Tried and Tested: Wilson Fat Shafts

The new Wilson Fat Shaft Irons have not so much as had a facelift, they have put some weight around the midriff! Instead of hanging around at 500mm in diameter in the shafts, the all new shaft is a whopping 535mm around the waist.

That, claim Wilson, helps out even more with clubhead twisting and increased accuracy. So, we tested it and came up with some interesting conclusions!

And also, 14 grams of weight has been moved to the back of the club, near the toe to help out on the more regular mis-hits for the majority of us.

First of all, as a blade player all my golfing life, it would take something special to convince me to change clubs. But after getting my hands on the new Hypercarbon Shafted Fat Shaft Irons form Wilson, I could feel and see the benefits of playing with a set of these.

Although they are a bit cumbersome to look at, what does that matter if they hit the ball where intended.

I was very surprised at the forgiveness and accuracy of these. Usually, when you see the ads and rhetoric on the telly, you could be forgiven for thinking that these clubs are for the higher handicaps only. Wrong. Anyone can play with these.

First shot with a two iron, (my demo club), in regular graphite shaft would fill me with fear. I was half expecting to pull it way left, but oh no, it went right up the middle! Was it luck? Who knows. The next went in exactly the same direction, almost landing in the same pitch mark, so did the next few.

I was becoming convinced that these would knock the final few shots off my handicap, so I decided to try the rest of them from a demo set in the Pro Shop at Wycombe Heights.

All of the irons were great on full shots, even little knock down shots I sometimes like to hit into the wind performed as well as a bladed iron, and with a damn sight more forgiveness too.

But where Wilson Fat Shafts lose out is around the greens, especially in thick greenside rough or in bunkers, personally, I didn't like them for that. But if you use specialist wedges, (which Wilson also sell), you might end up having the perfect set of clubs.

The feel was harder than my normal forged blades, but if you use a soft ball, you could counteract that small niggle. All in all, for value for money and pure performance value, Wilson seem to have a winner here, even though it looks a bit weird at first. Once you have hit a few, you don't notice that shaft. The ball sits well behind the face and the forgiveness is incredible.

And if, like me, you don't like the look of an off-set club, Wilson make the Tour Cast model, which is a cracking looking club with all the benefits of a blade and the forgiveness of perimeter weighting.

All irons come fitted with a quality grip and a choice of flexes in the shafts to suit just about everyone.

Cost: £699 in Graphite

£469 Steel

Golfmagic Rating:

Looks 6/10

Feel 7/10

Playability 9/10

Value for money 9/10