"I was hugely impressed with the longer irons, which are easier to hit, are more forgiving, and have more distance than my current hybrid."

TESTED BY: Andrew Benson.

HANDICAP: 14

MODEL AND SHAFT PLAYED: Mizuno MX-1000 4-iron to pitching wedge fitted with regular flex ­steel shafts.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: At first sight, the new Mizunos are appealing. The face’s strong lines look like they can cut cleanly under the ball, while the hollowed-out, extra-deep backing inspires confidence in a solid contact. They carry slightly more weight at the business end of the club than I am used to.

VERDICT: The shafts were shorter than my current set, and my first few shots with the short irons weren’t right out of the middle as a result. But even striking with the outside-lower part of the face, the ball had a nice trajectory and only ended up a half-club-length short of what I expected.

Playing out of the right rough on my 5th hole, I had 170 metres into the wind with a bunker carry to get to the back-right pin placement. Looking down at the 4-iron in my hand, I didn’t think I had enough club. But with a clean strike, and without too much effort, I watched my ball easily clear the sand to finish on the green, pin high.

I was hugely impressed with the longer irons, which are easier to hit, are more forgiving, and have more distance than my current hybrid. The short irons are consistent enough, but gave me a lower ball flight and less spin than my current clubs. I would happily take the 4 and 5-irons, preferably with a little extra length in the shaft, and put them in my bag in place of my long irons

FACTS AND FIGURES

SUITABILITY: For mid to high handicapped players.

SHAFTS: True Temper GS95 is standard in steel, Exsar IS4 in graphite.

LOFTS: 6-iron 28º, 49º gap wedge and 55º sand wedge also available.

LEFT-HANDED MODELS?: Yes.

HOW MUCH?: $209 per iron (steel), $219 (graphite).

MIZUNO SAYS: “Incorporating Mizuno’s Hot Metal concept into iron design, the MX-1000 is for golfers looking for an extreme combination of distance and forgiveness.

“Astonishing distances that push the boundaries of the R&A and USGA’s performance limitations are achieved by plasma welding a thin, hot, ES230 maraging steel face to a 431 stainless steel body – a technique perfected in Mizuno’s MP Fli-Hi utility iron.

“The ‘Hot Metal’ face is teamed with a hollow construction and internal weighting – encouraging strikes from a wide area of the face to hold their line with minimal distance loss. The hollow construction also allows weight to be engineered deep within the head for a naturally high trajectory – enabling the use of stronger lofts for even greater distance.

“Aggressively bevelled lead and trailing edges effectively narrow the MX-1000’s substantial soleplate, for clean turf interaction and use from a variety of lies.”

Contact Mizuno on (03) 9239 7100 or visit golf.mizunoeurope.com