Wilson Golf has found a bit of a market in recent years with lower (and lower still) compression golf balls, offering incredibly soft feel while injecting some personality with a bevy of color options. Selling the balls at a reasonable price point completes the trifecta, and Wilson's found some avid players who love the Duo Soft line.
However, the company also wants a ball for a better player who demands more spin while retaining some of the soft feel that comes from lower compression. What they've come up with is the new Duo Professional, which is a firmer ball than the Duo Soft and checks in at a compression rating of 60 (higher than the Duo Urethane, its predecessor, by 5 compression rating points). At that compression, a better player can still get soft feel and put a little action on the ball around the greens and with wedge in hand.
The Duo Professional is a three-piece ball, retaining the softer cast-urethane color of a premium ball, with an ionomer middle layer, it creates up to 10 percent more spin than the Duo Urethane while retaining a distance-forward profile to keep it flying out there with its peers in the premium category. The softer core -- the biggest part of the ball -- keeps the compression and driver spin down to keep the ball going straight. A firmer mantle builds up the spin profile while retaining the overall softer feel in combo with the cast-urethane cover, which is actually 40 percent thinner than the Duo Urethane while offering deeper dimples in the same 362-dimple pattern.
Of course, what's a Wilson ball these days without a number of color options? The Duo Professional, selling Dec. 3 for $35 per dozen, will be available in gloss white, matte orange, matte yellow and matte green.
Wilson's hoping the mixture of personality, performance and price will lead to purchases and give a player with a more common swing speed the right blend of distance and spin for their game.
