Whoops – USGA Says Wilson’s Triton Driver is Non-Conforming

By John Barba

We’re learning today that all Wilson Triton drivers, other than the 9° model used by Kevin Streelman, have been ruled non-conforming by the USGA.

Well, ain’t that a kick in the head!

Apparently, the One That Made The Cut has yet to make the one cut that really matters, and all of the potential brand goodwill and marketing momentum generated from the 7-week long Driver Vs Driver program is now taking hit.

Monumental embarrassment? Minor technical issue? A bit of both, depending on your point of view.

The Gamble

When Wilson launched the Triton on November 23^rd, the day after the Driver Vs Driver finale, it did so knowing the driver did not yet have USGA approval. Sources told MyGolfSpy at the time that the USGA hadn’t received their samples until early-to-mid November, so golf’s governing body simply didn’t have the time to fully test the product and issue a ruling. We were assured full approval would be a formality.

Obviously, it wasn’t.

Wilson clearly gambled. The company invested a ton of money and goodwill in Driver Vs Driver, and with the winning design shrouded in secrecy (the finale has been filmed in July), Wilson had to balance keeping a lid on the winner with any possible early leaks. The USGA releases updated lists of conforming products every Monday, and while it’s certain the USGA would have worked with Wilson to keep their winning design a secret, any delays in getting the product to the USGA for testing would delay the approval process.

And releasing a product for sale without that critical seal of approval clearly would never have happened if there wasn’t a TV show scheduled and a massive marketing and launch plan in motion.

Rock, meet Hard Place.

WHY NON-CONFORMING?

In an official statement released this morning, Wilson says the USGA has concerns with two of the Triton’s features.

The first is an aesthetic one involving the Triton’s interchangeable sole plates and the USGA’s “Plain in Shape” rule. Wilson will need to reduce the rear edge of the sole place a few millimeters to make sure the 10.5- and 12-degree loft heads conform. The 9-degree head was ruled conforming December 5^th.

The second issue has to do with the optional 12-gram weight in both the 10.5- and 12-degree accessory kits. Wilson says that in testing the driver with the maximum 24-grams of weight (the 12-gram weight and two 6-gram weights), and with the 12-gram weight placed in the sole of the club, the USGA found the CT (Characteristic Time – or how long the ball stays on the club face at impact) that was slightly above their allowable limits and testing tolerances. Wilson admits it never evaluated the Triton is that specific setup, and in fact, that weight configuration isn't even listed in the Triton's instruction sheet.

According to Wilson, that setup would, in combination with the heavier Titanium sole plate, result in a very heavy swingweight, with the driver set to a severe fade/slice bias.

In retrospect, however, not testing it classifies as a pretty big oversight.

If this were a normal product launch, all of these would have been corrected long before the product was ever introduced to the public. Wilson would have submitted prototypes to the USGA for testing, changes would have made and you and I would have never known about “Plain in Shape” rules or CT violations. But the entire Triton project hinged on getting that driver into stores November 23^rd, and Wilson was confident approval would be a mere formality.

Michael Vrska, Wilson’s Global Director of R&D, tells MyGolfSpy that this was a bit of a surprise.

“We would never have brought it to market if there was any concern of non-conformance,” says Vrska. “Still, we’ve been communicating with the USGA about this for a few weeks and received formal notification Friday, which is why we went public early this morning.”

The Fix

Starting immediately, Wilson will remove the optional 12-gram weight from all Triton accessory kits and will modify the Triton’s sole plates. They plan to resubmit to the USGA this week and say they’re confident the Triton will appear on the USGA’s conforming list next Monday.

Vrska says there will be no recall of existing retail inventory. “We’re working with retailers, pro shops and the like to supply new sole plates as quickly as possible.”

Once that ruling is in place, Wilson will swap out the old sole plates with the new conforming ones, which will be identified with a “DVD” logo. If you’ve already bought a Triton, Wilson is setting up an exchange program on their website (click here). You can register and they’ll notify you as soon as the sole plate exchange program begins.

They expect to start shipping the newly configured Triton’s starting January 1^st.

The Fallout

While clearly an embarrassing development given the hype of the program, anyone who bothers to read the fine print can see the fixes are minor. It’s going to cost Wilson some money to make right, and the company is already taking its lumps on social media. The schadenfreude of it all will no doubt delight trolls everywhere, but it would be a typical 2016 gross overreaction to say Wilson failed.

“We disagree with the USGA decision,” says Vrska. “We have a rich history of making innovative, Tour proven, conforming products and this doesn’t change that. We expect to have two Triton drivers in play on the PGA Tour right after the New Year. The response from stores and consumers has been overwhelmingly positive, and we expect that to continue.”

So, is this a stub of the toe? Absolutely. Embarrassing? No doubt.

A misstep for a brand reaching for the next level? Without question.

But is it a multi-million dollar blunder? I’d say highly doubtful, and it would be a shortsighted overreaction to say this whole thing has blown up in their face. The social media world has the attention span of a gnat, and this kerfuffle will be likely be forgotten once Tiger does anything on the golf course again, or the NFL decides the Steelers really did deflate footballs.

In the final analysis, Wilson knew it was taking a chance with the Triton launch timeline and made a mistake that’s getting the wrong kind of attention. But the company is taking ownership and making the necessary fixes to what is a pretty good driver.