t as tall with fairways and hybrids, there isn’t as much meat on that bone but we still want to get as much out of it as we can.”

Both the fairways and hybrids feature DYNAPWR-AI-designed variable face thickness and what Wilson is calling Tour-preferred shaping and flatter profiles.

“This fairway wood is a little lower profile because we want to deliver something you can hit off the grass and not just be a second driving club,” says Pergande. “That some storyline holds true for the hybrids.”

Wilson says the fairways are a high MOI design with a 12-gram rear weight for a low and back CG. The hybrid is also designed for easy launch with a low and back CG.

“There’s not a lot of discretionary weight we can move in a hybrid,” says Pergande, “so there’s no need for a weight port and a weight.”

Neither club, however, is adjustable.

“There’s less of a demand or a need for adjustability in the fairway and hybrid categories,” says Pergande. “When we find a compelling reason to add adjustability, that’s when we’ll do it.”

Dyna-Powered Final Thoughts

It’s no secret that the Big Five control the driver market. Challenger brands such as Wilson, Srixon, Mizuno and others scratch and claw for whatever’s left. The dueling Dynapower drivers represent an interesting, and probably necessary, effort to get your attention. Launching two drivers isn’t unusual but launching drivers made from different materials for a specific reason is.

And if it makes you ask, “Why?”, Wilson can’t ask for much more than that.

And Wilson is throwing two interesting price points on the Dynapower drivers. The carbon-fiber model lists for $499.99 while the titanium model will sell for $429.99. And that prompts another question for technology and performance cynics.

How close in performance does a lower-priced non-Big Five driver need to be for you to consider it? Say the titanium Dynapower is within five yards of a new Paradym, Stealth2, AEROJET or G430. Are those extra 15 feet—plus the name—worth $120 to $170? Be warned: How you answer may very well determine to what level you’ve been “brandwashed.”

It’s easy to dismiss the challenger brands out of hand but it’s also shortsighted. We’ll know soon enough how these drivers perform in our Most Wanted testing but it will be interesting to see how Wilson markets the Dynapower line (it promises to be retro-level aggressive) and how consumers take to dueling Dynas.

Wilson Staff Dynapower Metalwoods: Specs, Price and Availability

The new Wilson Staff Dynapower Carbon driver will be available at retail in 9-, 10.5- and 12-degree heads with an 8-degree option available via custom order. The stock shaft for the carbon model is the non-VeloCore version of the Ventus Blue. It will be available in a 50-gram A-flex and 60-gram R- and S-flexes.

The Dynapower Titanium comes in 9-, 10.5- and 13-degree models. The lighter Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red RDX shaft is stock. The A- and R-flex shafts are 50 grams while the S-flex is 60 grams.

Only the 9-degree carbon and 10.5-degree titanium models are available for lefties.

As mentioned, the Dynapower Carbon driver sells for $499.99 and the Dynapower Titanium for $429.99.

The Project X HXRDUS Smoke Red RDX is stock for the DYNAPWR fairways and hybrids, as well. The Lamkin Crossline 360 is the stock grip for the entire metalwoods line.

The fairways come in a 15-degree 3-wood and an 18-degree 5-wood for lefties and righties. The 21-degree 7-wood is right-handed only. They’ll retail for $249.99.

The hybrids will be available in a 19-degree 3-hybrid through a 28-degree 6-hybrid, in three-degree increments. A 4-hybrid will be available at retail for lefties while a left=handed 3- and 6-hybrid can be ordered custom.

The hybrids will retail for $219.99.

The entire lineup (except for the Carbon driver) will also be available in women’s models (right-handed only). The lightweight Project X EvenFlow shaft is stock.

Online presale for the Dynapower line starts Feb. 22. They’ll be available at select retailers on March 1.

For more information, visit the Wilson Golf website.

The post Wilson Staff Dynapower Drivers, Fairways and Hybrids appeared first on MyGolfSpy.