Mizuno 223 Reviews

[leftycabe]

Hey All - The other thread has gotten a bit impossible to get anything out of so I thought I’d start one where we could focus the discussion on the clubs. 

 

I’m curious to hear what everyone’s experience has been so far. Is there much in the way of forgiveness with these? Are people feeling the difference between the 4-7 and 8-GW with the difference in construction? Drop a review!

[Gregakin]

Following...

[Oneshort99]

Well I will give this a go.  After being told of another month long delay (due to shaft choice), I changed the shaft to the Modus 105 S and what do you know, had my 223's in 5 days (LOL), original order (feb 2).  I use the B head due to 1/2 inch over length.  The irons came in friday and I took them out for a test drive.

 

(Forgiveness):  Well I came from the Apex 21's (not pro's) and I have to say very similar in the forgiveness.  Sure when you catch it on the toe it may not be great but it's not terrible either and not far off line.  So I call forgivness (for me) a draw between the Apex 21 and the 223's.  I was conncerned about the forgivness issue but not anymore.

 

(Feel difference between 4-7 and 8-AW.)  There is a slight difference, I do prefer the feel from the 8-AW, that said the forgivness and ease of use 5-7 is appreciated.  So no issue here.  As for over all feel between 223's and the Apex 21's.  223's way better all day long (for me).  Top line is better for my eye and the best part, I much prefer the sole turf interaction on the 223's.  I am also glad I switched to modus 3 105 S, my dispersion is much better, who knew...

 

Not sure if this was helpful but I tried..

 

Good luck 

[COmedic]

223’s are fantastic. I ordered a 4-G set. The only club I don’t love in the set is the gap wedge. I feel like it should go further. Otherwise the long irons are easy to hit, long, and more explosive feeling than the 8-G, however I love the pure forged feeling of the short irons as well. I feel like the distance gaps are on the longer side in the short irons than I prefer, however it’s working out great for me so I’m gonna keep rolling without messing with lofts. Overall love the set, great balance of distance, precision, and forgiveness. Would recommend!

[connor_g9]

I’ve never actually played them but I’ve hit them at GG and they feel otherworldly

[eric61]

The challenge I’m having with them, coming from JPX 921 SEL (that’s the lefty 4/5 Forged, 6-GW Tour blend) is that they’re launching too high. But there are benefits to whatever tech they’re using to get that easy high launch. For example, forgiveness is awesome when you strike one thin — it’ll still get up in the air no problem.

[NZ315]

9 hours ago, COmedic said:

223’s are fantastic. I ordered a 4-G set. The only club I don’t love in the set is the gap wedge. I feel like it should go further. Otherwise the long irons are easy to hit, long, and more explosive feeling than the 8-G, however I love the pure forged feeling of the short irons as well. I feel like the distance gaps are on the longer side in the short irons than I prefer, however it’s working out great for me so I’m gonna keep rolling without messing with lofts. Overall love the set, great balance of distance, precision, and forgiveness. Would recommend!

What kind of distance are you getting out of the GW? Waiting for my set. My current GW 921forged goes about 125-130yards. I was hoping for about the same? What’s the PW go for

[kwainio]

There's definitely a difference between the 4-7 and 8-PW in terms of feel, but just like the irons it's pretty progressive. As in the 4 iron feels hotter than the 7 iron, which is what I think you'd be looking for w/ the 223s. The 8-PW are incredibly soft, and the 4-7 are soft but sort of like a "powerful soft" if that makes sense?

 

I just did a full gapping session and the biggest gap I had was between the 7-8, which is to be expected, but it was 14-15 yards as opposed to 12 yards between the 8-9 or the 7-6. So it's definitely there but manageable.

 

For reference, even the gapping between the 223s against my X Forged CBs was a progressive gain of yardage, w/ both PWs being the exact same carry (134 yards) and basically working their way up to about a 7-8 yard gain in the 223 4 iron over the XFCB. Exactly what I was looking for.

[COmedic]

46 minutes ago, NZ315 said:

What kind of distance are you getting out of the GW? Waiting for my set. My current GW 921forged goes about 125-130yards. I was hoping for about the same? What’s the PW go for

I hit the PW a comfortable 130-135, but the same swing with GW is 110, maybe 115 at the top end for me. If I were 120 out I’d love to use GW but would definitely pull PW and take some off.

[lambo428]

To me, golf can be very counterintuitive and and at times annoying.  Traded in my graphite shafted Titleist 718 AP1's for steel shafted 223's.

 

My problem is the pull shot with the 718 AP1's as well as previous upright lie angle, high offset game improvement irons.  If I adjust my swing, stance, grip etc., then I get a push.  Nothing in between.  All the new Mizuno Pro irons have the same flatter lie angle with less offset - check and check to combat pulls.  Also, these MP's seemed lighter to me then previous Mizuno irons.  I intended to order the 225's but ordered the 223's because they felt better (not caring about swing speed or golfing ability). I also ordered the Dynamic Gold 105 steel shafts.  Yes, these irons are heavier but I wanted to slow(?) my down swing to hit a straighter shot.  

 

Initially, when I first hit these irons, I thought that I had made a mistake - too heavy and poor contact and ball flight.  However, this time the 223's responded very well to my swing adjustments and by the end, I was happy with the results.

 

But the next day's range session would tell the tale.  Majority of shots were straight and on target with my new consistent swing(?); this was never my experience with my previous graphite irons. I seem to have made a very good choice.  Next up playing golf.  

 

[JD3]

** delete **

Edited February 8, 2023 by JD3

[1puttTUT]

On 4/9/2022 at 5:10 PM, leftycabe said:

Hey All - The other thread has gotten a bit impossible to get anything out of so I thought I’d start one where we could focus the discussion on the clubs. 

 

I’m curious to hear what everyone’s experience has been so far. Is there much in the way of forgiveness with these? Are people feeling the difference between the 4-7 and 8-GW with the difference in construction? Drop a review!

 

But those shipping delays 🤣

 

Thanks for starting the new thread. 

 

Only two rounds on my set (and tons of basement sim balls) due to weather, but so far loving them.

[klbcec]

What are thoughts with 225 in the 4 and 5 and 223 in 6 thru PW? That's what I ordered.  Mistake?

 

Currently, play Mizuno MP4 in 7 thru wedge with 585 in the 5 and 4.

[chamgel2]

1 hour ago, klbcec said:

What are thoughts with 225 in the 4 and 5 and 223 in 6 thru PW? That's what I ordered.  Mistake?

 

Currently, play Mizuno MP4 in 7 thru wedge with 585 in the 5 and 4.

My order was similar… 225 4-6, 223 7-GW.  I don’t believe it was a mistake. If you watch the Mizuno videos Voshall did something similar going 223’s and blending in the 225 at the 5 iron.  

[trueyoung85]

I have been playing the 223s here in Korea for about 6 months now and the mizuno feel is still intact (albeit different from my MP-64s that I had been playing for over 10 years).  What stands out is the distance and forgiveness in this club compared to previous models.  I swing the driver an ave. of 105-108 MPH and if I played the tips, it is normally a tough outing with constant long-mid irons.  I had been testing and borrowing clubs that give more distance but ultimately, I still wanted a classic, compact look from an iron, so that I can work the ball as well.  The 223 is exactly what I was trying to find and I am very happy with this decision.  

[JD3]

11 hours ago, klbcec said:

What are thoughts with 225 in the 4 and 5 and 223 in 6 thru PW? That's what I ordered.  Mistake?

 

Currently, play Mizuno MP4 in 7 thru wedge with 585 in the 5 and 4.

personally I wouldnt do this, the 223's give most people all they need in middle and long irons, and with better land angles. thats where the set shines the most. if its not too late, id return the 225's for a refund and get the 223's

[1puttTUT]

23 hours ago, COmedic said:

I hit the PW a comfortable 130-135, but the same swing with GW is 110, maybe 115 at the top end for me. If I were 120 out I’d love to use GW but would definitely pull PW and take some off.

 

I ordered my set with the GW 1° strong. I haven't played enough to see how much of a difference it will make, but I'm glad the fitter went over all the lofts and we discussed my sw/lw so we had a plan to attempt at reasonable gapping.

[JD3]

1 minute ago, 1puttTUT said:

 

I ordered my set with the GW 1° strong. I haven't played enough to see how much of a difference it will make, but I'm glad the fitter went over all the lofts and we discussed my sw/lw so we had a plan to attempt at reasonable gapping.

I made my existing GW 2 degrees weaker (turning it into a strong SW) to accommodate this set

[1puttTUT]

2 hours ago, JD3 said:

I made my existing GW 2 degrees weaker (turning it into a strong SW) to accommodate this set

 

I use 54°/58° for my wedges so going from 51° to 50° made sense for me

[T_Golf_23]

Posted this originally on another thread…. now have multiple rounds with the 225, 223 and 221. I also play callaway X-forged CB21. When I was fitted, it was a choice between the XFCB and the JPX21 forged, but I could not stand the top line and blade length of the JPX line. 

 

I think Mizuno knocked it out of the park with the line up. Just crushed it. Any of these clubs are playable for me and none of them leave you wanting. Even on the full set of 225, I never said … oh I wish they could do this or that. Or they don’t feel good…. I am nit picking because it is such a close call between these clubs. 

 

I have the PX IO 6.0 shafts on the XFCB and the MP225. Modus 115 stiff shafts in the 223 and 221. Lamkin ST+2 STD grips. I have verified all specs to be accurate. SW within half point of spec 

 

I play a ProV1 ball. Driver swing speed is between 105-110. 7 iron SS around 90. My AoA is about -1. I tend to be a slight bit outside to in. I can tend to have an aggressive transition. I am standard length. All lofts and lies are standard.

 

first let me just comment on the shafts - both of these are very similar, actually, the modus feels better balanced and a little smoother than than the PX, especially on short game touch and go shots. 
 

both are great shafts and if one shaft is holding up your order, I would not hesitate to try these interchangeably. 
 

the players CB category is such a tightly packed category. Performance is so close on many different irons. I actually have a thread going to compare some others here…. I am convinced this is the category of iron I belong in - right amount of feel, control and forgiveness. Have a thread going to look at others on this space 

 

Let me get this out of the way up front - I see zero reason to blend the 223 with either 221 or 225. Only exception maybe the 225 4 iron….. but not necessary. Mizuno has made a very good stand alone flow set. 
 

i am a big proponent of blending 221 and 225 though. 
 

For reference, this is important - I am struggling a lot with the 4 & 5 iron and sometimes even the 6 iron on the 221, but the 5 & 6 iron on the 223 are easily some of my best clubs of the set. I am hitting more GIR from 160yds plus then I have with any other iron set.

 

I think a big reason is that they hold the greens. There probably isn’t much more than 5-10ft from pitch mark location to ending ball location on some of those long approach shots. My apex tends to be around 100ft with most irons, so good balance of landing angle and spin. 
 

The 225 long irons are HOT. You can feel them flying off the face - not GI hot, but hot. Although, i have not had a flier in close to 10 rounds with the 225…… so don’t worry about those and I used to airmail green all day long with my old GI irons.  Big reason I am switching clubs this year.  The whole MP line has my miss as short …. Which is perfectly fine with me. Thin shots actually retain a lot distance, especially on the 225. 
 

The 223 have a more solid feel in the long irons, but you can feel the help in there. The level of forgiveness between these and the 221 is exponential. This becomes less as you move into the shorter irons. 
 

Struck in the middle, both the long and short irons feel typical mizuno soft. Feedback is still good on long irons, despite the cavity, but off center hits sound a little clicky. I tend to miss heel side. I could care less about the sound considering the performance retention… this is what I look for in a long iron. 
 

I have had no gapping issues between the 8 iron and 7 iron. On mishits, the 7 has more performance retention than the 8. That is the biggest difference between the two. 
 

if you hit them both center and flush, feel difference is minimal. Catch the fully forged 8I thin and your hands are going to feel it. Drop off in performance is more noticeable here as well. 
 

 Control is appreciably better. I hit knock down shots with the set G through 8 iron and being fully forged, they handle these great. You can also make these go high too…. Workability and feel leaves nothing to be desired in these irons. 

 

there is little difference in feel or softness between the 221 and 223 forged short irons. They are essentially the same thing. This is why I say there is no reason to go 221 short irons or blend the 223 set. 
 

they did a good job of making the short irons more compact. My XFCB didn’t do this and it looks weird. Performance is good, but it looks off…. The problem with getting fit while only seeing the 7 iron..
 

in fact, I believe that you may pick up a little forgiveness on the 223 short irons as the head is a tiny bit bigger vs the 221, but there seems to be a slight bit of perimeter weighting to help on off center strikes a little. So - same workability and feel as the 221 - with added forgiveness….

 

i posted profile pictures a few pages back in the 221-223-225 line up for reference - you can see the 6i, 8I, and P side by side. I think it’s page 66. 
 

the sole on the 223 is wider then the 221 and the 225, but the beveled back edge helps it play much more narrow than it looks. I don’t get along well with wide sole clubs and this has not been an issue. They did a good job with this. 
 

Overall, great irons, I think these will be my gamers this year. Used to think the 225/221 combo set was it, but these have been playing so well. 
 

I agree with mizuno, there is a lot in this club that you always wanted, but never really thought to ask for. 
 

Still need to give my XFCBs one last chance at redemption and then have a set of New Level PF2 irons I will give a go. ZX7 also have my curiosity. I love this category of iron. 
 

The mizuno pro line has set the bar very high. 

 

[T_Golf_23]

I also posted this one on the big Mizuno Pro 221/223/225 thread. 
 

If you look at my activity I have tons of picture and reviews posted on all the sets between. Pages 63 and 70… hope this helps: 

 

 I did a comparison of the 221 and 225. Also look on page 66 - I included pictures of each the 221 - 223 - 225 side by side. 
 

The 225 short irons are very capable and can do what ever you ask them to do. They are not hot, but feel rather dense compared to the 223 and 221 short irons. You will be fine with them if you want to do that. 
 

The feel of the 221 irons is unlike many irons you will ever hit, so soft. 
 

I did not notice a huge difference in forgiveness between the two, but the accuracy of the 221 short irons is superior to the 225 if you are a decent ball striker, especially on 3/4 and 1/2 shots. there is a bigger difference in ease of use in the 4-5-6 irons - I mean huge. 
 

I play a lot of knock down shots, so any forged iron is going to play better for me and arguably be more forgiving than any iron with a hollow body b/c it will have more spin on those flighted down shots and lower probability of a hot faced iron taking off and going to far. 
 

my combo set with these is going to be similar to the 223 make up 

 

225 in 4-5-6-7-8 iron 

221 in 8-9-P- G(223) 

 

then I carry a 56 and 60 wedge. 

 

this set up also provided 4* vs 5* gaps on the short irons .

 

the 8 iron in 225 is 34*, it’s 38* in 221, so an easy blend with no bending or loft adjustment required. You can also do the same at the 6 iron or 7 iron. These sets were made to be blended if you just double up at the blending club. 
 

I have tested the gapping - it is perfect,  about 10-12 yards. 

[SnowbirdTom]

Came to the 223s from Titleist T100s and am not looking back.  I also dropped from stiff shafts to NS Pro 105Rs and am absolutely crushing my shots.  For the record, I’m almost 65.  When I took them to the range with the SC300i to test yardages, my jaw dropped. 5I was bouncing off the 200 yard sign. 6I 180 yards?  PW 140?  All right down the pipe and they feel great.  
 

I’ve replaced my SM8s with new T20 blue ion wedges in 50/56/60, but haven’t had them out for the initial test drive yet.  They literally showed up yesterday on the porch.
 

Yeah, I’m happy with the change!

[RoyalMustang]

On 4/9/2022 at 10:21 PM, COmedic said:

223’s are fantastic. I ordered a 4-G set. The only club I don’t love in the set is the gap wedge. I feel like it should go further. Otherwise the long irons are easy to hit, long, and more explosive feeling than the 8-G, however I love the pure forged feeling of the short irons as well. I feel like the distance gaps are on the longer side in the short irons than I prefer, however it’s working out great for me so I’m gonna keep rolling without messing with lofts. Overall love the set, great balance of distance, precision, and forgiveness. Would recommend!

 

That is cool that they come with a gap wedge option.  My MP20 MMCs don't, and I struggle with finding a good matching consistent 50 degree gap wedge.  Maybe I should try a T20/T22 in 50.  I have a set of MB21s and I love the 8/9/PW in that set. So crisp!  

 

I would love a set of 223s if I could get fit for the right shaft

[RoyalMustang]

On 4/10/2022 at 8:20 AM, kwainio said:

There's definitely a difference between the 4-7 and 8-PW in terms of feel, but just like the irons it's pretty progressive. As in the 4 iron feels hotter than the 7 iron, which is what I think you'd be looking for w/ the 223s. The 8-PW are incredibly soft, and the 4-7 are soft but sort of like a "powerful soft" if that makes sense?

 

I just did a full gapping session and the biggest gap I had was between the 7-8, which is to be expected, but it was 14-15 yards as opposed to 12 yards between the 8-9 or the 7-6. So it's definitely there but manageable.

 

For reference, even the gapping between the 223s against my X Forged CBs was a progressive gain of yardage, w/ both PWs being the exact same carry (134 yards) and basically working their way up to about a 7-8 yard gain in the 223 4 iron over the XFCB. Exactly what I was looking for.

 

How does your gapping fall?   My MMC full swing averages are PW: 134-142; 9: 145-155, 8: 162-172  7: 170-180, 6: 180-193. 5: 193-210. 4: 207-220

 

I feel like I have a good spread, almost too much in the short irons at times. For whatever reason, I need to really focus on taking a lot off with that 9-iron to hit 140/145; I can flush it 160 if I make a really good swing, even choked down an inch.  I wouldn't mind an extra 5 yards from my 6 iron and 5 iron so that I could perhaps drop the 4 iron. and work in a 5 wood.  I have a massive gap between my 3-wood carry and 3-hybrid carry (40 yards).  

 

What would be interesting is a 223 set of 

 

PW-47

9-43.5

8-40

7-36.5

6-32

5-27

4-22

 

to keep it tighter at the top while still having the added distance in the longer irons.  I personally love having a weak PW and 9 iron in the bag.  In the longer irons, there is already a lot of variance: I can hit my 6 180 if thin or even 200 if I get all of it.  That is on me and is a trade off I would make for those tighter short iron specs, especially as I play a shorter "precision" course where you only pull out irons not 9-60 degree wedge on back tee par 3's and a 2 of the par 5s (excluding the 7-iron punch shot of course, a shot I am getting very familiar with)

 

[kwainio]

You definitely get a bit more out of your short irons than I do. I actually took my 5 wood out of my bag and put a 3 hybrid in because I had such a big gap between my 4 iron and 5 wood. But if you're looking for a bit more pop in the long irons and a similar feel in the short irons coming from the MMCs the 223s will be pretty great for you.

 

Played my first round of the year yesterday w/ my 223s and was really happy that my carry yardages were bang on from my gapping session.

 

50* - 120-122

PW - 132-135

9 - 145-147

8 - 158-160

7 - 172-174

6 - 185ish

5 - 195ish

4 - 205ish

3h - 220-225ish

[RoyalMustang]

2 hours ago, kwainio said:

You definitely get a bit more out of your short irons than I do. I actually took my 5 wood out of my bag and put a 3 hybrid in because I had such a big gap between my 4 iron and 5 wood. But if you're looking for a bit more pop in the long irons and a similar feel in the short irons coming from the MMCs the 223s will be pretty great for you.

 

Played my first round of the year yesterday w/ my 223s and was really happy that my carry yardages were bang on from my gapping session.

 

50* - 120-122

PW - 132-135

9 - 145-147

8 - 158-160

7 - 172-174

6 - 185ish

5 - 195ish

4 - 205ish

3h - 220-225ish

 

Solid numbers!  If it weren't so dang windy every day this time of year, I might have some consistent numbers too.  Seems like I am always trying to guess whether I am hitting into or away from a 20mph breeze or a 35mph gust. If I wait 15 seconds, it usually shifts again

[SwooshLT]

6 hours ago, SnowbirdTom said:

Came to the 223s from Titleist T100s and am not looking back.  I also dropped from stiff shafts to NS Pro 105Rs and am absolutely crushing my shots.  For the record, I’m almost 65.  When I took them to the range with the SC300i to test yardages, my jaw dropped. 5I was bouncing off the 200 yard sign. 6I 180 yards?  PW 140?  All right down the pipe and they feel great.  
 

I’ve replaced my SM8s with new T20 blue ion wedges in 50/56/60, but haven’t had them out for the initial test drive yet.  They literally showed up yesterday on the porch.
 

Yeah, I’m happy with the change!

 

 

Can you expand on the differences you found between 223s n T100-S?  

Was it throughout the set or a portion of it? TIA

[SnowbirdTom]

3 hours ago, SwooshLT said:

 

 

Can you expand on the differences you found between 223s n T100-S?  

Was it throughout the set or a portion of it? TIA

In general, I found the T100s and stiff shafts beyond my physical swing capabilities.  I had many frustrating rounds where I couldn’t make them do what I pictured in my mind.  On the rare occasions where I got them right, they were awesome.  Same with the Vokeys.  The Mizuno T-20s got played today and I’ll probably never use my SM8s again.  LW was intuitive swing for me.  Lay the face open, swing and the ball popped nearly straight up and forward with barely a bounce on landing.  
 

 

YMMV, no warranty expressed or implied.  Not valid in CA.  🙂

[scottc25]

The 223 is the most similar to P790, correct?

 

Edit: Looks like 225. I knew there was a reason as a lefty it was not an option.

Edited April 12, 2022 by scottc25

[SwooshLT]

1 hour ago, SnowbirdTom said:

In general, I found the T100s and stiff shafts beyond my physical swing capabilities.  I had many frustrating rounds where I couldn’t make them do what I pictured in my mind.  On the rare occasions where I got them right, they were awesome.  Same with the Vokeys.  The Mizuno T-20s got played today and I’ll probably never use my SM8s again.  LW was intuitive swing for me.  Lay the face open, swing and the ball popped nearly straight up and forward with barely a bounce on landing.  
 

 

YMMV, no warranty expressed or implied.  Not valid in CA.  🙂

 

Thanks and yeah a softer shaft can definitely lead to easier strikes!! I'm in 2021 T100 irons..... the traditional lofted version......and despite the initial intimidation, I've gotten very comfortable paired with modus 105R myself......I'm also a lefty and considered both the JPX921 SEL and 223s but alas Titleist drew me back in......

 

Enjoy your bats!!

Edited April 13, 2022 by SwooshLT