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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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/18/24): Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made
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 Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made.
From the seller: (@DLong72): “Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made. ?: $1150. ?? 100% milled collectors item from the limited releases commemorating when Ping putters won every major in 1988 (88 putters made). This was the model Seve Ballesteros used to win the 1988 Open Championship. Condition is brand new, never gamed, everything is in the original packaging as it came. Putter features the iconic sound slot.
Specs/ Additional Details
-100% Milled, Aluminum/Bronze Alloy (310g)
-Original Anser Design
-PING PP58 Grip
-Putter is built to standard specs.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made
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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As you probably know by now, Collin Morikawa switched putters after the first round of The Masters, and he ultimately went on to finish T3.
The putter was far from the only change he made last week, however, and his bag is continuing to change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage.
On the range of The Masters, Morikawa worked closely with Adrian Reitveld, TaylorMade’s Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, to find the perfect driver and 3-wood setups.
Morikawa started off 2024 by switching into TaylorMade’s Qi10 Max driver, but since went back to his faithful TaylorMade SIM – yes, the original SIM from 2020. Somehow, some way, it seems Morikawa always ends up back in that driver, which he used to win the 2020 PGA Championship, and the 2021 Open Championship.
At The Masters, however, Rietveld said the duo found the driver head that allowed “zero compromise” on Morikawa’s preferred fade flight and spin. To match his preferences, they landed on a TaylorMade Qi10 LS 9-degree head, and the lie angle is a touch flatter than his former SIM.
“It’s faster than his gamer, and I think what we found is it fits his desired shot shape, with zero compromise” Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the RBC Heritage.
Then, to replace his former SIM rocket 3-wood, Morikawa decided to switch into the TaylorMade Qi10 core model 13.5-degree rocket head, with an adjustable hosel.
“He likes the spin characteristics of that head,” Rietveld said. “Now he’s interesting because with Collin, you can turn up at a tournament, and you look at his 3-wood, and he’s changed the setting. One day there’s more loft on it, one day there’s less loft on it. He’s that type of guy. He’s not scared to use the adjustability of the club.
“And I think he felt our titanium head didn’t spin as low as his original SIM. So we did some work with the other head, just because he liked the feel of it. It was a little high launching, so we fit him into something with less loft. It’s a naughty little piece of equipment.”
In addition to the driver and fairway wood changes, Morikawa also debuted his new “MySymbol” jersey No. 5 TP5x golf ball at The Masters. Morikawa’s choice of symbols is likely tied to his love of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.
Not enough changes for you? There’s one more.
On Wednesday at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Morikawa was spotted with a new TaylorMade “Proto” 4-iron in the bag. If you recall, it’s the same model that Rory McIlroy debuted at the 2024 Valero Texas Open.
According to Morikawa, the new Proto 4-iron will replace his old P-770 hollow-bodied 4-iron.
“I used to hit my P-770 on a string, but sometimes the distance would be a little unpredictable,” Morikawa told GolfWRX.com. “This one launches a touch higher, and I feel I can predict the distance better. I know Rory replaced his P-760 with it. I’m liking it so far.”
See Morikawa’s full WITB from the 2024 RBC Heritage here.
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.
It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.
When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”
“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”
View this post on Instagram
According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.
Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:
“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.
“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.
“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.
“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.
“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”
So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.
His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.
See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here
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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.