- Updated: January 11, 2024
Mizuno ST-Z 230 Fairway Wood Review
The Straightest Fairway Wood of 2023
Ryan Heiman
Founder and head author at Independent Golf Reviews
I used the Mizuno ST-Z 230 Fairway Wood for 5 rounds of golf. It is new to the Mizuno wood line up for 2023. It is the straightest 3-wood I’ve hit in 2023. It offers great launch, nice spin numbers and straight flight. Testing was on-course, at the range, and indoors in the iGR Office by Carls Place DIY Sim which collected data on my FlightScope Xi Tour Launch Monitor.
Here is my overall experience and thoughts on the Mizuno ST-Z 230 Fairway Wood.
This ST-Z 230 3 wood was featured in the top 3 best 3 woods of 2024.
Mizuno is so famous for their irons that their woods have gotten overlooked. While this might seem like a broken record over the years here at iGolfReviews but data says it remains to be the case. Tour players often have a different brand driver when they play Mizuno irons. Golf stores sell all kinds of Mizuno irons, but not nearly as many woods. This is unfortunate because Mizuno makes excellent woods. The Mizuno ST-Z 230 Fairway Wood is the straightest 3-wood for 2023 and should be at the top of the demo list for golfers looking to upgrade.
The Mizuno ST-Z 230 Fairway Wood gets its biggest technology boost from the CORETECH Chamber. It is a slot system behind the face to create faster ball speed while retaining low spin and forgiveness. The TPU, Carbon and Stainless Steel slot/insert creates flex, feel and forgiveness all in one swoop. More trampoline effect, means more pop. More muted sounds and vibration reduction means better feel and more speed for off-center hits means more forgiveness. Add a little weight and now it reduces spin. One little blue slot does so much to make this 3-wood hit straight and low spin shots.
The Mizuno ST-Z 230 Fairway Wood continues the Mizuno tradition of using an ample amount of carbon paired with steel. Everyone talks about how good Mizuno irons feel, but their 3-wood feels just as good. That muted crack at impact is so solid and powerful feeling. The combination of weighting, high energy MAS1C steel and carbon all create this pure feeling at impact. #NothingFeelsLikeAMizuno.
The Mizuno ST-Z 230 Fairway Wood has a high energy variable thickness face to keep ball speeds high on miss hits. They use a different steel than other brands: MAS1C steel face. This is a more complex blend which allows them to manipulate the thickness for even greater forgiveness and pop. When this face is paired with the CORETECH Chamber it creates fast ball speeds with lots of forgiveness.
The Mizuno ST-Z 230 Fairway Wood has a weight set low and back on the sole of the 3-wood which creates power along the Z-axis. This is key to straight shots. The weight along this line creates force in the direction the ball is going. While it won’t necessarily fix a slice or a hook, it works its magic to simply hit the ball straight. I’m amazed at how the line I aimed on and started the ball on was the same line that the ball ended on. I played some 72+ holes with this fairway wood and it didn’t matter if it was off the tee or fairway, this club hits the ball straight. If you can put a halfway decent swing on it, you will see straight shots that have low spin and mid high launch. It really is pretty to watch.
The Mizuno ST-Z 230 Fairway Wood comes with a number of no upcharge “stock” shaft options, one being the Mitsubishi Chemical Kai’Li Blue 70 Stiff Shaft. This is a mid/low launch shaft with good spin control and amazing feel. It compliments all the features of the head with exceptional feel. This means smooth swings, mid launch and low spin for long shots with good carry and very straight.
Mizuno ST-Z 230 15* Fairway Wood Stats
Data from Flightscope Xi Tour Launch Monitor
➜ Spin: 3117 rpms
➜ Launch Angle: 15.8*
➜ Dispersion: 5.1 yds
➜ Club Head Speed: 100.1 mph
➜ Ball Speed: 147.9 mph
➜ Total Distance: 248.2 yds
➜ Carry Distance: 236.7 yds
Summary
Mizuno upped their game for 2023 by adding a straight hitting fairway wood. The Mizuno ST-Z 230 Fairway Wood is straight, low spinning and mid launching for straight and long shots thanks to the CORETECH Chamber. Compared to the other 3-woods in 2023, this one is the straightest. Don’t sleep on Mizuno because #NothingFeelsLikeAMizuno applies to their fairway woods and has performance to match. If you could use a little more “straight” off the tee or fairway, this is as good as it gets. If you need some draw bias to cure a slice the ST-X 220 is your choice. But for straight, long, low spin shots, the Mizuno ST-Z 230 is the straightest 3-wood of 2023.
For more information: Mizuno Website
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About The Author
Ryan Heiman – Founder and Head Author of Independent Golf Reviews
Ryan has over 10 years of experience testing and writing golf reviews of nearly every brand out there.
HCP: 3
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