Mizuno Ups its Driver Game
Chris Voshall, a golf club engineer at Mizuno, says that when the company develops a new club there is always one key goal – optimization. “For a driver, optimization comes in the form of speed and adjustability,” he adds. “The JPX-900 Driver’s new COR Tech face (5g lighter than that of the JPX-850 which was introduced in early 2015) allowed for the fastest face we’ve ever created leading to more speed. It also saved us weight which we were able to use in the form of more adjustability.”
No kidding. The sole of the 450cc JPX-900 puts one in mind of a mixing board, the complex deck of knobs, levers and buttons a sound engineer uses to create the perfect pitch and volume in a recording studio or at a live concert. There’s a lot going on.
The Infinite Fast Track uses a pair of eight-gram adjustable weights on an unbounded track, giving unlimited settings that allow the golfer to dial in spin and vertical launch parameters, says Mizuno. A pair of additional Fast Track ports in the toe and heel help to modify horizontal displacement and trajectory. There’s also Mizuno’s new Visual Face Angle Adjustor that enables you to customize the driver’s face-angle at address. And Harmonic Impact Technology (HIT) tuning forks inside the head were designed so Voshall and his fellow tech nerds could fine tune the frequencies and amplitudes of the head’s vibration, meaning they could control the sound and volume of impact.
“By combining all of these features with the Quick Switch Hosel, which allows loft adjustments of +/- two degrees (default loft angle is 9.5 degrees, and the range is 7.5 to 11.5 degrees), the JPX900 Driver really is scientifically crafted for optimization,” says Voshall who adds that when it came to the sound the JPX-900 created, he was looking for something ‘solid and explosive’.
Chris Wood, BMW Championship winner and a member of Team Europe for the upcoming Ryder Cup, played a big part in the club’s development, as did former world number one Luke Donald. “Luke’s big push was for a driver that delivered speed on off-center strikes,” says Voshall. “And Stacy Lewis wanted a driver that sat very open at address to allow her to release her hands quickly through the ball. That’s what led to the Visual Face Angle Adjustor.”
Mizuno has long been revered for its irons, of course, but it has delivered a number of quality drivers and metalwoods in the past too. The JPX-EZ and JPX-850 were well received and great favorites among Mizuno’s Tour staff. And the JPX-900 (Driver, Fairway Wood and Hybrid) will likely cement the Japanese giant’s reputation in the wood category. “We want to not only be taken seriously, but to be respected for our woods,” says Ryan Ellis, Mizuno’s Associate Brand Manager for Golf.
Standard shaft is a 45” Fujikura Evolution II.
$500
mizunousa.com
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