Wilson Duo Soft Optix Golf Ball Review

Wilson Duo Soft Optix Golf Ball Review

Wilson Duo Soft Optix Golf Ball 
Grade: A
Teachers’ Comments: It’s the excellent Duo Soft with a new skin.

I have been a fan of the low compression Wilson Duo since I picked up my first sleeve in 2012. As a golfer with a lower swing speed, the Duo lets me effectively compress the ball, resulting more distance and, I think, more accuracy.

Now Wilson has packaged the Duo in a new colored matte finish, moving into the space previously owned exclusively by Volvik (although Vice also makes a matte finish green and red).  The Duo Soft Optix comes in red, green, orange, yellow, and pink as well as a Women’s DUO Soft in matte white.

While the original Duo had a 40 compression,  the latest takes it down to 29 and adds a new softer ionomer cover. The Duo Soft also has a more shallow dimple pattern. That combination, Wilson says, results in longer, straighter shots.

Wilson recently sent four sleeves of the orange and yellow Duo Soft Optix golf balls for review. It’s late in the season here in Michigan, but the weather has been cooperating. I have played three rounds with the Duo Soft Optix and it reminded me why this ball was my gamer for such a long time. It is a great distance ball at my swing speed. I can feel the compression, as balls come powerfully off the clubface. The Duo Soft goes a long way.

I also was reminded of why I gravitated toward other balls, particularly the three piece Volvik Vivid. In mid summer, when my game has peaked after a winter’s layoff, I am swinging faster, and start looking for a three piece ball that can offer a little more touch and spin from a hundred yards in.

Economists know that everything in life involves a trade-off. Choosing is refusing. If I choose to play golf, I simultaneously refuse to work on this blog, or do housework, or any of the bazillion other things that I could do. The question is simply how do I prioritize given the constraints of time and money?

With golf balls, if I choose a soft feel and distance, there also are going to be trade-offs, especially at the Wilson Duo price point of $20. The set of features chosen by the engineers of the Wilson Duo Soft make it suitable for slower swingers looking for more distance, but not players with higher swing speeds. The Duo Soft Optix also does not stop as quickly on the greens as many 3-, 4- and 5-piece balls.

If you are a slower swinger and willing to pick up some distance at the cost of green spin, the give the Wilson Duo Soft a try.

The Wilson Duo Soft Optix Golf Ball Review was first published December 6, 2017.