Wilson Golf: 2005 Recap, 2006 Look Ahead, by Jeffrey Reed

Copyright 2005 London Ontario Golf

To those golfers familiar with the deep history of the Wilson Staff name, calling Wilson Golf an underdog in the multi-billion-dollar golf equipment industry might seem appropriate. But in fact, it was only in 2004 when Wilson re-launched its fabled brand, recognized by its familiar Wilson Staff shield, first used on the head of a Dyna-Powered iron in 1960.

Today, with the Titleists, TaylorMades and Callaways of the world flooding the golf market, it’s not easy for any upstart company to take a divot out of world-wide sales. But when you can rely on more than 90 years of equipment excellence, you have a solid background to depend on – a history as fundamentally sound as Bobby Jones’s swing. Still, with more than two decades of equipment fluctuation in recent times, Wilson has its work cut out for it, if it’s going to play alongside the big boys. 

It appears Wilson Staff is well on its way to once again becoming the premier golf equipment manufacturer. True, the Wilson Staff name has always commanded respect, but the name has taken a back seat in recent times. Trumpeting its return last year with its "Make Everyday Legendary" marketing campaign, Wilson Staff caught a lot of golfers by surprise with its rebirth. The 1997 introduction of Wilson Fat Shaft irons, and 2001 release of the top-quality Deep Red line – including the highly-successful Deep Red, and Deep Red II Max driver – gained a lot of support, especially amongst mid- to high-handicap golfers. Signing Ireland’s Padraig Harrington to a five-year contract in 2003 certainly helped with Wilson’s visibility, including an invaluable PGA Tour presence.

But when Wilson Golf unveiled the brand-new Wilson Staff complete line of golf products in 2004, the golf world took notice. With the wind down of the 2005 season, Wilson Staff is no longer looked upon as the underdog. In fact, the brand is expected by some observers to climb the ladder which will put it alongside Titleist, TaylorMade and Callaway.

90 Years Of Excellence

When Wilson Sporting Goods Co. entered the sporting goods business in 1914, competition was scarce, so the chance of Wilson Golf once again dominating like it did 90-plus years ago is as likely as a weekend hacker holing three consecutive holes-in-one. But take notice: with the 2005 Wilson Staff lineup winning accolades, and the 2006 product line ready to capture an even larger world-wide audience, don’t be surprised if the Wilson Staff name rolls of the tongue of more pros like Harrington, Sweden’s Jasper Parnevik, and a small yet growing group of world-wide touring pros. And perhaps even more important, Wilson Staff is once again poised to become the consumer’s choice, thanks to a one-two punch of top quality and affordability.

"It’s going to take some time until we can get our full messaging across to the golf consumer," says Wilson Golf Global Business Director, Angus Moir. "Our plans of returning Wilson Staff to a global, premium golf brand are still in the early stages."

Wilson Golf Canada president David Deasley, a 25-year employee of Wilson, concurs with Moir. "This is going to take some time. It’s a big market out there today, but we have a solid game plan, and we’re sticking to it," Deasley explains. "Sure, it helps to have exposure from Harrington. No question, that helps. But there are many ways to market your products."

Moir agrees. "Tour players provide you with credibility, but it’s important that players believe in the product, and it’s important for the equipment to suit their game. We look at PGA Tour, European Tour, up-and-comers – many areas. Most importantly, we’re sticking to our course."

That course involves a grass-roots game plan, aimed at attracting everyone from the high-handicap recreational golfer, to the country club ace, and yes, more touring professionals across the globe. The Wilson Advisory Staff panel now includes three women golfers: Martina Eberl, and Ann-Marie Knight of the European Tour; and Japan Tour golfer Ayako Uehara. But it’s Harrington who is currently the biggest spokesperson by far for Wilson Staff.

"I think Wilson has gone back to its illustrious past in order to move forward," says Harrington, ranked World No. 6. "The new clubs are great and I like the look of the stylish branding on my bag and cap. Wilson is revisiting its heritage and tradition and I hope to be inspired by some of the great names that have played Wilson Staff in the past."

Those names include Gene Sarazen, the first Wilson Advisory Staff member who began a 75-year relationship with the company in 1922. In 1931, Sarazen designed the sand wedge. Following in the legacy of that first Sarazen model, Wilson Staff introduced the Tw5 Tour Wedges in 2004. Designed under Harrington’s supervision, the Tw5 line feature the sharpest, deepest, widest grooves allowed by the USGA, for maximum spin and control.

The Tw5 wedges were some of the best new products introduced by any company in 2004, but didn’t win the attention grabbed by two other Wilson Staff innovations: use of nanotechnology; and design of the Tx4 ball.

Golf Industry Takes Notice

Although playing in the shadows of the ProV1, the explosive Wilson Staff Tx4 four-piece ball helped Wilson win a technology award from Golf Tips Magazine. "The Tx4 is an outstanding tour-performance ball," says Deasley of what could have been the best-kept secret in golf in 2005 until the Golf Tips recognition. A co-winner of the Aerodynamics GT Tech Award, the Tx4 uses a new PhD (Pan Head) dimple design. The pattern features just 312 dimples, each larger and almost 50 per cent shallower than most standard dimples. The result: explosion off the club face, high lift, and tight trajectory.

In fact, the Tx4 balls – as well as the Dx2 (distance) and Px3 (performance) balls from Wilson Staff – are constructed with a rubber core chemistry reinforced with nano-sized particles to enhance the overall composite structure for higher strength and consistency. Golf Tips Magazine also awarded Wilson Staff its Trendsetter Award for 2005 for use of breakthrough technology: nanotechnology, also used in the Wilson Staff Pd5 and Dd5 drivers. Wilson has taken the lead by infusing nano-sized particles in the composite crowns of the drivers, making them stronger and lighter, allowing more weight to be shifted to the desired low and back position.

Moir says, "This is a tribute to the great work of the entire Wilson Staff R & D team. With all the new technologies in golf today, it is very difficult to create new technologies that enhance performance, and these two awards from Golf Tips verify the tremendous work of our engineers."

Shift forward to the 2006 Wilson Staff product line, and examine closely the new ETF Technology, incorporated into every 2006 Wilson Staff driver, hybrid and fairway wood. ETF – Energy Transfer Frame – captures and redirects energy loss by structurally reinforcing the area behind and around the club face without adding material or weight. A proprietary laser welding process adds a discrete weld line around the periphery of the head that frames the face. Stronger than the surrounding titanium, this ETF captures the energies previously lost through the thin walls and redirects it to the club face to produce an expanded COR – coefficient of restitution – area, or hot zone double the size of a club without ETF.

Moir nails it when he explains, "The challenge today is to enhance performance while keeping within the size and COR limitations dictated by the USGA, and ETF has made it possible to accomplish that goal with the new Wilson Staff drivers, fairway woods and hybrids."

From 1983 to 1989, Wilson Staff irons were No. 1 on the PGA Tour. In fact, Wilson Staff clubs have been in the hands of endless giants of the game over the years, including Slammin’ Sammy Snead, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Nick Faldo, Payne Stewart, John Daly, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, and the incomparable Patty Berg, who joined the Wilson Advisory Staff in 1940 as a 22-year-old, and went on to capture 80 tournaments as a Wilson Staff ambassador. In 1948, along with the great Babe Didrickson Zaharias, Berg founded the Women’s PGA, predecessor to the LPGA.

Into The Future

In 1989, the Amer Group, Ltd. of Helsinki, Finland purchased Wilson in their mission to become the No. 1 sports equipment manufacturer in the world. In October 2005, Amer Sports Corporation’s acquisition of the Salomon company was finalized. The combined business includes 7,500 employees. In a news release October 20, 2005, Amer stated, "Amer Sports and and Salomon will continue to serve their customers around the world as before with their own separate sales organizations. Amer Sports and adidas-Salomon will cooperate for a maximum period of three years to ensure support for the transferred business."

Other recent announcements include the naming of long-time Wilson employee Chris Considine as new Wilson Sporting Goods Co. president. Based in Chicago, Ill., Wilson Sporting Goods is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sports equipment, including Wilson Staff golf equipment. Wilson is the leading manufacturer of racquet and team sports equipment, and is now clearly focused on its rich golf heritage.

But the climb up the ladder won’t be an easy one. While Amer Sports’s comparable net sales in local currencies – exclusive of Salomon – are expected to grow by 5 per cent compared with last year, there is still a lot of work left to be done in the golf market. From January to September 2005, net sales were down 5 per cent in local currency terms compared to that same period in 2004. But as Moir and Deasley explain, Rome wasn’t built in a day – and neither will be the rebirth of Wilson Staff.

Moir says while the Japanese market was up 15 per cent in 2005, and markets in France and Germany saw solid numbers, figures out of Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. were "disappointing." However, when you’re working under the umbrella of the world’s most successful sporting goods manufacturer, expectations are high.

With that in mind, the 2006 Wilson Staff line of products is sure to please the most discerning golfer. In addition to ETF technology, Wilson has introduced a number of new products and features, including L-Pods – small, concentrated pods of weight found in its drivers and fairway woods, strategically located to deliver optimum launch angles for different swings: low and back for higher flight; mid-sole for penetrating trajectory. The new Df6 distance fairway metals, Dd6 Distance Driver, and Harrington’s driver of choice, the Pd6 performance driver, all feature L-Pods.

Wilson Staff’s new Dh6 distance hybrid club is also in Harrington’s bag. The Irishman says it has "the distance of a long iron, but the ball comes in from a higher trajectory, so it lands softer. It is great to use from the rough and very versatile, enabling me to hit the ball either high or low and even vary the distance as I want."

Speaking of irons, both Harrington and Parnevik play the highly-regarded Pi5 Tour-proven cavity-back blades. Joining the Pi5 sticks, and the Fi5 classic forged irons are the new Ci6 irons for control and forgiveness. Moir says they’re designed for the mid-handicap player seeking maximum control with a more traditional look. The new Di6 distance irons, for maximum forgiveness and playability, feature Wilson’s elastomeric damping layer to cure vibration from off-centre hits, plus progressive weighting to maximum distance and playability.

Also new from Wilson Staff in 2006: forged wedges; Wilson Staff Series putters; women’s and junior golfers’s lines of clubs, balls and accessories; and all new bags and accessories, including the new Grip Soft glove. The Tour Soft glove, available again in ‘06, was another sleeper in 2005. Perhaps the best golf glove on the market, it features an extra thin Abyssinian cabretta leather for ultimate touch and feel, pre-curved fingers for enhanced fit, Tack-Tech tanning for perspiration resistance, and 3M Scotchgard for long-lasting softness.

Make Everyday Legendary

As Moir states, finding equipment that suits your game is important. In fact, this past season, as I rededicated myself to maintaining a single-digit handicap, I needed to find equipment with which I felt most comfortable. Wilson Staff was an important playing partner, and a big part in my course-record 62, recorded at Caradoc Sands Golf Club in Strathroy, Ontario. My gear included: the Tx4 ball; Tour Soft glove; Di5 irons; Tw5 50-degree weighted gap wedge; and FwS steel fairway 3-wood.

Wilson Staff asks its supporters to "make everyday legendary." From Sarazen to Harrington, Wilson Staff, indeed, has helped to create legendary memories. With the future of the game never so bright, here’s betting Wilson Staff will be part of many more memories to come.