sparksjr
Active member
Mizuno makes some sweet looking irons thats for sure.
Mizuno MP-H5 Irons Review Thread
Have to agree on the improvement in looks over the H4.
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- #30
Played a round of 18 with the entire 3-PW set in the bag yesterday. Left the hybrid at home so I could gauge the usefulness of the full set since I think the long irons in particular are going to be what many people are most interested in with the H5's.
Conditions were cold - 40° at tee off, very windy and firm. Played from a little more than 5900 yards, which is more than enough length for a day like that. Balls played were FG Tour and Duo. Played pretty well with 8 GIR's in reg, all of them from an H5. Wasn't exactly throwing darts out there, but I got a handful of reasonable birdie chances.
Really enjoyed the round and the irons. Looking side by side with my 545's, I see a similar blade length and topline, which suprised me a little. As such, they weren't intimidating at address or anything.
The progressive nature of the sole is more evident to the eyes than some of the other progressive soles out there (Berthas and G25's for example, though they aren't comparable to these in any other way). Down into the 6 iron you have what I'd call a relatively thin sole (or at least the illusion of one thanks to the trailing edge beveling), but the 3/4/5 really widen up quickly - to the point that you can see the hollow muscle sticking out in the 3/4 at address.
They feel really nice. Blah, blah, subjective, butter, whatever - they really felt nice at impact. Soft and muted. Caught one ball low enough than I got a little sting in the fingers, but just one. Not too bad for the weather. I didn't notice any sort of divide between the full hollow irons and the half hollow irons. Not yesterday at least. Good consistency through the set.
The C-Taper Lite shaft option is a nice touch, though I'd personally take a KBS Tour for feel. Ball flight was good though - all the way through the set. High enough most certainly and there aren't many things cooler than the sound you hear when you pull a C-Taper Lite shafted iron out of a golf bag. If you've heard it you know what I'm talking about.
Distance is going to be all but impossible to relate at this point thanks to the wind. As an example, I was 10 yards long at the very back of the green on a 160 yard par 3 (center flag) with an 8 iron at one point and had to hit a knockdown 4 iron from 150 yards on another hole. The holes that were working with a cross wind seemed to indicate about a club less distance in the mid irons (compared to my 545's) and about 1/2 a club in the scoring irons, which was about what I expected. Again though - who knows. I'll get more on that in a controlled setting when I can.
I got a chance to hit the 3 iron on the first hole, a par 5 playing directly into the wind. Shot was from winter rough (e.g. cut short) and it popped off the face nicely, actually going high in the air. That was the first swing I took with the irons period, so it was nice to see. Didn't go exceptionally far thanks to the wind, but advanced the ball enough to get me a reasonable approach shot. Used it once more for a full shot off the fairway on a par 5 and flight was more mid.
Also used the 3 iron off the tee on three holes - all three working with a cross wind. Two good shots and one poor shot (chunk). The two good ones were both in the 190-200 yard range and in the fairway. The other one quite a bit shorter. Not a particularly difficult club to work with at all for a 3 iron, though it obviously is susceptble to my long-iron miss like they all are. Also used it three times for punch shots out of trouble thanks to errant driver shots and you can easily keep the ball down with it. I like that the club doesn't seem super long at address. It's almost 1/2" shorter than a GI set's 4 iron that I tested recently for example.
Struggling to give a ton of info on forgiveness right now. Not because I didn't miss the center of the face - I certainly did my fair share of times. Problem was that with the conditions I didn't really know how far the ball should have gone to start with considering I hadn't even swung them until the first hole. Will work on getting that info in a controlled setting as well.
I think you'll see two types of consumers for this set and I'm not sure either is exactly a big market segment. One, the person looking to fill out their MP set with a more forgiving and higher launching long iron. Two, the guy that wants and MP looking iron, but misses the center often. With the 850 Forged in the lineup and just seeing how nice they look I do wonder how popular these really will be though. 850 should be both longer and possibly more forgiving.
Conditions were cold - 40° at tee off, very windy and firm. Played from a little more than 5900 yards, which is more than enough length for a day like that. Balls played were FG Tour and Duo. Played pretty well with 8 GIR's in reg, all of them from an H5. Wasn't exactly throwing darts out there, but I got a handful of reasonable birdie chances.
Really enjoyed the round and the irons. Looking side by side with my 545's, I see a similar blade length and topline, which suprised me a little. As such, they weren't intimidating at address or anything.
The progressive nature of the sole is more evident to the eyes than some of the other progressive soles out there (Berthas and G25's for example, though they aren't comparable to these in any other way). Down into the 6 iron you have what I'd call a relatively thin sole (or at least the illusion of one thanks to the trailing edge beveling), but the 3/4/5 really widen up quickly - to the point that you can see the hollow muscle sticking out in the 3/4 at address.
They feel really nice. Blah, blah, subjective, butter, whatever - they really felt nice at impact. Soft and muted. Caught one ball low enough than I got a little sting in the fingers, but just one. Not too bad for the weather. I didn't notice any sort of divide between the full hollow irons and the half hollow irons. Not yesterday at least. Good consistency through the set.
The C-Taper Lite shaft option is a nice touch, though I'd personally take a KBS Tour for feel. Ball flight was good though - all the way through the set. High enough most certainly and there aren't many things cooler than the sound you hear when you pull a C-Taper Lite shafted iron out of a golf bag. If you've heard it you know what I'm talking about.
Distance is going to be all but impossible to relate at this point thanks to the wind. As an example, I was 10 yards long at the very back of the green on a 160 yard par 3 (center flag) with an 8 iron at one point and had to hit a knockdown 4 iron from 150 yards on another hole. The holes that were working with a cross wind seemed to indicate about a club less distance in the mid irons (compared to my 545's) and about 1/2 a club in the scoring irons, which was about what I expected. Again though - who knows. I'll get more on that in a controlled setting when I can.
I got a chance to hit the 3 iron on the first hole, a par 5 playing directly into the wind. Shot was from winter rough (e.g. cut short) and it popped off the face nicely, actually going high in the air. That was the first swing I took with the irons period, so it was nice to see. Didn't go exceptionally far thanks to the wind, but advanced the ball enough to get me a reasonable approach shot. Used it once more for a full shot off the fairway on a par 5 and flight was more mid.
Also used the 3 iron off the tee on three holes - all three working with a cross wind. Two good shots and one poor shot (chunk). The two good ones were both in the 190-200 yard range and in the fairway. The other one quite a bit shorter. Not a particularly difficult club to work with at all for a 3 iron, though it obviously is susceptble to my long-iron miss like they all are. Also used it three times for punch shots out of trouble thanks to errant driver shots and you can easily keep the ball down with it. I like that the club doesn't seem super long at address. It's almost 1/2" shorter than a GI set's 4 iron that I tested recently for example.
Struggling to give a ton of info on forgiveness right now. Not because I didn't miss the center of the face - I certainly did my fair share of times. Problem was that with the conditions I didn't really know how far the ball should have gone to start with considering I hadn't even swung them until the first hole. Will work on getting that info in a controlled setting as well.
I think you'll see two types of consumers for this set and I'm not sure either is exactly a big market segment. One, the person looking to fill out their MP set with a more forgiving and higher launching long iron. Two, the guy that wants and MP looking iron, but misses the center often. With the 850 Forged in the lineup and just seeing how nice they look I do wonder how popular these really will be though. 850 should be both longer and possibly more forgiving.
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- #31
Solid information right there. Thanks Hawk.
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- #32
Hawk, there is a ton of good info in here. Really curious to see what distances you end up seeing after you get them to an environment where its possible to get a better gauge for it. I know the 850F have been surprising there so like you it makes me curious if it makes these fall to a full set or MP long iron replacement iron only.
Great stuff so far, Hawk.
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- #35
Just out of curiosity (in other words, my feelings aren't hurt) - any reason for the general lack of interest here compared to the 850F's and even the MP15's? Certainly can't be related to the looks and they have a pretty hip shaft offering. Would be curious to hear some thoughts from the folks that aren't commenting.
mikedean441
6X HOF
Great review Hawk, especially considering the time of year and the conditions.
Lets talk long irons, the thought of hitting a 3 iron scares me but it sounds like you fared pretty well with it. In a perfectly calm environment do you think the distances would have been on par with the hybrids you currently game? The fact you hit a "high" 3iron is just crazy.
Lets talk long irons, the thought of hitting a 3 iron scares me but it sounds like you fared pretty well with it. In a perfectly calm environment do you think the distances would have been on par with the hybrids you currently game? The fact you hit a "high" 3iron is just crazy.
I wouldn't say it is lack of interest for me, Hawk. I played the H4 long irons and kind of feel like I know what this product is about, whereas the 850's and others are entirely new territory so I'm naturally inclined to have more questions.
Maybe people don't realize the spectrum this set covers...the long irons kind of cover other OEM's utility irons (or are also hybrid replacements for other players) and thanks to the progressive soles have quite nice, smaller scoring irons. Just a theory...
Maybe people don't realize the spectrum this set covers...the long irons kind of cover other OEM's utility irons (or are also hybrid replacements for other players) and thanks to the progressive soles have quite nice, smaller scoring irons. Just a theory...
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- #38
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- #39
I thought it was kind of the same with the H4 offering. They were fine irons, but they just didn't carry any of the excitement that the other lines offered. Perhaps it's on the marketing side of things as they just don't seem to use these at all.
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- #40
Yea that's what I was thinking guys. I just wanted to hear if my thoughts were reality. Either way, it's a fun set and has a ton of good things going on with aesthetics.
High being relative of course lol. To me it was definitely higher than I'd have anticipated. Knowing how you like a 4 iron at times to begin with I actually think you'd hit it pretty well. I was certainly surprised to see what I saw. Never would indicated that it would replace a hybrid for me, but based on distances I would likely have to carry at least a 4 iron to match my current set's 5 iron.
I think the 3 iron probably still would have been shorter and lower flying than a well struck X2Hot 4h though, but that's a very long hybrid for me when things are going well.
High being relative of course lol. To me it was definitely higher than I'd have anticipated. Knowing how you like a 4 iron at times to begin with I actually think you'd hit it pretty well. I was certainly surprised to see what I saw. Never would indicated that it would replace a hybrid for me, but based on distances I would likely have to carry at least a 4 iron to match my current set's 5 iron.
I think the 3 iron probably still would have been shorter and lower flying than a well struck X2Hot 4h though, but that's a very long hybrid for me when things are going well.
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- #41
It really is curious, not at all getting the typical Mizuno buzz we see with all the releases, not sure why as honestly they seem to me to be a heck of an option for those who want to play the MP line in some manner but need the added characteristics these bring to the table.
Philly Golf Guy
#PGG
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For me, it's just confusion as to the difference in the the 850f and H5's in terms of performance. I play the H4's now and really like them, but I get the feeling that the H5's are less forgiving than the H4's and the 850f's, whereas the H4's were typically regarded are more forgiving than the 825pros.
I like the look of the H5's better than the H4's, but I would need to see a good jump in performance to upgrade.
Great info and review btw
I like the look of the H5's better than the H4's, but I would need to see a good jump in performance to upgrade.
Great info and review btw
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- #43
Thanks PGG.
Supposedly they offer more forgiveness than the H4's with less bulky appearance. I can't quantify that unfortunately, but it's the claim. I would agree that they are likely both shorter and less forgiving than the 850's though. Could also be that the person that is inclined to look for that added forgiveness is also looking for some more distance.
Howzat
I'd Rather Be At The Hideaway
A year or two ago and prior to THP for sure, I would have been all over these. Right now like you said, there are more forgiving options for someone like myself. Really just looking for point and shoot ATM. Love reading your reviews so keep up the fantastic work.
mikedean441
6X HOF
That and people glamour over things they wont/cant have.
The shiny "thin" irons seem to get all of the hype despite only the small % of golfers being able to game them (general statement)
RadRob
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The target market for this iron is confusing to me so I'm having trouble getting my head around it. I'm imaginging others feel the same as I.
You go on the Mizuno website and they tout this iron as offering "launch forgiveness". The first thing the same website tells you about the MP-15 is "Forgiveness without Sacrifice". Right away, that tells me that if you need "launch forgiveness" then you have to sacrifice something else to get it.
Suggested handicap rating for the MP-H5 is Zero to 16. As a sixteen mylelf, I'm better suited to the JPX line in my opinion. If you're a mid-to-high single digit handicap, then do you really need help launching the ball, other than maybe as part of a mixed set? So it seems to me that other offerings in the Mizuno line are less confusing as far as what type of golfer for whom they're best suited.
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- #47
Thanks for that RadRob. Makes perfect sense and was something I was having a hard time putting into words.
This of course isn't negative feedback, but it has been on my mind since I found out I'd be reviewing them. I really enjoyed them yesterday for a variety of reasons and am looking forward to playing with them some more. I just wonder outside a mixed-set scenario where they'll fit in for anything other than a small number of consumers. And maybe that's ok. Maybe they fill that long-iron need and then get some full-set interest here and there while letting their other options meet the needs of a larger group.
I just found it interesting that of the three sets we are reviewing these garnered the least attention and at least to my eyes were the most "classicly" attractive set.
This of course isn't negative feedback, but it has been on my mind since I found out I'd be reviewing them. I really enjoyed them yesterday for a variety of reasons and am looking forward to playing with them some more. I just wonder outside a mixed-set scenario where they'll fit in for anything other than a small number of consumers. And maybe that's ok. Maybe they fill that long-iron need and then get some full-set interest here and there while letting their other options meet the needs of a larger group.
I just found it interesting that of the three sets we are reviewing these garnered the least attention and at least to my eyes were the most "classicly" attractive set.
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- #48
What's interesting to me is the pull of mid-cappers towards the 850F's when they have, judging from the pictures, a much smaller profile as far as sole and topline are concerned, though I believe the offset is the same on both sets.
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- #49
We should measure blade size and compare.
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- #50
Absolutely, measure-off!
Seriously though, I agree. All I know is the 850F are scary close to the Vapor Pro Combo in size, and that genuinely surprised me based on the HCP reccomendations on the Mizuno site.