180 - Oh So Right...

The regular reader of this crappy little blog will know that I have a thing for Mizuno. For me they are a perfect blend of technology and design yet don’t fall into the trap of appealing to the club captain at the local private course. I like the fact that they aren’t as popular as the likes of TaylorMade, Callaway and Ping, makes me feel smug owning a set.

I realise that by getting all smug and elitist about my gear plunges me into the depths of golf snobbery, something I rant about often on these pages. Yeah, I can be a hypocrite as well as a bit of a pompous bastard. Anyway, I digress, Mizuno are my current object of desire and their new range is trouser tighteningly good.

The JPX800 and JPX800Pro are latest in a long line of great looking ‘game improver’ clubs from Mizuno that work as well as they look. Mizuno made their name by producing beautiful grain flow forged blades and the new MP53 and MP63’s continue this tradition with ease. It is fair to say the new high end clubs so pretty they could be on a teenager’s bedroom wall.

The new MP-630 range of drivers and fairway woods aren’t quite as stunning at the new clubs but what they lose in looks they make up in performance. Mizuno have honed the Hot Metal face technology to make the new big sticks the furthest and straightest ever produced by the company.

MX-700 hybrid is now joined by an all new direct long iron replacement in the shape of the MP Fli-Hi designed to fit the shape and flight characteristics of the other clubs in the MP range. The all new MP-630 CLK compliments the rest of the 630 range of woods to complete the hybrid line up.

Another area where Mizuno traditionally excel is in wedges. The Japanese company are famed for producing buttery soft feeling chippers that provide plenty of spin and feel around the green. The latest offerings include the updated MP T-11 with its quad cut grooves and the JPX Series wedges designed to complement the rest of the JPX range.

Also available are two different ranges of putters, the traditional MP range and the more contemporary Line 90 range. Mizuno decided to produce their own putters after working closely with Bettinardi in the past and now offer something for everyone. The MP’s come in three classic shapes while the Line 90 employ five designs names after volcanoes!

Finally there is the new range of limited edition Aerolite X bags (above) which come in a number of loud designs and colours. One thing is for certain about this range, you will not be missed on the course, definitely one for all the Ian Poulter wannabes out there.

Overall I think that Mizuno have got it spot on once again. Their equipment is primarily designed to work on the course but they have the knack of making their kit look so good. The new blades are stunning, the putters a revelation and the bags an eye opener. Why don’t all the other manufacturers get it this right more often?

179 - Manga Ads And Sk8erboi Bags...

I’ve been looking at Mizuno’s new marketing and I’m a little confused. Their latest adverts depict a Manga-like, cartoon character playing like a hero with their stunning new JPX800 clubs. The advert is very cool, really interesting and will make no sense to anyone over 40 which is a risk seeing as this is probably Mizuno’s core market.

Kudos for the Japanese wand maker for having the stones to fly in the face of convention and produce a marketing campaign that doesn’t feel like it has been bought off the shelf from an expensive London advertising agency; I’m just worried that it may be money wasted.

Mizuno look like they are trying to tap into and actively encourage the emerging young golfers market which can only be a good thing in my opinion. Making golf cool will draw in the next generation of Ryder Cup stars and might even force a bit of change in the local clubs.

I believe that the sooner the stuffy Pringle Set lose their overbearing control over golf the better as some of the hoops that new players need to jump through to play on a half decent course are too much like hard work.

I have a niggling doubt about this advertising campaign though. I doubt that enough kids will see the adverts and be persuaded that far from being a game played by fat, middle-aged men in BMW’s, golf is actually a really enjoyable sport that requires skill, mental toughness and stamina. I think Mizuno agree which is why they have a secret weapon; a new bag!

Actually it is a range of Limited Edition Aerolite X bags that look like they have been designed by Avril Lavigne and Tony Hawk. They are very loud, very colourful and almost guaranteed to cause a heart attack on the first tee at Private Members only courses up and down the country.

The change of direction in terms of advertising and producing more ‘yoof’ oriented equipment gets my hearty seal of approval, I just hope that Mizuno don’t alienate its core demographic and get its fingers burnt as a result.

177 - Starting All Over Again...

I received a text from a mate last night asking what clubs I owned as he was thinking of taking up golf. I was excited naturally – another lost soul to trudge around a muddy field with, both of us aiming with perfection but settling for a decent lie in the rough or a favourable bounce on a frozen green.

I explained to him that what he should do is get a budget and then buy the best he can afford. I asked him how much he was hoping to spend and was told he would go up to around £200. I know in his head this sounded like a substantial amount but we all know that it is a pittance in the real world of golf.

I told him he would struggle with such a small budget as he needs a driver (or fairway wood), a utility club/hybrid, a half set, a wedge, a putter, a bag, a trolley and a pair of shoes for starters. I know he could probably save a few quid by ditching the hybrid, wedge and trolley but it is still a lot of equipment without a lot of cash.

I suggested a starter or a second hand set would probably be the way to go until he committed to the game whereupon he could invest in some serious golf porn.

A quick look on eBay shows all manner of clubs in various conditions and a few starter sets from companies I’d never heard of (although I did see a set from Wilson which ticked all the boxes).

He asked for some club suggestions so he could do some ‘window shopping’ so I sent him links to some of the wilder super game improver clubs.

He was impressed by the Nike SQ Machspeed, the Callaway Diablo and TaylorMade’s new Burner set (in fact he commented that the clubs looked too good to use – a good sign?)

If he gets into the game he will no doubt be looking at a set of super game improver clubs unless he is a bit stupid and buys a set of blades like I, erm, did. In my defence, they were the most forgiving blades that Mizuno produced at the time with a cavity back, great workability and movie star good looks. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it…

I might see if I can get my mate on board the Mizuno Express too. The Japanese club wizards have just brought out the stunning looking JPX800 aimed at the high handicap player which would be perfect for him. Another member of the Mizuno Mafia would be more than welcome.

172 - An Unfortunate Sight...

I mentioned in a previous post that I now have a beautiful Kangaroo from Daphne’s adorning my Mizuno driver. My lovely, lovely fiancée highlighted the fact that if the cover isn’t turned the right way the cute image is completely shattered (below)!!!

167 - Cuddly Toy Impaling…

I’m turning into that which I despise. I’ve gone out and bought myself one of those novelty driver head covers. I feel a twat to be honest, not because I’ve bought a cuddly toy I intend to shove my 460cc Mizuno driver up but because I like it (the cover not the stuffed animal bestiality you understand).

Now I know that a lot of the pros have cute animal head covers, most notably Tiger Woods, but it just doesn’t seem right when I see muni-hackers with a brightly coloured parrot in their bag, impaled by a Callaway Diablo driver. Despite this I couldn’t resist getting myself a cute-as-a-button Kangaroo.

My little logo (which I’m very proud of incidentally) is a blue kangaroo so I hit the Internet hard to see if there were any companies that produced kangaroo head covers in the correct hue – bit of a long shot but if you don’t check you’ll never know. Now I know, they don’t make them.

After some research I found that the number one company for creating novelty head covers is Daphne’s “Cover Your Driver Before It Knows What Hit It” – nice. They are responsible for the cute Tiger covering Eldrick’s Nike VR Tour Driver once he has stopped smashing it into the turf after another wayward shot.

I searched their site and found that they do indeed make a kangaroo! Unfortunately it is the wrong colour for me but they can do custom orders so my luck could still be in. I emailed them via their temperamental web form asking if I could order a slightly modified kangaroo and waited for their response.

There was good news and bad news in the sugar coated reply I received from Lori at Daphne’s. Yes they could knock out a little blue roo for me but as it was deemed to be a custom design there was a minimum order requirement of 500 units.

There are a couple of problems with ordering 500 blue kangaroo’s namely I don’t actually need 500 and at £7,500 it is a bit on the expensive side.

With the custom order option removed I went for a regular kangaroo from Daphne’s, magnificent in it’s brown and creamness (above). I’m now officially a part of twatdom where muni-hackers wander around with stuffed animals on their clubs and do you know what, I don’t give a shit.

147 - Going It Alone...

After discovering that Mizuno have been developing golf balls behind my back (naughty Mizuno) I decided to see what else they had been up to in the Land of the Rising Sun. Interestingly they have been creating a new range of forged putters after ending their exclusive partnership with Bettinardi.

Over the last four years Mizuno and Bettinardi have worked closely to produce some of the best precision milled putters on the market but they decided last year to go their separate ways. The decision to split was amicable and Bettinardi have started releasing putters under their own name.

Without the experts at Bettinardi producing their wands, Mizuno returned to what they know best and have now created a range of forged putters.

The partnership with Bettinardi has convinced the Japanese company that a CNC milled face is ideal for producing feel and roll and the new putters are finished with a precision cut front edge.

The new line of putters goes under the MP name to signify they are part of the Mizuno Professional range. There are currently three models, the S101 that is a blade putter, the S102 which is an L type putter (above) and the S103 which is a center shafted small mallet.

As with most products created by Mizuno the new putters look amazing and I’ve got no doubt they will perform impeccably. It looks like there is life after Bettinardi after all.

146 - Only In Asia...

I’ve noticed that all the big manufacturers produce balls with the exception of the lovely Mizuno…or so I thought. I stumbled across an article announcing that Mizuno’s new Tour ball had already bagged its first win. I beg your pardon, what new Tour ball? Hang on, it sounds like there was an old Tour ball! Why wasn’t I made aware of this?

It seems those clever chaps in Japan have come up with a ball they hope to rival the likes of Titleist’s Pro V1. Mizuno’s new MP-801X ball is a four piece designed for cack handed clowns like myself and tour pros alike thanks to the clever technology integrated into it.

A Mizuno spokesperson said: "In September, Mizuno released its second generation Tour Ball, the first to use the MP or Mizuno Pro pre-fix. Two models have been released - the MP 801 and the MP 801x both with a focus on soft feel, distance off the tee and maximum spin control around the green.

"The MP 801 ball has a soft impact, high resistance cross-ribbed inner core (1) matched with an additional soft high resistance Outer core (2).

The Inner cover (3) is made of soft Ionoma to help control the shape or deformation of the core at driver impact and create the proper amount of spin. The Outer cover (4) is a newly developed rubber elastomer that helps regulate spin and deliver soft feel.

"The MP 801 is the softer of the two tour balls and is aimed at players with a 90+mph swing speed demanding soft feel and spin on their approach shots. The outer cover of the firmer MP 801x ball is a newly developed rubber elastomer that claims to reduce energy loss for those with higher swing speed (98+mph) and faster tempo."

The balls are only available in Asia and Mizuno has admitted there are no plans to sell them in the rest of the world as there are legal and patent issues that have been clarified first (we don’t want another Titleist/Callaway situation now do we children?) I hope that Mizuno pull their fingers out as if their balls are anywhere near as good as their clubs I think they could be on to a winner.

139 - Sand Blasted...

I mentioned in my last post that the bunker had the beating of me; another thing that took a beating was my wedge. The club comes with what Mizuno call a Raw Haze finish, which is a sort of dark bronze coating designed to come off over time leaving the face covered in spin producing rust. After today the face is shinier than an airhostesses’ grid.

The sexy little 58* baby was fantastic at getting the ball up and over the lip of the bunker but wasn’t tough enough to resist the power of sandblasting. With every shot I could see the coating being stripped from the metal leaving the face looking almost polished in certain places.

I’m hoping that with the protective layer now gone the face with oxidise nicely leaving it nice and rough, ready to shred the cover off my Srixon AD333’s as I chip my way towards the pin…or more likely out of the rough towards the fairway then the pin.

Richie kept joking that I was more concerned with the damage to my club than where the ball was going and to a certain extent he was right.

Although the wedge was relatively cheap (£30 from onlinegolf.co.uk – a bargain frankly) I’m not about to wreck a perfectly good club just for the fun of it.

I did a bit of snooping to see what the club would eventually look like once the rust really starts to take hold and the condition it is in now is pristine compared to how it will end up. Eventually it will look like the bodywork of a 1973 Austin Allegro that had been stood in a fjord for 20 years.

The snob in me is appalled at the thought of having this manky club sat next to my delicious MP57’s in the bag but the geek in me can’t wait for the oxidisation process to engulf the face and make it rougher than a night out in Brixton.

I’m expecting epic amounts of bite from the MP-T, which in turn should result in a fair amount of spin (if the right balls are used but that is a whole different topic). If the face decays and my game improves then the little practice session will have been worth it on many levels.

121 - A Touch Of Menace...

The regular reader of this little blog will know that I’m a sucker for technology, if the technology looks good too then I’m in, hook, line and sinker. Needless to say I adore the Odyssey Sabertooth putter. Design and materials technology combined with extraordinary looks and real world performance means it is an absolute peach. But now Odyssey have added a touch of menace to the mix.

The original Sabertooth burst onto the golfing scene a couple of years ago and was an instant hit. The design was not to everyone’s taste with the ‘Pringle Jumper set’ having a good old moan because it wasn’t a traditional, ‘Anser’ putter (conveniently forgetting that the Anser putter was a radical design too when it first arrived) but new golfers loved it.

The press were keen to heap praise on the radical new putter too and it received a lot of plaudits for its ease of use, feel and ability to produce consistent results. Odyssey has a reputation for creating some of the very best putters and the stunning Sabertooth was another example of the company producing the goods again.

Not wanting to rest on its laurels, but not wanting to reinvent the wheel either, Odyssey has brought out a new Sabertooth this year. Although the distinctive shape has remained it is now menacing gunmetal grey with black and white accents.

The ‘fangs’ are still tungsten to help shift the weight wide to promote a straight putt but are black instead of maroon on the old model.

The face insert has also had a makeover and is now white instead of maroon but the change isn’t just cosmetic. The new Sabertooth has Odyssey’s White Ice insert which is apparently slightly firmer than the old model to produce a better feel on softer balls which are being used more and more. The distinctive inner fangs remain to help with alignment at address.

The new White Ice Sabertooth retails at £129 but I’ve already found it at nearer the £100 mark on some of the online retailers, for that price it is an absolute bargain. I’ve used the old Sabertooth and all that design really does work. The fangs do promote a straight swing, the mini fangs ensure the ball is correctly aligned and the insert makes the putt feel buttery.

Like I said at the beginning, I’m a sucker for technology and the Sabertooth is dripping with it. It is a bit of a Marmite putter though; you either love it or hate it which could put players off – not me, I think it is stunning, especially in this new stealth colour scheme. If I didn’t have a beautiful Mizuno Bettinardi putter already I’d be seriously tempted.

107 - Down And Dirty...

The one regular visitor to this little corner of the internet may have noticed there has been a lack of updates over the last couple of weeks. The reason for the lack of content is down to the fact that I haven’t actually done anything golf related. There was no playing, practicing, buying or even obsessing via the internet and Golf Whine Monthly. It has all gone quiet over here.

I had big plans to play a round last week but I did something to my neck and couldn’t move it properly which scuppered that, although in hindsight having an injury which forces my head to keep completely still could have helped my game I reckon – there is nothing worse than topping the ball because you are looking to see where it has gone before you have actually hit it!

Looks like the round will have to wait until later this week. To be honest, I need to get the driving range before I even attempt to tee off on the local track as I haven’t swung the wrenches in weeks (not that I was any good in the first place you understand but not practicing the limited skills you do have does tend to add insult to injury). It is official; a brief refresher in the subtle art of slicing the ball is in order.

Like I said in a previous post, I’m determined to enjoy this round even if it kills me (I know, I know, that is a massive contradiction). I’m not going to bother about shooting a particular score I’m just going to get out there in the fresh air and whack a load of Srixon’s up and down a moderately manicured field on the outskirts of the town with the intention of having a laugh. If I manage to hit the odd good shot or fluke an occasional par it’ll be a bonus.

I was talking to Lucky (my partner in crimes against good golf) and we were laughing about how much money we have spent on golfing equipment and how little time we have actually spent using it. We estimated that we have spent around £1,500 between us on clubs, woods, wedges, bags, trolleys, shoes and clothing yet we have played about 10 times. It doesn’t matter how you dress it up, that is a massive waste of money.

No, we need to get out there and start losing balls, getting soaked through to the bone and getting our pristine (and in the case of my Mizuno’s, gorgeous) clubs covered in mud, sand and water. That may sound a little weird to people who don’t play but it makes perfect sense to me now.

103 - Three Weeks Old And Already Retired...

I recently bought my first set of new golf clubs. After months of research, comparison and debate I finally settled on Mizuno’s award winning MX-200’s as they offered a good combination of forgiveness and flexibility while still being a forged club which delivered feedback and feel. I was all set to buy them when I spotted an offer on a set of Mizuno MP-57’s and that was all she wrote as the American’s would say.

I’m now the proud owner of a set of MP-57’s which are classic Mizuno blades. According to the manufactures website and the magazines these clubs are aimed at the lower handicap players who still want a little forgiveness along with feel and shot shaping capabilities. They have gorgeous, clean looks and feature Mizuno’s famous ‘Cut Muscle’ cavity technology which gives clueless clowns like me some control over the ball.

I was happy that I had bought a set of clubs that, while not being the very latest on offer from Mizuno, were still new enough to be promoted on their website. My happiness was cut short when I opened the latest edition of Golf Whine Monthly to find that the boffins from Osaka had brought out four new sets of clubs including the MP-58’s which are a direct replacement for the shiny, new clubs I’d just purchased!

I hurried to the Mizuno website and found that my clubs had been ‘retired’ and replaced with the new 58’s (left). To add insult to injury the replacement clubs are ever so slightly better in all areas than mine!

The ‘Cut Muscle’ cavity has been developed into a ‘Dual Muscle’ insert which includes a lump of titanium to help lower the centre of gravity and increase forgiveness. I WANT A LUMP OF TITANIUM IN MY CLUBS GODDAMMITT!!!

The new clubs have a thinner top line and sole than mine which improves the look at address, the new titanium weight makes them more workable than mine and the perimeter weighting is increased on them for more stability. They are some of the most technologically advanced clubs that Mizuno have produced and, in the right hands, will no doubt have the ball finding fairways and greens all over the world.

It is fair to say that I was initially gutted when I read up on the 58’s although having slept on it and looking at it from the ‘half full’ angle my clubs did cost about half the price, they look so much nicer than the new model and despite all the extra engineering I’m certain I wouldn’t see the benefit right now as my stance is wrong, my grip is suspect and my swing is all over the place! After initially throwing my toys out of the pram I can now honestly say that I’m happy with my clubs.

96 - Lets Twist Again...

Hot on the heels of my delicious new Mizuno MP-57’s came another golf purchase. Although my shiny new clubs looked fantastic just laying on the couch, aching to be stroked, my lovely fiancée told me I had to get them shifted which meant buying a new golf bag. There is a lot of choice out there when it comes to bags although they can be broadly broken down into four different types, each with their own plus and minus points.

Pencil Bags – These are designed to be as light as possible for when there is no need to lug things like waterproofs around. These are usually the cheapest bag option and are a convenient, no frills way to hoik around a handful of clubs for a quick 9 holes in the sun.

Stand Bags – These bags are carried over the shoulder and have two foldaway legs which support the bag when not being used. Stand bags are bigger than pencil bags and have extra pockets to store clothing and sometimes come with compartments to store water bottles, scorecards and mobile phones.

Trolley/Cart Bags – Usually wider and taller than stand bags to provide even more room for clubs and accessories. As they are designed to be strapped to a trolley or fixed on a cart they don’t have folding legs but will stand up on their own due to having a bigger base. These bags are generally more expensive than the stand bags.

Tour Bags – See the bag that YE Yang was holding above his head after winning the recent PGA Championship at Hazeltine? That is a tour bag. They are the biggest, most expensive and arguably most garish bags available and have everything the best players in the world need.

What I needed was something that was light like a pencil bag, had legs like a stand bag for when I was feeling energetic, could be bolted to a trolley for when I’m not and had plenty of space for all the assorted crap needed for a game in the depths of the British winter. Continuing with the Mizuno obsession I looked around and decided on the Twister III bag (above).

The Twister III is a stand bag with some clever touches. Although it has foldaway legs it has been designed to also fit onto a trolley or cart to offer the best of both worlds. In addition, it has a large wrap around pocket used to store clothes etc that can be taken off to convert it almost into a pencil bag for those trips abroad.

It took some looking but I eventually found the bag in the ‘Staff’ colours of blue and white (everything has to match don’t you know?) It arrived the other day and is fantastic although I did think I needed to buy a rain hood for it until I discovered one tucked in a pocket I had missed on first inspection. Like my clubs, it is almost too good to use but I’m going to bite the bullet and parade it up and down the local municipal.

95 - Fell Off The Back Of A Van...

My shiny new clubs have arrived, well I say arrived what I actually mean is that I collected them. After conducting a bidding campaign that would have see Napoleon giving me polite applause in recognition of my superlative tactics I eventually ‘won’ a set of Mizuno MP-57’s via the murky world of eBay. Although there are processes in place to protect the buyer and seller there is always a nagging doubt in the back of my mind about the stuff being auctioned.

I’ve bought a lot of stuff from eBay but at £250 the new clubs were my most expensive purchase so I was a little concerned in case they weren’t exactly as described or something happened to them in the post. Fears of a postman volleying them around Liverpool before dumping them in a crumpled mess on my doorstep were quashed when I received an email from the seller telling me he would hand deliver them. Result!

It turned out that the seller only lives a short distance away on the Wirral and would rather bring them over than risk the Royal Mail. Excellent stuff, hand delivered and a chance to check the clubs are genuine while the guy is there. But things soon started to go a bit weird. It seems that the bloke doesn’t know his way around Liverpool very well and asked if I could meet him somewhere we both could find. Not really hand delivered if I had to drive to get them but I would give him the benefit of the doubt.

I got a bit freaked out when he asked if I could meet him in a car park. That nagging doubt in the back of my mind was suddenly a massive paranoia fuelled migraine! Buying golf clubs from the back of a van in a car park? I must have mug stamped on my head.

I contacted the seller to tell him I wasn’t happy about this but got distracted after speaking to him as he came across as a genuine guy (I know, I am a soft touch).

So, there I am in the car park outside the fabulous museum in Liverpool city centre waiting for this random guy to turn up with my bats but I didn’t have a clue who he was. I sent him a text to ask how I would know him; he replied that his name is all over the side of his van. Sure enough, 5 minutes later a little white van with his name pulled up. When I got out of the car I could see the full advert on the side of his van ‘golf club repairs and fitting’. I let out a huge sigh of relief.

We got talking for 10 minutes and he made me check each club to make sure I was absolutely happy – I was, I was ecstatic. He also asked if I was going to bother getting them fitted for loft and lie because if I was he would do the whole set for £45 which is about £25 less than the cheapest price I was quoted when I inquired about it last time. I might take him up on this offer at some point.

What had looked like the dodgiest of dodgy deals had actually turned out very well. The clubs are superb and were delivered with a lot of care and attention. They are lying in order on my couch right now just waiting to be used, the problem is they are too shiny and perfect to put anywhere near a fairway. I might just stroke them for a few days; it seems a waste not to!

91 - Leap Of Faith...

Erm, I did it, I went out and bought a set of golf clubs but not the ones I’ve been drooling over for the last 12 months. Originally I had my heart set on the Mizuno MX-200’s which are widely regarded as being the best ‘game improver’ clubs on the market (the won best clubs in a recent round up in Today’s Golfer) but I’ve ended up with a set of super sexy MP-57 blades.

As I mentioned in a previous post I was looking around eBay for some new golfing paraphernalia and noticed that certain models of Mizuno club were significantly cheaper than the prices quoted on the online stores. One such model was the MP-57 which has a MRRP of £600 but was on offer for just £275 from a number of sellers. This intrigued me; I had to know what the catch was.

The catch is that although still listed on the official Mizuno website the MP-57’s are now no longer manufactured by the company.

The Japanese firm introduced the MP-52 which didn’t replace the 57 but fitted in as the entry level blade in the range effectively making the clubs I have bought obsolete. Maybe obsolete is not the right word, but with the arrival of the 52 there was no real need for the 57.

Before the 52 was developed the 57 was the most forgiving blade that Mizuno manufactured. It has a small cavity on the back and something called dual muscle technology which helps shift the weight to the bottom of the club to help promote clean, high flight shots. Like the majority of Mizuno clubs the 57’s are grain flow forged to deliver a buttery soft feel.

I’m really looking forward to trying the clubs out as I’ve read a lot of good things about them. Ideally I would have tried before I bought but because of the way they were bought it was impossible. People who write for magazines for a living who get to test every club available love them; users on forums I have read love them so I’m pretty sure I’ll love them too. I’ll let you all know how I get on.

90 - Everything Starts With A Three...

As mentioned in an earlier post I decided to buy a 3 wood after taking Richie’s advice. My first shot can be wild if I use my MX-560 driver which means I tend to use a hybrid off the tee. The hybrid gives me more control but I lose a fair bit of distance and Richie suggested that a 3 wood could be the answer providing more accuracy aligned with respectable length off the tee with the added bonus of being useful off the fairway.

I scanned the online retailers and eBay and eventually bought a second hand Mizuno F-60 for less than £40. The pictures of the club reassured me as it looked pretty much spotless save for a few tiny marks on the face but until it is in your hands you don’t really know what you are getting from eBay, do you? Well it arrived yesterday and I’m very pleased. Exactly as described, less than half price.

I was concerned that it came with a stiff graphite shaft as I’ve never used one before but a few practice swings helped allay some of these worries. The club feels somewhere between the stiffness of the steel shaft on my old John Daley driver and the flexible graphite on the MX-560.

It is a difficult feel to describe, sort of stiff and floppy at the same time (I realise we are getting dangerously close to ‘Carry On up the Fairway again so I’ll leave it there).

Compared to my driver the head on the F-60 looks tiny in fact it doesn’t look too much bigger than my Howson hybrid which came as a real surprise. Although not exactly the same it is obvious that the F-60 is the MX-560’s little brother, there are a lot of aesthetic touches which are quite similar like the polished sole, the colour scheme and head cover which is almost identical.

I’m looking forward to pinging a few balls up the range with the F-60 to see what it can do. Reviews have been quite favourable although the next generation of Mizuno woods have the edge on the clubs I have now. Hopefully I can find 200+ yards down the centre of the fairway from now on and then work towards my PGA Tour card!

79 - The Big Dawg...

I’ve decided to buy a whole set of Mizuno clubs and I looked on with interest as the price of their MX-560 driver fell over the last few months. Originally it cost £300 but I found it at a number of online retailers for a lot less than that which tempted me more and more and in the end I took the plunge and bought it for just £78 delivered – an absolute bargain I reckon.

Looking through the magazines the reviewers love the MX-560. They praise it for being long and straight off the tee as well as mentioning over and over how easy it is to hit well. The only negative point is the noise it makes when you make a good connection – apparently it makes a really loud, high pitched ‘ting’ off the tee.

I read an article in Golf Whine Monthly about how certain drivers are so loud when they make a good connection that they can actually damage your hearing. Yeah right, a load of hysterical Daily Mail-esque bobbins I thought…until I tried my shiny, new driver at the range and ended up with a ringing in my ear like I’d been at the front of a music festival for three days.

A couple of half power warm up shots saw the ball fire off the club face into the driving range with a satisfying ping, no sign of the dreaded, deafness inducing racket reported. Safe in the knowledge that there was nothing to worry about I smashed the living daylights out of the ball and then had the ‘pleasure’ of having my eardrums almost explode from the metallic whine that came from the club head.

I now understand what the reviewers were talking about when they complained about the noise. It seems, in the confined space of the driving range bay, the problem is literally amplified making each shot a painful experience (and not just because my hideous slice is so bad that I’m debating teeing off at a 45* angle to the left of the fairway in the vain hope of taking my second shot from somewhere other than the rough).

Sound apart, the club is fantastic. The head looks massive at address but comparing it to other drivers it is about average size wise. I know that it shouldn’t really matter what a club looks like but I’m as shallow as a pygmy’s paddling pool so aesthetics are a big factor in whether I buy a bat or not. Thankfully the MX-560 is a hansom brute, finished in metallic navy blue (above) with a funky polished silver sole. The head cover is good too, more blue which I approve of…

It is one of the easiest woods I have used although my experience is a little limited if I’m being honest having only swung a handful of drivers in my short and frustration filled golfing career. The size of the head, coupled with the flexible shaft option fitted means that big, lazy swings produce an impressive amount of height and distance. With a bit of concentration I could even get the ball to fly almost straight on occasions!

Overall I’m impressed with the ‘Big Dawg’ and once I learn how to stop my tee shots from turning right off the face I think it will be a valuable weapon in my ongoing war with the game of golf.

65 - Hello, Hello, It's Good To Be Back...

As you may have noticed there has been a lack of activity on this blog for a while, the reason being that the closest I have been to playing golf recently is thrashing my mates on Tiger Woods 09 for the Playstation 3 (brilliant game by the way). A combination of a knackered ankle and lousy weather has been enough to keep me away from the wretched game…but now I’m back.

With my tendons/ligaments starting to feel like their old self again (after my drunken spill in Liverpool city centre just before Christmas) I’m going to start playing once more in the hope of being a bit better in time for the summer. The hope is to be hacking my way around grubby municipals at least once a week as I strive to become the first Open winner to come from Kirkby.

My plan is to get down to the driving range a couple of nights a week to ease myself back into the game, contact a Pro to arrange some proper lessons, develop a repeatable swing, get my arse down to the golf centre at Fiddlers Ferry and buy the Mizuno MX-200’s I’ve been drooling over for the last six months, join a golf society and then spend one morning a week swearing my head off as I send shot after shot into the rough.

Oh aye, that sounds like a decent plan, I’ll be amazed if it pans out that way though… I’m almost certainly going to join the same golf society that my mates Richie and Terry are in (I’m not actually sure of it’s name, something to do with Woolton or summat) and I might be able to rope in a couple of other new members in the shape of Lucky and Alan. Who knows, my brother might even turn up!

As ever I will keep you all up to date via this little corner of the Internet (that is on the verge of a make over incidentally) and I will fill the gaps with rubbish I have found on other sites or in Golf Whine Monthly. Hello, hello, it’s good to be back…

61 - Desperately Seeking Mizuno's...

Happy New Year Ladies and Germs! I hope you all had a good Christmas and Santa emptied his sack in a satisfactory manner for you. Right, that is enough of that. With the holiday season out of the way and my knackered ankle starting to heal thoughts have again turned to golf.

Not that long ago I decided I was going to buy a set of Mizuno ‘game improvement’ clubs, after a bit of thought I decided on MX-200’s as they were better than the entry model MX-100’s but were still within my budget. Once I decided on what I wanted I just had to choose where I bought them.

Looking online the clubs can be picked up for about £400 with the accompanying hybrid coming in at about £90. Not cheap but I suppose I’m getting good quality bats, incorporating the latest technologies that have only come onto the market in the last few months.

One of the reason’s I want new clubs is so I can have them fitted as I’ve read that getting them ‘made to measure’ helps get the most out of them. With that in mind I am a little reluctant to buy them from an online retailer so I went on a little field trip with Richie and Terry to the wilds of North Wales!

We went to Clays Golf Course as it is a National Fitting Centre for Mizuno and would be guaranteed to sort me out. Oh they can sort me out…for a price, and what a price. For the irons and the hybrid the cost was a whopping £630 but I did get offered a ‘free’ wedge, which was identical to the one I bought recently from eBay. No thank you. Can I get a free putter or driver instead? No chance.

We headed back to Merseyside but stopped off Carden Park Golf Club on the way. This place boasts a course designed by Jack Nicklaus (when he was between films) and a hotel that looks like the one in Dirty Dancing. It was stunning to be honest. I’ve put it on my list of courses to play once I advance up the golfing ladder to ‘just shite’ status.

After that we made one last stop at True Fit Golf near Fiddlers Ferry where I spoke to a nice chap called David. I explained to him what I wanted, explained to him about getting the clubs fitted and explained how expensive Clays were. He smiled and said he could do the same deal for £500. And that is how easy it is to save £130!

Like Clays, David offered me a free wedge identical to the one I recently bought. Unlike Clays, David was willing to give me money off something more useful to me like a putter and not just any putter. As a sweetener I can get a £150 Mizuno Bettinardi putter for £70, which is a bargain in my book. Oh and he can also do a deal on a driver and a bag which is nice.

I think I have found my guy, I’ll be visiting David in the VERY near future.

53 - Counting The Cost...

Right, time to take stock and work out how much I’m gonna need to kit myself out ready for next years rise to Golfing Superstardom. As mentioned previously I’m now almost certainly getting the Mizuno MX-200’s and will no doubt match the rest of the kit to the bats.

A quick scan online shows that the clubs can be found for around £400 with regular steel shafts although in some places it is just 4-PW meaning I’d have to shell out for a hybrid too which is a long term plan that may need to be addressed sooner than I’d have liked.

The new hybrid from Mizuno is something called the Fli-Hi, which got rave reviews from Golf Whine Monthly and can be found for around £90. For the time being I’m sure ‘Dougie’ would be an adequate stand in but I want the new fella in my bag.

A new driver is definitely in order and there is a good chance I could touch lucky with this. The current Mizuno driver is the MX-560, which originally retailed at £300 but is now available at JJB Sport for £170. A quick look at Onlinegolf.co.uk shows that the bad boy can be had for just £80, which is an absolute bargain.

For a similar price I will pick up the award winning Mizuno Twister III bag. There are parts of the bag that can be detached when you don’t need them (namely the big pocket for your waterproofs) meaning that if I’m lucky enough to play somewhere where the sun actually shines I won’t have to break my back lugging it about.

Finally I want a new putter. I’m torn here, do I go for an Odyssey Klingon Warbird like Lucky’s (which is superb) or plump for a Mizuno Bettinardi which consistently receives praise in magazines and blogs? They cost about the same though so I’ll just decide closer the time and add the £120 to the running total.

So, adding it all up I reckon I’m gonna need about £770. Kinell. I already have a war chest in my account but it isn’t £770!!! There had better be some tremendous offers on in the January sales or I’m screwed…

52 - A Hundred Isn't THAT Much For Better Quality...

I haven’t been to the driving range as much as I have wanted to over the last couple of weeks due to a combination of the credit crunch and work commitments. What it means is that I’ve been able to drool over golf porn a lot recently, which is both a good and bad thing at the same time.

I’ve decided that I’m getting a set of Mizuno ‘game improvement’ clubs and until very recently I would happily tell you that it is a set of MX-100’s. Thing is, the more I read about the slightly more expensive MX-200’s the more my head is being turned.

What is the difference between the two sets I hear you cry? Well, apart from about £100, the fundamental difference is that the heads on the 100’s are cast and the 200’s are grain flow forged. Yeah, but what difference does that make I hear you sigh? It is all about feel boys and girls.

Casting the heads makes them cheaper to manufacture (meaning the MX-100’s are the entry level bats from Mizuno) but it also makes them have less ‘feel’. You know what it is like when you hit the ball with the heel of the club and you feel that ‘clunk’? That is similar to what it feels like using clubs with cast heads albeit not quite as bad.

Conversely, grain flow forged heads make hitting the ball sweetly feel like hitting the ball sweetly. They are softer and more rewarding when you hit the sweet spot which, seeing as they are still ‘game improvement’ clubs, is bigger than normal thanks to the weird Y-Tune insert built into the head.

Another difference is the size of the heads. Although both look pretty similar the 100’s are slightly bigger than the 200’s and slightly bigger than traditional clubs as far as I can see which is good initially but as I get better they will look like clowns clubs or summat. It is important how they look, just as Lucky who has spent a fortune on Nike clubs because he likes the yellow and black look!

So the 200’s have the same hazard dodging technology built into them, they are manufactured in a better way, they provide more feedback and they look better. The only problem is the price but I can justify buying them if I don’t buy the Mizuno long iron replacement club, the Fli-Hi, straight away and stick with Dougie Howson for a month or two. Sounds like a plan!