Equipment
Chief Engineer Chris Voshall on Mizuno’s approach to the Tour and some of the most insightful pros
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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- 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
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
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
Putter: Odyssey White Hot No. 2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Grip Rite
Check out more in-hand photos of Steve Stricker’s clubs here.
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- Alex Fitzpatrick what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 TX
Irons: Ping iCrossover (2), Titleist T100 (4-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 9 TX (2), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-12F, 56-12D, 60-08M)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Bettinardi SS16 Dass
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Alex Fitzpatrick’s clubs here.
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In our forums, our members have been discussing Mini-Drivers and accompanying shafts. WRXer ‘JamesFisher1990’ is about to purchase a BRNR Mini and is torn on what shaft weight to use, and our members have been sharing their thoughts and set ups in our forum.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- PARETO: “New BRNR at 13.5. Took it over to TXG (Club Champ but TXG will always rule) in Calgary for a fit. Took the head down to 12, stuck in a Graphite Design AD at 3 wood length and 60g. Presto- numbers that rivaled my G430Max but with waaaaay tighter dispersion. Win.”
- driveandputtmachine: “Still playing a MIni 300. The head was only 208, so I ordered a heavier weight and play it at 3 wood length. I am playing a Ventus Red 70. I play 70 grams in my fairways. I use it mainly to hit draws off the tee. When I combine me, a driver, and trying to hit a draw it does not work out well most of the time. So the MIni is for that. As an aside, I have not hit the newest BRNR, but the previous model wasn’t great off the deck. The 300 Mini is very good off the deck.”
- JAM01: “Ok, just put the BRNR in the bag along side a QI10 max and a QI10 3 wood. A load of top end redundancy. But, I have several holes at my two home courses where the flight and accuracy of the mini driver helps immensely. Mine is stock Proforce 65 at 13.5, I could see a heavier shaft, but to normal flex, as a nice alternative.”
Entire Thread: “What’s the perfect Mini-Driver/Shaft combo? – GolfWRXers discuss”
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Steve Stricker WITB 2024 (April)
Steve Stricker WITB accurate as of the Zurich Classic. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, C4...
Alex Fitzpatrick WITB 2024 (April)
Alex Fitzpatrick what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
Alejandro Tosti WITB 2024 (April)
Alejandro Tosti what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees...
Drew Brees WITB 2024 (April)
View this post on Instagram A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx) Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (10.5 degrees)...
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Robert Nadjiwan
Jun 20, 2018 at 2:13 pm
Pod Casts when the sound is clear and balanced is great. But it need not be so long either. Mizuno has always made great irons, Drivers are Ok, Fairway woods and Utility clubs are good. Don’t know much about if they make putters today.
rex235
Jun 19, 2018 at 2:01 pm
Nice interview with some great golf club history, but-
No more LH blade iron models from Mizuno?
~j~
Jun 19, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Proud owner of the 900-forged tours, Love them. Never thought much on their transition through the turf but they’re small, compact, and launch the ball similar to a mortar round regardless of AoA.
Nick
Jun 19, 2018 at 12:12 pm
Please fix your audio. Love the content when I can hear it.
Tim
Jun 19, 2018 at 7:25 am
The content is great, but the audio on this podcast is such garbage. The volume disparity between the interviewer and guest is far too great and someone’s phone keeps going off, very distracting.
Martien Schwencke
Jun 19, 2018 at 4:19 am
Should be nice if Mizuno will make JPX900 single length irons >I will try them
Andy G
Jun 18, 2018 at 11:46 pm
This one of the few zpod cast I have ever listened to from beginning to end. I love to hear someone with so much passion on there specific expertise. This was great pod cast and an amazing listen, very rarely do you get hear someone speak with such candor and passion, and not be afraid to answer even the tough questions the way he did. Amazing pod cast thank you!