Mizuno Golf’s new identity? It’s more than just irons company

Mizuno Golf’s tagline is “Nothing Feels Like a Mizuno.” If you ask most golfers, that tag line is associated with their irons. They’ve nearly perfected the single-piece forged iron, labeled the S-1 in its latest iteration, and the rest of their lineup focuses on maintaining that classic Mizuno feel while progressively adding more help for the golfer. While they still maintain heavy focus on continuing their pursuit of the perfect forged iron, Mizuno also has golfers covered across the entire bag, including the golf ball. In 2026, Mizuno isn’t just an irons company anymore. I recently got to take a trip to their new R&D and fitting center, ‘The Foundry,’ just outside of Atlanta to run through options across the bag, and I’m going to document the testing over a few articles, starting off today with their new JPX One metal woods. 

The JPX One metal woods were released early this year, and they caught me by surprise. Again, Mizuno isn’t exactly known for their metal woods. They’ve always been good — usually with a very fast option and a very forgiving option — and they don’t rush them out. They are usually on a two-year cycle, if not longer. For 2026 however, Mizuno made a big splash. Their two new drivers — the lower spinning JPX One Select and the more forgiving JPX One — feature their Nanoalloy face technology, which promises faster, more efficient ball speeds.

Nanoalloy face technology allows the face to absorb some of the compression of the golf ball, and even some of the compression of the titanium face behind the Nanoalloy material. It’s the biggest leap forward that Mizuno has ever made in their metal woods development, and they are the first company in golf to use the material. Because of the structure of the material, they’re able to simultaneously create the thinnest titanium face that they’ve ever constructed, resulting in more ball speed. 

Right away in my early testing, I had one big question: How is this thing going to sound and feel off the face? The answer? It’s LOUD. It’s VERY loud, but somehow they manage to maintain the feeling of compression at the same time. It also has a very nice pitch to it. Usually loud drivers also have a very high pitch, which is incredibly unpleasant. The JPX One and JPX One select, however, sound like you’re hitting one of Mizuno’s composite baseball or softball bats. It’s a very satisfying crack at impact that makes you feel like you’re Rory McIlroy on the 18th tee at Augusta. 

In the video, Chris Voshall, Mizuno’s director of golf, explains that the Nanoalloy material works in a really cool way. When you run your finger over the face, it feels incredibly rigid, and as the material sits static, it is. But when you make impact with the golf ball, the material becomes almost absorbent. Rather than your typical trampoline effect compressing the golf ball and acting as a rebound spring, the face starts to compress with the golf ball as well, effectively increasing the actual compression of the golf ball and allowing more energy to be stored on the face as the rebound happens and flight begins. Because the Nanoalloy material is compressing with the golf ball, they are able to achieve speeds off the face that still conform to CT and smash factor measurements, while providing the player more ball speed than ever before. It’s a really unique way of engineering a product around the conforming standards of golf, while sitting on the cutting edge. 

I had tested only stock product of the drivers previous to my visit to the Foundry but got a chance to get fit with Foundry fitter Taylor Fulbright (who happens to be an Instagram friend I got to meet for the first time) and had a blast. I’ve well-documented my driver woes this year, and going into the fitting I was very nervous about finding a driver that would work, but it took Taylor all of 15 minutes to get it dialed in. I ended up in a JPX One 10.5 head lofted down on the sleeve with a Fujikura Ventus TR Blue Velocore (the older model). What hit me the hardest was the forgiveness of the JPX One, which was something I noted in my early testing as well. We didn’t test the JPX One Select during my fitting because we didn’t really need to. My tee performance is starving for spin, so going lower in spin profile wouldn’t have helped me. Walking in there genuinely concerned for my driver performance was not a fun mindset to be in, but as you can see in the video, I walked out with a big smile on my face. 

Mizuno JPX ONE Custom Driver

The JPX ONE Driver, the world’s first to feature NANOALLOY™ face technology. Developed in collaboration with materials specialists Toray, NANOALLOY™ utilizes microscopic polymer dispersion to produce a face that dynamically alters its elasticity under impact. The result is a material that stores and releases more energy at impact than traditional titanium or composite constructions, delivering unprecedented ball speeds across a wider area of the face.
This breakthrough pairs with a newly engineered CORTECH Face, up to 0.35mm thinner than previous generations, expanding the CORAREA (high-speed rebound zone) by over 15%. In robotic testing, JPX ONE outperformed leading competitors for both ball speed and carry, producing faster, longer, and more consistent results from every impact location.
Two models, JPX ONE and JPX ONE SELECT, offer distinct performance profiles. JPX ONE features a slightly larger footprint for higher stability and straighter ball flight, while JPX ONE SELECT delivers a more compact, tour-preferred shape with a neutral-to-fade bias.

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Standing on the tee box with Voshall really highlighted the driver for me. On the right side of the fairway was a bunker that you really wanted to carry but needed about 275 yards to comfortably clear. There also wasn’t a ton of room over the bunker, so making sure that I drew it over that bunker was also on my mind. On the left side was plenty of miss room, but you were giving up yardage into the hole unless you hit a big screaming cut, which ended up just being a dead-straight ball for me as a natural drawer of the ball. A couple carries over the bunker and one not-a-cut later, I found myself incredibly comfortable with this JPX One fitted build in my hands. Props to Taylor for such a quick fit! 

Taylor did also quickly fit me for a 5-wood, and I ended up playing around with Voshall’s personal build as well with a slightly shorter Fujikura Ventus Blue Velo+ shaft in it. The big story with their hybrids and fairways the past couple years has been the use of their Coretech chamber. This helps to stabilize ball speed, particularly low on the face, and the latest iteration has been improved even further, with more consistency in spin across the face as well. The biggest thing I’ve always liked about the Mizuno fairways and hybrids is the look. It’s a great player’s shape that sits on the more compact side of the market, and they sit very square to the ball, which helps to eliminate any flight bias. They become very workable clubs while still being plenty easy to hit. 

Mizuno JPX ONE Custom Fairway Wood

The JPX ONE Fairways introduce a re-engineered CORTECH Chamber that strategically varies the internal gap between the sole and chamber wall. This geometry increases face flexion towards the toe and heel, amplifying energy transfer across the hitting surface without compromising central performance. 
Available in lofts from 15° to 24°, the JPX ONE Fairways deliver the ultimate blend of ballspeed, forgiveness, and playable trajectory for golfers seeking effortless distance with the signature Mizuno feel.

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The past 18 months or so has been pretty big for Mizuno, re-launching their irons family with the new signature series and modern series irons, which led to the launch of the new JPX One family at the start of this year alongside an updated FliHi model as well. I think Mizuno is at the top of their game right now, and they aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. I have no confirmation, but based on previous release cycles I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some new irons this fall, and potentially an addition to the driver lineup coming soon as well. The Foundry is also a publicly accessible facility so if you’re in the area, or want to take a very fun trip, you can reach out to the Mizuno Golf team and book your own fitting with Taylor or the other fitters. 

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