Golf Unfiltered®

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Wilson Staff Model CB Irons Review

Wilson Golf’s new Staff Model CB irons are inspired by their popular V6 model from last year, providing a touch more forgiveness without sacrificing workability and a tour-inspired design profile.

Wilson Staff Model CB Technology

All-in-all, the new Wilson Staff Model CB is an iron a step or two above the traditional muscle back design with just enough added tech to help with launch, forgiveness and feel.

“Wilson continues to strive to the make the best, most respected irons in the world,” said Jon Pergande Manager of Golf Club Innovation. “The Staff Model CB Irons are aesthetically pleasing to the elite player and with the new Tri-Brace stabilizer providing a structural connection between the topline and the central impact mass we have stabilized the topline enhancing the energy transfer to the ball while also providing improved sound and feel.”

What that all means is the Staff Model CB features a design that stabilizes impact by way of “connecting” the iron’s topline (what you see at address when looking down at the ball) with the sweet spot (where you hopefully make contact). This is done to promote a more solid feel and predictable ball speeds on every swing, without the clubhead doing anything funky at impact.

A forged 8620 carbon steel face is backed by an integrated Impact Mass Area, providing solid, muscle back-like feel, but with a cavity back design, delivering maximum consistency during shot shaping.

“We listened to and worked closely with our advisory staff and tour professionals to create the Wilson Staff Model CB Irons,” Pergande continued, “The CB Irons combine the best of V6 and Staff Model blade to create our most advanced forged irons, the CB Irons will meet all the needs for the advanced player.”

The new CB Irons are clad in a nickel-chrome plating, a high-end mirror finish and completed with True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips.

Performance and Feel

I was able to test two irons from the new Staff Model CB set: a 5-iron and 7-iron. The design of the irons is certainly something any golfer will love, with minimal graphics and a muted cavity design that still looks like a tour-caliber iron makeup. The topline is still on the moderate-to-thin side of the spectrum, which helps the iron to frame the ball nicely at address.

At impact, the Staff Model CB’s feel fantastic. They offer a solid, strong feel that resonates up the golf shaft and into your hands, making center strikes feel soft and powerful. Fat or thin shots are definitely punished, but still manageable from a forgiveness standpoint. These irons provide just enough feedback to you when you miss hit a shot, which is important for golfers skilled enough to play these clubs.

On that point, while these irons are more forgiving than a muscle back, I’d still say they fall into a mid-to-low handicap bucket. The 5-iron is still a bit thinner than you’d expect from a true cavity back, and there are definitely more forgiving options on the market. But when struck well, the Staff Model CB ranks right up there with some of the best-feeling irons I’ve ever hit. They’re that solid.

You’re not going to get big distance gains from these irons, and that’s not the point. They performed similar to most other player-profile cavity backs I’ve tried, so I knew what to expect in terms of yardages.

Overall Impression

The Wilson Staff Model CB irons are a very well-made, tour-inspired iron that will appeal most to mid-to-low handicappers. Distances were right in line with what you’d expect from this iron category, which is to say they are predictable and consistent. While not the most forgiving irons out there, they feel incredibly solid with the right amount of feedback to help you fine-tune your swing to constantly improve your game. These are one of the best irons Wilson has ever created in this category, no doubt.

The Wilson Staff CB irons are available on Wilson.com and all major retailers. Retail price for the CB irons is $999.99 Steel.