• 3 months ago
Golf Monthly is one of the world's leading multi-platform golf media brands.
We exist to help golfers get more out of the game they love. Our team of passionate golfers and experts produce authoritative in-depth reviews of the latest golf equipment to help you buy better, tips and advice to improve your game, ideas for golf courses to play and places to stay and coverage of the game at every level from grassroots up to Tour.
Transcript
00:00And when it comes to choosing a new set of irons,
00:02there are often quite a lot of boxes
00:03that need to be ticked, whether it's looks,
00:05feel, forgiveness, performance, all those sorts of things.
00:08And often, irons will typically excel in some of those areas
00:11and maybe fall down in one or two.
00:12But I think I've found an iron here
00:14that ticks an awful lot of boxes.
00:16Pretty much all the boxes a golfer looks for
00:18when it comes to a new set of irons.
00:20It's a really exciting new iron for this year.
00:22So without further ado, let's find out exactly what it is
00:25and why I think it could well be the perfect iron.
00:28Okay, so I won't hold you in suspense any longer.
00:30The iron I think could be as close to perfect
00:32as you're likely to find this year
00:34is the Mizuno JPX9234s.
00:37Now this is one of five models in the range.
00:40This is one of the later releases within it.
00:42And I think it combines a lot of attributes
00:44that golfers look for from a set of irons.
00:46Good looks, good feel, good forgiveness,
00:48and good distance as well.
00:49This 7-iron is lofted down at 30 degrees.
00:52So it's a bit stronger than a lot of irons
00:54that have a similar size to this.
00:55And it's gonna give you really good feel as well.
00:58I think the first box golfers are looking to tick off
01:00when it comes to choosing a new set of irons
01:02is how it looks.
01:03And I think this iron looks absolutely fantastic.
01:05Loads of shelf appeal.
01:06It's relatively subtle in the back,
01:07but there's a lot to like about how it looks.
01:09In the bag, on the shelf, and also down at address
01:12because the dimensions of this club
01:14are absolutely perfect for me.
01:16You know, it's not too compact.
01:17There's a bit of thickness to that top line,
01:19but there's not much offset.
01:20That's something I look for from an iron.
01:21Don't want it to be too offset.
01:23There's a hint of it, but not too much at all.
01:25The finish is absolutely fantastic.
01:27Really premium down behind the ball.
01:29It's compact, but it's not intimidating.
01:31There's enough size there to inspire some confidence
01:33at address.
01:34So I think it looks great.
01:35And the other thing I really like about it
01:37is the feel of this club off the face.
01:43I think this iron feels so nice.
01:45It's really soft.
01:46It's got a really nice, short, dense sensation at impact.
01:49It feels like a blade, to be honest with you,
01:51but it has maybe a little bit more spring to it.
01:53So you're getting a bit more kind of energy off the face
01:56versus a muscle back, which can come off a little bit dead.
01:59You get a little bit more liveliness here off the face.
02:01So I think feel-wise, it definitely ticks the boxes
02:03for feel.
02:04And I tested this iron indoors on a GC quad launch monitor
02:07with premium golf balls, looking at the performance
02:09in real great detail.
02:10Because I was interested to see, you know,
02:12were there any trade-offs in how this iron performed?
02:15And you know, when I'm looking at performance,
02:16I'm really looking at consistency of ball speed
02:18and the consistency of the carry distances.
02:20And that's where this iron really stood out
02:22versus anything else I've tested this year.
02:24Well, I hit 10 shots with this iron indoors
02:27and the carry distances ranged from 167 yards
02:30to 169 yards, which is incredible, really.
02:33You could have thrown a pretty small blanket
02:34over where these shots finished.
02:36And it's blown away about how consistent it was.
02:38And that is going to give you really good repeatability
02:40out on the golf course.
02:41If you're looking to hit a very specific distance,
02:43this iron is going to deliver that.
02:44And even slightly off center as well,
02:46I felt like there was enough stability in the head
02:48to save a poor strike.
02:49It's not the most forgiving iron in the Mizuno range,
02:52but I think if you're a mid to low handicapper,
02:55there's enough help built in with this club
02:56to help you get away with making a poor swing.
02:59So, yeah, I've been absolutely blown away
03:01by how well this iron performed.
03:03And even though it's quite a strong lofted,
03:04there's enough trajectory there
03:06to get the ball stopping on the green.
03:08And hopefully you can see that.
03:09If I hit another shot for you.
03:14That kind of mid ball flight is going to give you
03:16a combination of distance and stopping power.
03:19Those windows are exactly where I want an iron
03:21to be flying through.
03:22And even though it's quite a strong lofted,
03:24it doesn't actually go too far.
03:25The spin was relatively high with the Mizuno irons.
03:28We've seen that with other Mizuno irons down the past.
03:30They don't like to get the spin
03:32down to like four, four and a half thousand RPM.
03:34This was over 5,000 RPM.
03:36So that's going to give you a nice ball flight
03:38that kind of goes low, climbs a little bit,
03:40and stops quickly on the green.
03:42So for me, this Mizuno JPX 923 Forged Iron,
03:46it ticks the boxes for looks.
03:47It definitely ticks the boxes for feel.
03:49It was plenty forgiving enough for myself
03:52or maybe even a mid-handicap golfer,
03:53and it was consistent.
03:55Possibly the only box this iron doesn't quite tick
03:57is for value for money,
03:58because it does come in at a slightly premium price
04:01versus other irons within its category.
04:03185 pounds per club means it kind of equates
04:06to around about 1,300 pounds for a seven piece set.
04:08But based on everything I've talked about in this video,
04:11I think you kind of get what you pay for with this club,
04:13because really it doesn't have a weakness.
04:15It looks great, feels sensational,
04:17and gives you really good stopping power
04:19and consistent distances.
04:20And that's what I would be really looking for from an iron.
04:23I think the only thing that would stop me
04:24from putting it in the bag right now
04:25would be the fact it probably sends the ball
04:27a little bit too far, given those stronger lofts.
04:30So that's something you can maybe work on in a fitting,
04:32maybe combo with some other models,
04:34or just work on that loft configuration
04:35so the gapping issues aren't too great.
04:37But hopefully you've enjoyed this video
04:39in terms of summarizing what this JPX 923 Forged Iron
04:42has to offer.
04:43For me personally, I think it's one of the leading contenders
04:46as the best golf irons in 2023.
04:48But that's all from me
04:49from the beautiful Black Bear Golf Club here in Florida.
04:52I'll see you next time.