Golf World UK - August 2017

AfewyearsbackWilsonshiftedtheirfocusto

the starter market with box sets for beginners. It

wascheaperentrylevelstuffandtheupshotis

thatthecompanyisnowperceivedasbeingatthe

lowerendintermsofprice.

YouhaveTaylorMadecommandingfour

figuresforitsP770sandthentheV6slagging

behindatthe£700mark.It’sasignificant

difference and highlights the market’s vagaries.

The truth is that buyers of the V6 are unlikely

tobedisappointed.Thisisaqualityironthat

deservestobeinthisloftycompany.Thesmaller

footprint maybe didn’t instil quite the confidence

of the other two, but the strike and general feel

were very good.

The upshot

Thefascinationhereisthatacasecouldbemade

foreachirondependingontheplayer’spriorities.

Whentalkingvalueformoney,theclearfront-

runnerbyamilewastheWilsonFGTourV6.

Theteamagreedunanimouslythatifpricewas

amajorconsiderationthentheV6couldbethe

only choice since it delivered very competitive

performanceatafractionofthecost.Andyou’re

not talking a downgrade in raw materials.

IftheV6hadaproblemthenthenumbers

pointedtolessspin,whichmaymean

compromised control around greens for golfers

whostruggle to launchtheballhighenough.

Thefour-figurefeeattachedtoTaylorMade’s

P770smacksofelitistquality,butthereisthe

powerofbranding.Theperformancefigures

pointtothismodelbeingthe‘bestintest’,butit

comesatacost.TaylorMade,though,isatried

andtestednamethatcanbeseenwinningTour

eventsaroundtheworldandthatinitselfhelps

giveconsumersconfidencewhentheyhavethis

club in their hands.

“TheP770winsitformebecauseit’stheonly

onethatIfeltimmediatelyconfidentwith,”was

Smith’sclearassessment.“Thebalanceoftheclub

wasjustrightandIfeltIcouldeasilyshapeshots

withit.Icouldn’thavesaidthatabouttheother

two.”

SohowdoesMizunofitin?Somewhereinthe

middle is the answer. It came into this as the pre-

testfavouritewithabigreputation–anditdidn’t

disappoint,butthequalityofalltheclubswas

excellent.

TheMizunodidhaveacompactlookthat

wouldappealtothebetterplayer,althoughquite

whyyou’dplumpforthisovertheMPrangeisn’t

entirelyclear.TheJPX900Tourdelvesdeeper

into blade territory than ever before, but still has

aneaseofusethat–ifitistrumpedbytheP770

–isonlybythesmallestofmargins.

108 Golf WorldAugust 2017

KEY TECHNOLOGIES

By Derek Murray

Q Derek Murray is an award-winning independent club fitter and a leading

expert in golf club technology. He’s based at ForeGolf at Killeen Castle, Ireland.

‘We unanimously agreed

that if price was a major

consideration then Wilson’s

V6 could be the only choice’

Made from 862

carbon steel, th

iron has margin

more offset th

the other two.

Th

ca

is

ex

us

po

to

eights

nto the

einthe

ons for

nd then

he sole

er ones

ehigher

nd spin.

There’s no

offset but

the toe is a

bit squarer.

The head is

recision milled

and forged so

moreweightis

movedintothe

perimeter for

greater

forgiveness.

They fea

improve

to preve

into the

TaylorMade P770

Mizuno JPX900 Tour

Wi l son FG Tou r V6