With the JPX 900, Mizuno is making a name for themselves with this hot new driver.

I had two epiphanies while I was playing with my buddy Chris the other day, the first being that the Bridgestone company that makes car tires is the same company that makes amazing golf balls, apparently the fact that their logo is the same has escaped me for the past twenty years.

The second epiphany was that Mizuno makes more than volleyball shoes.

My sister, Corey, the other half of the “Smash Sisters,” played volleyball through college, so I’ve known Mizuno forever. Although it took me up until last week to realize that her gear is the same company that makes some pure irons for the golf course. Like so many other players, I automatically think of the more traditional companies when I’m looking to upgrade my golf clubs. For some reason, Mizuno always seems to get skipped over in my brain. It probably hasn’t helped that since they usually release their new products in the fall rather than spring. That means I haven’t seen much from them at the PGA Show, down in Florida. But finally, I was at a demo day last week, on one of my rare days off while at home in Vegas, and fell in love with the JPX heads.

The JPX irons are truly impressive. With every option from ball shaping blades to forgiving forged heads. I now know first hand why 2017 US Open winner Brooks Koepka chose to have the 900 series irons in his bag at Erin Hills.

What impressed me is their woods though. Maybe the bright blue finish just caught my eye, but whatever it was, I had to try the JPX 900 Driver. I hit balls with that driver for two hours during the demo day, and I was so impressed. So much, in fact, I went back the next day to put one in my bag.

Mizuno has done four excellent things with their driver:

The first being that you can adjust the loft without changing the lie of the club. Many adjustable drivers alter the lie, so that draws or fades are unknowingly more prevalent, whereas, the JPX has weights that can move around the bottom of the clubhead to modify the ball flight.

Second, the weights can move forward or back to change the center of gravity; these give the option of a higher or lower trajectory of the ball. It’s not a new thing. For example, Cobra had the FlyZ+ with a weight that could flip flop back in 2015. The Mizuno club, however, is a little more customizable. With four different spots for the weights and two of them to make the adjustments.

I play with a 60 gram stiff Aldila Silver Rogue cut down to 43” on the golf course. So I added a third weight to adjust for the shortened shaft. Adding the third weight pushed me consistently over 290 yards (on Flightscope with old range). With spin rates just over 2200rpm.

I then took some time with my wrench on the range. Moving the third weight around and checking out the results. Moving the weights forward or back in the trajectory slot not only changed my shot, but I could change the spin rates over 600rpm in both directions. It is huge to be able to modify the spin so easily going into different golf courses and conditions. If the fairways are going to be hard and you want the ball to roll. All you have to do is move the weights forward. Doing so will lower the trajectory and the spin. So when it lands your ball will keep moving. I, also, played with putting weights in the draw and fade

I also played with putting weights in the draw and fade slots on my JPX, and the results were amazing. Without having to manipulate my swing at all, I was able to produce a tight draw or baby fade. And the numbers were impressive on Flightscope. This feature is awesome for amateurs. Ones that don’t have the time to overcome a swing flaw on the range and need equipment to help fix the issue. And also for the better player that is playing a fade or draw prevalent course and wants to be ready for what the architect is giving them.

It’s nice that the driver has these options, but are not required to use them. One of my first adjustable drivers was the Callaway Razor Fit eXtreme back in like 2013, which had the options of a fade or draw preference. But, you had to choose. There was no option to eliminate the weights in those slots for a nonbiased club. It’s nice to have the option not to use the draw or fade slots with the Mizuno JPX 900 if you don’t need to.

The third great thing is that there is a choice of how the club sits on the ground. You can set The JPX 900 for a draw, and the loft can be dialed down to 8°. But if you like to look at an open clubface, you can adjust the silver addition. Doing so will sit the club open at address. This little change was helpful when I was watching other players at the demo day who were used to an offset clubhead. These type of players want to see the open clubface because it’s what they’re used to. That’s what they can set up to, but in all actuality, they don’t need the help from a drawing club.

The last great thing Mizuno did is the audible sound they got the JPX 900 driver to make. It just sounds so pure coming off the face. Check out this video below from my Instagram and hear for yourself if you don’t believe me. I guess it’s a personal preference though. I mean some people liked the sound of the Dymo when it came out! Where I cringed so hard, I had to leave my golf course when there was a Nike demo day back in 2009.

Additionally, they make a ladies’ version that is a little lighter both in color and weight. It still maintains all the same bells and whistles though.

Mizuno has a winner with The JPX 900 Driver

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by and very impressed with the JPX 900 series driver. My Flightscope numbers were equivalent to, if not better than my current driver! I can’t wait to hit some bombs on a real golf course.

Here’s some additional information directly from the Mizuno website:

• NEW Infinite Fast Track: uses a pair of eight-gram adjustable weights on an unbounded track, yielding unlimited settings to precisely dial in spin and vertical launch parameters.
• Toe and Heel Fast Track: ports for ability to modify horizontal displacement and trajectory
• Visual Face Angle Adjustor (VFA): Adjustable weight plate to tune desired face angle orientation, for a confidence inspiring appearance at address
• Quick Switch Adaptor:  +/- 2 degrees of loft adjustability.
• NEW CORTECH Face: five grams lighter than the JPX850, the new face provides even faster ball speeds on center hits while freeing up discretionary weight and expanding the COR area to offer more forgiveness and ball speed retention on off-center hits.
• Harmonic Impact Technology: for the purest feel and sound.