Mizuno believes that 2023 could be the payoff for all the hard work and evolution which the brand has undergone during their Speed Technology timeline. Again bringing two driver models to begin the year, the ST-Z and ST-X are back and look bolder than ever.
Quick Take
The ST-X 230 is truly an intoxicatingly fun driver to hit, most importantly though it does everything Mizuno believed it would when it comes to eliminating the notion that the X is simply a draw biased head. It offers extreme stability and consistency in its natural flight at standard loft, but turned down for the stronger swinger it becomes a whole different animal. The ST-X 230 should not be slept on.
2023 Mizuno ST-X 230 Driver Review
The last four years for Mizuno Golf when it comes to driver R&D and their quest to prove they belong in the conversation when it comes to playability and speed had, for me, been a lot of fun to watch. The last two ST iterations in particular, I’ve spend a lot of time with, so when the ST-X 230 came in for review, I was eager to get to work.
For this review I paired the 10.5 degrees ST-X head with a Project X Riptide 6.5 which I also used in the ST-X and then ST-Z 220 in the past. The familiarity was important to me to truly see the evolution of design here and what the 230 is capable of.
It is absolutely necessary to comment on the aesthetics here because I for one, really enjoy the groove Mizuno has found with their drivers. For 2023, the familiar two-tone carbon fiber crown has returned and the Run Bird alignment aid is front and center. While it isn’t the most subdued looking crown, it balances unique and classy, a perfect fit for Mizuno. However, it is the sole of the 230 drivers that is the best looking in all of golf this year.
A big part of what is going on with the design is how Mizuno is making the focused effort this year with the ST-X to tell its story better. Initially in the ST lineup it was made clear that the ST-X is the draw biased driver, and that is true being that it does have its weighting placed more to the heel of the head, however it came to be known as a purely draw head and that isn’t the case. In fact, according to Mizuno at lower lofts the weighting of the ST-X based on what it does in relation to the shafts x-axis makes it the more workable head.
The biggest story however is in CORTECH, and it is easily one of the coolest innovations in any driver we have seen on the market, not to mention it cements Mizuno’s capability when it comes to metalwood design. The floating weight in TPU combined with the new unified sole composite means there is more weight forward than ever, but that it adds more sole rigidity while adding to the speed potential that Mizuno has sought out. One other piece of the puzzle from those design elements is they have, in my opinion, led to the best sounding/feeling driver from Mizuno yet, with solid power that is more on composite trend but still stands on its own sensation of muted power.
The performance is what matters most, however, and I worked with the ST-X 223 both on the course as well as Foresight to put this and the rest of the technology in the head to the test. As you can see in the data set above, there is a level of consistency which stands out in a big way. The data was collected indoors due to some unfortunate weather which brings into my swing a level of hesitation, and it was kept at standard 10.5 degrees for this testing. The spin in this setting remained remarkably consistent overall, and while it initially may look on the higher side, for this loft it is what I would expect to see for me. The big standout there was that the spin ceiling on big misses never got out of hand.
That is what led me to turn the ST-X 230 down in loft using Mizuno’s adapter when I was out on the course, and for my swing that unlocked the additional speed I expected through a more efficient fit and overall powerful flight. The versatility of the ST-X from standard 10.5 down to 9.5 and even 8.5 is an exciting thing. In one orientation it maximized launch and forgiveness with solid speed in a bias that will help tame the big right miss (for RH) but turned down it became a different animal with what felt like another gear appearing.
At standard the driver played neutral to slightly draw biased for me, but in the lower settings the neutral nature of the head stood out even more. I also put some of the biggest and most disgusting toe misses I have had in a long time on the ST-X while on the course and the stability with which the CORTECH design responded was beyond impressive keeping me in play when I probably didn’t deserve it. Then, add in the deep face of the X with that overall stability and the confidence began to come easyily standing on the tee box.
While everyone’s swing is their own and varies when it comes to what fits and what doesn’t, the ST-X 230 should not be overlooked by golfers of any skill level. The bottom line is that this iteration has impressively gotten even more stable but done so while also getting spin and speed potential into check. For me personally, it has been enough to make me want to dig in and see what is possible fit wise dialing in at the lower loft settings. Mizuno has a driver they should certainly be proud of.
The Details
Price: $499
Lofts: 9.5, 10.5, 12.0
Shafts: Mitsubishi Kai’Li Blue, Project X HZRDUS Smoke RDX Green and UST Mamiya LIN-Q Red
