In our forums, our members have been reacting to a post from WRXer ‘mvhoffman’ who believes they may have found their unicorn (rare and perfect) driver. ‘Mvhoffman’ has begun playing Mizuno’s St-X 230 driver, and has detailed his experience with the club in our forums, writing:

“So after going back and forth for the past few years and regretting selling my SIM 2 MaxD, I fell back into the side of Mizuno drivers.  I started the season with the ST-Z 220.  Loved the look and the price and it played great for the most part.  The shaft (Motore 7S) was a bit too much for me with the combination of a slightly open clubface.  I lost shots right but had some nice distance.  After deciding that I wanted to try something a bit better suited to me I decided to change the shaft.  In came the Ventus Blue 5S and it was a game changer.  More control, easier to swing, and my right miss didn’t seem so far right.  Played that for a bit until I decided that I was sick of losing to the right.  Went on the search and for $100 I was able to get the ST-X 230 driver head.  

I did this not expecting anything amazingly different only being 1 model newer but just hoped to control my miss a bit more with the more forgiving head.  Boy, was I WRONG.  Played the morning that it came with the Z head and hit the ball terrific.  Middled almost every driver and had a great round.  The new head came that afternoon, took the old off the Ventus, tossed on the new one and waited until the morning.  Went to the course to get in 9 holes before work and from the first tee shot I knew.  The first tee shot was a decent swing that was almost a complete miss and ended up hitting the ball on the toe side.  It launched lower and went out like a normal missed drive.  Started walking down the fairway to the 150 marker where a miss would have went with the z head and the ball was not there.  It was NOT a good shot, it was NOT an okay shot.  It actually felt BAD.  I stood there and out loud said to the walker with me “well so much for the first drive with the new head.”  He laughed a little snarky as I was looking for my ball and said “I wish my bad shots ended up there.”  I turned to him and he pointed up the fairway about 30 yards forward to where we were and my bright green Wilson was in the middle.  Again, NOT good at all and it finished 10ish yards ahead of where good shots with the Z head would have finished.  This continued… consistently better distance and less miss.

Fast forward to today (approx 2-3 weeks later) after a few rounds with the X head.  After not playing for a week I decided to walk a handful of holes today.  Same thing still.  A couple not so good swings (rusty from vacation) and results as if I pured the shots with the Z head.

I’m dumbfounded by the Mizuno ST-X 230.  I was told the MAX head is even better but I don’t even want to attempt to try it.  I have a couple tournament rounds coming up and I can’t wait. Did I find my unicorn… maybe?  I am definitely not in a hurry to try to find a different one.  And on another note… If I ever write about trying something else besides the Ventus Blue, I deserve to be kicked off the forum.”

And our members have been sharing their thoughts in our forum.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

• launcher: “The ST-X 230 has been my gamer since it hit the market. Just an awesome driver, and doubt that anything can outdo the sound/feel off this driver face. I don’t find the X to be particularly draw biased at all. I recently put a Qi10 in my back-up bag, and while it’s also a really phenomenal driver as well, it won’t bump my gamer.”
• mikes919: “I really liked mine last year, the sound is absolutely awesome and it got a lot of “what was that?” comments. Really solid thump. Decently forgiving and straight. I just hit mine too high. Would have been perfectly fine switching into a lower-lofted ST-X, but I ended up in a Ping fitting and gained a handful of yards with the G430 Max. The Mizuno sounds/feels better though.”
• gator022: “I don’t have the X, but prior I had the 220-Z, and now I have the ST Max 230.  Underrated drivers.  I recently ordered a Callaway Elyte driver due to the 2x trade in deal they had going and dumped some older or extra stuff.  I can’t get the numbers on the Elyte and the face does not feel nearly as forgiving.  Feels much harsher.  I’m confident I could probably setup a fitting and get it tweaked to fit me better, but I’m not certain it’ll ever meet the ST Max 230. The prices on these Mizuno drivers are absolute steals.  They don’t have great resale or trade in, so be warned if you try one you won’t get much for it on the backend.  However, the performance is great and seems it can match all the major brands or even exceed them.”

Entire Thread: “I think I found my unicorn driver – GolfWRXers discuss”