The golf industry has lost a club-making legend.
Katsuhiro Miura, the Japanese founder of Miura Golf and fabled craftsman of hand-forged irons and wedges, died Wednesday. He was 82.
Miura began making clubs when he was 16 and, in 1977, founded an iron company that would garner a mythical status among gear heads: Miura Manufacturing Co.
Miura eventually brought into the business his sons, Shinei and Yoshitaka; more recently Miura’s grandson, Kokuse, joined the family trade. Shinei, Yoshitaka and Kokuse have preserved the attention to quality and detail that Katsuhiro imbued in his company.
“Katsuhiro Miura’s hands shaped some of the highest quality irons the world has known,” 8AM Golf chairman Howard Milstein, who partnered with Miura in 2017, said in a statement. “A humble yet driven artist devoted to his craft, he treated his work and all around him with honor, warmth and integrity. Those qualities show through in each hand-forged iron he created. He will be greatly missed, and we are humbled and honored to work closely with the Miura family in fostering his legacy.”
Since partnering with 8AM Golf, which also owns GOLF.com, Miura has released the popular TC-201 irons; Forged Series wedges; the modern IC-602 irons; and the recently announced TC-202 line.
“I bought my first set of Miura irons in high school, and I’m proud to say they remain the finest forged irons in the world,” said Hoyt McGarity, the 8AM Golf and Miura Golf CEO. “Katsuhiro Miura was an artist, a craftsman and a perfectionist. He will be missed and his leadership and vision will remain embedded in our company, in our culture, and in every club we make.”
The last iron Katsuhiro himself designed was the KM-700, released in 2022, which was dubbed his “crowning achievement.” The irons feature a red “Hanko” emblem on the back of the head, which was known as Katsihiro’s personal stamp of approval.
“The pathway to creating a legacy is loving what you do,” Miura Golf COO Bill Holowaty said. “Miura-san never sought the spotlight — his passion was the quiet, relentless pursuit of perfection. For over 30 years, he was a guiding presence in my life, both personally and professionally. What mattered most to him was not recognition but knowing that the legacy he built was in the trusted hands of his sons, Yoshitaka and Shinei, and now his grandson, Kokuse. We remain deeply honored to be the guardians of his brand and his life’s work.”
