Miura Golf's forged 1957 Series K Grind wedge: Effortless sand play

Miura Golf's 1957 Series K Grind wedge's "knuckles" allow the club to slice effortless through sand and rough. (Courtesy of Miura Golf )


Katsuhiro Miura, founder and creative genius behind Vancouver-based Miura Golf, is a certified samurai-sword maker who has for the past 44 years been building some of the most exquisitely crafted golf clubs in the world.

Miura-san's work is so widely revered in the business that he has been described as having god hands.

His latest offering is the "1957 Series" K Grind wedge, which features, aptly enough, "knuckles" – god knuckles, if you will.

The forged K Grind wedge (MSRP $250) is impeccably built, with every possible attention to detail. With 56 degrees of loft and 12 degrees of bounce, it is ideal for use out of the sand. The soft forged steel provides exceptional feedback and control from rough and fairway alike, as well.

The most striking feature, though, is the "fluted" bounce. Three slightly narrower than finger-width indentations adorn the back of the ridge providing the bounce angle. Between the indentations are bumps that look a bit like knuckles, which maintain the bounce angle.

According to the Miura Golf description, the motivation for this unique design is to allow the clubhead to travel through sand or rough with less resistance. In some sense, the design concept is related to the "rake iron" of a century ago, the entire clubhead of which was slotted to allow sand to slide through but still make contact with the ball.
The verdict on Miura Golf's K Grind wedge

After playing Miura Golf's K Grind wedge for several rounds, and practicing with it out of sand of varying consistency, it is clear that Miura-san has produced yet another heavenly club. At address, the K Grind feels a bit heavier than most sand wedges, but it swings incredibly easily, and, most importantly, moves through the sand like a hot knife through butter.

Throughout extensive testing of the K Grind, I never once caught a ball "heavy" and left it in the trap. Even in wet, sticky sand, the K Grind sliced through the resistance and lifted the ball out gently. The first few shots with the club felt so smooth, in fact, that I was worried for a split second that I'd missed altogether or send the ball sailing over the green. But my momentary panic was relieved by the sight of the ball plopping softly onto the green and trundling toward the hole.

The only knock on this beautiful wedge is the MSRP. As is the case with all of Miura-san's god-handiwork, though, the price reflects some of the most painstaking craftsmanship in the game of golf. And really, it's hard to put a fair price on divine inspiration.