MP-60 Review

[gticlay]

Long, but I hope helpful

Ok, so it was about 45* with a very cold wind that changed from 1-3 clubs depending on how it swirled around in that part of the course. The ground was pretty wet, as it's been raining a lot lately. The rough wasn't too bad - I ended up pulling my ball from the fairway and putting it in the rough quite a few times. ANYWAY, to the review.

APPEARANCE:
I like a simple graphic on my club. I guess that is why I have never liked Hogan's while Titleist and Mizuno's are always on my want to try list. The MP-60 has a small amount of graphics that are tastefully done. The cut muscle is cool looking inside of a larger cavity. They are only 4% larger than it's cousin, the MP-32 so they are blade sized heads. At address, for this 9 handicap, they were very intimidating to look down at for the 5/4/3 irons - razor sharp top line and what appeared to be zero offset. Both the S-59's that I played all summer and the Eye2+'s I've had ITB for the past 3-4 weeks have much thicker top lines, and the Eye2+'s are majorly offset. Basically at address, they might as well be a blade iron. Pretty good for keeping me from going left, which I can do at times.

SETUP:
My spec's are +0.5", standard lofts, standard lies, X100 shafts. I like the extra +0.5" because of my wrist to floor - for example my father is 4" taller than I am and his wrists are actually closer to the floor than mine. Being 6' tall, that puts my wrists up higher (probably) than most of you, and certainly higher than the average golfer. X100's are to control my ballflight - I can get a 4i ON a 235 yard par 3.

PERFORMANCE:
My first shot of the day, and first shot with the MP60's was a 9i from 155. There was a bit of tailwind and I didn't want to go in the bunker in front of the green. I made pretty good contact and the ball flew high - REALLY HIGH. It just floated over to the green, landed on the back fringe, and sucked back to be a foot on the green. Instantly I loved these irons. I won't bore you with a blow by blow review, but I will say that they are middle of the pack forgiving. Less forgiving than an S-59 iron, but certainly more than the MP-32's are. The long irons are a snap to get in the air. I hit the 5i so high my friend wouldn't believe it - he though it was a 7 - and this is with X100's which are typically a lower flight shaft. They are exactly what I have been looking for - blade like address with low offset to fight the left tendancies I have with a high ballflight and some forgiveness thrown in.

FEEL: OK, so this can be discussed over and over. I still believe that forged means nothing to feel - it's the way the metal is heat treated and the design of the head itself. That said, these Mizunos feel fantastic. After hitting my first shot with them, I actually checked the shaft label to make sure they put the correct flex in. Mizuno vs. Ping these irons have more of a thwack vs. the click of a Ping. I am so used to the click that the first 9 holes I couldn't get a feel for how good/bad I was sriking the ball. There are no 'star marks' high on the face or out on the toe so I must have been hitting it pretty well. I guess the best way to describe it is to go and hit almost any modern ball you want to with whatever iron you have now... then find an old liquid core wound ball with a real Balata cover like a Titleist Professional or something... THAT is the difference of these vs. the S59's or Eye2+'S. A soft, grabby, enjoyable I just pured that shot feel. Mizuno made them right. The only other forged iron I have tried is a beautiful set of Japanese Miura forged 300's. The TM300's felt soft to the point of being muted - there was no real feel to them, just sort of a thud and the ball flew off. I think it was the large cavity they have so they lost a lot of feedback. I think the MP60's will hold up better than the TM300's did. After the round yesterday, the soles show no wear. The TM300's, after one round, already had some bag chatter on them and the soles instantly had visable use. After four or five rounds... I couldn't believe how quickly they aged. I don't think the MP60's will do this - I hit quite a few shots with the PW and there is not a scratch or ding to be seen.

[freddiec]

good review. Good luck with your new mp60s.