Equipment

Chief Engineer Chris Voshall on Mizuno’s approach to the Tour and some of the most insightful pros

Published

6 years ago

Jun 18, 2018

Mizuno’s Chief Engineer Chris Voshall chatted with Johnny Wunder on the latest episode of the Gear Dive.

Voshall offers innumerable interesting anecdotes–particularly interesting is the development of the JPX 900 iron for Brooks Koepka and Voshall’s discussion of his work with other Tour talents.

In the excerpt below, however, Voshall discusses Mizuno’s approach to Tour players and further, whose feedback has proven particularly valuable.

“We’re not making them something special. If they’re coming to us, it’s because the product is that good…They come to us instead of us having to go to them…that’s one of the really exciting things.”

Voshall indicated that players on Tour play essentially the same Mizuno products that are available at retail.

“If the Tour van is out of inventory, they can reach out to us…and we’ll get them more heads. There’s nothing unique about what they’re playing, which I think speaks to the customer…you can almost not trust marketing around the whole world these days, but for us to say ‘there’s nothing different’…that’s something we really hang our hat on.”

With respect to excellent testers on Tour, Voshall sang Luke Donald’s praises, as well as Jhonny Vegas and Brian Gay.

“I love working with Luke. Luke, especially when you’re talking irons…turf interaction, that’s the thing he’s looking for. So with Luke, you’ve really got to speak to him about how it feels, how it enter, how it exits [the turf] and how that’s causing the ball to launch. You could give him the exact same head with a slightly different sole grind, and he will love or hate one versus the other. He’s really cool to work with on that front.”

“Jhonny Vegas…he’s raw power. He goes at it. He wants to slam the club into the ground as hard as he can and see where it goes. He very much on the opposite end of the spectrum as Luke, who’s very much an artist out there, trying to work it, trying to do different things.”

“One of my favorite guys to work with, even though he’s not on staff anymore, is Brian Gay. He knows his game. He knows equipment. Speaking to the fact that he’s been out on Tour as long as he has and has the wins he has with the length he hits the ball, it shows that he does not miss a shot. And he knows everything…when he makes a comment on a club, that’s the one that I take most serious.”

For the rest of Voshall’s insights and perspective, give the full podcast a listen below.

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Whats in the Bag

Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic

Published

10 hours ago

Apr 28, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Rory McIlroy WITB

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (45 inches)

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X

Irons: TaylorMade Proto (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9) Buy here.
Shaft: Project X 7.0 (4-9)

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.

Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB) Buy here, Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-K @59) Buy here.
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X3 Buy here.
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol Tour

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.

Ball: 2024 TaylorMade TP5x Buy here.

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.

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Shane Lowry WITB

Shane Lowry what’s in the bag accurate as of the Cognizant Classic.

Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II (8.5 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ White 70 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus Buy here.
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 X

Check out more in-hand photos of Shane Lowry’s clubs here.

Irons: Srixon ZX Utility (3, 20 degrees) Buy here, Srixon ZX5 Mk II (4, 5) Buy here, Srixon ZX7 Mk II (6-PW) Buy here.
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120 X (3), KBS Tour 130 X (4-PW)

Wedges: Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore Tour Rack (50-10 MID, 54-10 MID) Buy here, Cleveland RTX Full Face (58-8) Buy here.
Shafts: KBS Tour Wedge X Black

Check out more in-hand photos of Shane Lowry’s clubs here.

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Z Buy here.
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol 1.0

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV Buy here.

Check out more in-hand photos of Shane Lowry’s clubs here.

The winning WITB is presented by 2nd Swing Golf. 2nd Swing has more than 100,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.

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Whats in the Bag

Steve Stricker WITB 2024 (April)

Published

3 days ago

Apr 26, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Steve Stricker WITB accurate as of the Zurich Classic. More photos from the event here.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, C4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 7.2 X

3-wood: Titleist 915F (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX

Check out more in-hand photos of Steve Stricker’s clubs here.

Hybrid: Titleist 816 H1 (17 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 9.2 X

Irons: Titleist T200 (3, 4), Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Check out more in-hand photos of Steve Stricker’s clubs here.

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (46-10F @55), Titleist Vokey SM10 (54-10S @53), Titleist Vokey SM4 (60 @59)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 w/Sensicore