golfrewind.com

Well last week there was a thread going on about where Mizuno heads were forged. Lots of different responses.

As some of you know I work part time a a major golf chain store. All the manufacturers had PK days (Product knowledge ) for us. Up at the crack of dawn today was Mizuno.

After we had about an hour of company retoric and the first part of the dog and pony show was over they stoped for us to ask questions.

I hit them right off the clarify where their clubs are made.

Here is the answer. All forged Mizuno iron heads including wedges and 2 piece forged are forged at a factory they control IN JAPAN. No other manufacturer can forge clubs there without Mizuno's permission. They do not own the factory but the plant does work almost exclusivly for Mizuno.

This is the stamping of the iron head. They are then sent to various finishing plants in either China or Taiwan for final hosel boring, grinding and chroming. The clubs then enter the USA to Atlanta for assembly.

So why does the club have a Made In China or Made in Taiwan sticker on it??? Under Nafta as any product enters the USA, Canada or Mexico in an unfinished state, the country of last origin is considered the Made In Country and this sticker remains as it determines duties etc. They consider that the club is basically done at this point even though no shaft is in it.

Most of the Mizuno Irons in Canada are shipped first to Atlanta and then continue the trip to Toronto/Mississauga with the made in China/Taiwan Sticker. Shafts, grips, bending then happens here too.

Betinardi of Betinardi putters is the designer of the new Mizuno line of putters. He is also manufacturing them at his plant in Chicago.

The company is celebrating 100 years in business and the name Mizuno is a family name. The 2 top execs are 2 brothers with the last name of Mizuno.

FYI.

brianf

I dunno, that doesn't sound right to me. For Japan issue MP60s, it is $1575 plus $75 to have them shipped here, but U.S. MP60s are only 849. What gives? If they come out of the same forgery, then why the double in price? I've always heard different, and one source being TourSpecGolf, who is the largest distributor of Japan-issue golf clubs to the US.

Interesting though Brian.

There is a difference between the japan spec and US spec irons, just because they are forged in the same plant doesnt mean they are the same irons, the rules of the USGA do not apply to other countries, therefore you see higher cor's and such around the world. Most of the "japan spec" ect. is just hype, but a fool and his money are soon parted, so why not make a big deal over it, it translates directly into profit.

I was under the impression that Mizuno did some forging here in the U.S, of course I never really did my research anyways. I know some mizuno's in the past have been sourced out to Endo and Miura, maybe thats where the japan spec clubs are forged?

Realize that the info that we get here is directly in relation to the clubs that come here, so the US spec clubs could be forged in Japan, and the worldwide spec clubs could be forged elsewere.

I don't know what to tell you. This was from the mouths of 2 Mizuno reps. Unless they were lying which I can't see why???

brianf

I know that Miura stopped doing contract work about a year ago to promote his own line. I don't know about Endo though. Like I said, all my info comes from TourSpecGolf.com, where, like you said, "a fool and his money are soon parted"

I've never seen so many people buy a 350 dollar wedge before, much less a set of 3

Another thing I saw was that Titleist and Nike forge in the same plant in mainland China. It was early this morning and I forget the name of the forging company but these 2 use the same plant for sure.

brianf

I don't know why this creates such heated discussions with players.

We are not talking high tech processes when it comes to making an iron.

Yes Mizuno does have a special process (Grain flow) so they only trust one plant to do it for them (In Japan), but Titleist, Nike, Taylor etc. once you get the alloy mix correct and put in a top notch QC program, I don't care if they are forged on Mars. Hmmmmm special low gravity martian forgings. Ureeka!!!!

I still don't like Mizuno product. The new fairway woods do look very very nice though and hit very well.

For me, I want to buy USA made as much as possible so Ping is still #1 for me still, even though I just ordered Callaways and used Taylor T.P.'s last year.


brianf

I think it gets heated because everyone wants to think their particular clubs are the best.

Like you, I always try to buy "Made in USA" when I can, but if you think "Japanese Issue" clubs are expensive, wait until a US based company starts forging their own clubs here in the US. Those "Japanese Issue" clubs will be a steal at $1500. Simp

Yup. I bet you could get close to 2,000.00 for a set of made in USA forged clubs.

Remember about 5 years ago when McGregor was doing their own forgings. You could choose from about 10 different grinds and actually went to the plant to pick them up.

I think they were 5,000.00.

I still believe if any of the USA manufactureres built USA made forgings and could keep the price to 2,000.00 they could not make enough sets.

brianf

If you can tell the difference in a Endo vs Mizuno forged iron....your better then most. There is however a night and day difference in Forged and Cast. As far a price point goes....well the Japanees are willing to pay more so the price is higher then what is here in the US and what Americans are willing to pay.

You want to buy U.S. knowing they outsource their work to China...interesting. Put money in the pockets of the top guys at Titleist knowing they don't staff Americans. That would be one reason I would boycott a company like Titleist.

Tighter quality control on japanese made clubs. You can get a retail 8.5 R5/905R or what have you...anything off the rack, that is stamped with 8.5, and put it on a lie detector and see variances of a degree. Meanwhile, you throw a tour issue, and it reads on a much tighter variance. Same can be said about irons. The degree variances are a bit too loose for somebody who is serious about their equipment. You go with a Japan issue set of MP-60s, 32s, etc., and you'll see much tighter tolerances in lofts between each club. You pay for what you get. Why do you think Tour Issue heads on ebay fetch 500+ head only. Tight tolerances...a more pure clubhead.

I am suprised to hear even the Japan issued clubs go to China. Historically, China and Japan do not like each other very much. Japan has a great sense of pride in their nation and people. Knowing that Chinese factories finish their clubs is a revelation. I would not be surprised though if the Japan PGA players have all their work done in Japan.

Ok I will buy that.....however is that worth a $700 difference. I can still by a set of US Mizuno MP-32's and if I am that worried about the QC have them blueprinted at a much cheaper cost then the $1,500 set from Mizuno JP.

Tour issue fetch much more.........again because peope are willing to pay that much. Look at a Scotty Cameron Circle T. Not much difference in a retail except that they were built for a pro. Then jack up the price $2000 and sell them on ebay. A tour stick was built for a pro and him only. To say that they are that much better has been a long debate on a lot of different golf forums. For a long time Els played an off the rack Scotty Cameron Stuido Stainless newport II. Does that make it any better then the one that I bought....no. It was the same putter.

Japan is aiding China in terms of modernizing and expanding its horizons in terms of business relations. The power China holds is ridiculous. They are an untapped resource. Japan is showing them the way, to become a powerful player, as Japan has in the past 50 years to become its own marketplace, and one of the richest nations in the world, especially considering its small size.