Check out the ratings and you will see that everyone else loves these clubs. Before you spend your hard earned money on a set of overly expensive clubs, let's take a look a differing opinion....

THE "REAL DEAL"?

I don't know what it is but, we all seem to know of someone who buys a new set of clubs every year or so. How they can afford to do this is beyond me. One of my friends has more money invested in his clubs than he does in his car! His latest purchase was a set of Wilson Fat Shaft irons.

Well, I play a set of Mizuno blades. Because Mizuno uses a super soft metal, my irons are starting to get pretty well nicked up. So I asked my friend if I could use his Fat Shafts for a few rounds. "A couple of rounds?" he asks. "Shoot, I'd almost give them to you. Take them for a month or two, they stink!". Well, actually, he used a few more "choice" words in describing them. But in my mind I thought, "Hey, I might be able to get a good set of clubs for next to nothing!" So off I went, a bag full of new clubs and a big ol' smile on my face for having come across the deal of the century.

The clubs I played have a stiff shaft and are the standard length. I play to a 3 handicap and have tried many many different clubs. Still, nothing would have prepared me for the way the Fat Shafts set up. When I looked down, it seemed as though someone had changed out the normal shaft for a baseball bat! These things are huge. But for the price that I figure I could get them for, and since everyone on Epinions.com seems to love these clubs, who am I to complain?

UH-OH

Whack! Off went the first ball at the range. The next three or four balls went out in a similar fashion. Compared to what I have been playing, the Fat Shafts seem to hit the ball on a noticably higher trajectory. A slight wind was blowing (maybe 10 mph), but try as I might, I could not make the ball bore through the wind. It just floated up and died. The guy next to me was hitting a set of Hawkeyes, so I asked him if I could try his 5 iron out. Boom, like a cannon the ball took off nice and evenly through the wind just as I wanted it to. After seeing how well I could work the ball with the Hawkeye, I went back to the Fat Shafts. Once again, the ball went out 10 yards shorter than my Mizunos and the Hawkeyes.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

My tee time was up so off I went to play. Throughout the entire round I had to drop down a club from what I would have normally used. Admittedly, the few mis-hits that I had performed much better than my Mizunos, but that is to be expected when comparing blades to cavity-backed irons. As for slicing or hooking, the Fat Shafts were a run-of-the-mill club. A slice swing will produce a slice and a hook swing will produce a hook. The Fat Shafts will do nothing to correct a bad swing.

By the end of my round, I was sick of seeing that humungous shaft staring back at me. But more than that, the Fat Shafts weren't any better than anything else on the market. Wilson seems to have taken their typical old design and slapped a super thick shaft on it. Have a look at the head of the club. There is nothing remarkable about it. Now, the shaft may be a little less likely to twist at impact. But after reading up on the subject, the truth is, the amount of torque that a normal hit produces is next to nothing. If you constantly hit your shots "fat" or dig into the ground, you may notice a bit of difference. But why pay all of this money on clubs when the solution for "fat" shots is your swing - not your clubs? Think about it!

FATTER SHAFTS = LEANER WALLETS

So let's stand back and take a look at this... First, the Fat Shaft Technology arguement that Wilson is pushing, is honestly not going to make a bit of a difference. It just isn't. Secondly, if you break a shaft or want to change over to a different flex, you are stuck. No one except Wilson will be able to help you out. You have to send your club back to the factory and play short-handed until they send another one out. Third, the Fat Shaft irons are, at best, clubs for beginners. If that is your skill level and you have a wallet that needs to be lightened, go for it.

NOT IN THIS LIFE

After trying my friend's irons out for 6 or 7 rounds, I was so disgusted that I finally demanded that he take them back. "What? You don't want to buy them?" he asked. "No" I snarled, "I don't even want to see them". Even when he told me that he would sell them for $100, I turned him down. Now, when was the last time you heard of someone turning away a 3 month old set of very expensive clubs for next to nothing? That, in a nutshell, is how poor the Wilson Fat Shafts perform.

As a side-bar, my friend sold the clubs to an associate at his work. After only two months, the clubs were back up for sale. Do not - let me repeat that - DO NOT buy a set of these online or through a catalog unless you have compared them against other brands first. You will regret it for the rest of your golfing days.

CRYIN' SHAME

So, if by chance, you happen out onto the course one sunny afternoon and you are paired up with guy who has a bag full of Fat Shafts, have pity on the poor fool. He must be the sucker who bought the clubs off of my friend.


If you have found my Epinion to be helpful or even downright rotten, please feel free to leave a comment or rate my review. Thank you, DALE



Recommended: No