You know when Luke Donald puts your wedges straight into his bag you've done something right.
When he added the new Mizuno S5 wedges to his bag at the BMW PGA at Wentworth earlier this year it was the confirmation for Mizuno engineers that they'd got the new wedge right.
The S5 wedge follows the popular MP-T5 and this time Mizuno has added a striking Blue IP finish to the popular White Satin option to really make the wedges stand out.
The Blue IP finish has been designed to wear naturally over time without reducing the durability of the plating on the face itself, so performance stays razor sharp as the appearance ages gracefully.
Of course, looks without performance doesn't cut it and the S5 has been designed to provide performance benefits to Tour Pro's and mid-handicappers alike.
To achieve this the head of the S5 has a mid-size profile to ensure players have more clubface available for fuller shots. This fuller size is complemented by the sharply visible and versatile sole grinds that Luke Donald advocates and helped design for the T-5 wedges.
These grinds allow golfers to express their creativity around the greens and play a full array of shots from all types of lie. This is complemented by a slightly rounded leading edge that means the S5 can be opened up or closed without impaction alignment.
Another carry over from the MP-T5 wedges are Mizuno's Quad Cut Grooves that are CNC-milled after forging right to the limits specified by the games ruling bodies. Wedges with lofts from 54 to 60 degrees have wider shallower grooves whilst lofts from 50 to 52 degrees have deeper and narrow grooves to provide the optimum level of spin on all shots.
As you'd expect from a Mizuno iron the heads of the S5 wedges have been Grain Flow Forged from a single piece of 1025E Pure Select Mild Carbon steel to provide the feel and consistency of distance essential for short game performance.