How Mizuno improved their most successful irons ever

So that’s some pretty decent success on tour with the first-ever JPX product which was designed for the world’s best players.

Traditionally the Mizuno MP irons had been for the better players and the JPX had been for ‘game-improvers’.

In the pro shops and retail outlets the success of the JPX900 range was even more impressive.

The JPX900 Forged has been the brand’s best-selling forged iron to date.

The JPX900 Hot Metal has been their best-selling iron to date.

So how on earth were they going to make improvements with the new JPX919 line?

Well, we’ll get on to the technology in a minute but I think we can all agree that the aesthetics have taken things up a notch.

They are more refined, stylish and classy. We’ve got similar design principles running through the JPX919 Tour, Forged and Hot Metal.

The straight lines, the logo placement, the finish all make it look like these irons are from the same family.

So if objective one was the make the JPX919 look better than the JPX900 then that’s a good start.

Mizuno JPX919 irons review: The technology

There isn’t a raft of technological advancements from the JPX900 to the JPX919.

It has been more about tweaking and refining.

The JPX919 Tour is actually slightly more compact than the 900 but Mizuno have made it it bit more stable around the perimeter.

They have also incorporated the same high density grain flow forging process as in the MP-18 line which improves the sound and feel.

So it looks a bit sleeker, sounds and feels a bit better but actually has a bit more stability making it suitable for the Brooks Koepkas as well as the ‘better’ handicap golfers.

With the JPX919 Forged we’ve again got a cavity design and the use of boron-infused steel for more ball speed.

Weight has been removed from the face which allows a lower, deeper centre of gravity making it easier to launch the mid and long irons.

The JPX919 Hot Metal promises to launch the ball high and fast but still offer a surprising amount of feel and feedback.

The Hot Metal now offers a steeper transition into more compact scoring irons and wedges, with set-matching gap, sand and lob wedges available.

These wedges are engineered from a softer X30 steel with precision-milled grooves and faces for improved spin and control around the greens.

“The most impressive thing about the JPX919 Hot Metal is the launch control and flight apex,” says Chris Voshall, Mizuno’s senior engineer.

“The extra ball speed and distance doesn’t come from low-flying bullets – we work the design backwards from the correct landing angles. These are irons for the golf course, not just the launch monitor!”

That’s the lowdown on the new Mizuno JPX919 irons – but how did they perform? Find out on the next page…

Mizuno JPX919 irons review: The results

This was always going to be an interesting test for me as I was custom-fitted into the JPX900 Hot Metal a couple of years ago.

As you can see from the launch monitor numbers the Hot Metal does offer that added ball speed and distance.

That’s something I definitely want in my mid and longer irons but I’d like a bit more precision and workability in the shorter irons.

The Forged and the Tour were not that difficult to hit in the 7-iron so I’d be thinking about a split set with the Forged or the Tour in PW, 9, 8, maybe 7 and then the Hot Metal in the 6, 5 and 4.

The look and feel of the JPX919 Tour is just sensational but I can’t quite get the launch and the numbers I.m looking for when it comes to the longer irons.

If I was going to go for a set of just one model it would definitely be the JPX919 Forged as it offers the best of both worlds.

However, considering the lofts on the JPX919 Tour are considerably weaker, the numbers were still pretty good.

[skylab_video id=”150459″]JPX919 irons YT[/skylab_video]

So maybe I could use the Tour but with cranked lofts? I’ll keep telling myself that I can until I go through the proper custom-fitting process with Mizuno soon.

Mizuno JPX919 irons review: NCG verdict

I think it’s going to be quite hard to keep these irons out of my bag because they look, feel and perform so well.

They will make people look forward to playing golf.

Have they massively improved on the JPX900? I’m not sure the use of the word massive is correct but they have definitely improved what was a tremendous product.

I really hope that PGA pros and expert fitters help golfers get fitted into combo sets of these irons because they do blend together very nicely.

When you are forking out all that money for a set of irons I think it’s only right that you have an individual fitting for every iron in the set.

Hopefully they days of just hitting a 7-iron and then being told to buy a full set is a thing of the past.

All golfers, regardless of their handicap, should give all three models a try before making their decision.

If only to find out how the three models perform differently from each other.

Anyway, I can’t wait to go and see a Mizuno fitter to see what my perfect set of JPX919 irons looks like.

Mizuno JPX919 irons details

SRPs:

JPX919 Tour: £135 per iron
JPX919 Forged: £135 per iron
JPX919 Hot Metal: £120 per iron

More information can be found on the Mizuno website.

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