Mizuno has long been a “name” in the golf industry. The irons they produce have been the gold standard for many tour players and can be found in the bags of quite a few good players at clubs around the world. I’ve owned a set and been a fan for a long time.
One area that they have struggled in market share is woods. Whether it’s drivers, fairway, or now hybrids, Mizuno hasn’t quite captured the hearts of golfers in this category quite as much as their irons have. That hasn’t stopped Mizuno though. Over the past few years they have started showing up in bags of players of all skills.
The new MX-700 Hybrid is one of those clubs. I put a hybrid in my bag over three years ago and have loved it. More players than not sport at least one hybrid in their bags and Mizuno wants that market share. Their latest introduction, the MX-700 Hybrid, is aimed at a mid-level player looking for some more forgiveness but not sacrifice the feel and feedback that most Mizuno players have come to love. Will it do the job? Read on to find out.
Build and Technology
The MX-700 Hybrid, as you would expect from Mizuno, has a very solid build. The face is made up of a thin and light weight ES230 “Hot Metal” steel face which helps produce an increased ball speed. That face is then plasma welded to a 4-31 stainless steel body. According to Mizuno, this “expands the COR area resulting in high, long and accurate shots.”
One of the more progressive design aspects of the MX-700 Hybrid is the “Drop Down Crown.” The top of the club has a higher section along the face of the club and then drops down – steeply – towards the back of the club. This design has been done specifically to drop the center of gravity (COG) lower and deeper, a trend in many woods and hybrids today.
Here you can see the face made of the light weight ES230 “Hot Metal” steel.
Mizuno, like other companies, has also developed a shaft specifically for their hybrids. Their Exsar HS4 Hybrid shaft is the stock version that comes with the MX-700 and was designed to maximize its performance.
Look and Feel
Not only does Mizuno have some of the best performing irons out there, they are very good looking as well. The MX-700 is a mixed bag to me with some parts I like and some that I’m indifferent about.
The top of the club looks very similar to my old TaylorMade Rescue TP. The front of the club is grey and then switches to a dark blue with some light design patterns in it. While I wasn’t a big fan of the look of the TaylorMade TP, I like the MX-700 a bit more. It isn’t perfect in that I prefer a more seamless look with a color transition that isn’t as drastic. My guess is that Mizuno wanted to differentiate and highlight the “Drop Down Crown” design on the top of the club – as seen on the right.
The bottom of the club is a bit busier with a similar grey-to-dark blue transition with a darker grey between the lighter “steel” color and the blue. Set in the steel and blue are some nice yellow accents. I’m not as picky about the bottom of the club since you don’t look at it until you are putting it back in the bag after you’ve hit it. If I had to rate it, it would be good.
As for the feel of the MX-700, that is where it really shines. It doesn’t feel too heavy or too light in your hands and sets down very well behind the ball and doesn’t fall open as some woods and hybrids tend to do at address.
When hitting the ball it gives you a good crack and not the high-pitched sounds some woods might produces. You won’t barely feel the ball come off the face though as this is more a game-improvement club and won’t provide a lot of feedback, so keep that in mind. Regardless, the MX-700 is good on the looks side but great on the feel, which is more important to me.
Here’s another good look at the Drop Down Crown that Mizuno incorporated into the MX-700 Hybrid.
Performance
There are a few different areas I like to evaluate hybrids when performing a review. I’ll start with one of the hardest shots for me personally – the high and soft 225-yard shot.
I’ll repeat from previous review, but this is a shot I wanted in my bag for years and could never produce it. A 3-wood is too hot (and too much) and I can’t carry a 2- or 3-iron that far. My low ball flight and lack of Tigeresque club head speed keeps me from carrying any iron longer than 210 and not screaming through the green. The hybrid, though, offers the true solution.
I’ve owned two TaylorMade hybrids over the past few years that gave me the desired result to the above problem. When struck well, I can carry a ball over 225 yards and it won’t go skidding through a green. Any replacement or new hybrid must have this shot. It’s a requirement for me.
A look a the MX-700 (on left) compared to the recently reviewed TaylorMade 09.
To perform a test to see if the MX-700 Hybrid was able to produce the desired result I hit a sequence of balls from about 225 out with both the MX-700 Hybrid and my current TaylorMade 19° hybrid. The TaylorMade performed as I’ve described. I was able to carry the ball onto the green without too much difficulty. The ball flight was high, but did not float or seem to spin too much. The MX-700 Hybrid had a very similar result and only differed in a couple ways. First, the ball still bored through the air but was slightly higher, possibly due to the extra degree of loft on the Mizuno. Second, because of this slightly higher ball flight the balls landed just short of where the TaylorMade did. Not a big difference, but the Mizuno seemed slightly shorter.
The next area I took the Mizuno out to test was off the tee. Often times on short par fours I like to have another option other than a fairway metal or iron. I can’t hit the stingers like the guys on tour but a hybrid that I can hit relatively straight and for decent length is a good alternative. I thought the Mizuno did admirably in this area. I never popped the ball up off the tee and could routinely hit the ball 230+. If you’re playing a short par four with a tough angle and want place the ball more accurately, the Mizuno is a very good option.
The Mizuno MX-700 performed quite well in most aspects and would make a solid addition to just about anyone’s bag.
The last area I like to review hybrids is in its “recueability” – which is the ability get you out of trouble. There are three rescue shots I like to run through with any hybrid. The first is out of some thick rough. I had no problems at all getting down the ball with the Mizuno. In fact, it probably outdid my TaylorMade in that respect. The bermuda grass isn’t too thick right now but I found some tall fescue that wasn’t a match.
The next trouble area to test was the thin lie. The Mizuno performed well. I was able to make a clean strike and still advance the ball close to what I’d expect with a normal lie. The TaylorMade is slightly better in this category of shot but not too far off.
The punch shot is the last shot I tried out. You could be behind a tree or playing a links golf course in the UK. Regardless, the punch shot comes in handy at times. I was able to make clean contact but the ball was launched a bit high for my liking. This is one of the areas that probably come at a sacrifice of the 225 yard shot. If you want a higher launching hybrid, it may not translate into a good punch club.
Overall, Mizuno has a very well performing hybrid on their hands. You won’t find too many shots that you can’t pull off with this new club. You wouldn’t know this hybrid was targeted at a game improvement market.
Options & Extras
There are numerous options that come with the new MX-700 Hybrid. I received the 20 degree version but there are also a 17, 23 and 26 degrees available.
As for shafts, like I said earlier, the Exsar HS 4 is the stock shaft and does the job just fine. If you really want a different shaft, then Mizuno can put in just about any of the main shafts on the market including steel shafts. Graffaloy, Fujikura, UST ProForce V2 and the Mitsubishi Diamana are just a few of the options.
A well designed and functional headcover comes with the MX-700.
The headcover is similar to my TaylorMade and is a solid accessory that fits snugly around the clubhead. No worries about losing this headcover if you hit some hard bumps with your cart. It even looks nice too.
Conclusion
I give the MX-700 Hybrid a big thumbs up. I thought that something that’s considered a game-improvement club would feel all together different. I even had another low single digit handicap golfer give it a few swings and he instantly liked it.
The 20° may be a bit high for me, but the forgiveness in the Mizuno was noticeable. I may have not been able to hit it as far as my current TaylorMade, but I hit less bad shots – which is never a bad thing. If you’re in the market for a new hybrid I’d suggest checking the new Mizuno out. I think it could fit in the bag of golfers with just about any handicap alongside all those irons I’ve seen.
I put this club in my bag several months back with absolutely no regrets. It’s just flat out a great club.
Is the club draw biased, or closed face. I am a normally a hooker and have found most hybrids end up giving me a snap hook. I also have a low ball flight so its hard to get a club that works for me, as high laugh and open face seem to never be offered in a hybrid.
You’re a hooker???
I agree this club is amazing, I have turned many of my golf buddies to this club and thank me for it almost every round they play. I dont carry one currently, but it will probably be very soon.
It has a great feel, great sound, and the ball just seems to explode off the face. Not to mention its super strait.
I am also wanting to know if this is a draw biased club or how much offset is on this club.
I wonder if these are similar to the MX-950 hybrids?
I have the MX-950 hybrids, and if these are quite similar there won’t be a need to spend the money.
“Drop Down Crown”… That’s pretty similar to Cleveland Golf’s first hybrid, the Halo. Nothing new here.
Can anyone compare this Mizuno to the Cobra TWS hybrid?
Yeah I have the same question as Ian. How does it compare to the Cobra hybrids. I’m a big Mizuno irons fan but steer clear of their other offerings. The Cobra DWS ‘Baffler’ 3 ( note I did not say the TWS ) is the best I have found ( especially compared to the newer TWS ) hands down. I did an exhaustive search traveling to many grass range demo days and now the same club is in 4 other scratch golfers bags and we all have different swings- I’m dead straight and compress the ball high, one draws and bombs, one is low and brutally long, and the other is a up and coming junior who traded in his almost free Titleist for a used DWS on eBay. 4 different swings and this club pleases us all so the Mizuno HAS to be very good for me to switch. As soon as someone can compare ( and hits consistently ) post your comments. I guess the real question is how the stock Mizuno shaft performs?
The Cobra DWS uses an Alida NV HL 65g which is it’s key in this case.
Being left handed leaves you limited on what you can play as the rest of you lefties out there know. I own a set of Mizuno X-200 irons and bought the 20 and 23 degree hybrids, we can’t get the 17 and 26 degree. These two are worth every penny I paid for them and more. I have used the cobra bafflers and the Taylormade and these are much easier to hit and extremely accurate. Today I got a MX-700 3 wood hoping the low profile face will hit off the fairway as good as the hybrids. It may be just me, but I beleive Mizuno has the best equiment going. After I try the 3 wood in the morning, I’ll write something on it to see how it stands up to my Callaway GGB and Taylormade Firesole 3 woods. I have a feeling the Mizuno will win out and be the only one I use from now on.
I currently play a titleist 585.h 19 degree (s300), but after loving a new set of mizuno mp 52 irons im wondering if this hybrid may be the way to go. how would you compare the two? for the record i still use the OLD titleist 975d and 975f with the TT ei-70s
Played my first round with a MX 700 hybrid 17 deg with the stock stiff shaft and surprising loved its feel. Normally hit my 2 iron 2hi fli 225 and 3 wood 275 yds here in the Colorado altitude and this club is a nice 240-250 yd club with a nice high easy draw. No snap hooks. Hit 25 balls at the range with it and thought it was very consisent and had a nice feel. I’m a long hitter with a 4 handicap and it has 10+ years since I carried a 5 wood. Finally gave into getting a hybrid to complement my other mizuno clubs. It will definitely stay in the bag for now. Still love my 2 iron hi fli and can’t replace it just yet.
Have not played a round with it yet, but the last 3 visits at the driving range have been far too impressive with the mx-300 hybrid. It has such a good feel to it, not to mention the accuracy. I pointed out to a flag about 210 yards and hit 3 shots within a 4 yeard dispersion. I went from an R7 TM hybrid to the adams Pro gold hybrid and the Mizuno just blew them away with accuracy and consistency. I also noticed, as other people suggest, that hitting down on the club like an iron will give you the shot you want. I can not wait to try it this weekend on the golf course.
I purchased one a couple of days ago and absolutely love the club. I play well with Irons but lost confidence with my woods . The MX 700 doeas what it says on the box and performs great.Rebuilts confidence in shotmaking.Well done Mizuno
Picked up the 23 degree in LH at a really good price. Really nice results. First Hybrid purchased, since my swing speed in down a bit, and I’m not getting the same distance from my 3 and 4 irons as I did 10 years back. You can definitely play shots with this stick. Off the tee with a good square set up, it’s right down the pipe with a mid high trajectory. Hitting from fairway presented no problem. I play it mid forward and strike with a slight descending angle. Good results. Now I’m looking to pick up the 20 degree for a bit more distance.
I’ve sampled both Taylor Made burner and Callaway Diablo Edge hybrids, and truthfully this stick is more forgiving and at least equal in distance.
Great little club in 20 degrees . maybe it’s because I play Mizuno blades , but I get really good feedback in the hands . Funny thing is at the range , the guys think it’s a taylormade , til they look at the bottom of the club . It’s got a higher flight , but doesn’t balloon . Nice carry . Biggest problem you’re going to have w/ this club ………is finding excuses to hit during play . You’re going to want to hit it on every hole , it’s just a fun club to hit . Ans , after all , isn’t that the key …….to have a good time . Have a friend , or family member hit this club , and watch their faces light up . Senior golfers will love the flight , as will the ladies . It just brings a smile to your face …….and score card.
in the mx 700 what is the 17 20 23 25 equal in an iron set