There are a lot of golf balls made for better players. There are also a lot of golf balls made for slower players.
But what about golf balls made for improving players that have some speed? That's the market Wilson Golf is trying to address with their new Triad ball.
Wilson already has a strong tour-caliber offering in the Staff Model, which doesn't get nearly enough love for how well it stacks up against the competition. But the Triad isn't for that kind of low-handicapper. Rather, it's a three-piece urethane ball for a player who is shooting closer to 80 and has plenty of swing speed. A high-compression, tour-caliber ball isn't for them. A squishy, low-compression ball isn't for them, either.
The Triad name implies some things, like having three pieces, but it also features Tri-Balanced construction that's meant to offer performance this type of golfer needs.
Wilson says it created a higher-MOI ball to help golfers keep their shots online. They did this by moving mass in the ball from the core to the mantle and cover layers. That makes sense given what we know about club construction, and in ball materials it can work, too. By firming up the outer layers, that's how speed can be built throughout the bag, while also killing spin off the driver for a straighter flight.
Less spin, though? That sounds bad with a wedge in hand. However, the cast-urethane cover is Wilson's thinnest, and that's what allows the grooves of scoring clubs to create the friction and spin needed to attack in scoring position.
The ball doesn't have the compression that you'd expect in a tour-caliber ball. Rather it's more in the mid-compression category, with enough give for feel while using the firmer outer layers to still allow for speed.
The company also boasts about Triad's Tri-Balanced construction, which, as much as anything else, is about quality control. The company says all three layers are density-balanced to be uniform from layer to layer and ball to ball. Quality is an important manufacturing feature, and it's starting to get its due in marketing.
The Wilson Triad golf balls are available Feb. 15 for $40 per dozen.
