Equipment
‘Engineered for extreme backspin’ – Mizuno unveils new S23 wedges
Mizuno has today unveiled its new S23 wedges, which the manufacturer says are “comprehensively engineered for extreme backspin.”
The wedges are designed to combine the precision and playing profile of a player’s bladed wedge with the aggressive performance of a toe-weighted design and feature a centralized sweet spot for maximum control.
The S23 wedges showcase a shorter hosel and a heel-orientated cavity allowing greater mass to be pushed towards the toe. This creates a centred sweet spot, as opposed to a heel-side location in conventional wedges.
The centred sweet spot is designed to contribute to longer impact time, less head deflection and higher spin from both full and partial shots.
“That check and spin you see from the pros isn’t purely because of newer grooves – most of us don’t have the consistency of strike to get that kind of action. For the vast majority, a centralised sweet spot makes it much easier to find and get that repetitive action.” – David Llewellyn, Director of R&D for Mizuno
The S23 wedges are One-piece Grain Flow Forged HD at Mizuno’s facility in Hiroshima, Japan – where Mizuno irons have been produced since 1968. They have a Tour-ready design with a player’s preferred, versatile look at address. But, with weight pushed to the toe, a partial heel cavity and a short hosel, they offer a centralised sweet spot designed to offer a more consistent strike and reliable high-spin numbers.
The wedges offer a loft-specific profile with stronger lofts featuring a tear-drop straight edge, flowing into a more rounded lob wedge, with grinds to suit throughout.
The precise grooves in the S23 wedges are quad-cut milled and loft specific, cut into Boron infused 1025 mild carbon steel for a longer effective lifespan. In addition, Mizuno’s HydroFlow Micro Grooves are laser etched to release moisture in a bid to reduce spin drop-off in wet conditions.
The S23 wedges come in either a white satin brush chrome or copper cobalt finish and will be in retail from February 2023 at a price of $160 per wedge.
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Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
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)
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
Ball: 2024 TaylorMade TP5x Buy here.
(Photo courtesy of TaylorMade)
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.
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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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- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.
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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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MarkM
Jan 23, 2023 at 10:56 am
Kinda the same concept as the Nike Engage wedges that came out ages ago.
Donny Boy
Jan 21, 2023 at 1:06 am
That copper finish with black accents is FIRE! Looks good and techy.
Andrew J
Jan 20, 2023 at 11:37 am
Love these wedges. Mizuno could use a better putter like the P&SI-EGOS on eBay.