Review from the magazine

TG rating

Opinion was split on last year’s Mizuno drivers and woods. The Mizuno MP-600, with all its fancy weight adjustability, looks the part and is packed with technology. Yet it is not to everyone’s taste.

It’s the same with the Mizuno MX-560 driver. Equipment Editor Jon Greathead put one into play for a couple of months last year and has mixed feelings. “It’s great looking and is accurate and fairly forgiving, but it is too loud!”

So Mizuno went to work. The piercing sound that vexed our man has been replaced by a more solid ‘thud’ at impact in the new Mizuno MX-700, thanks to a ‘vibration dampening internal hull’.

The club also features, inevitably, an extremely high level of MOI (resistance to twisting) which provides forgiveness on ‘off-centre’ strikes. Plus, the ball flight of the new Mizuno MX-700 is fantastic. We were sent a 10.5˚ big dog and the ball absolutely soared.

Overall, this is a big improvement, on initial inspection, from the Mizuno MX-560. Mizuno disciples will love the looks, but even ‘non-believers’ should take a good look. With a retail price of £199 you really can’t go wrong. The MP-600, with its slidey weights will still be available, for £269.

2009, Updated Model – Review

Grain-aligned titanium face boosts forgiveness and power
Mizuno are well known to TG readers for making great irons. But while their grain-flow forged offerings have become industry  standard-setters, the woods department has not seen the same kind of broad approval.
Happily, this is where the MX700 steps up. Replacing the MX560, the latest offering features a plasma-welded face which helps increase ball speeds off all parts of the face. This is thanks to what they are calling Ti9, based on the face that metal, like wood, has a grain which can be orientated either to boost strength or limit it. The grain in the titanium face of the MX700 runs vertically from sole to crown, a design that expands the driver’s sweetspot.
Clubhead weighting is designed to help the golfer achieve penetrating drives. The wide geometry of the head means a low CG and big sweetspot – leading to impressive launches and low spinning tee shots.
Looks-wise, our team found themselves split – George thought it was an absolute 'Bobby Dazzler', but Roy wasn’t so keen on the graphics on the top of the club.
But where all of our crew were in agreement was in the performance of the MX700 – it was stunning. Long, booming drives were very much the order of the day, with dispersion figures also favourable.
This is the best Mizuno driver we’ve seen for a while, in our opinion... and the fact that you can get hold of it for less than 200 beer vouchers only serves to add to what is a fantastic package.

Ratings (out of 5)