About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the driver, which I purchased with my own money in June of 2022.

My take

The 2022 Mizuno ST-Z 220 hits bombs. Not huge, explosive, distance bombs, but surgical-strike precision bombs. I didn’t think twice about the 5-10 yards I gave up compared to the big-name distance clubs; when I’m sitting pretty in the fairway, my playing partners are searching or dropping. This driver is for golfers looking for a forgiving driver that’s predictable, and willing to sacrifice a few yards for control.

About the club I own

• Model: 2022 Mizuno ST-Z 220
• Loft setting: 9.5°
• Shaft type: Diamana D+ White 60
• Shaft flex: Stiff

About me

• Average score: 74
• Handicap: 0
• Experience: ~30 years of golf
• Right/Left-Handed: Right Handed
• Typical ball flight: Straight to a slight draw is my stock shot, but I can work it both ways if needed
• Golf ball used: Bridgestone Tour B XS
• Club swing speed: 112 mph

Test conditions

• When I bought the club: June 2022
• Days tested: Six rounds of golf and three range sessions
• Where I’ve used it: I’ve hit this on the range, golf course (Hamilton Mill Country Club, Reunion Golf Club, Chateau Elan Golf Club), and TrackMan 4 simulator
• Weather and wind conditions: All kinds! I live in the South, so our summers consist of a bit of rain, high winds, very high humidity, and then sunshine (probably all in one round of golf!)

How it performs

What I was looking for

I’ve been playing the Titleist 913 D2 since it came out. In my opinion, it checked every box relating to distance and forgiveness. I knew exactly what the driver was going to provide. Then, life happened and I’m no longer in a position where I can practice every day. The search was on for something that would be easier to hit while maintaining some of the traditional look and feel while allowing me a bit of workability.

Why I chose this club

I’ll be honest, I’m a Mizuno fanboy. I run and train in Mizuno running shoes, I’ve had 6 different iterations of Mizuno irons, and I’ve played a forged titanium OEM driver back in 2005 that sounded more like a Louiville Slugger than a titanium driver. All that to say, if there was something in the Mizuno camp, I was going to be an easy sell.

Before my purchase decision, I tested the Taylormade Stealth, Callaway Epic Flash, Titleist TSi3, and Ping G425 LST. They all had great distance, but for me, each occasionally had shots that fell out of the sky due to low spin or hooked off the plant strikes. When I hit the ST-Z 220 for the first time, I wasn’t amazed. It had a good sound and feel, typical of Mizuno equipment but it was only after hitting 15 within a 10-yard circle on a Trackman simulator that I thought “whoa…this is interesting.”

What I love about it

• Forgiveness: This is where the ST-Z 220 shined for me. The factors that kept the driver from producing epic-level ball speeds provided me with the stability and consistency to keep me on the fairway. I’ve hit it off the toe, heel, high, and low and the driver just sends it in the direction I was pointing. My miss is low and to the toe, and the ST-Z 220 somehow offsets the miss.
• Feel: This driver feels soft. Not like a marshmallow, but like Mizuno. That’s really the only way I can describe it. At impact, the face isn’t a dead feeling, but lively, soft, and spring-like. Anyone that’s hit a Mizuno blade in its elusive sweet spot knows the feeling.
• Sound: Similar to the feel component, the ST-Z 220 is neither loud nor is it quiet. It’s a great combination of the forged titanium’s thud and the carbon body’s “pfup” sound.
• Adjustability: There’s an element of simplicity that comes with the ST-Z 220 in that there are no moveable weights or anything. I can adjust the loft using the wrench provided, but changing the loft will change the face angle (e.g. lowering loft will open the face, increasing loft will close the face). I have mine set at neutral (9.5 degrees) and it’s more than sufficient to get the job done for me.
• Shaft Feel: I upgraded my shaft to my tried and trusted Diamana D+ White. I went from the 70S to a 60S in this iteration simply due to not wanting to swing out of my shoes near the end of the round in order to control it. The Diamana D+ is stable and produces the piercing ball flight I always enjoy looking at.
• Shaft Performance: I use a ball that’s known to spin more than others, and I’m typically a higher-spin golfer. The combination of the ST-Z 220 head and the Diamana D+ shaft produced spin numbers in the 2000–2400 rpm range, which is absolutely the sweet spot for my speed and launch characteristics. Once again, the Diamana D+ doesn’t disappoint.
• Aesthetic Appeal: No red face here, and no bright colors either. The ST-Z has an understated look to a point where one might call it a sleeper. The gradient of the black, partial-carbon head to the dark gray of the Diamana D+ produces what I would call a stealth homing missile.
• Grip Feel: I went with the upgraded grip change. Originally Mizuno offered the Lamkin two-toned grip, but I decided upon the Golf Pride MCC Plus4 in gray. It’s a solid grip and gives a sense of confidence in the humid, wet weather of the Southern summer.
• Launch Angle: My target window is anywhere from 12-14 degrees, assuming a sub 2500 rpm spin. In my four trackman sessions with the ST-Z in my configuration (not a demo tester), I was launching consistently at around 13.5 degrees.
• Spin: For such a forgiving driver, I thought spin would be an issue; surprisingly, I was producing numbers in the 2000–2400 rpm range consistently. None of the drives I tried on the simulator gave me any angst about ballooning flare-ups that didn’t travel anywhere or were eaten up by the wind.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Distance: This is where I think the ST-Z 220 might fall short compared to others in the driver market. The stability frame built into the body of the driver, as well as the 20 gram weight in the rear of the driver, doesn’t do it any favors in the ball speed department. Granted, when I step on the driver and swing at it hard, it responds and gives me the extra yardage, but I don’t think distance was the main objective of this driver.
• Workability: I don’t look to work the ball that much anymore; just advancing the ball off the tee is good for me. With that said, the few times I tried to intentionally hit a soft cut or draw, the ball went straight. When I tried to hit a big bender around a dogleg, I got a soft cut and draw. The ST-Z 220 is workable, I just haven’t figured out the sauce to make it work how I want it to yet. To be honest, though, I just want to work my way down the fairway…and this driver does that without any problems.
• Other: This driver falls short in the “sexy” category. In groups I play with, everyone gawks over the new Stealth or PXG or other higher marketed drivers. Nobody has asked “hey…what is that machine of a driver?”

Best shot with this club

My home course, Hamilton Mill Country Club, has an uphill hole with an oak tree planted on the left 3rd of the fairway. If I hit my drive behind this tree, I’m playing for bogey at best. Right off the fairway is the road. Usually, this is a hybrid off the tee to the right portion of the fairway and hit a longer approach (about 160 yards, playing 180 yards). I was feeling frisky on one of my rounds, and decided to use my driver. I aimed at the sliver of fairway between the oak and the road and hit it hard. The ball took off on a tightrope, landing on the fairway and rolling out to an 80-yard wedge into the green. Birdie and skin in the bag, thank you very much!

Value for the money vs. other options

Drivers have gotten very expensive in my opinion. Not in any order, the Stealth is selling for $580, the Epic Max Star at $700, the Cobra LTDX Max at $600, the Rogue ST Max at $550, and on and on. These clubs are worth all the technology built into them, but for hundreds of dollars less than some drivers these days, I think the ST-Z 220 is an absolute steal.

Final verdict

In my testing, there are other drivers that might be a bit more forgiving or a bit longer, but my ST-Z 220 hits the proverbial sweet spot combining both distance and forgiveness. To boot, the price point of the driver is unmatched. I can confidently say that there isn’t a driver in this price point that will outperform the ST-Z 220.