FWiater

After several days of rigorous testing, and fitting, trying out several shafts, heads, and combinations thereof. We used the Mizuno swing analyzer that did a pretty good job on some starting recommendations to start with. Then used a GC Quad to dial in the numbers to my best fit. My last irons were Mp20 -mmc so I assumed I'd probably go for the 223's this year. But the numbers don't lie and I got the best dispersion, with the 225's overall. After I was finally dialed in, I ordered a set of 225's and T-22 copper wedges back in January. We called to make sure they could make them to my desired swing weights of D2 in the irons and D4 in the wedges. Having large hands I use CP2 wrap jumbo grips that weigh 80 grams. The clubs are plus 1" with Recoil ESX shafts in the irons, and KBS High rev 2.0 in the wedges. Mizuno said they would have no problem building them to my specs as the had several heads that were on the heavy side, and achieving my desired swing weights would be no problem. I reminded them that they missed the swing weight on my MP20-MMC's last year, and if they needed to charge more to swing weight them I'd pay, but I wanted them right this time, not half assed. About 3 weeks ago they came in. The irons were at C6-C7, and the wedges at D1-D1.5. These clubs were never checked, 5 lofts and 5 lies were off as well. For a company that prides itself on quality, this is un-acceptable. Mizuno offered to rebuild the set, but honestly my confidence was not big on them getting them right, or on it not taking several months to turn them around only to possibly get them back wrong again. I then contacted Jim @McGolf custom (http://www.mcgolf.net/) about rebuilding my clubs. He said he could do them so I sent them to Ohio to be disassembled, swing weighted, and spined. Jim was a complete professional, offering up some great advice on the specs, and the process. And then completing the quality work quickly even though this is a busy time for skilled clubmakers. If I had to do this over again, I would have just ordered a set of heads and had @McGolf do the rest. Mizuno builds some great heads, but their assembly and quality control is not very good right now. I have ordered custom specs from Ping and they always sent my order thru the Works department, they were spot on upon arrival. Thankfully I got a guy who takes pride in his work to fix these for me. Hitting bombs and throwing darts now, these are the best irons I have ever owned. Just need to oil up these old bones and I'm good for another season.

Just a FYI to anyone who has Mizuno clubs on order. They were hacked with ransomware, and there may be a slight delay in your order because of all the computers being down. They are still building clubs and special orders. Mizuno Hacked

Clubs look great. Might be time to change up that signature? Can't wait to get my 225's and T-22's when they ship.

14 Way bag for me, I have used 6 way but clubs move around too much. They start leaning every which way become tangled up in the bag. Also having jumbo grips the 14 with full length dividers let the clubs in and out much easier. neat appearance and easy to put back in the exact same spot each time. Professional caddies have all day to pull clubs, they never have to play shots. They don't pick the bag either, the MFG., gives them tour bags to use. They have to carry lots of extra stuff as there is no cart to set it in. More and larger pockets are needed, with extra towels etc. It's their only task on the course.

I spent about 18 hours hitting all of these new Mizuno models over 4 days. I have to say they are all very good. Coming off MP20-MMC's and Ping I210 sets last year, personally I like these better. Mizuno did seem to hype the 223 as having the most improvements, but they were actually quite similar in performance to my MP20-MMC's. The 221's are gorgeous but once you get past the 7 they are for elite ball strikers, and not my cup of tea. Getting to old these days to deliver the club consistently on the center face. I did a lot of back and forth between the 223 and 225. The 223 seemed a bit more forgiving than my MP20-MMC, distance control was similar, and they were a couple yards longer than my MMC's. But R to L dispersion was slightly better due to the added forgiveness. I loved the feel of the 225 on center strikes the best, probably the best feeling iron I have ever hit that I would actually play. Lofts on the 225 are a bit strong, but the launch angles are very similar to the 223 in actuality. Offset is identical to the 223 cavity backs. Spin is a bit less 350- 500 rpm on average (because of the stronger lofts), but far from anemic, and very playable, with good decent angles and enough spin to hold all but the most unforgiving greens. Could always bend these 1 degree weak if I determine more spin or a higher launch is needed, but prefer to check gaping before doing that. Even changing balls could bridge that difference. I considered splitting a set of 223 at the bottom, with 225 at the top. But further testing showed my dispersion was actually tighter with the 225's even in the PW. The mishits were slightly more forgiving on distance, and they were about 5 to 8 yards longer per club than the 223's. But surprisingly distance control was very good when playing shots out of the middle of the face. I ended up ordering a full set of the 225's (4-gw) because of the feel and consistency. The 3 iron was about where you could start to see a bit of the sole at address, sticking out behind the topline. Even though I really thought I would go for the 223's, the 225's were what I eventually ordered. Always keep an open mind when doing a fitting, the numbers don't lie. The 225's were very workable, I could flight shots, and still work it both ways. They reduced the size considerably from the HMB which looked big to me at address. And I like the idea of putting a muscle back in the bag as it's been a long time since I had that in there. Added some new T-22 wedges (copper plated) to fill out the bottom of the 14 way tour stand bag, also on order. Now the waiting begins.

Can't wait till my Pro gets in the demo sets, dying to hit these.

Yeah, give them their money back if they buy that Taurus lol. We are talking NEW, not used. And i know guys at dealerships, theres a lot more to be made selling a new car than new clubs. What percentage of buys buys a full set plus a bag at the same time? I'm sure they could work a discount.

"Using the car analogy", If I ever buy a $50,000 set of clubs, they should fit me for free. But there is far less margin on a set of clubs than a new car.

That's great in hindsight, but I already paid to use it two years in a row, lol. I'm not complaining mind you, it was pretty accurate tool. But I don't see that penny lynching mindset changing anytime soon at brick and mortar stores. It started when Mom and Pop businesses were replaced by corporations. Too many people feel no remorse in ripping off corporations, regardless of the outcome. I personally always want to hit something and get fitted before buying. If there were no stores, and no competent fitters near me, then I'm done buying. Are people really that reluctant to invest their own money on self improvement, that they want free fittings, free education these days?

I've seen this from both ends. And there are far too many people, especially newbies, who would go into a brick and mortar store and get a free fitting. Leave, and buy nothing, go online looking for the cheapest price for the same equipment. Meanwhile the guy who fit them makes nothing, pays for all the inventory, and equipment to fit (a GC4 is over $20,000 alone), and a store to do that in. Then he becomes unable to compete on price with a guy who sells from a warehouse. I wouldn't hire a guy to paint my house for free, because if he is that cheap, what are you getting? If I pay for a fitting, there should be a guarantee of improvement, dispersion, spin, or distance. If not no charge. If i paid for a fitting and came away with nothing, I'd argue that the job was incomplete. And like many fitters do here in MI, they kick you back a percentage of the fitting fee, if you buy from them. But if they can make improvements I'd gladly pay for that. If MGS feels that fittings should be free why does https://truegolffit.com/ charge to use their tool online? Why not give it away for free to donors, and let them kick back money if they go out and buy the recommended equipment and it outperforms their current equipment?

I've tried several grips and even different sized grips because I like to experiment. I haven't found anything I like even close to the GP CP2 wraps. They have the perfect amount of tackiness, they work well in the rain, and they are very comfortable even with my hands having a slight bit of arthritis. My only complaint is the weight of these. The Jumbos are 81 grams and the Mids are 63. My clubs are an inch longer than standard because on my height, but grips this heavy can easily take your swingweight back considerably. By adding 4g of grip weight, the swingweight of a club is decreased by one swingweight point, and by increasing the length of the golf shaft by one-half inch, the swingweight will be increased by three swingweight points. So my clubs go up 6 points for length, but because I have grips that weigh 81 gr vs say a Winn Dri-Tac WRAP Oversize Grip that weighs 50 gr, I loose (31 grams additional grip weight) almost 8 swing weight points back, or 2 total.

Rumor mill has it a certain organization we all know and love might be getting one of these for testing very soon?

Latest teaser for GC3, supposedly European version of the launch Pro