Mizuno has unveiled a new state-of-the-art Tour Performance Studio at Bearwood Lakes Golf Club in Berkshire to cater for the custom fitting needs of its professional golfers and elite amateurs.
Mizuno staff player Luke Donald, Oliver Fisher and Marcus Fraser were on hand to see the new facility, with Donald hitting the first shot in front of golf club members and invited guests at the official opening on May 21.
The former world No.1 was only able to hit a gentle wedge shot, as he is currently out of competitive action with a back injury, although Fraser subsequently boomed a driver to the very far end of the recently extended range.
The studio will enable Mizuno’s team of fitting experts to conduct full fitting sessions with its professionals and elite amateurs during the off-season, with Mizuno’s European Tour workshop also on site – when not out on tour – to allow new clubs to be built immediately.
Alex Thorne, Mizuno’s tour operations manager, is delighted with the new facility. He said: “We’ve experienced such a surge in usage from professionals in the last 18 months that a permanent fitting home had become an absolute priority. Our mobile workshop has a different role at tournaments – regripping, checking lofts and lies and so on – but a lot of the real work happens in the off-season when we can’t get the workshop to all of our players. It’s a much better time to work right through the bag from driver to lob wedge – and getting distance gaps nailed down can be a day’s work. To have this amazing facility available is an incredible opportunity for both the players and us.”
The studio was unveiled alongside Bearwood Lakes’ newly extended and upgraded driving range, which now features a 23-bay covered range, with Huxley synthetic grass; an extended range to allow full shots throughout the bag; a grass hitting area; and a new floodlit chipping and short game area, including a practice putting green.
The range is also home to one of 13 Mizuno Performance Centres that are open to the public right across the UK & Ireland, where golfers can be fitted for the company’s’s latest iron and wood ranges, including the three MP-18 Series irons unveiled last autumn, and the new ST180 and GT180 drivers and metalwoods. In addition to the Mizuno Swing DNA fitting equipment found in all the brand’s Performance Centres, the new Tour Performance Studio also boasts a Trackman fitting suite.
