JPX 923 Forged

[dmeeksDC]

3 hours ago, renobleiii said:

Headed to Mizuno today for a fitting at their store. Gonna hit 923F, HMP, and maybe one more. 

Have fun. Would love to see your feedback. It is a very tough call between the 923F and HMP. HMP will be a little hotter but the Forged is sleeker and also has more pop than a traditional forging. Hit the short irons in both if you can because that is where they differ the most. Kudos to Mizuno on this JPX lineup. I think I could play either and be fine. Guy at the store said the HMP has been a great seller for them. They put the Forged out last week and many are hitting it. 
 

I compared the heads to a few others. Size-wise the HMP and Srixon ZX5 MKii are the same and the 921F has a slightly smaller overall footprint than the ZX7, just a little more svelte but similar blade lengths. The ZX4 is like the standard Hot Metal. 

[renobleiii]

Just got back. I hit them about the same, lower spin and slightly longer with HMP (to be expected…stronger lofts plus cast). I’m going to go with the forged. Hit them a little shorter than at Club Champion (I’m assuming it was juiced a bit/trackman algo v About Golf algo). 
 

I also was piping them at CC, and had more bad hits at Mizuno. I didn’t notice a major difference in bad hits both on distance and left to right dispersion between the two heads. 
 

One interesting thing is I struggled with getting enough spin across various shafts. But in the end we went with Project X LZ 6.5 as the best option. I wanted to find a 6.0 that worked better, but couldn’t. 

[sethdavidsdad]

12 hours ago, renobleiii said:

Headed to Mizuno today for a fitting at their store. Gonna hit 923F, HMP, and maybe one more. 

Ask about nippon modus 120 availability. Was told last night it would be march before they have available. 

[dmeeksDC]

2 hours ago, renobleiii said:

Just got back. I hit them about the same, lower spin and slightly longer with HMP (to be expected…stronger lofts plus cast). I’m going to go with the forged. Hit them a little shorter than at Club Champion (I’m assuming it was juiced a bit/trackman algo v About Golf algo). 
 

I also was piping them at CC, and had more bad hits at Mizuno. I didn’t notice a major difference in bad hits both on distance and left to right dispersion between the two heads. 
 

One interesting thing is I struggled with getting enough spin across various shafts. But in the end we went with Project X LZ 6.5 as the best option. I wanted to find a 6.0 that worked better, but couldn’t. 

Good stuff. I also noted today that the 923 Forged is forged and milled at the Mizuno factory in Japan. Not a requirement but certainly a plus. I am a believer in the quality of Japanese forgings. Another plus is the set’s scoring irons are all straight-up 1020 carbon steel forged CBs and the set has a matched gap wedge. I don’f feel like spring-faced irons make any positive difference for me on shots from 150 and in. 
 

Did you detect any feel difference between them? Is the distance difference due to loft differences or do you think the HMP is just longer? I noted the HMP 7 iron is 28.5 degrees. 
 

Your review is a nice endorsement of the Forged. if I was getting the same numbers with no loss of forgiveness with the sleeker, forged head, I would go with it. One reason for me is I find smaller heads are easier on shots out of the rough. Sometimes, I hit the ball into the rough. It’s a fact. 😉

Edited January 26, 2023 by dmeeksDC

[renobleiii]

2 hours ago, sethdavidsdad said:

Ask about nippon modus 120 availability. Was told last night it would be march before they have available. 

Didn’t try those. PX LZ 6.5 was the winner - fit the 6.0 at club champion (can’t recall if LZ or another PX).  
 

I have a fast tempo and was swinging test 7 iron 86. 

[renobleiii]

3 minutes ago, dmeeksDC said:

Good stuff. I also noted today that the 923 Forged is forged and milled at the Mizuno factory in Japan. Not a requirement but certainly a plus. I am a believer in the quality of Japanese forgings. Another plus is the set’s scoring irons are all straight-up 1020 carbon steel forged CBs and the set has a matched gap wedge. I don’f feel like spring-faced irons make any positive difference for me on shots from 150 and in. 
 

Did you detect any feel difference between them? Is the distance difference due to loft differences or do you think the HMP is just longer? I noted the HMP 7 iron is 28.5 degrees. 
 

Your review is a nice endorsement of the Forged. if I was getting the same numbers with no loss of forgiveness with the sleeker, forged head, I would go with it. One reason for me is I find smaller heads are easier on shots out of the rough. 

I didn’t feel that much difference. Maybe a little more feedback on mishits. Same reduction in ball speed on chunky shots or off center shots. 
 

man pure shots with the forged feel good. 

[dmeeksDC]

2 minutes ago, renobleiii said:

Didn’t try those. PX LZ 6.5 was the winner - fit the 6.0 at club champion (can’t recall if LZ or another PX).  
 

I have a fast tempo and was swinging test 7 iron 86. 

I am same speed and pretty quick. I remember they recommended Project X Rifle 6.0, LZ 6.0 and C Taper Lite X flex soft-stepped once. But I usually go with Rifles in 5.5 or the 6.0 LZ soft-stepped once. I pay attention to the numbers on shafts but I pick the winner almost totally on feel. 

[dmeeksDC]

3 minutes ago, renobleiii said:

man pure shots with the forged feel good. 

… And that’s with the 7 iron, one of the chromoly heads. 

[renobleiii]

I hit 6 iron at Club Champion. Wish I had gotten to his one of the 8-GW clubs. Gonna buy my irons through mizuno so I may see if they can let me hit a scoring iron before I buy. 
 

staff fitter at the mizuno store in Atlanta was awesome, btw. 

[bgfgolf]

I love my 921 forged. Feel is great and distance for a forged iron from 7-4 is solid. My only gripe is 5 degree gapping from 8-G. That isn’t mizunos fault though. I should have gone with a combo set. Ultimately from 150 and in, you should be able to hit the right shot, full or not, but I’d like to have one more club slotted in there. I came from mp60s with weaker more traditional lofts.

 

I can’t imagine the length has changed much. Maybe a couple millimeters with the 923.

 

a smaller head is not going to help you hit the center more often. A dartboard doesn’t get easier to hit the bullseye the smaller or bigger it gets. The bullseye is the bullseye.

[yellolab]

anyone compare the Ping i230 against the 923 forged during thier fitting?

[jorellanes]

I Own 225 and 223 HMP. Hit the 223F.

 

223 HMP stayed in the bag.

 

[HarborMike]

Anyone thinking about combo’ing the HMPs with the Forged? I’m thinking about adding the 8-GW myself for some additional feel and control. Not that I dislike the HMPs, I’m just used to a smaller and forged feel iron in the scoring irons (previously in the T100s). Unfortunately no place around me has the 8-GW to test or fit so would have to go blind and resell if it doesn’t work out. Seems like the 8-GW is almost a completely different iron range vs. 4-7 (no chromoly, no microslot, and purely forged carbon steel). Also looks like the 923s gap better into the S23 wedges.

[dmeeksDC]

3 hours ago, HarborMike said:

Anyone thinking about combo’ing the HMPs with the Forged? I’m thinking about adding the 8-GW myself for some additional feel and control. Not that I dislike the HMPs, I’m just used to a smaller and forged feel iron in the scoring irons (previously in the T100s). Unfortunately no place around me has the 8-GW to test or fit so would have to go blind and resell if it doesn’t work out. Seems like the 8-GW is almost a completely different iron range vs. 4-7 (no chromoly, no microslot, and purely forged carbon steel). Also looks like the 923s gap better into the S23 wedges.

You’re right about the smaller heads looking so good in the 923 Forged and I have thought about the same combo for the extra distance in the HMP and the preferred size of the 923 Forged,

but I have wondered if distance gapping would work. Mizuno (Chris Voshall) acknowledges they dialed back the speed off the Forged 4-7 chromoly faces (compared to HMP) so they would work gapping-wise with the Forged 8-P heads, which as you note are straight up forged cavity backs. The 923 Forged is supposed to be a combo set in itself, but it is definitely for better ball strikers. 

 

The HMP is designed to be hotter in the long irons and also dialed back in the scoring irons. Voshall mentions that in this video as Ian Fraser hits the HMP 8 iron and notes it is not a rocket launcher, and Voshall says that is on purpose. I would be interested in this combo if it is viable. If Mizuno has dialed back the speed in both sets in 8-P anyway, maybe it could work with some bending. 
 

 

 

[HarborMike]

1 hour ago, dmeeksDC said:

You’re right about the smaller heads looking so good in the 923 Forged and I have thought about the same combo for the extra distance in the HMP and the preferred size of the 923 Forged,

but I have wondered if distance gapping would work. Mizuno (Chris Voshall) acknowledges they dialed back the speed off the Forged 4-7 chromoly faces (compared to HMP) so they would work gapping-wise with the Forged 8-P heads, which as you note are straight up forged cavity backs. The 923 Forged is supposed to be a combo set in itself, but it is definitely for better ball strikers. 

 

The HMP is designed to be hotter in the long irons and also dialed back in the scoring irons. Voshall mentions that in this video as Ian Fraser hits the HMP 8 iron and notes it is not a rocket launcher, and Voshall says that is on purpose. I would be interested in this combo if it is viable. If Mizuno has dialed back the speed in both sets in 8-P anyway, maybe it could work with some bending. 
 

 

 

Yeah, I definitely do notice in the HMP shorter/scoring irons 8-PW, not finding drastic distance gains or increases (nor do I want that) even though they’re strong lofted about 1-1.5 degrees vs 923F. Mainly I’m going for better looks in a shorter and thinner head, forged feel, and a bit more control especially playing off of firm and tight conditions in the summertime. I’m a bit shallow in my delivery.

[dmeeksDC]

1 hour ago, HarborMike said:

Yeah, I definitely do notice in the HMP shorter/scoring irons 8-PW, not finding drastic distance gains or increases (nor do I want that) even though they’re strong lofted about 1-1.5 degrees vs 923F. Mainly I’m going for better looks in a shorter and thinner head, forged feel, and a bit more control especially playing off of firm and tight conditions in the summertime. I’m a bit shallow in my delivery.

That all sounds good to me. I definitely have decided I am going for some tech and forgiveness this season! Some

of these heads are so much better now — advanced manufacturing, sleek looks — that they look every bit as good as an old fashioned forged head. I hear you on shots off firm turf and tight lies. You have to think about irons in terms of how you use them and not get fixated on launch monitors and spongy artificial turf. I was leaning toward full set 923 HMP if I went Mizuno but I haven’t hit the 923 Forged yet. I played 900F and loved it. 
 

If you bent the HMP long irons 1.5 degrees weak you would have the same 4 degree gap between 7 and 8 iron as the HMP stock set. Could always tweak the Forged 8-P once you see how they’re gapping.
 

So really the question is whether the Forged 8 iron and HMP 8 iron (Forged is carbon steel but the HMP is still chromoly, right?) go the same distance at the same loft. If they do, this should work. 
 

HMP - weaken 1.5 degrees

5 - 23.5 

6 - 26.5

7 - 30

Forged - standard lofts

8 - 34

9 - 39

P - 44

 

 

[reider69]

I have never seen so few YouTube reviews on a Mizuno new release.  I have seen two(2) reviews and one club fitting so far. Why so little fanfare and interest?  

[greenomics]

5 minutes ago, reider69 said:

I have never seen so few YouTube reviews on a Mizuno new release.  I have seen two(2) reviews and one club fitting so far. Why so little fanfare and interest?  

Same with the new jpx tours.

[MChamberlain]

2 hours ago, reider69 said:

I have never seen so few YouTube reviews on a Mizuno new release.  I have seen two(2) reviews and one club fitting so far. Why so little fanfare and interest?  

Possibly they have to wait post 2/5 launch date…IDK.

[RN4LGolfer]

On 1/28/2023 at 7:45 AM, yellolab said:

anyone compare the Ping i230 against the 923 forged during thier fitting?

I went to a fitting today and the two irons I hit were the Ping i230 and the Mizuno JPX 923 line. I hit all in the 923 line except for the HL. I hit the i230's first w/DG 103's. I was getting good numbers w/the 6i, 1.38 smash, carry 198 yards, and descent angle of 45*. 

 

Next, I hit the 923 Forged w/Modus 105 in 7i. The feel of a forged Mizuno is second to none. You immediately feel it when you hit a pure shot. I was averaging 90 mph club head speed, 1.39 smash, carrying 189 yards, 98 height, and a 46* descent angle.

 

My fitter then had me try both 923 Hot Metal and Hot Metal Pro. I didn't like the look of the Hot Metal, and my consistency wasn't as good as the forged and i230. I had very similar numbers as the forged but I preferred the feel of the 923 Forged and i230.

 

We switched back to the i230 this time with the $-Taper lites. I thought this was going to be a great combination for me as I've played the $-taper lites before. For some reason, this combination just didn't work. A lot of push's to the right and I didn't have any resemblance of consistency.

 

I went back and hit the 923 Forged again with the Modus 105 to see if my numbers would fall off due to exhaustion. I saw a minimal drop-off. Mind you I'm probably 80's balls in right now.

 

Since the Modus 105 was working for me, we decided to try the i230 with that shaft. The numbers were better than the two previous shafts but they weren't as good as the 923 Forged and the feel of the Forged was better than the i230. 

 

I went in wanting to buy the i230s as I've read great things about them online and every Youtube video review raves about them. But the feel, numbers, and consistency were just much better w/the 923 Forged. Ultimately I ordered the 923 Forged w/Modus 105 X with a swing weight of D1. 

[dmeeksDC]

17 minutes ago, RN4LGolfer said:

I went to a fitting today and the two irons I hit were the Ping i230 and the Mizuno JPX 923 line. I hit all in the 923 line except for the HL. I hit the i230's first w/DG 103's. I was getting good numbers w/the 6i, 1.38 smash, carry 198 yards, and descent angle of 45*. 

 

Next, I hit the 923 Forged w/Modus 105 in 7i. The feel of a forged Mizuno is second to none. You immediately feel it when you hit a pure shot. I was averaging 90 mph club head speed, 1.39 smash, carrying 189 yards, 98 height, and a 46* descent angle.

 

My fitter then had me try both 923 Hot Metal and Hot Metal Pro. I didn't like the look of the Hot Metal, and my consistency wasn't as good as the forged and i230. I had very similar numbers as the forged but I preferred the feel of the 923 Forged and i230.

 

We switched back to the i230 this time with the $-Taper lites. I thought this was going to be a great combination for me as I've played the $-taper lites before. For some reason, this combination just didn't work. A lot of push's to the right and I didn't have any resemblance of consistency.

 

I went back and hit the 923 Forged again with the Modus 105 to see if my numbers would fall off due to exhaustion. I saw a minimal drop-off. Mind you I'm probably 80's balls in right now.

 

Since the Modus 105 was working for me, we decided to try the i230 with that shaft. The numbers were better than the two previous shafts but they weren't as good as the 923 Forged and the feel of the Forged was better than the i230. 

 

I went in wanting to buy the i230s as I've read great things about them online and every Youtube video review raves about them. But the feel, numbers, and consistency were just much better w/the 923 Forged. Ultimately I ordered the 923 Forged w/Modus 105 X with a swing weight of D1. 

Thanks for this. Your 923 Forged numbers were indeed checking all the boxes. And you didn’t like the Hot Metal Pro any better than the standard Hot Metal?

 

What were your general impressions of the 923 Forged vs i230 in terms of overall size, sole width, blade length, etc? Would you rank on as more forgiving than the other? Interested mainly in how the Forged performed on misses. Appreciate the feedback. 

[jetmech879]

So mizuno says they increased camber on the sole of the 923 forged. Does this mean they increased bounce as well? 

[dmeeksDC]

1 hour ago, jetmech879 said:

So mizuno says they increased camber on the sole of the 923 forged. Does this mean they increased bounce as well? 

Yes. Mizuno is known for low bounce irons. They said they looked at data on how golfers come through impact and made a small increase in bounce. The bounce still would not qualify as high bounce compared to other irons but it is slightly higher than it was. The soles look really good. Bounce specs are not on the Mizuno site that I could find but TGW has them. Next to last column. 
 

Mizuno Men's JPX 923 Forged Irons Specifications

CLUB HEAD

LOFT

LENGTH

LIE

OFFSET

BOUNCE

SWING WEIGHT

4 Iron	21°	38.5"	60°	0.155"	2°	D2
5 Iron	24°	38"	60.5°	0.147"	3°	D2
6 Iron	27°	37.5"	61°	0.139"	4°	D2
7 Iron	30°	37"	61.5°	0.131"	5°	D2
8 Iron	34°	36.5"	62°	0.122"	6°	D2
9 Iron	39°	36"	62.5°	0.114"	7°	D2
Pitching Wedge	44°	35.5"	63°	0.106"	8°	D2
Gap Wedge	49°	35.25"	63°	0.094"	9°	D2

[RN4LGolfer]

6 hours ago, dmeeksDC said:

Thanks for this. Your 923 Forged numbers were indeed checking all the boxes. And you didn’t like the Hot Metal Pro any better than the standard Hot Metal?

 

What were your general impressions of the 923 Forged vs i230 in terms of overall size, sole width, blade length, etc? Would you rank on as more forgiving than the other? Interested mainly in how the Forged performed on misses. Appreciate the feedback. 

 

If I had to choose between Hot Metal and Hot Metal Pro, I'd choose the Pro over the standard based on looks. The standard Hot Metal looks a little too bulky for me, you see the back of the club from address, but the top lines are nearly identical. Numbers wise they were pretty identical. 

 

I currently play the PXG Gen5 0311P, and the head size and blade length on the i230 and Forged were nearly identical. I think the i230 top line was a little thinner, but nothing that jumped out at me. The sole width was bigger on the HM and HM Pro, and the i230 was maybe a tad thinner but again nothing that was glaring. 

 

Regarding forgiveness, on my second go around with the i230's, I had a stretch of 4 hits in a row that were a tad heavy and the dispersion circle was so tight I was impressed and a little in disbelief. I even commented to my fitter how tight the circle was. Of course, the carry dropped about 10 yards but the hits were straight and tight. 

 

My miss hits tend to be if I leave the face too open at contact or if really shut the face at impact and send a rocket to the left.

 

Going into the fitting I had read how forgiving and accurate the i230 was and expected it to be head and shoulders above the rest. In the end when we took out the outliers the dispersion circles between the Forged and the i230 were very similar. I'd say the Forged was a little tighter, but only fractionally better. For my swing, I thought I could work the ball better and I found it easier to work in-to-out and out-to-in on my swing. What I like about a forged head is the feedback you get from your strikes. With the Mizuno Forged, I could tell exactly where I hit it on the face and like I said previously when I hit it on the sweet spot, it just felt so pure. 

 

I forgot to mention I hit the Mizuno Tour irons, but my game isn't consistent enough to play blades. Beautiful club, but I couldn't hit it consistently enough to test it with different shafts.

 

I know everyone preaches to go get fitted and I'm one that had always thought, right right right but I know my swing and what shaft should work. But it's true, the only way to know which combo will work is to get fitted. I went in thinking that either the C-Taper lite or $-Taper lite would be the shaft and all I had to do was decide between the head's I tested. In the end, neither of the shafts gave me the best numbers.

 

Sorry for the long-winded response.

[XHoop24]

Enjoying the reviews coming in on the Forged. I have some thoughts on how Mizuno has rolled out this release, but I'll save that for another post 🙂

 

Question - is everyone using the Mizuno shaft optimizer during fits? How have the results meshed with the new JPX 923 heads?

[mitchdoc]

On 1/26/2023 at 6:43 AM, dmeeksDC said:

Have fun. Would love to see your feedback. It is a very tough call between the 923F and HMP. HMP will be a little hotter but the Forged is sleeker and also has more pop than a traditional forging. Hit the short irons in both if you can because that is where they differ the most. Kudos to Mizuno on this JPX lineup. I think I could play either and be fine. Guy at the store said the HMP has been a great seller for them. They put the Forged out last week and many are hitting it. 
 

I compared the heads to a few others. Size-wise the HMP and Srixon ZX5 MKii are the same and the 921F has a slightly smaller overall footprint than the ZX7, just a little more svelte but similar blade lengths. The ZX4 is like the standard Hot Metal. 

That is strange because I went from a ZX7 iron to the 921 forged precisely because I found the Mizuno a little bit bigger and more forgiving and longer and better spinning.

[dmeeksDC]

11 minutes ago, mitchdoc said:

That is strange because I went from a ZX7 iron to the 921 forged precisely because I found the Mizuno a little bit bigger and more forgiving and longer and better spinning.

Your results make sense. Remember, the 921 Forged has longer blade lengths than the 923 Forged.
 

Having looked at them side by side, to me the 923F overall doesn’t look any bigger than ZX7 — both are mid-sized CBs, neither are small — but the 923F should be more forgiving because it has a back-milled cavity slot across the bottom inside the head of the 4-7 irons. The thinned-out face is intended to preserve ball speed on hits across the face while the ZX7 is a straight-up forged with tungsten in the toe of the long irons but that’s it. By design the 923F has more tech, but only in the long irons. It is a built-in combo set, the ZX7 is not. 
 

The comparisons I made are more about how the lineups compare from a golfer’s profile. The ZX5 would match up to the Hot Metal Pro tech-wise and those are close in size. The ZX4 is bigger, more like the standard Hot Metal.
 

A player looking at the ZX7 would most likely look at 923F in Mizuno, but that player could also consider the 923 Tour, which is a CB but it’s only a shallow cavity and is less forgiving than ZX7.. There is no iron in the Srixon lineup that aligns perfectly with the 923F. It is a combo, so the long irons would be more like the ZX5 while the 8-P are straight carbon steel heads like the ZX7. It is not an exact science but that’s how I would compare them. 
 

If you went Srixon and built a combo of ZX5 long irons and ZX7 scoring irons, I would say a full set of 923 Forged is the Mizuno counterpart. 

[RN4LGolfer]

2 hours ago, XHoop24 said:

Enjoying the reviews coming in on the Forged. I have some thoughts on how Mizuno has rolled out this release, but I'll save that for another post 🙂

 

Question - is everyone using the Mizuno shaft optimizer during fits? How have the results meshed with the new JPX 923 heads?

I did not use the Mizuno shaft optimizer. It could be because I didn't go to a big box store or Club Champion for my fitting.

[Lftygolfnut]

What are some opinions of the 923HMP vs the 923F? I’m looking to switch to the forged in hopes of a more responsive face for better feedback, a thinner sole (in long irons especially), but was hoping they’d have a noticeably better feel, especially considering the price difference. 

 

[renobleiii]

Ask Golf Nut just posted a video comparing the 923 forged to the MP225. Some on here (or maybe in the main JPX thread) were asking for comparisons on them.