Mizuno Pro 221 Irons Review – Are They Blades, Forgiving, What Handicap
Any golfer would know that Mizuno arguably make the best irons on the market, their feel, look, sounds and performance outweigh any other manufacturer in the market.
The Pro 221 irons are no different, sticking to the Mizuno traditions, being made in Hiroshima – Japan, this is where Mizuno irons have been produced since 1968. This long tradition gives all loyal Mizuno customers the satisfaction guarantee that every set of irons will be produced with the utmost precision.
We are going to be diving into some details about these irons, to give you a better understanding and help you make your next purchase.
What Handicap Are the Mizuno Pro 221 Irons For?
These irons are definitely for your better player. The small profile of the iron will not suit mid to high handicap players.
In all honesty even the 6 to 3 iron won’t suit most low handicap players. We would probably see more combo sets with this iron range.
Having the longer irons with a little more forgiveness will go a long way, the Pro 223 irons are perfect for something like this.
Most professionals are going away from blades these days, as the semi blade irons provide the workability and control you would get from a blade, but it has more forgiveness.
Are the Mizuno 221 Irons Blades?
The Mizuno Pro 221 irons are full blades. The small profile, minimal offset and forged feel, give this iron the ultimate blade status.
You will get maximum control and workability with these irons, however the small sweet spot will make them not forgiving at all.
Having said that, over the years Mizuno have been able to make the Pro 221 more forgiving than their predecessors by altering the head shape and moving weight around.
Are the Mizuno Pro 221’s Forged
These are fully forged irons. They use a Grain Flow Forged technique, made in their factory in Hiroshima, Japan.
Mizuno have also added a soft copper underlay for a uniquely satisfying sound and feel at impact.
The unique forging process that Mizuno uses, gives their irons the soft feel that almost every golfer knows and loves.
Mizuno Pro 221 Irons – First Impressions
Let’s talk a little bit about the technology first.
This is a single piece Grain Flow Forged, made from 1025E Pure Select mild carbon steel. This is top of the range stuff, it is made in Mizuno’s factory Hiroshima, Japan.
A new piece of technology from Mizuno is the microlayer of copper beneath Nickel Chrome. This will give the irons an incredibly soft feel of the face, enhancing the Mizuno’s reputation for great feeling irons even further.
A blade is going to be the least forgiving iron on the market, but Mizuno have relocated the weight away from the heel area, this makes the club more forgiving.
Mizuno have made the top line smaller and shortened the blade length, this makes the club more compact for improved control and workability.
As blades are specifically made for the better player, Mizuno have taken feedback from the worlds best and dramatically reduced the size of the 8-PW, they have also included a heavily taped upper blade to control trajectory.
After reading up about all this technology, you can be sure we were very excited to try this out. The Pro 221 definitely lives up to the Mizuno name, the small compact head looked mean behind the ball. The feel off the face was incredible, unbelievably soft.
Unfortunately we are not good enough golfers to play these irons, which made the longer irons very hard to hit, when struck well the ball flew great, but we were heavily punished on miss hits. Although not as bad as we thought we would be, you could see the small changes to technology has really helped here.
Like we mentioned before, for a low handicap, going with a combo set in these will be amazing. The longer irons become very intimidating with the small head size.
Overall we loved them and wished we were good enough to play them.
Mizuno Pro 221 Irons Selling Points
- Single piece forged for ultimate performance and feel
- Microlayer of copper enhances feel
- Thinner top line and blade length, makes it even more compact
- 8-PW are more compact giving you more workability
- Lives up to the Mizuno name
Who Are the Mizuno 221 Irons For?
Only the best players should consider these irons, at the end of the day they are still complete blades. Mizuno have made these slightly more forgiving than your traditional blade, but don’t be fooled, if you compare them to mid handicap irons, you will lose distance and forgiveness will be dramatically worse.
Even Though the best players in the world won’t play a full set of blades these days. We highly recommended going for a combo set.
The Mizuno Pro Family of Irons
Mizuno has two other models in the Pro range, the 223 and 225. Both are more forgiving than the Pro 221, but have the same concept in mind.
The Mizuno Pro 223 has ball speed-enhancing technology built inside the construction of the head of a compact player’s cavity. They have included a brand new technology concept from 4-7 iron, it combines Mizuno’s tested Chromoly Forging and Flow Micro-Slot Grain Flow Forged with a soft copper underlay, this cavity back iron has a great feel and sound, plus it is surprisingly forgiving.
The Mizuno Pro 225 is modeled off the famous Hot Metal Blade. It is the easiest to hit and most forgiving iron in the Mizuno Pro series. It is more compact than the original and has a new CORTECH multi-thickness face for faster ball speeds. It has the Grain Flow Forged and soft copper underlay like the other two models in the series. This gives the iron an incredible feel off the face.
Distance: 90/100
Accuracy: 98/100
Forgiveness: 85/100
Feel & Control: 99/100
Overall Score: 93/100
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