The Wilson Staff D range is about providing distance with maximum forgiveness and now with the Wilson Staff D300 iron, the D part has been given a boost.
This is because Wilson has brought over the FLX Face Technology first seen in the Wilson C200 irons to enable 76% of the face to be disconnected from the body of the iron.
The thin face is surrounded by Power Holes that are filled with TE031 Urethane to enable this flexing to take place as well as providing a distinctive look.
This provides real zip at impact and the feel was very good and when I compared the D300 6-iron on SkyTrak to the Wilson Staff D200 6-iron I was pleasantly surprised to see a big distance gain of around 6 yards.
Now I should qualify this by saying that the D300 6-iron is 1° stronger at 26° than the D200.
In addition, the D300s come with a KBS Tour 80 shaft that contributed to club feeling lighter than the D200, so that may account for the extra 1mph club head speed.
My swing speed is probably higher than the mid to high handicapper that this is aimed at too, but I guess longer is longer and with a nice high flight this extra speed from whatever means will be a benefit. It certainly feels fast.
The Power Holes also give the D300 a dramatic look, which is maybe more familiar to me now after the C200, but it still brings out the 'I need to try this' feeling.
At address the large head clearly shows the three Power Holes on top in a generous length head with a mid-sized top line. Behind the face is a pretty decent sized cavity and in the 5 and maybe the 6-iron it starts to show at address, which is not my thing, but may add confidence to some.
Having the cavity with the weight low and back is what gives the D300 the launch and the forgiveness is helped by the two weight pods in the heel and toe of the club. These are just 60g of the same 17-4 Stainless Steel as the head rather than a denser material, so it is a little bit of a cosmetic illustration of what is going on, but the effect is there.
The face is a generous size with a fairly rounded look around the toe area that you can also notice at address.
The soles are the same generous width as before and the polished chrome centre section is slightly raised to give a bit of heel and toe relief and it goes through the grass very easily.
Overall the Wilson Staff D300 continues on from where the D200 left of and are a very good set of distance irons. The lighter feel and zip from the face are a joy to play with and combined with a competitive price are one of the best sets for higher handicaps who need that extra forgiveness.