Wilson..

I always wondered what happend with Wilson or what direction they are going in when it comes to professional golf. They have a beautiful and informative site and the tour caliber golf equipment goes under the label of Wilson Staff. It seems recently that they're trying to make a come back into mainstream professional golf equipment.

One area where they do dominate the scene is professional tennis. Wilson tennis racquets are #1 in tennis and continues the tradition as the leading tennis racket brand on the ATP and WTA tour. Their Pro Staff 6.0/6.1 tennis racket was one of the most highly coveted rackets and played by professional tennis era giants like Chris Evert and Pete Sampras. To put it in some perspective, the Wilson Pro Staff 6.0/6.1 was about as popular as Titleist or Mizuno series of irons today.

They actually discontinued the model but Pete Sampras liked them so much he had them made for his career and they are still sold if you look around. Wilson is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to the tennis world today with players such as Roger Federer (#1 ranked player on the ATP), Venus and Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Justine Henin - Hardenne on their roster.

The high point of Wilson Golf seemed to be in 1983-1989 when their Wilson Staff irons were the #1 played iron on the tour. Equip2golf.com has a great section dedicated to the Wilson Staff iron. In 1990-1991 they were #1 with wedges on the tour, but then after that they fell off the face of the professional golf planet..oh yeah, they did have the "Fat Shaft" series played by John Huston at one time. Wilson Staff even had some decent players on their payroll at one time..you may have heard of them..Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Walter Hagan, Arnold Palmer, Nick Faldo, Payne Stewart, John Daly and oh yeah..Vijah Singh..to name a few. Nowadays, it seems that all you hear when it comes to tour caliber golf equipment is Titleist or Mizuno.

The Wilson Staff golf equipment currently out now look promising to bring them into the next level. They've done a beautful job of maintaining clean lines and creating something that would actually be played by a professionals, like Padraig Harrington and Jesper Parnevik. I can truly appreciate the conservative nature they've taken in design and the classic, timeless look. Their new drivers are the Pd6 and Dd6. The Df6 fairway wood and the Dh6 hybrid are also new for 2006. I currently play with thie Hb5 hybrid and eagerly wait to get my hands on the Dh6. Their line of irons and wedges are equally as appealing which include the Fi5, their flagship forged iron.

Wilson Staff has always been a venerable, professional golf equipment manufacturer and I hope that they achieve or regain the same legendary status they did back in the days and the way their tennis division is doing now.