Miura Golf MC-102 Irons and 54 Wedge Review

Japanese philosophical tradition provides that “perfection” is not a goal that can be attained, rather its a never ending journey to a goal. For the past 47 years, Katsuhiro Miura has been on that journey in pursuit of making the “perfect” forged golf club. Miura Golf Clubs have been around for quite sometime in Japan, you may in fact, never heard of them. Miura doesn’t sponsors players on the PGA Tour, instead the players pay to use these excellent forged clubs. “It’s about craftsmanship, and not a marketing machine.” I’ve been lucky enough to review the Miura MC-102 forged 6 iron and Mirua 54 Sand Wedge for the past month and the results have been astounding.

Background
All Miura golf clubs are manufactured in Himeji, Japan considered to be the “Steel region of Japan”. Every golf club goes through a 14 step manufacturing process that has been developed and refined over the years by Katushiro Miura and his staff of master craftsman. All of the clubs are hand ground by expert grinders making final adjustments to the weight, finish, and design of the club. By adjusting the weight during the forging process, rather than the grinding process, allows Miura to create a uniform clubhead weight that other manufacturers cannot match. What makes Miura forged irons and wedges so different from other manufacturers? There are two things that make Miura golf clubs the best forged clubs you can buy, and those are the use of mild steel and the forging techniques.

Why Mild Steel?
Mild steel produces a sense of feel and control that cannot be matched by other forging and casting processes used by other manufacturers. The Miura forging process compliments the use of mild steel for the manufacturing of irons and its wedges.

Why is the Miura Forging technique the best?
Miura’s forging techniques rearranges the molecular structure of the mild steel in a pattern that is uniform throughout the hitting area of the club, that makes his clubs so unique. The forging process used on all Miura Golf clubs is the tightest in the industry. If you view the clubhead under a microscope, it looks like a glass jar filled with sand, showcasing the solid grain structure of the clubhead. Its this unique forging process that give Miura golf clubs their sense of softness and solid feel. Mr. Miura uses forging techniques which have taken 47 years to perfect. These special techniques produce a club head with the most stable and refined molecular structure found anywhere in the golfing industry. Because Mr. Miura is able to have the fundamental weight adjustments in the club head occur during the forging process rather than the grinding process, creates a uniformity of club head weight which is unsurpassed. Translation: unbelievable feel.

Look and Feel
My initial reaction to holding the MC-102 6 iron in my hands for the first time was one of sheer amazement, the club just felt right. The balanced weight and look of the club is unlike anything I’ve seen before. It truly is a thing of beauty and an example of superb craftsmanship. The matte nickel satin finish gives the club a nice refined look and the top view of the forged blade is so thin and sleek, my cavity back Callaway X-20 6 iron looks obese compared to the Miura MC-102 6 iron. The face of club looks just as sleek and minimal like the top-line with its beautiful pressed score lines and large sweet spot. The back of the face of the club has a cavity back design, which features the Miura logo stamped into a satin finish. The hosel of the club is made using a  proprietary “spin welding” process to produce the industries’ most consistent hosel. This unique procedure ensures that the bore depths and hosel heights are identical on every Miura made head and the shaft of every club will be perfectly centered. The Miura NGS Graphite Shaft and velvet cord grip, made the MC-102 6 iron extremely pleasant to swing and lightweight.  Miura gives you the option to buy your clubs with only the best shafts available in the industry, from Miura’s NGS Graphite Shaft, Nippon Shaft, True Temper, Aerotech Golf, and Royal Precision.

The look and feel of the 54 Sand Wedge from Miura, had a similar nickel satin finish, making the wedge look very refined. The weight of the wedge was comparable to my Titleist Vokey Spin Milled 54 Wedge, but with one huge difference, it didn’t feel as balanced as the Miura wedge. The face of club had beautifully scored lines in the face, but did not have the spin milled grooves that you see in Vokey or other comparable sand wedges on the market. The toe of the club has a nice roundness to it as well as the sole of the wedge.

Performance
A common misconception about Miura golf clubs is they are designed for a better player, which isn’t true because “the golf ball doesn’t know who is hitting it,” said Bill Holowaty, Miura General Manager of North America Operations.

MC-102 Irons
The Miura MC-102 model is a marriage of tour issue performance and game improvement features.  It has a generous offset in the long irons and progressively less offset through the
mid and short irons.  A great deal of thought was also given to shaping the sole in a way that makes it less demanding to play. The sole of each irons is personally ground by Mr. Miura or one of the Miura family to ensure consistency through out the set. The 6 iron I tested from the MC-102 line features an expanded sweet spot and the forgiveness of a cavity back, all packaged into a forged golf club. Quite remarkable. I have to admit the first time I teed up my ball on the golf course, I was little intimidated by the thin top-line of the Miura MC-102 6 iron. The top-line is so thin and sleek, I was afraid my shot was going to sting if I miss hit my ball, but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t sting at all. In fact, when I hit the club, I was amazed at the “buttery soft” feel at impact, you could actually feel the ball explode off the face of the club, transferring the energy from the clubface to the ball so effortlessly. It was a feeling I’ve never experienced with my cavity back clubs or even other forged clubs I’ve hit before. I also noticed that the trajectory of my shots were consistently middle-to-high and very stable. I never had a problem swinging this club from the fairway, rough, or uneven lie on the golf course, the perfectly balanced clubhead and generous offset made this an easy club to use.  What really made the MC-102 6 iron standout is the solid feel and softness of the club.

Mirua MC-102 Irons (3 - 9, PW) start at $1200 and up depending on the shaft option you choose.

54 Wedge Series
The 54 degree sand wedge (9 degrees of bounce) from Miura Golf, looks like your typical forged wedge, but you would be surprised how different it really is. Like the MC-102 irons, the 54 wedge goes through the same 14 step manufacturing process and is made of mild steel. The 54 wedge has the same solid feel and softness you would come to expect from a quality forged club. In my tests the 54 degree sand wedge performed quite well in both medium packed and fluffy bunkers. The ball would come flying out of the bunker quite nicely with the right amount of spin you would expect from a 54 degree wedge. Chipping and pitching could not have been easier, the softness of the forged club really excels when you make a crisp ship or pitch. The Miura 54 degree wedge also performed quite well in and around the green, in both light to moderate rough conditions. The only thing I wished for was little more spin on my shots, that I’m used to getting with my Eidolon 54 degree Mid Wedge. Overall, its everything you come to expect in a forged wedge, in terms of workability and feedback.

Miura Wedges retail for $160 - $200 depending on the shaft option you choose.

Just like Leonardo da Vinci is considered to be the archetype “Renaissance man” and most diversely talented person ever to have lived,  Katsuhiro Miura is considered to have the “Hands of God” when it comes making forged golf clubs. Words cannot begin to describe the quality of Mirua forged golf clubs. You have to feel and touch the golf clubs to get a sense for what a perfectly balanced forged golf club feels like. If your in the market for a remarkable set of forged irons or wedges, than checkout the Miura MC-102 Irons or the Miura Wedge Series, you wont be disappointed.

Also coming out later this year in North America is a line of Drivers, Fairway Woods, and Utility Clubs. These clubs have been available in Europe for about a year now and have been doing well. I can’t wait to review the latest offering to a great line of forged clubs.

Miura Golf