First look: Mizuno MP-600 and MX-560 drivers

Mizuno hasn’t released a driver in the UK for two years, but is making up for it with a double launch later this year.

Jeremy Ellwood
By
published

Mizuno, having not launched a driver in the UK for two years, are launching two later this year ? the MP-600 and MX-560.

The 460cc MP-600 (pictured) is aimed at the better player with a classic address look and neutral face angle. The most striking feature is its ?Fast Track? system that allows you to reposition two 8g weights along a slot in the rear sole, allowing for 15 different trajectory settings.

The MX-560 is designed for wider playability with a sloped crown design that boosts moment of inertia, and a head size that hits the maximum legal volume and dimensions. Face angles also become slightly more closed in the higher lofts for further help in countering any slice tendencies

GM initial verdict: Good to see Mizuno back in the driver market. The two drivers sound very different ? the MX-560 loud, yet not too tinny, and the MP-600 more solid with a bit of oomph at impact. Initial testing on the simulators at Urban Golf yielded some pretty long and straight hitting, but if your handicap is in double figures you?re probably going to find the MX-560 a slightly easier proposition.

MP-600: £269

8.5, 9.5 or 10.5 lofts

MX-560 £219

8.5, 9.5, 10.5 or 12 lofts

Exsar DS3 shaft plus other custom options in both models

Available October/November 2007 (MX-560 a little earlier than the MP-600)

Check out more pictures of the MP-600 and MX-560 and more exclusive pictures of the very latest equipment releases in our gear gallery

Jeremy Ellwood
Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf

Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Srixon ZX, EvenFlow Riptide 6.0 S 50g shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3- to 8-iron: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Irons 9-iron and PW: Honma TWorld TW747Vx, Nippon NS Pro regular shaft

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Kramski HPP 325

Ball: Any premium ball I can find in a charity shop or similar (or out on the course!)

Latest