Mizuno JPX 919 irons

Review: Mizuno JPX 919 irons!

Mizuno JPX 919 iron fitting at GOLFTEC Fox Creek

Mizuno JPX 919 Tour, JPX 919 Forged and JPX 919 Hot Metal irons are worthy follow-ups to the JPX 900 iron line

It’s no secret Mizuno is a company steeped in tradition and quality; one that never compromises the details of any product they release.

Of course, that in itself goes a long way in today’s churn-and-burn landscape of OEMs releasing multiple lines every year. But while many of those companies strive to copy the looks, feel and consistent performance of Mizuno irons, it’s easy to insert their famous, self-made saying that “nothing feels like a Mizuno” when it comes to the competition’s success in doing it.

Fact is, to stay relevant in today’s give-me-more-now society when competition is tough and bottom line goals are increasingly more difficult to hit, it’s hard for many to not increase product cycles and fine-tune manufacturing processes that may, at times, affect the quality of their product.

That’s what makes Mizuno so unique.

Talk with longtime Mizuno engineer, Chris Voshall, and you’ll understand the pride they take in doing things the right way. Also why maintaining that reputation of “pureness” is so important.

Attribute it to their tradition-rich Japanese heritage or that they’ve just been around a long time and have a certain way of doing things.

Whatever the case, in a golf equipment landscape that’s produced such “revolutionary” designs as, for example, square drivers that last about as long as a bladed balata, when Mizuno launches a new line of clubs, they truly believe it’s better.

JPX 919 irons are softer, more versatile and easier to hit.

Voshall and a small crew of Mizuno representatives visited GOLFTEC Headquarters to present the JPX 919 line and its improvements over JPX 900 irons.

“We thought, how can we be more efficient with our weighting, and speak to the visual design as well?” Mizuno’s Chris Voshall on the JPX 919 iron series.

In short, Mizuno set out to improve on the best qualities with each iron:

JPX 919 Tour irons

JPX 919 Tour ironsJPX 900 Tour irons have been a huge hit for many “free agents” on the PGA Tour. Most notably, Brooks Koepka, whose journey to play JPX we chronicled earlier this summer. Voshall estimates that 20 or so Tour players use JPX 900 Tour irons in total, so appealing to them was a significant part of the design process with JPX 919 Tour irons.

“We wanted to enhance performance, make it feel better and do everything the Tour players want,” said Voshall of strategy behind JPX 919 Tour irons.

Implementing the same HD Grain Flow forging process used in the MP-18 line was a big step in making that happen. The HD (high density) addition basically helps to compact the material’s grains more and create a longer, truer vibration for a better feel at impact.

This is complemented by a reinforced, 20-percent thinner topline and weight redistributed from the hosel into the toe of the club, which moves the CG more toward the toe to help with the club’s forgiveness.

Other improvements with JPX 919 Tour irons include a new brushed pearl finish that wears better and is richer in appearance, akin to MP-18 irons. But the main story with JPX 919 Tour irons is they look and feel better, and are Mizuno’s best creation to date for the better player that likes a “modern-looking” blade.

JPX 919 Forged irons

Voshall coined JPX 919 Forged irons as the most all-around, well-balanced club they make. He even went so far as to say, “If we made just one golf club, this would be it.”

This means JPX 919 Forged is good at everything – feel, workability, distance, launch – but not an all-out rockstar in any one category. That said, these irons have upped the ante all around, so it’s the sum of the parts that’s the story here.

Using the same HD Grain Flow forging process as JPX 900 Tour irons, which Voshall noted was especially difficult considering the stronger, boron-infused material used in these clubs compared to the soft 1025E steel in JPX 900 Tour irons, the denser output of grains allowed them to thin the face and increase the rebound effect for more distance.

A new, reverse-milled slot inserted from the sole of the club also allowed Mizuno to move weight around in a similar way to JPX 919 Tour irons – deeper and more toward the toe – to help the long irons launch higher, which is something Voshall admitted was a challenge with JPX 900 Forged.

The combination of these new elements allowed Mizuno to raise the lofts in JPX 919 Forged as well – not decrease them, like many others in this category of clubs have done – while not compromising distance. The weaker lofts help JPX 900 Forged integrate better as a mixed set with JPX 919 Tour irons.

The main takeaway with JPX 919 Forged irons? They go longer and are easier to hit, especially with the long irons.

JPX 919 Hot Metal irons

JPX 919 Hot Metal’s predecessor, JPX 900 Hot Metal, helped Mizuno move away from the perception that only scratch golfers can play Mizuno golf clubs. Hence the name for this game-improvement offering that oozes thoughts of speed and easy-to-hit, high-launching shots.

Yes, JPX 919 Hot Metal irons are all about ball speed and a having a high COR across the face (basically meaning the club transfers energy to the ball very efficiently), and launching shots even higher and farther than JPX 900, with more forgiveness all around.

This was accomplished in part due to a new stability frame and multi-thickness Chromoly face that helped to increase COR across a larger area. Also worth mentioning are reengineered vibration patterns that create a better sound and feel at impact, which may not do anything for launch or distance, but helps a lot when it comes to harnessing that famous Mizuno feel.

Of course, even with all of the new tech emplyed, JPX 919 Hot Metal irons are still made the Mizuno way.

As opposed to other cast clubs in this category that use welding to bind inserts and various materials, JPX 919 Hot Metal irons use a cupped face technology that attaches seamlessly, with no welding needed. This minimizes inconsistencies and hot spots across the face that can, at times, be the culprit of those stock, 150-yard 7 irons that randomly fly 180 when least expected.

The bottom line with JPX 919 Hot Metal irons is they’re easier to hit than JPX 900, feel better and go even farther as they produce the highest ball speeds from any Mizuno iron ever made.