Wilson FG Tour F5 metals play weighting game

Wilson has proven that it can save weight when it comes to designing metalwoods. The company’s D200 SuperLight driver features a head that weighs just under 190 grams and a total weight that’s almost two ounces lighter than some of the leading drivers on the market.

But sometimes saving weight isn’t just about making the club lighter. Sometimes that saved weight is repurposed and repositioned. That’s exactly what Wilson is doing with its new FG Tour F5 metalwoods.

It all starts with the driver, and more specifically a new lightweight adjustable hosel mechanism that weighs just 5.3 grams and saves 12 percent compared to the hosel on the company’s M3 driver from two years ago. The ratcheted design allows for the club to be adjusted between one of six settings across a range of three degrees (minus-one degree to plus-two degrees).

“This is the lightest, smallest and we would argue easiest to use adjustable fitting system on the market today,” said Michael Vrska, Wilson’s global innovation director for golf. “But it’s it’s not just about making this club adjustable. It’s about moving the weight way forward and way lower, and as you move the weight forward, you take spin out and we move the weight significantly lower to get that launch angle back up.”

The saved weight of the hosel along with reduced weight through a thin, chemically etched crown design also allows for an adjustable weight to be placed low and forward in the sole to further promote lower spin. There are three weights included to choose from to match a player’s specs or ballflight needs (3, 7 and 11 grams).

Aimed at better players, the FG Tour F5 driver maintains the same stability on off-center hits as the M3 with a center of gravity that is about a fifth of an inch closer to the face to help reduce spin. The face is also slightly larger to increase forgiveness.

The FG Tour F5 line also includes fairway woods and hybrids with the same lighter weight, easier to adjust hosel mechanism. Like with the driver, the saved weight from the hosel mechanism allows more mass to be redistributed in the head itself, including a 7-gram weight in the sole.

In addition, each features a Carpenter 455 custom steel face insert to improve ballspeed. The adjustable hosel accommodates a range of 12.5 to 19 degrees of loft on the three fairway wood models, and the weight port on the fairway wood is 1.22 inches closer to the face compared to the M3 to reduce spin.

While the hybrids are compact at 100-110 cubic centimeters, the face sizes are larger compared to the M3 for more forgiveness. The hosel on the hybrids adjusts between standard, plus or minus one degree, and each of those settings has an upright lie angle option, as well.

The FG Tour F5 driver will be available in two lofts (9, 10.5 degrees), while the fairway woods (13.5, 15, 17) and hybrids (17, 20, 23 degrees) come in three lofts each. All three metalwoods will be in stores starting in January (FG Tour F5 driver, $380; FG Tour F5 fairway wood: $230; FG Tour F5 hybrid: $210).