I’ve had a beautiful new lob wedge in the bag for the last couple of months, a 59 degree wedge by Miura Golf. My short game has been quite bad this year or so, and I’m very happy to report that the addition of this wedge made a huge difference from the first swing. I’ve only scratched the surface with this wedge, pun intended. I’m looking forward to building this relationship and the quality of my short game more and more.
Mirua New Wedge Series – click for more Miura photos
Lets get to it. My review of this wedge is below. Following the review I will be posting my interview with Miura President Adam Barr, who gives us some great insight into the company and this special wedge series. That post will come up after this review is published.
About Miura
If you have not heard of Miura, they’re a family-owned Japanese company founded by Katsuhiro Miura. Mr. Miura is a master-clubmaker, forging and grinding high end clubs for over 50 years. The company is located in Jimeji, central Japan.
Miura is not a company you hear about all the time like the big marketing machines in golf, but we will be hearing more and more about them in the future. I can tell you that there are many top pros who choose to use Miura irons and wedges, though they’re paid by those big name companies. Perhaps the most famous publicly endorsed player is K.J. Choi, one of my favorites.
Lets dig in, without too much of a divot, to Miura’s New Wedge Series.
Miura New Wedge Series – click to enlarge
New Wedge Series Construction
Miura uses low carbon mild steel in the construction of the New Wedge Series. This steel provides soft feel and control with great feedback (information about the shot provided to the player through feel and sound).
The wedges are precision forged and hand ground. The heel-toe portion of this wedge is forged first, rather than forging the entire head. The top half/hosel is then welded on by a process called “spin forging.” The club is chrome finished, with conservative and classy artwork. Miura President Adam Barr describes this process in the upcoming interview piece.
Looks
This club is stunningly beautiful. When I received it I didn’t even want to take it out of the plastic wrap. I surely didn’t want to take it out on the course and scratch it up! The finish is perfect. The artwork features an understated Japanese character which represents a noble effort. Standing over this club I find easy inspiration for good shotmaking.
Feel
The New Wedge’s hand forged low carbon mild steel and perfect grain structure produces a feel that is unmatched. That feel has been a great boost to my confidence and touch around the greens. My distance control on chips and pitches has improved dramatically. I also have a great feel for the proper bounce, from tight and hard lies to thick lies in long grass. The feedback from the club tells me right where the impact is so I can fine tune my positioning.
Specifications
The New Wedge Series is available in odd numbered lofts from 51 to 59 as shown in the specs chart below. Naturally if a player wants a different loft, the clubs can be tweaked.
| Loft (degrees) |
51 |
53 |
55 |
57 |
59 |
| Lie (degrees) |
63.5 |
63.5 |
63.5 |
63.5 |
63.5 |
| Weight (grams) |
297 |
304 |
304 |
307 |
307 |
| Offset* (inches) |
0.16 |
0.03 |
0.08 |
-0.04 |
-0.02 |
| Face Progression** (mm) |
5.2 |
6.5 |
6 |
7.2 |
7 |
| Bounce (degrees) |
5 |
7 |
9 |
10 |
8 |
Shaft Options
There are dozens of shaft options including selections from: Aerotech, Graphite Design, KBS Tour, muziik, Nippon, Project X True Temper and UST Mamiya. My shaft is an ACCRA SP wedge shaft. The ACCRA SP produces high spin, a penetrating ball flight, excellent stability and low torque.
On The Course
This is where all the above materials, specs and construction techniques win or lose. Do all of these elements produce great results on the course? The answer is a resounding YES. From the first shot I took on the course I knew this was the best wedge I’d ever played. I have many triumphant stories to tell about shots with this wedge. I’ll mention three which really stand out in my mind.
Miura New Wedge Series – click to enlarge
The first shot I hit with the club was on my home course, a par-5. I was 60 yards from a front right pin on a tricky green which has a very fast slope from back to front. My ball was sitting against the cut between the fairway and the rough. I put the swing I felt best on the shot. The ball flew true and on line. The green was elevated so I was not able to see where the ball finished until I walked up to the green. My opponents already gave me the birdie putt. The ball was 12 inches. At that point I thought perhaps I’d bronze the thing and put it on my wall. -1 lifetime.
The next time I used the New Wedge was on the next par-5. This time I was pin-high left in two. I had a chip of about 20 feet from some long rough on the side of the green. The chip was crisp and landed exactly on the spot I’d picked out. The ball rolled to about ONE inch from the hole. I couldn’t believe it didn’t drop. At that point I’d hit two shots with the New Wedge, both resulting in birdies.
Last Thursday on the 12th hole of the day (the 3rd hole since we started on the back nine first) I had a very tough chip. I’d come up short right of the green, with a pin short right. I had no green to work with and the green was super-slick and running away. The lie was very tight on hard ground. If I threw 25 practice balls down in that spot, I’d be lucky to get 4-5 of them within 10 feet. It was nearly impossible. My opponent was licking his chops as he has reached the green in regulation and has a good shot at a par. He figures I’ll fail to get up and down, making a bogey. So what did I do? I rocked my opponent with the perfect chip. It hit the fringe, checked a tiny bit and trickled down the slope and dropped straight into the hole. Center cut. My opponent looked like he’d just seen his ex-wife (you know, the crazy one). That chip-in birdie proved crucial to my winning not only my bets, but my two-man team bets as well.
Critiques
I always post critiques in my reviews. I play devil’s advocate and try to find a place where improvement can be made. I have two complaints about this wedge and Miura in general.
My first complaint about the New Wedge is that I’ve spent my entire golfing career without it. What a shame.
My second complaint about Miura clubs is that I only have one.
Pricing
Pricing on the Miura New Wedge series starts at $235.00 depending on shaft and grip options.
Conclusion
As important as the short game is to one’s golf game, why cut corners? Miura cuts no corners. The materials, design and craftsmanship are of the highest quality. The feel and performance of this beautiful wedge are better than any I’ve played to date.
Related Links
Miura Website
Hooked On Golf Blog Miura images
Miura President Adam Barr Review (coming soon)
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
