Feel is driven by how well the mass and dimensional characteristics are designed, to some degree the materials, the ball, the sound and where the shot is hit in relation to the center of gravity. Mizuno’s feel good when they are hit properly, as do many irons that may have lower MPF’s. However, if they are mishit slightly, the chances are that the feel might be diminished slightly and the performance will definitely be less than an iron with higher MPF. Carbon steels, like 1020, 1025, 8620 are all very similar in their hardness properties and no player can tell the difference. We can even heat treat stainless steels like 17-4 or 431 to have similar properties as the carbon steel. We have done blind tests, as did Ralph many years ago, and players, even tour players, could not tell the difference in an investment cast iron head and a carbon steel iron head. That being said, with the 5 step forging process we have been doing for years and improvements in forging machinery and manufacturing techniques, forged irons can be produced to precise specifications. In the past, the advantage of investment casting was you can do more intricate designs and the tolerances were tighter. Also, they required less grinding and shaping after they came out of the molds. The advantage of investment casting is less now with the new forging techniques that some manufacturers, like Mizuno and The Golfworks use. However, investment casting is still less expensive from a tooling standpoint and still can produce great feeling and playable designs. Also, you can investment cast carbon steel and forge stainless steel. So, don’t get caught up in thinking the materials or the process of manufacturing (forging vs casting) is the be all end all determiner of good feel. There is a lot more to it than that.
Britt Lindsey