Mizuno ST-G 220 Driver and T22 Wedges: A Sneak Peek

Mizuno ST-T 220 Driver/T22 Wedges – Key Takeaways

• ST-G 220 will replace the ST200G moveable weight technology driver
• T22 wedges feature three finishes: Satin Chrome, Raw and (it appears) Copper
• Both clubs were teased at The Open, not expected to hit retail until October at the earliest

If this past weekend’s sneak peeks at the new Mizuno ST-G 220 driver and T22 wedges are any indication, Mizuno appears to be adopting a stealth launch strategy.

Stealth as in if you blinked, you missed it.

You want a deep dive into face technology, shaft options and pricing? We ain’t got it. You want bounce details, grind options and available lofts? We ain’t got that, either.

What we do have are some PR pictures and a couple of YouTube videos from Mizuno’s European Tour Workshop.

We’ll cull what we can for you. But what follows, dear reader, is pretty much all we can tell you.

Mizuno ST-G 220 Driver

Mizuno released its ST-X and ST-Z drivers last February. The ST-X is a somewhat forgiving, draw-biased driver, while the ST-Z is a lower spinning, higher MOI driver. Ever since Mizuno launched the ST series, the G has been the low spinning/moveable weight option. This new version appears to be just that, and then some.

The ST200G came out in 2020 and featured dual sliding weights on the toe and heel. The weights did what you’d expect. Slide them both forward for low spin/low launch. Put in both in the back and you get not quite as low spin, slightly higher launch and, in theory, more forgiveness.

The new ST-G 220 still has dual sliding weights, but the channels appear to be shorted up substantially. However, there’s a new third channel at the very back end. It’s not a big slot, but you can take both weights out of the heel and toe channels and place them in the very back. Again, in theory, that should maximize MOI. At the very least it gives Mizuno fitters more options.

Off-Cycle Update

Mizuno has been on a one-year product cycle with its drivers ever since 2019 and the ST series introduction. The ST-G 220, however, is an outlier. Mizuno says we won’t see it at retail until October, some 20 months after the release of the ST200G. There could be some high-level strategic thinking behind it, or it could be there was still plenty of ST200G stock left in the pipeline. And in today’s climate, it’s just as likely the late launch is COVID-related.

I’m sure many of you want to know what the Mizuno ST-G 220 looks like at address. At best, we can show you some of the imagery Mizuno has shared with us. It’s not perfect, but it might give you some idea.

Obviously, the big story is what’s on the sole. But since the Mizuno ST-G 220 is part of the same family of drivers, it’s somewhat safe to assume it shares much of the same technology. We can see Mizuno’s WAVE Technology on the sole, and we can only presume the ST-G 220 also utilizes Mizuno’s CORTECH SAT 2041 Beta Titanium face, internal CT rib structures and a carbon fiber crown.

Mizuno T22 Wedges

It’s been all quiet on the wedge front for Mizuno since last August when it introduced the unique ES21. For a more traditional wedge release, you’ll have to go back to September of 2019 and the release of the T20 wedges. The T22 is, obviously, an update to the three-year-old T20.

The list of things we don’t know about the Mizuno T22 wedges is endless. Lofts? Grinds? Fuggedaboudit. What we do know is there appears to be three finish options. There’s the compulsory Satin Chrome and the now mandatory Raw. And from what we can glean from pictures and video, there’s also a new grainy-ish Copper option. Both the Raw and Copper finishes should evolve into varying degrees of badassery looks over time.

We can also expect all three wedges to feature Mizuno’s signature Hydroflow Micro Grooves. Mizuno introduced the Hydroflow Micro Grooves in the T20 as an aggressive face milling pattern to help shed as much moisture as possible. The T20 was a top performer in our 2019 Most Wanted Wedge shootout, largely due to spin retention in wet testing.

If you have something the works, stick with it.

Again, to say information on the new Mizuno offerings is scant would be disrespectful to the whole notion of scant. Club tease might be a better term. We won’t see either the Mizuno ST-G 220 driver or T22 wedge at retail until October, but we are hoping we’ll be able to bring you more details in the coming months.

Until then, all you can do is look at the pictures.