There’s a subset of golfers who get overly excited by a brand new Mizuno launch. If golf producers had been soccer (soccer) groups, Mizuno are Arsenal: Perennially among the many finest however all the time the slight underdog, with a rabid fanbase who, whereas hoping for a vibrant future, fondly reminisce about former glories.
However at The Open this week at Royal Liverpool, not solely have Mizuno unveiled some wedges that may attraction to the Mizuno fanboys, they’ve unveiled a driver that may get an entire completely different subset of golfers’ hearts pounding quick.
ST-G Driver
Driver head shapes have usually gotten flatter with shallower faces. Big pancakes, if you’ll. And since practically everyone seems to be attempting to place the centre of gravity low and rear, drivers are beginning to share an identical form at handle.
However there’s a bunch of web golf gearheads who obsess over deep-faced drivers. And I imply DEEP. From the fabled TaylorMade R7 SuperQuad 282 and R9 SuperDeep, the COBRA Pace Professional D and the Bridgestone J33, they had been constructed to be teed excessive and let fly.
Nothing in current instances has appealed to the low-spin obsessed, apart from possibly a few obscure Japanese fashions from J-Beam and Baldo.
Enter the Mizuno ST-G. We don’t know an excessive amount of about it. However look how deep that face is. We all know it has a 440-cc head. We all know it has a solid Ti-LFS face. We don’t know what “LFS” means and, wanting on-line, there may be nothing apparent that matches up. If we had been to guess, it will be a quicker materials/extra elastic materials exterior of the candy spot. At first look, it doesn’t seem to have any carbon within the crown and none within the sole.
The Mizuno ST-G driver has two weight tracks that go from the entrance to the again of the only. Having each weights behind the face will lower launch and spin, whereas having them behind the pinnacle will enhance the clubheads MOI, serving to to extend launch and spin. Numerous different weight location combos might be utilized to affect the gamers shot form.
We will see the Mizuno ST-G has the identical CORTECH Chamber because the ST-X 230 and ST-Z 230. This hasn’t been designed to interchange these drivers, however to enhance them. In my driver testing this 12 months, the ST-Z 230 was the best-feeling driver, bar none. However I couldn’t get the right combo of launch and spin. I’m actually excited to present this a whack.
There are different smaller-headed, lower-spin drivers on the market just like the Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond, PING G430 LST and the Titleist TSR4. However none of them captures the testosterone fuelled, low-spin essence of 2000’s on-line golf fairly like this driver seems to.
ST-G Fairways
Titanium fairway woods have turn out to be common since TaylorMade began producing cannons. From the unique TaylorMade SIM Ti, by to the newest TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus, these titanium fairway woods are designed to be quick off the face, and low-spin. They usually aren’t the one ones both, with PING following the identical method for his or her new G430 LST three wooden as effectively.
However Mizuno had been one of many first to carry titanium to a participant’s fairway wooden with the gorgeous MP Titanium from 2010. So anybody saying this simply appears like a TaylorMade SIM Ti ought to examine their golf membership historical past. We’ve not been advised a lot, apart from it’s an all-titanium low-spin design. Whereas there are not any adjustable weights, there may be an adjustable hosel. And it’s going to be out there in at the least a 3- and 5-wood possibility.
Marco Penge, an enormous hitting Mizuno Employees participant from the European Problem Tour certified for the Open Championship, and was the primary participant to take one out on target. The previous baby prodigy completely hammers it, with Mizuno stating he has the very best swing velocity of any participant on their tour workers. That makes it a good guess to count on the ST-G to be a low-spin, rocket launching fairway wooden.
T24 Wedges
Mizuno have mentioned there aren’t going to be any new irons this 12 months so this would be the most extremely anticipated launch for his or her followers.
The T-22 was an excellent success for the Japanese model. It felt tender with its solid head and copper underlay and it carried out admirably in moist situations, plus it got here in a bunch of grinds and finishes. It was proper within the combine in our 2021 Most Wished Wedge check. Nevertheless it had some foibles. Whereas they provided wedges in a wide range of lofts and lies, they had been utilizing a base wedge design after which bending them to spec. However this might result in some discrepancies in a set of wedges with some being offset and others showing onset.
From what we will see, these wedges have mounted that, with lofts stamped into the pinnacle. They’re grain circulation solid from 1025 boron metal. They preserve the Spin Weighted Blade Design, placing extra weight on the prime of the clubhead to lift the centre of gravity for decrease launch and better spin.
We all know there’s a new V sole grind which appears to have closely cambered reduction on the again edge. The USGA conforming listing suggests that is along with the present T-22 grind choices. And we all know they’re out there in Tour Uncooked, White Satin Chrome, and a returning Denim Copper end which has confirmed extra common than they might have ever imagined.
These woods and wedges, scheduled to launch this October, are the appetizer for 2024’s Mizuno Professional entrée. We’ll share extra particulars as quickly as we get them.