Equipment
New Miura Golf President says quality, pricing “will stay the same”
New Miura Golf President Hoyt McGarity confirmed to GolfWRX that a new group has made a significant investment in Miura Golf. True Spec Golf will now act as a management company that deals specifically with the worldwide sales and distribution of Miura products.
The news of Miura’s sale, which was first reported on GolfWRX, created a flurry of discussion about Miura’s future within the golf equipment world — both the Miura family’s role, and potential changes to Miura products.
“At the end of the day, I want to get across to people that Miura Golf clubs are going to continue to be made at the same factory in Himeji, Japan,” McGarity told GolfWRX. “Mr. Miura and his family will have control over everything that goes on with production and development of Miura clubs.”
McGarity also addressed questions about Miura’s quality and pricing, saying that the company’s tolerances “have always been tight, and they’re going to stay tight.” He also said prices of Miura clubs “will stay the same.”
“[Miura clubs] aren’t for the mass market and are never going to be,” he said. “We’re an ultra-premium brand, and we’re going to stay ultra-premium.”
McGarity, 33, is also the CEO of True Spec Golf, a custom club-fitting company that was founded in 2014 and has expanded to 10 physical locations under his leadership. The company takes what it calls a “brand-agnostic” approach to club fitting, helping golfers find the best golf clubs for their game. McGarity is also the CEO of True Spec Golf sister company Club Conex.
“True Spec will always be brand agnostic,” McGarity said. “If [another brand’s clubs] are better than Miura’s, that’s a Miura problem. We’re always going to sell the best-performing clubs to our customers.”
True Spec will act as a “fulfillment center” for Miura, McGarity said, specifically as “a shipping and storage place.”
McGarity stated that the real advantage for Miura’s partnership with True Spec is True Spec’s ownership of Club Conex, a company that sells patented components that allow golfers to try the same golf shaft in a variety of different golf club heads, regardless of club head manufacturer. Club Conex is used by the vast majority of premium club fitters, opening up important distribution channels for Miura.
“Club Conex is primed to help Miura with distribution,” McGarity said. “With Miura, you’re going to see a company that’s heavily consumer-focused and dealer-focused.”
McGarity also cited the importance of improving the appeal of the Miura brand internationally. “The brand and its appearance have to be the same quality as the clubs themselves,” McGarity said. “Because no one makes better forged irons than the Miura family.”
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Titleist has today introduced Pro V1, Pro V1x and Pro V1x Left Dash golf balls featuring enhanced alignment.
The new Enhanced Alignment aid is an extended alignment sidestamp designed for more precise aim and accuracy. The elongated sidestamp provides a built-in visual aid and measures over 65 percent longer than the standard Pro V1 sidestamp.
“Enhanced Alignment is designed for golfers who are seeking a more detailed, built-in alignment feature on their Pro V1, Pro V1x or Pro V1x Left Dash. We saw overwhelming interest in the single-colored line on Pro V1 Performance Alignment, and this is another alternative for players who prefer a slightly different look.” – Jeremy Stone, Vice President, Titleist Golf Ball Marketing
In addition to Enhanced Alignment, Titleist offers more than 40 different alignment aid designs on Pro V1’s fourth pole – opposite the sidestamp – through custom order on Titleist.com.
Pro V1, Pro V1x and Pro V1x Left Dash Enhanced Alignment golf balls are available to order through titleist.com and at authorized Titleist retailers beginning on May 17 in the United States only. Enhanced Alignment is available globally on July 1.
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Cobra released its first commercially available 3D-printed steel putter in 2020. Now, the company is bringing its first 3D-printed irons to retail with new LIMIT3D irons, which Cobra’s vice president of product architecture, Jose Miraflor, calls “the most significant technological advancement to happen to the category in the past 20 years” and “a look into the future of golf club design and performance.”
Cobra leveraged the expertise of computational design software firm nTop to create an ambitious design: a compact players blade that offers similar forgiveness as a larger, game-improvement style club and forged iron feel.
Speaking on the partnership, Mike Yagley, Vice President of Innovation & AI, Cobra Golf said, “nTop’s computational design tools integrated with 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, allowed us to create an incredible new design that looks and feels like a forged blade but performs like a larger, game-improvement iron. No one has done this before, and we’re excited to introduce these unique irons to the world.”
As Cobra explains, more forgiving irons are traditionally larger and sacrifice feel. Due to the limitations of casting and forging, creating a more compact, better-feeling iron that still delivers forgiveness was only possible with 3D printing. The resulting profile of Cobra’s LIMIT3D irons is smaller than Cobra’s King Tour irons.
LIMIT3D irons are 3D printed for 316L stainless steel with an internal lattice structure, which allowed engineers to position 33 percent of the iron’s overall weight to the exterior for greater MOI. 100 grams of tungsten is positioned in the heel and toe of each clubhead for low CG for ease of launch and high MOI for greater forgiveness.
Additionally, using nTop’s design software and additive manufacturing allowed for a substantially faster prototyping process, which enabled engineers to test more designs and mass placements for a superior finished product.
Cobra LIMIT3D irons: Pricing, specs, availability
- 350 individually numbered sets available in the U.S. and Canada (500 sets total worldwide)
- Available for custom order June 7
- Price: $3,000
- Set: 4-PW, RH only
- Full range of aftermarket shafts, grips
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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (5/14/24): Mizuno Pro 241 Azalea Edition irons
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a set of Mizuno Pro 241 Azalea Edition irons.
From the seller: (@ayc25): “Brand new in box / plastic. 4-PW. Custom shaft bands, grips, ferrules. Dynamic Gold S200 Tour Issue. NO TRADES. Ships next day UPS Ground from Northern Virginia. $1695 shipped or best offer.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Mizuno Pro 241 Azalea Edition irons
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Faking-it-with-blades
Jan 14, 2017 at 11:06 am
Anyone notice a particular iconic Miura iron NOT featured in the glamour shot above? Is the Baby Blade literally “out of the picture” going forward?
rex235
Jan 12, 2017 at 8:16 pm
“Miura will remain an ultra premium brand…”
When Miura makes a LH forged model of the 1957 Cavity Back they made for Jack Nicklaus…
ZJohnson
Jan 12, 2017 at 4:21 pm
Ok, now this makes sense. Cool Clubs did fulfillment for Miura this time last year as they started to sell their product in brick and mortar stores across the US. They built approx. 100 sets before having to stop so they didn’t fall behind with their own customers. Cool Clubs distributes for KBS now as it is much more time and cost effective for them. Unless True Spec hires two/three guys to do nothing but fulfill Miura’s orders, it’s going to be tough for them to keep up.
B. McKenna
Jan 16, 2017 at 7:31 pm
I watched this Hoyt guy try to bend a set of irons at Modern Golf and it was pretty bad. There are tons of industry guys with more knowledge than him. I’d give this relationship 6 months. If CC couldn’t pull it off with their facility, doubt Tour Spec will be able to handle it.
LD
Jan 12, 2017 at 9:36 am
Talk is cheap.
Tom C
Jan 12, 2017 at 9:29 am
Well, at least he’s an Irishman.
Those new irons are already a clear indicator of a different direction. I appreciate the new Presidents words, but I just don’t see how it will happen. I’m sure there will be a clear view of things that a new owner would want to do to make money, and some of the current operations are cost prohibitive in terms of manufacturing, but some of those things are what make them such quality clubs. It’s contradictory to say that “we want to increase the brand recognition world wide”, but we aren’t going to make it a mass selling brand.
The brand and it’s appearance are already as good as the clubs themselves, they just want to sell more and more of them, which I understand, as the market is becoming more and more competitive in this ultra-premium market. That being said, it’d be like saying Koenigsegg needs to market better because they sell 20 cars a year, when Ferrari sells 100. Koenigsegg’s are made in an old airplane hangar, and make the fastest cars in the world, and much like Miura, most people have no idea what they are, but for those that do, they’re all you’d ever want, and you wouldn’t want them to change.
This is like Mercedes releasing the “Under $30k” renditions of their cars. Yeah, it’s nice. Yeah, it says Mercedes, but is it really a Mercedes? Meh.
The only consolation I find in this is that the buy out isn’t from a direct competitor looking to buy out their market share (and avoid questioning over patents), so it’s not going to be an Adams-Taylormade ordeal.
Daniel
Jan 12, 2017 at 9:26 am
Wasn’t their PP-9005 Genesis clubs that GolfWRX just reviewed made in some other factory?
Zak Kozuchowski
Jan 12, 2017 at 9:34 am
The Genesis irons are made in Miura’s factory. That correction has been made in our review: http://www.golfwrx.com/419156/review-miura-neo-genesis-pp-9005-irons/
Adam
Jan 12, 2017 at 9:35 am
Absolutely correct:
Production country “China”
http://www.miuragiken.com/products/passing_point/pp-9005/index.html
Daniel
Jan 12, 2017 at 9:53 am
The sentence in that review article was too specific to have been a typo IMO. Something about the geometries being too hard for that facility.
Zak Kozuchowski
Jan 12, 2017 at 10:54 am
Thanks for the questions and comments, guys. This response is directly from Miura:
“All Miura irons start from a single billet of soft carbon Japanese steel at the Miura Giken factory in Himeji. (this is what will always distinguish Miura irons) The next step of the process is working with our partner in Taiwan to complete the manufacturing process (the 455 Carpenter Steel face) The clubs are then shipped back to the Miura factory for final inspection before making their way to market.”
“With reference to the Miura Giken website, technically the club is “finished in Taiwan (China) and thus you are not able to say Made it Japan, however, the Miura family is involved in the process, start to finish.”
gunmetal
Jan 12, 2017 at 2:08 pm
So the Japanese plant has lost capability to finish the heads? Or it’s just cheaper for them to ship them off to Taiwan/China, pay Taiwan/China labor rates, then ship them back to Japan or straight to True Spec or whoever than it is to just finish them in Japan?
I know this is partly semantics, but when you play the “Made/Forged in Japan” card so blatantly sometimes the details can be a little muddy, lol.
Mark
Jan 12, 2017 at 3:13 pm
I do not think this is about cheaper labour rates. Taiwanese companies are, collectively, the world’s biggest producers of golf equipment. They own all of the major production sites in China and many of them have kept their specialist production units located in Taiwan (driver heads which require intricate casting tend to be produced there). I think Miura have simply chosen a high quality Taiwanese supplier to do what they are unable to do. If I remember correctly, Tom Wishon has used Taiwan based facilities for his advanced materials designs.
Rich
Jan 12, 2017 at 8:55 am
There is no way Miura will not fall victim (to what degree is yet to be seen) to compromise when there has been significant investment. Whoever put the money in, will expect to see money back and that will not happen with significant change.
Adam
Jan 12, 2017 at 5:39 am
So has TSG bought or invested in Miura Golf (which is the North American and International Sales arm of Miura) or have they bought the parent company Miura Giken from Japan who produces all the clubs for Miura and Miura Giken. So far in 2 articles it is still not clear!
Zak Kozuchowski
Jan 12, 2017 at 7:34 am
Adam,
Miura offers slightly different products under the names Miura and Miura-Giken (Japan), but all products are designed and manufactured under one roof. The deal encompasses all of Miura.
S Hitty
Jan 12, 2017 at 12:29 pm
I don’t get why such information is so hard to obtain from their own website and why do you have to explain it all in the comments and not in the articles themselves.
Zak Kozuchowski
Jan 12, 2017 at 12:40 pm
We have added the detail to the body of the Genesis review for all future readers to understand and discuss.
Tom
Jan 11, 2017 at 8:58 pm
+1
Chunkiebuck
Jan 11, 2017 at 8:36 pm
Hey, are those rear tail lights or turn signals on the back? I’m guessing they flash left or right depending on ball flight direction. You know, in case you missed the flight of your ball, you can
take a quick peek at the back of these clubs for confirmation.