Srixon ZX Utility Iron Review

Three comments:
1) This thing feels impossibly good off center. :love:
2) This feels feels improbably good halfway off the grooves out on the toe :oops:
3) I have no business hitting a 2i 110ft. in the air off the deck. But it happened. On demand. 🤯

Just got home, more comments soon.
Like the initial comments, excited for more!
 
I hit up the golf shop this afternoon and was able to have a really fun first session with the ZX Utility. A couple of my favorite fitters happened to be there and I had the place to myself, so we tinkered around extensively with this and the new ZX driver lineup. Huge shoutout to Golf and Ski Warehouse in West Lebanon NH for the absolute best access to gear in New England.

To preface, I have not hit a ball in six weeks. Testing utilities cold? Why not. Two practice swings without a ball, and then connected dead center on the first shot. Almost stunned, I was instantly taken aback at the feel off the face. Paused and took this picture - off to a strong start:

thumbnail_IMG_8996.jpg

I continued to warm up and settle in, hitting balls off the deck. After five shots or so I was consistently noting very good launch angles and peak heights. Spin was also in a good place. I hit about 30 balls, about 3/4 off the turf and a handful off a low tee.

Feel: Classic Srixon feel is here in spades, it is even better than the predecessors. It is the perfect merger of that sort of classic “forged” feel if you will, and an explosive, fast face. The feel is very pure, and moving around the face you can tell where you are placing the ball but mishits never get rude in tone or feedback. (More on this later). I kept hitting ball after ball for little reason other than I was just plain having fun.

Launch: As mentioned above, I have not hit a ball in 6 weeks, and was stunned to catch the first one dead center. While lucky, the very first shot demonstrated ease of launch (14.5*!!!) and ease of use that really stood out today. I was consistently getting 12-13 degrees without much effort, and could go as high as 15 or down to 9. I was having such ease hitting balls off the deck that I really wasn’t tempted to use the tee much, nor did using the tee change the results significantly. Notable is the almost 41* average descent angle and 100-110 ft peak that I was getting from a typical shot I would play on course. This becomes a Par-5 killer with that kind of trajectory.

Forgiveness: Despite the slimmer sole and back profile, there seems to be plenty of forgiveness on tap here. Reasonable thin or lateral misses held up well with just a small distance drop off, and retained trajectory pretty well. I saw spin stay in a really nice range for me while moving the ball both ways. In particular, I hit one out off the grooves on the toe, and darned if it still didn’t carry 200 yards, on-line, with strong peak height, even though it was 15-20 mph down on ball speed.

thumbnail_IMG_9007.jpg
Ghost mark on the toe if you look close...
thumbnail_IMG_9005.jpg

Ball Speed: Easily keeps up with any utility I have hit – I was within 10 mph of my fastest driver ball speed today using this club. That is pretty fair territory. And, ball speed retention is really good when you move around. I was shocked that the mishit way off the toe flew 200. The combination of feel and ball speed is really addictive here.

Data: I hit about 30 balls, of which 2-3 were worm burners, and -10 were extravagantly offline. I saved the data on the other 20, and from there made a representative 10 shot sample with a fair mix of fades and draws to show what is going on, and I removed the the highest tilt-axis ones. Here are the numbers:

ZX Utility GCHawk.png

You can see that even with a decent draw, there is plenty of spin to keep it in the air without nosediving. As well, fades did not creep up too much, and were getting solid carry distance. That ~3500rpm range is exactly where I am looking to be in this club, and launch just felt SO EASY.

I was just really impressed with the overall balance of feel, launch, ball speed, all of it. Not to mention that the appearance at address is miles better. Recoil 95 is a great pairing. What else? I have a ton of things I could comment on – I would love to hear your questions?

People are going to like these. One of the fitters hit this thing and instantly commented how solid if felt. Another fitter and a customer were testing Z-Forged when I walked in and the customer was drooling when I showed them and commenting how much he liked the U85 lineup.
 
I love my U85s...... if these are that much better they must hit themselves 🤣 Seriously though Srixon is in for a big year I think.
 
I hit up the golf shop this afternoon and was able to have a really fun first session with the ZX Utility. A couple of my favorite fitters happened to be there and I had the place to myself, so we tinkered around extensively with this and the new ZX driver lineup. Huge shoutout to Golf and Ski Warehouse in West Lebanon NH for the absolute best access to gear in New England.

To preface, I have not hit a ball in six weeks. Testing utilities cold? Why not. Two practice swings without a ball, and then connected dead center on the first shot. Almost stunned, I was instantly taken aback at the feel off the face. Paused and took this picture - off to a strong start:

View attachment 8982939

I continued to warm up and settle in, hitting balls off the deck. After five shots or so I was consistently noting very good launch angles and peak heights. Spin was also in a good place. I hit about 30 balls, about 3/4 off the turf and a handful off a low tee.

Feel: Classic Srixon feel is here in spades, it is even better than the predecessors. It is the perfect merger of that sort of classic “forged” feel if you will, and an explosive, fast face. The feel is very pure, and moving around the face you can tell where you are placing the ball but mishits never get rude in tone or feedback. (More on this later). I kept hitting ball after ball for little reason other than I was just plain having fun.

Launch: As mentioned above, I have not hit a ball in 6 weeks, and was stunned to catch the first one dead center. While lucky, the very first shot demonstrated ease of launch (14.5*!!!) and ease of use that really stood out today. I was consistently getting 12-13 degrees without much effort, and could go as high as 15 or down to 9. I was having such ease hitting balls off the deck that I really wasn’t tempted to use the tee much, nor did using the tee change the results significantly. Notable is the almost 41* average descent angle and 100-110 ft peak that I was getting from a typical shot I would play on course. This becomes a Par-5 killer with that kind of trajectory.

Forgiveness: Despite the slimmer sole and back profile, there seems to be plenty of forgiveness on tap here. Reasonable thin or lateral misses held up well with just a small distance drop off, and retained trajectory pretty well. I saw spin stay in a really nice range for me while moving the ball both ways. In particular, I hit one out off the grooves on the toe, and darned if it still didn’t carry 200 yards, on-line, with strong peak height, even though it was 15-20 mph down on ball speed.

View attachment 8982941
Ghost mark on the toe if you look close...
View attachment 8982942

Ball Speed: Easily keeps up with any utility I have hit – I was within 10 mph of my fastest driver ball speed today using this club. That is pretty fair territory. And, ball speed retention is really good when you move around. I was shocked that the mishit way off the toe flew 200. The combination of feel and ball speed is really addictive here.

Data: I hit about 30 balls, of which 2-3 were worm burners, and -10 were extravagantly offline. I saved the data on the other 20, and from there made a representative 10 shot sample with a fair mix of fades and draws to show what is going on, and I removed the the highest tilt-axis ones. Here are the numbers:

View attachment 8982944

You can see that even with a decent draw, there is plenty of spin to keep it in the air without nosediving. As well, fades did not creep up too much, and were getting solid carry distance. That ~3500rpm range is exactly where I am looking to be in this club, and launch just felt SO EASY.

I was just really impressed with the overall balance of feel, launch, ball speed, all of it. Not to mention that the appearance at address is miles better. Recoil 95 is a great pairing. What else? I have a ton of things I could comment on – I would love to hear your questions?

People are going to like these. One of the fitters hit this thing and instantly commented how solid if felt. Another fitter and a customer were testing Z-Forged when I walked in and the customer was drooling when I showed them and commenting how much he liked the U85 lineup.
Grear stuff!

What were you going in expecting to get distance wise? Besides the forgiveness and speed, anything else really jump out at you?
 
I love my U85s...... if these are that much better they must hit themselves 🤣 Seriously though Srixon is in for a big year I think.

I have a U85 with same shaft and loft. I did not hit them side by side today, but I did play the U85 during my last round in early November. They retained or improved all the feels, the topline looks better, and overall the proportions are a touch more compact and appealing. Just my thoughts.
 
I love my U85s...... if these are that much better they must hit themselves 🤣 Seriously though Srixon is in for a big year I think.
They’re better. Truly. (y)
 
They’re better. Truly. (y)
Oh I have no doubt. They are making strides in every area this year in my opinion.
 
Grear stuff!

What were you going in expecting to get distance wise? Besides the forgiveness and speed, anything else really jump out at you?

That is about the carry distance I would expect from a utility that fits me well, and on the strong side. Like, get in my bag side. Also, it approaches the distance and maybe even descent angle that I expect from an 18* hybrid, which is wild.
 
That is about the carry distance I would expect from a utility that fits me well, and on the strong side. Like, get in my bag side. Also, it approaches the distance and maybe even descent angle that I expect from an 18* hybrid, which is wild.

@gkeller813 this is funny. Here are my numbers from last February when I bought my Callaway Mavrik 3h in 18* that I gamed all this past year.

ClubBall SpeedLaunch AngleBackspinSidespinTilt AngleTotal SpinCarryTotalDescent AnglePeak Height
Mav 3hMPH°RPMRPM°RPMYDSYDS°FT
Average
142​
11.5​
3662​
-153​
-3.1​
3685​
223​
240.2​
40.3​
89.6​
Std. Dev.
1.3​
0.5​
523​
377​
5.9​
517​
7.6​
9.4​
1.6​
3.4​

Test data a year apart, but the Utility is holding it's own, actually launching higher and coming in steeper. Maybe I should hit those two back to back now :unsure:
 
I hit up the golf shop this afternoon and was able to have a really fun first session with the ZX Utility. A couple of my favorite fitters happened to be there and I had the place to myself, so we tinkered around extensively with this and the new ZX driver lineup. Huge shoutout to Golf and Ski Warehouse in West Lebanon NH for the absolute best access to gear in New England.

To preface, I have not hit a ball in six weeks. Testing utilities cold? Why not. Two practice swings without a ball, and then connected dead center on the first shot. Almost stunned, I was instantly taken aback at the feel off the face. Paused and took this picture - off to a strong start:

View attachment 8982939

I continued to warm up and settle in, hitting balls off the deck. After five shots or so I was consistently noting very good launch angles and peak heights. Spin was also in a good place. I hit about 30 balls, about 3/4 off the turf and a handful off a low tee.

Feel: Classic Srixon feel is here in spades, it is even better than the predecessors. It is the perfect merger of that sort of classic “forged” feel if you will, and an explosive, fast face. The feel is very pure, and moving around the face you can tell where you are placing the ball but mishits never get rude in tone or feedback. (More on this later). I kept hitting ball after ball for little reason other than I was just plain having fun.

Launch: As mentioned above, I have not hit a ball in 6 weeks, and was stunned to catch the first one dead center. While lucky, the very first shot demonstrated ease of launch (14.5*!!!) and ease of use that really stood out today. I was consistently getting 12-13 degrees without much effort, and could go as high as 15 or down to 9. I was having such ease hitting balls off the deck that I really wasn’t tempted to use the tee much, nor did using the tee change the results significantly. Notable is the almost 41* average descent angle and 100-110 ft peak that I was getting from a typical shot I would play on course. This becomes a Par-5 killer with that kind of trajectory.

Forgiveness: Despite the slimmer sole and back profile, there seems to be plenty of forgiveness on tap here. Reasonable thin or lateral misses held up well with just a small distance drop off, and retained trajectory pretty well. I saw spin stay in a really nice range for me while moving the ball both ways. In particular, I hit one out off the grooves on the toe, and darned if it still didn’t carry 200 yards, on-line, with strong peak height, even though it was 15-20 mph down on ball speed.

View attachment 8982941
Ghost mark on the toe if you look close...
View attachment 8982942

Ball Speed: Easily keeps up with any utility I have hit – I was within 10 mph of my fastest driver ball speed today using this club. That is pretty fair territory. And, ball speed retention is really good when you move around. I was shocked that the mishit way off the toe flew 200. The combination of feel and ball speed is really addictive here.

Data: I hit about 30 balls, of which 2-3 were worm burners, and -10 were extravagantly offline. I saved the data on the other 20, and from there made a representative 10 shot sample with a fair mix of fades and draws to show what is going on, and I removed the the highest tilt-axis ones. Here are the numbers:

View attachment 8982944

You can see that even with a decent draw, there is plenty of spin to keep it in the air without nosediving. As well, fades did not creep up too much, and were getting solid carry distance. That ~3500rpm range is exactly where I am looking to be in this club, and launch just felt SO EASY.

I was just really impressed with the overall balance of feel, launch, ball speed, all of it. Not to mention that the appearance at address is miles better. Recoil 95 is a great pairing. What else? I have a ton of things I could comment on – I would love to hear your questions?

People are going to like these. One of the fitters hit this thing and instantly commented how solid if felt. Another fitter and a customer were testing Z-Forged when I walked in and the customer was drooling when I showed them and commenting how much he liked the U85 lineup.
Awesome feedback. Sounds like a champ. I cannot wait to experience this club. It sounds so easy to love.

Along those lines I want to mention that we're still playing golf where I live, and my guest room can be rented out for the low low price of bringing your ZX U. Just putting that out there. :p
 
Awesome feedback. Sounds like a champ. I cannot wait to experience this club. It sounds so easy to love.

Along those lines I want to mention that we're still playing golf where I live, and my guest room can be rented out for the low low price of bringing your ZX U. Just putting that out there. :p

That is one hell of an inviting proposition 🔥 I would love to tee it up!
 
@OldandStiff i took this one for you the other day... ZX 18* sitting next to the X Forged UT 4i

F0F45462-5825-4F67-B6E4-D4FCD88740E8.jpeg
 
Of all the new clubs on the market right now this is the one I want to test the most. The ZX utility.
 
Is it weird if you’ve never hit a utility iron?
 
I saw this in hand today and they look awesome. Too bad my ball striking isn’t good enough to get consistent results. Back down the hybo road for me.
 
I finally got some time to take some picture of the new ZX Utility that I received courtesy of Srixon and The OffCourse podcast :love:. I was sent a 2 utility in 18* loft with UST Mayima Recoil 95 F4 (Stiff) shaft. Right out of the box it is a beautiful looking club. It is slimmer and more purposeful in appearance that its predecessor, and it is an improvement to my eye.

The head is more compact, about 2-3mm shorter in blade length, and with a significantly narrower sole that the U85 series. From address, the back of the head does not extend as far behind the top line, and while there is still and appearance of forgiveness, overall its a slimmer look.

I will venture to the golf store soon to get some swings in. I am looking forward to hitting it!

View attachment 8980693View attachment 8980695View attachment 8980694View attachment 8980696View attachment 8980697

Great in hand pics, too bad about the back drop
 
Three comments:
1) This thing feels impossibly good off center. :love:
2) This feels feels improbably good halfway off the grooves out on the toe :oops:
3) I have no business hitting a 2i 110ft. in the air off the deck. But it happened. On demand. 🤯

Just got home, more comments soon.
That’s nuts, golf soon? Thanks lol
 
I hit up the golf shop this afternoon and was able to have a really fun first session with the ZX Utility. A couple of my favorite fitters happened to be there and I had the place to myself, so we tinkered around extensively with this and the new ZX driver lineup. Huge shoutout to Golf and Ski Warehouse in West Lebanon NH for the absolute best access to gear in New England.

To preface, I have not hit a ball in six weeks. Testing utilities cold? Why not. Two practice swings without a ball, and then connected dead center on the first shot. Almost stunned, I was instantly taken aback at the feel off the face. Paused and took this picture - off to a strong start:

View attachment 8982939

I continued to warm up and settle in, hitting balls off the deck. After five shots or so I was consistently noting very good launch angles and peak heights. Spin was also in a good place. I hit about 30 balls, about 3/4 off the turf and a handful off a low tee.

Feel: Classic Srixon feel is here in spades, it is even better than the predecessors. It is the perfect merger of that sort of classic “forged” feel if you will, and an explosive, fast face. The feel is very pure, and moving around the face you can tell where you are placing the ball but mishits never get rude in tone or feedback. (More on this later). I kept hitting ball after ball for little reason other than I was just plain having fun.

Launch: As mentioned above, I have not hit a ball in 6 weeks, and was stunned to catch the first one dead center. While lucky, the very first shot demonstrated ease of launch (14.5*!!!) and ease of use that really stood out today. I was consistently getting 12-13 degrees without much effort, and could go as high as 15 or down to 9. I was having such ease hitting balls off the deck that I really wasn’t tempted to use the tee much, nor did using the tee change the results significantly. Notable is the almost 41* average descent angle and 100-110 ft peak that I was getting from a typical shot I would play on course. This becomes a Par-5 killer with that kind of trajectory.

Forgiveness: Despite the slimmer sole and back profile, there seems to be plenty of forgiveness on tap here. Reasonable thin or lateral misses held up well with just a small distance drop off, and retained trajectory pretty well. I saw spin stay in a really nice range for me while moving the ball both ways. In particular, I hit one out off the grooves on the toe, and darned if it still didn’t carry 200 yards, on-line, with strong peak height, even though it was 15-20 mph down on ball speed.

View attachment 8982941
Ghost mark on the toe if you look close...
View attachment 8982942

Ball Speed: Easily keeps up with any utility I have hit – I was within 10 mph of my fastest driver ball speed today using this club. That is pretty fair territory. And, ball speed retention is really good when you move around. I was shocked that the mishit way off the toe flew 200. The combination of feel and ball speed is really addictive here.

Data: I hit about 30 balls, of which 2-3 were worm burners, and -10 were extravagantly offline. I saved the data on the other 20, and from there made a representative 10 shot sample with a fair mix of fades and draws to show what is going on, and I removed the the highest tilt-axis ones. Here are the numbers:

View attachment 8982944

You can see that even with a decent draw, there is plenty of spin to keep it in the air without nosediving. As well, fades did not creep up too much, and were getting solid carry distance. That ~3500rpm range is exactly where I am looking to be in this club, and launch just felt SO EASY.

I was just really impressed with the overall balance of feel, launch, ball speed, all of it. Not to mention that the appearance at address is miles better. Recoil 95 is a great pairing. What else? I have a ton of things I could comment on – I would love to hear your questions?

People are going to like these. One of the fitters hit this thing and instantly commented how solid if felt. Another fitter and a customer were testing Z-Forged when I walked in and the customer was drooling when I showed them and commenting how much he liked the U85 lineup.

Fantastic, absolutely fantastic detailed write-up Aaron.
 
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