Gear: Wilson Staff Model, Staff Model X balls
Price: $54.99 per dozen
Specs: Four-piece, urethane-covered balls, available in white and yellow.
Available: January 12
Who It’s For: Golfers who want to maximize greenside spin around the green and get elite distance off the tee.
The Skinny: Wilson reformulated the cores of the Staff Model and Staff Model X balls to improve distance off the tee and spin around the green.
The Deep Dive: Wilson makes all the footballs used in the NFL and all the tennis balls used in the U.S. Open tennis championship, so you can trust that the brand knows a thing or two about making high-quality golf balls too.
Wilson offers the Staff Duo for recreational golfers who want a soft, low-spinning ball to help straighten a slice and hit more fairways. For golfers who are looking to enhance their game with improved greenside spin, it offers the perimeter-weighted Triad. For elite players who want distance off the tee and maximum control around the greens, it has provided the Staff Model balls, and for 2024, the standard Staff Model and the Staff Model X have been updated.
The Staff Model and the Staff Model X are both four-piece balls designed with a large rubber core that is encased in two mantle layers. To help golfers generate more ball speed and distance, Wilson has modified the core composition and added material that magnifies energy on full-swing shots.
The cores of the Staff Model (left) and Staff Model X balls have been updated to provide more distance. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The core of each ball is encased in a soft inner mantle that is, in turn, covered by a firmer second mantle layer and then a thin urethane cover. The advantage of the two-mantle design is the softer inner mantle helps to reduce spin off the tee, while the firmer mantle layer helps the grooves in wedges and short irons grab the soft urethane cover more easily, so golfers should be able to create more spin on approach shots, chips and pitches.
The standard Staff Model has a slightly lower overall compression, so it will feel softer at impact, spin slightly less off the tee, and produce a lower ball flight with a golfer’s driver and long clubs.
The Staff Model X will feel firmer, produce a higher flight off the tee and generate slightly more spin around the green. The Staff Model X also produces marginally more spin off the tee, so golfers who like to work the ball from right to left or left to right with their woods and irons may be able to do that more easily with the X ball.