Mizuno Woods

[Esox]

    I seldom see any talk anywhere about Mizuno drivers and fairways. I made a swap yesterday (a box of old mismatched hand tools) for a pristine, and drop dead gorgeous  12*  Mizuno ST-X driver with Evenflo Riptide R shaft. I wasn't looking for a new driver, but couldn't pass up the offer. After putting my preferred Midsize MCC+4 grip on it, it was off to the range. This club sits square at address, but definitely has a slight draw bias. My preferred shot shape is a power fade, and when I squared these up, it usually went dead straight unless I consciously faded it. But they are definitely workable, unlike many "draw biased" drivers out there. I can turn it over readily, but a few got away from me. We ne3d to get better acquainted with each other. The sweet spot is slightly to the hosel side, like a Vokey. Perhaps not as forgiving as many clubs on lateral mishits, the face is not as wide and taller than average, great for me, whose misses tend to be vertical misses, not horizontal. With the deeper face, the CG is a little higher, and the driver doesn't launch quite as high as the loft would lead one to believe it would. I'm going to stick it in the bag next to the G400 tomorrow and see how it goes in real life at a scramble I'm in. Mizuno seems to be making some good woods at a lower than average price, I don't understand why there isn't much buzz about them.

[ChetlovesMer]

2 hours ago, Esox said:

    I seldom see any talk anywhere about Mizuno drivers and fairways. I made a swap yesterday (a box of old mismatched hand tools) for a pristine, and drop dead gorgeous  12*  Mizuno ST-X driver with Evenflo Riptide R shaft. I wasn't looking for a new driver, but couldn't pass up the offer. After putting my preferred Midsize MCC+4 grip on it, it was off to the range. This club sits square at address, but definitely has a slight draw bias. My preferred shot shape is a power fade, and when I squared these up, it usually went dead straight unless I consciously faded it. But they are definitely workable, unlike many "draw biased" drivers out there. I can turn it over readily, but a few got away from me. We ne3d to get better acquainted with each other. The sweet spot is slightly to the hosel side, like a Vokey. Perhaps not as forgiving as many clubs on lateral mishits, the face is not as wide and taller than average, great for me, whose misses tend to be vertical misses, not horizontal. With the deeper face, the CG is a little higher, and the driver doesn't launch quite as high as the loft would lead one to believe it would. I'm going to stick it in the bag next to the G400 tomorrow and see how it goes in real life at a scramble I'm in. Mizuno seems to be making some good woods at a lower than average price, I don't understand why there isn't much buzz about them.

I recently read an article about Mizuno and one of their big-wigs was talking about how for a long time metal-woods were an after-thought for Mizuno. Even within the walls of their own building. He said 3 years ago that all changed. They now have a separate engineering group that just works on metal-woods; They are a separate team from the iron guys. The company now has a legitimate focus on metal woods. He was quick to point out that he thinks they made some great metal woods even before the change, but now he believes they are making some of the best stuff on the market. 

I've hit them and they seem as good as anything else out there. 

... Well, anything besides THE HAMMER ........ POW!

[Esox]

A couple rounds in and I am sold. Not quite as forgiving on bad misses as some other clubs, but the club is definitely a fairway finder on my average misses.. And it really does tame the runaway push slice I can get when my wrist is acting up, but isn't a hook monster when I am swinging well. Interesting how they did all this with a club that sets up square.

[nvkevin]

Great review.  I had one of the old Mizuno drivers (MP-630, or something like that, I think) and it wasn't the best driver by any means.  I have since shied away from Mizuno woods and drivers, but I will say that these new offerings are intriguing.  So much so that I will be hitting them this weekend when I am in Reno (NE Nevada doesn't have much in the way of "stocked" pro shops) while I am shopping for a new fairway wood, and possibly hybrid.  Everything I am reading seems to be pointing in the right direction, so I'm going to give them a shot.

Thanks for the review!!