VANCOUVER, British Columbia-Japanese golf-club manufacturer Miura Golf-which has been making the world’s highest-quality forged irons for 44 years-is officially introducing its CB-501 forged cavity-back irons, the company announced today. The official introduction of the CB-501 irons is exciting news for golfers, as Miura Golf-which has never had a fixed time frame for new-product introductions-only debuts new models when the quality of new technological advances demands it.
The CB-501-which boasts a W nickel (satin) chrome finish-is available in a 3-iron through pitching wedge set, right-hand only. The CB-501 can be tested by visiting www.miuragolf.com to locate the closest Miura dealer. Miura Golf Distributors outside of North America include Golfballistix (Belfast), Golf Partners (Hong Kong) and Torque Golf (Singapore). Like all Miura irons, the mild-steel CB-501s are hand precision-forged and custom crafted by Katsuhiro Miura, Miura Golf Inc.’s 67-year-old founder, whose forged clubmaking skills over the past 49 years have prompted the Japanese to claim he has “the Hands of God.” Mr. Miura is director of manufacturing and product development at his Japanese company, Miura Giken Co. Ltd., which operates manufacturing facilities in Himeji, Japan.
- “We obviously are very excited about the CB-501 irons,” says Bill Holowaty, VP of Operations for Miura Golf in North America. “During development, Mr. Miura’s goal was to combine the best features from his favorite Miura irons, both past and present. Well, needless to say, Mr. Miura has done it again.” Mr. Miura’s goal was to create an iron that featured the ideal ball flight, enough offset to promote playability, the perfect head size and a sole grind that would accommodate a broad range of players.
He started with a full cavity back that possessed a bit more offset than the company’s CB-202, which has almost no offset. Mr. Miura worked on the sole grind until he had something that would not only appeal to a Tour player, but also was forgiving enough for a mid-handicap golfer. At that stage, the ball flight was still not what Mr. Miura envisioned, so he borrowed a design feature from the company’s past-the sweet-spot muscle-back, which was used in a very different Miura iron, the CB-1003, back in 1996. In all, Mr. Miura spent two years integrating these design variables in different ways until he found the blend that worked best for the widest range of golfers.
The result is the CB-501-a cavity-back iron featuring a small muscle-back located behind the sweet spot that delivers the trajectory of a blade iron when the ball is struck on the center of the face. This style of iron also offers cavity-back forgiveness and ball flight, as the contact point moves away from the center of the face. “Golfers who are connoisseurs of forged irons should make it a point to hit the CB-501 irons,” Holowaty says. “We are confident the CB-501s will quickly become your new best friend if you do.”