Miura HB3 & HB4 Hybrids

Katsuhiro Miura is a legend in the golf community. Golf equipment junkies and forged blade purists all over the world know him well, and his reputation for building some of the finest looking and performing clubs in the world is well deserved. As the Miura brand grows, they expanded from irons into wedges, woods and even hybrids. Having played with Miura’s unbelievable forged blades in the past, I was eager to try the HB3 and HB4 hybrids to see if they could live up to the lofty standards Miura has set for themselves.

Miura Golf is a boutique brand, so you won’t find their stuff in a big box store or pro shop. Instead, they’ve built a network of skilled club makers that will fit each golfer properly to take advantage of the clubs and play their best. After all, if you are willing to spend over $2000 on a set of irons, shouldn’t they be done right? In my case, the HB3 hybrid was built with an Aerotech hls880 hybrid shaft. In my opinion, Aerotech makes the best shafts in the world, so it is a perfect match for the Miura HB3 Hybrid.

The Miura HB3 hybrid has 20 degrees of loft, and the HB4 has 23. Meant to replace the three and four irons, these hybrids are designed to look and play much like the long irons they replace while adding height and forgiveness to your shots. Many hybrids are shaped like and play like woods, but Miura adopted a more iron-like profile and face design for greater accuracy and trajectory control.

For testing, I put the Miura HB3 in the hands of golfers who’s handicaps range from 0 to 18. The 18 handicap tester actually played with the hybrid for several months and it quickly became one of his favorite clubs. He loves the clean, classic good looks of the club. The black finish makes the HB3 look more compact and inspires confidence at address. The face is very hot. It feels like the ball really shoots off the face at impact, and the the dampened metal sound is perfectly tuned. The HB3 hybrid launches the ball with the high trajectory you would expect from a hybrid, but it doesn’t balloon in the air with too much spin. You get the high launch you want from a hybrid, and just enough spin to get longer carry and a softer landing than a long iron shot.

Some testers thought the Miura HB3 hybrid wasn’t as forgiving as some other hybrids. The lower handicap testers didn’t feel the same way, but they tend to hit the center of the club more frequently so that’s no surprise. Given that the HB3 is designed to look and play more like a long iron, it’s natural that it might not be quite as forgiving as other hybrids that are designed for forgiveness and distance.

Miura doesn’t have adjustable hosel technology yet, and while these features aren’t all that prevalent in hybrids yet, one tester thought it might be a nice addition. Since Miura is more of a boutique brand who’s clubs are built to order by professional clubfitters, I don’t think we’ll see a need for adjustable hosels with them.

Aesthetically speaking, the brass colored weight ports on the sole don’t appear to be anything more than cosmetic, but I could be wrong. While not adjustable by the player, it’s very likely the club maker can use the ports to adjust swing weight and CG (center of gravity) location for a player’s specific needs. I haven’t yet confirmed this detail with the manufacturer.

In the end, every single person that hit the Miura HB3 hybrid wanted to take it home with them. There are plenty of quality, high performance hybrid clubs on the market, but for those that want something a little different and the best quality available in custom built clubs, give the Miura HB3 and HB4 hybrids a try. Visit your local Miura authorized dealer for a fitting and more information.