Mizuno JPX900 HM irons - Lie angle adjustment

Equipment
#1

I bought these new and never really had them adjust the lie angle and loft, just checked that they were in spec. Lately my swing has changed a bit (age 70, it happens) and I have noticed a sharper cut/fade. S I decided to check the lie and sure enough hitting them more towards the toe. I decided to have them adjust = bad idea. hop snapped the 8 iron almost immediately. Found a used one online and asked them to adjust the lie, immediately it too snapped. Both at same place, middle of hosel near tip of the shaft. Of course Mizuno dismisses any and all claims if not bent by them. Not even an offer of a discount on a similar head, nada.

So my question is has anyone else had a similar experience with JPC 9XX hot metal irons?

PS: I did see mention that Mizuno does not recommend adjust more than 2 degrees but I could not confirm that.

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#2

how much were you adjusting them?

I got mine 2 up from the factory, and didn’t have any issues, but haven’t messed with the lie since… (I also don’t play that PW, but that’s a different story)

#3

Not hot metals, but I had my entire set of JPX 900 Forged irons bent to +1 at the PGA Superstore last year with no issues at all. (4-GW)

#4

Big difference between forged versus cast. I would bet that Mizuno would bend the forged +/- 3 degrees while they limit the cast 2 degrees. If what was printed in a blog is true. I will say I did find a JPX 919 HM replacement and will not bend that one.

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#5

I haven’t used my Scotland in forever, but Googling shows Mizuno advertised the club as being soft enough to bend and even added a notch in the hosel ala Ping to make it easier.

Cast clubs are harder to bend (except for some 304 SS irons I’ve had, but that’s softer than CS) so you have to be a lot more careful. I would never bend someone else’s clubs unless they were forged, but I’m just a hobbyist. OEMs can generally adjust their clubs easier because they have specific fixturing for it and sometimes they can cast variants at +3 or 4 upright or flat if they can only bend +/- 2.

#6

Where did you read the Mizuno restrictions on bending their irons? I did bend my earlier Mizuno irons but they were forged (MX23, MX300s) but did not bend the JPX 800 and only recently did I try bending my JPX900. I did bend a trial set of Callaway X22 irons only because half the irons were out of spec from the listed numbers both in loft and lie. But I have always heard that forged clubs bend more easily and I have never had a club snap until these two 8 irons. Being a skeptic, I just was curious if they came off the same production batch, maybe a unreported flaw? I dunno, so I posted a couple of places to see if anyone else had issues with the JPX 900 HM snapping.

#7

I never mentioned any restrictions and didn’t see any. Their advertising just stated that the irons would allow bending, but not how much. Generally most clubfitters will not try to bend a cast head more than 2 degrees, but that does depend on the metal and design.

I’ve bent my own clubs a # of times, but I’ve mainly played forged irons. I did practice on inexpensive cast heads and they are much harder. Some just will not bend or seem to but then are right back where they started. Others break quite easily. Some of the higher quality heat treated 431 SS heads are much better to adjust. I use a pro clubfitter for pretty much everything now to avoid any hassles.

#8

I have gone ahead and ask Mizuno directly about both the forged and the cast. I have heard that the cast has ‘memory’ and will flex back to the original lie angle. I have also heard that Mizuno (and I assume others) use whatever lie angle casting you order. So they start at the standard spec (which you find on the rack at stores) or when you order a set they select the cast and make them at that angle +/- 2 degrees. We will see. Next time I will just stick with forged irons, which is what attracted me to Mizuno in the first place. But I will look at the Srixon Zx5 irons first. Not happy how Mizuno handled it.

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#9

This is from Chris @Mizuno:
"Larry,

Thank you for contacting Mizuno USA. Yes, we can adjust our +/- 2 degrees from standard. In cases with the forged clubs we can usually bend to as much as 3 degrees. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

Best Regards,

Chris

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#10

I ended up with a new 921HM 8-iron since I could not locate a 900. Just swapped out the shaft.

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