Wilson Staff D9 Forged Iron Review

The Wilson Staff D9 Forged is a fast and forgiving iron for better players who crave distance.

Over the last five years Wilson have become increasing successful in convincing ‘bridge’ players their brand is creating the best golf irons for their game. ‘Bridge’ players sit on the fence between the Mid-Handicap and Players’ Distance iron categories and they’re a group who often want a combination of distance, forgiveness and decent cosmetics from any new set of irons.

While it was the original TaylorMade P790, Callaway Apex and PXG irons that ignited the Players’ Distance iron market, Wilson’s C300 Forged and D7 Forged have found a place within golfers hearts over the last four years too.

In some cases it takes years finding a winning formula when it comes to irons. TaylorMade themselves would admit to not really cracking the forged iron market until they came up with the brilliant P790, a model that went on to change their whole iron business.

So with the forged, fast and forgiving recipe of Wilson’s previous C300 Forged and D7 Forged irons hitting the spot there’s zero sense in reinventing the wheel and designing the next generation D9 Forged iron from the ground up. Whilst that sort of thinking means the new D9 Forged don’t look massively different to their predecessors, be in no doubt at all, extra ball speed and forgiveness performance has cleverly been wrung out of this cracking new model.

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Details: Wilson Staff D9 Forged iron

RRP: £792 (s), £882 (g)

Availability: 4-iron, 5–PW, GW

Stock shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold VVS 95R & 105S. Mamiya UST Recoil Dart (graphite)

Stock grip: Wilson Staff Lamkin Crossline

7-iron loft: 30.5°

Forgiveness rating / category: 2.5/Players Distance iron

What you need to know about the Wilson Staff D9 Forged iron

They’re for better players who crave distance

With five iron models in the Wilson line-up it’s really easy to get confused about which best suits you and your game. The new D9 Forged is a Player’s Distance model, which means it typically suits golfers anywhere between a 6 and 14 handicap.

Wilson like to say it’s a great choice for players’ that crave distance. If your ball striking’s erratic, you’d be well advised to look at the original D9 which launched in 2020, as it’s oversized cast head is more forgiving on off centre strikes.

Improved speed on heel side misses

As part of their natural R&D processes Wilson ran extensive player testing sessions to look at the difference in ball striking from low handicappers (9 and below) to high handicappers (10 and above).

The research team mapped every impact onto the face of an iron, and what they spotted was how higher handicappers missed more shots to the toe (72% of misses came in this area), where lower handicap misses were more to the heel side of centre (43%).

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As the D9 Forged targets above average golfers Wilson have had their engineers make the heel side of the face hotter. Were talking 1.2mph faster than the previous D7 Forged iron, which means more power from mishits but also added spin and distance consistency too.

Power holes 2.0

Wilson have employed computer power to run thousands of calculations on the shape size and location of their power hole technology since the original C200 iron was launched back in 2016.

For the new D9 Forged, Wilson’s engineers handed over 10 Power Hole parameters to the computer to optimise, including the number of holes per row, height and width of holes, the spacing between holes and the toe/heel bias of holes.

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The best configuration the computer came up with means the D9 Forged generates an additional 1mph of ball speed from the centre of the face over the previous D7 Forged, which equates to about 3 yards of extra carry distance.

To ensure a balanced set and because reasonable golfers often want more control than power and speed from their short irons Power Holes feature on the 4 – 7 iron, but don’t appear on the 8 – GW.

2-piece forged

Forged irons have come through a massive resurgence over the last few years, with the likes of Callaway, TaylorMade and Mizuno all introducing whole new families to suit all sorts of different players. To ensure the D9 offers a similar sound and feel to the very best each head is forged from two pieces of 8620 carbon steel just like the previous D7 and C300 Forged.

Wilson say a Power Chamber behind the D9’s face is smaller (than the previous D7 Forged), but because it doesn’t extend as far up the back of the face it’s possible to lower the centre of gravity for higher flighted shots and steeper descent angles. The urethane filling is also great at dampening harsh impact vibrations.

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Compared to the D7 Forged iron

Brands don’t normally like comparing new products to their predecessor as they argue it’s never their intention to sell new clubs to golfers who’ve bought the previous model, instead their intended audience is golfers who’ve not changed equipment for several years.

But in the interests of showing the D9 Forged isn’t just another new model without improvement Wilson say compared to the D7 Forged the D9 delivers 1mph faster ball speeds, higher launching shots (0.3deg), a lower spin rate (193RPM), higher ball flight (3 yard peak height), a steeper descent angle (0.6deg), and 2.3 yards extra distance.

They also reckon the D9 Forged delivers 12 square yards of improved accuracy too. All in that sounds like just the sort of performance gains lots of decent club players want from a new forged players’ distance iron.

What Wilson say about the D9 Forged Iron

“Wilson is a brand synonymous with Major-winning forged irons and the D9 Forged iron follows in this proud tradition,” said Jon Pergande, Manager of Golf Club Innovation.

“We know our Power Hole Technology makes a real difference to the golfer’s strike, feel and launch of the ball. So putting it into the computer design process has allowed us to test hundreds of variations, culminating in the final design which is the most technologically advanced Forged iron we’ve ever produced and one that purists must try out.”

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Wilson D9 Forged Iron Review: How it performed on test

Today’s Golfer test verdict: The D9 is a very attractive package in 2022. Wilson make a big play about how their Power Hole technology in the sole boosts ball speeds across the face. Our data supports their thinking.

The model was among our fastest irons in the category, as our pro’s 124.2mph ball speed average was only bettered by two other irons (the Mizuno Pro 225 and Mizuno JPX921 Forged). Eleven yards of carry difference covered off all 13 models tested within this category, the D9 though stood out as it was just two yards back from our very longest.

Players’ Distance Irons Test 2022: Launch Monitor Data

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Simon Daddow is the Equipment Editor at todaysgolfer.co.uk

Simon has worked in the golf industry for 30 years. Starting out as trainee professional at Downes Crediton GC where he learned the art of golf club making, before going onto work for Clubhaus Plc and Tony Charles Ltd as a golf club maker, and running Product Development at Benross Golf.

Joining EMAP Active (now Bauer Media) in 2006 as Equipment Editor Simon has worked for Today’s Golfer and Golf World magazines and the Today’s Golfer website.
Simon has played golf for 40 years and plays to a handicap of 10. A lack of club speed means he’s short off the tee, but very handy from 125 yards and in.

You can contact Simon here.

      

Wilson Staff D9 Forged Iron

RRP: £792 (s), £882 (g)

Availability: 4-iron, 5–PW, GW

Stock shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold VVS 95R & 105S. Mamiya UST Recoil Dart (graphite)

Stock grip: Wilson Staff Lamkin Crossline

7-iron loft: 30.5°

Forgiveness rating / category: 2.5/Players Distance iron

Order the D9 Forged irons here