Mizuno Golf

The Mizuno Company was founded by Rihachi Mizuno in 1906 as a family run sporting goods store. The Mizuno store specialised in the supply of baseball and golf equipment imported from the USA. The company soon changed direction when the founder became frustrated with the low quality of imported products and sought out Japanese factories to produce their own products to higher specifications. 100 years on and Mizuno has flourished yet remains close to its roots. It is still family managed and it still looks for precision manufacturing and sites a preference for performance over fashion.

When it comes to irons there is no manufacturing process that gives a club better feel than forging. Mizuno are renowned for their irons, particularly their forged irons, which they provide a wide range of top quality options for. With their 2008 collection, the mid and high handicap players can really benefit from their Mizuno's grain flow forged MP 60 and MX 950 irons. The MX 950 irons come as a mixture of hybrid 3 and 4 irons, hollow technology 5 to 7 irons, and cavity back 8 to SW irons. For the more accomplished player, the MP 57 irons have been developed in conjunction with top tour players to provide a forgiving iron with great feel.

Mizuno have brought out two new drivers for 2008. The MP 600 driver sporting the new Fast Track sliding weight system. This allows the MP 600 to be fine tuned for certain swing characteristics, like providing a fade or draw bias, or allowing for different launch angles and spin rates. The MX 560 driver is a more conventional 460cc driver which Mizuno have improved upon by increasing the MOI (Moment of Inertia) around the axes of the heel and toe, and crown and sole of the club. This provides less twisting of the club on off centre hits, and combined with it's new streamlined shape, it allows the club to be swung more quickly than some other high forgiveness drivers.

Mizuno Golf continues it's association with Robert J. Bettinardi and has brought out a new range of putters this year in the Black Carbon series putter. With the C0-3 based on the putter used by Luke Donald, the BC series offers jaw dropping looks and with its F.I.T. (Feel Impact Technology) it gives a sensational soft feel as preferred by many professionals.

Mizuno have always offered a top quality wedge, and with this year's T series, they have come yet closer to knocking Cleveland from the top spot. With a C-grind sole, the club is versatile around the greens and now with CNC milled square grooves it is even easier to generate backspin.

The F 60 is Mizuno's new fairway wood this year, offering the same high quality as their other products. The F 60 is an improvement on last years model, increasing the sweet spot by 20% and raising the trajectory.

Englishman Luke Donald is currently sponsored by Mizuno and uses the following equipment:

Mizuno MP 600 9.5° Driver - Mizuno MP 32 Irons - Mizuno CLK 17° Fli-Hi Utility Club - Mizuno R series Chrome 54° and 60° wedges - Mizuno C0-3 Putter