Review: Williams Golf FW-32 Driver
A golf club with F1 racing precision and aerodynamics
Williams Sports have been designing and racing F1 cars for years. Their attention to detail and aerodynamics has put them in the winner's circle many times. They decided to bring that passion and science to the golf club industry. They made their first big splash at the 2010 PGA show announcing their $50,000 set of exclusive clubs. This certainly turned heads, but the reality is that there are only a very, very small few that would even consider such a purchase. Williams also designed a players line to appeal to the masses, especially their wallets. I like the idea of using the science of F1 racing and applying that to a golf club. It even comes with a book that describes the purpose of each fin and shows their wind tunnel testing to prove it. After playing numerous rounds with my Williams FW-32 driver I have to admit that it works too.
I decided that the 9* stiff flex driver should be the best fit for me. Upon arrival I inspected the club to see how a new manufacturer's quality would matched up with some of the other clubs I have. I was very impressed by the quality and precision of the club from top to bottom. Everything was spot on as far as loft, fit and finishes. This club just oozes quality. During that inspection it was impossible to miss the little details that make this driver different. There are fins, diffusers and foils all over the place, it does have a very F1 look to it.
On the course, all those fins, foils and weights worked well to create one of the straighter hitting drivers I have put in the bag. I did initially find some alignment struggles, but that was more my fault than the clubs fault. It hit a very flat low launching ball. I found it to be in the same length range as my other drivers. It didn't blow them away, but it was no slouch. I hit some very long drives with it under some ideal conditions. I think this might be one of the first drivers that really is a 9* driver. So many are stamped a certain degree, but are different when actually measured. Not with the Williams driver, if you order a 9* driver, you will be getting a 9* driver. If you typically play a 9.5 driver, I would consider getting the 10* model.
At address it looked very square to my eyes. It is a wider, flatter head overall. It was very forgiving and really just wanted to hit straight, I didn't have a lot of movement on the ball right or left.
The proprietary Fujikura shaft is 68grams and reminded me of the F1 Motore shaft, which really would have made a great stock shaft anyways. It was very similar, just a slightly different weight, but the bend profile and feel were very similar.
The sound on this driver is a very pleasant muted thwack. It is not tinny in any way. The fell is also very solid. It had that good sweet spot pop, with a sense of force behind the ball.
The finishing touches of a white dual compound grip and the magnetic headcover are all signs of a company doing it right and not cutting corners on this driver.
For a company's first driver, it is an excellent product. It can clearly compete with the well-known and well-established companies in the golf industry. The only knock on Williams FW-32 driver would be the limited amount of options. There are 4 lofts, 3 flexes of shafts and that is about it. Everything that is used on this club is proprietary and exclusive. There are no optional shafts or grips. Their stock set up was all designed as one package. I'm hoping that over time it will change because there are just simply too many variations in golfer swings for the limited options. But if you like a low launching, straight hitting driver, and their specs fit, the Williams FW-32 Driver is a good choice.
For more information: http://www.williams-sports.co.uk
Williams Sports have been designing and racing F1 cars for years. Their attention to detail and aerodynamics has put them in the winner's circle many times. They decided to bring that passion and science to the golf club industry. They made their first big splash at the 2010 PGA show announcing their $50,000 set of exclusive clubs. This certainly turned heads, but the reality is that there are only a very, very small few that would even consider such a purchase. Williams also designed a players line to appeal to the masses, especially their wallets. I like the idea of using the science of F1 racing and applying that to a golf club. It even comes with a book that describes the purpose of each fin and shows their wind tunnel testing to prove it. After playing numerous rounds with my Williams FW-32 driver I have to admit that it works too.
I decided that the 9* stiff flex driver should be the best fit for me. Upon arrival I inspected the club to see how a new manufacturer's quality would matched up with some of the other clubs I have. I was very impressed by the quality and precision of the club from top to bottom. Everything was spot on as far as loft, fit and finishes. This club just oozes quality. During that inspection it was impossible to miss the little details that make this driver different. There are fins, diffusers and foils all over the place, it does have a very F1 look to it.
On the course, all those fins, foils and weights worked well to create one of the straighter hitting drivers I have put in the bag. I did initially find some alignment struggles, but that was more my fault than the clubs fault. It hit a very flat low launching ball. I found it to be in the same length range as my other drivers. It didn't blow them away, but it was no slouch. I hit some very long drives with it under some ideal conditions. I think this might be one of the first drivers that really is a 9* driver. So many are stamped a certain degree, but are different when actually measured. Not with the Williams driver, if you order a 9* driver, you will be getting a 9* driver. If you typically play a 9.5 driver, I would consider getting the 10* model.
At address it looked very square to my eyes. It is a wider, flatter head overall. It was very forgiving and really just wanted to hit straight, I didn't have a lot of movement on the ball right or left.
The proprietary Fujikura shaft is 68grams and reminded me of the F1 Motore shaft, which really would have made a great stock shaft anyways. It was very similar, just a slightly different weight, but the bend profile and feel were very similar.
The sound on this driver is a very pleasant muted thwack. It is not tinny in any way. The fell is also very solid. It had that good sweet spot pop, with a sense of force behind the ball.
The finishing touches of a white dual compound grip and the magnetic headcover are all signs of a company doing it right and not cutting corners on this driver.
For a company's first driver, it is an excellent product. It can clearly compete with the well-known and well-established companies in the golf industry. The only knock on Williams FW-32 driver would be the limited amount of options. There are 4 lofts, 3 flexes of shafts and that is about it. Everything that is used on this club is proprietary and exclusive. There are no optional shafts or grips. Their stock set up was all designed as one package. I'm hoping that over time it will change because there are just simply too many variations in golfer swings for the limited options. But if you like a low launching, straight hitting driver, and their specs fit, the Williams FW-32 Driver is a good choice.
For more information: http://www.williams-sports.co.uk
