Srixon ZX5 and ZX7 Irons Review

[4hourrule]

That FEEL is such a booster of confidence. Some can play any club and do well, others like me want to know the $$$ just spent will improve the game and feel better than ones replaced. The ZX5s did it for me. It's a bitter taste when you spend that kind of KaChing and it does nothing for you.

 

[J4U]

The ZX7'S are so much fun! I still want to get my T100s irons reshafted...again, but these are flat out animals too! I'm not losing anything and confidence is high that they will deliver when I put a good move on them! Put an 8I close enough for a birdie on a par 3 and my 4I sent it LONG to get me another one on a Par 5. Good times

 

[SkiBumGolfer]

So I freaking still love these irons. I have never been so confident in mid to long irons than I am with these. I know that if I get a bad result, it is 100% a poor swing. And they are long!

I have a bit of a hare brained idea concerning wedge gapping. I am pretty sold on going to a 4W only setup for fairways for my Titleist Experience clubs, and that frees up an extra wedge slot, which is great because I have some larger gaps in the wedges on full swings - 20-25 yards between GW-54-60. So I'm considering going 52-56(bent from 54)-60 to hopefully tighten that up to around 15 yards, and I am having a hard time finding a good condition RTX3 52* to match my current wedges. I thought that since 52* will be essentially a 100yd full swing club for me, maybe it would make sense to make it match the irons - but Srixon doesn't make that loft in the ZX5. I have the crazy idea in my head of getting another ZX5 GW and bending it up a few degrees / cutting the shaft a bit to match the gap.

Am I nuts (don't answer that ) or do you guys think this is a good idea? Or am I better off just going with a conventional wedge in that slot?

 

[Hawk]

So I freaking still love these irons. I have never been so confident in mid to long irons than I am with these. I know that if I get a bad result, it is 100% a poor swing. And they are long!

I have a bit of a hare brained idea concerning wedge gapping. I am pretty sold on going to a 4W only setup for fairways for my Titleist Experience clubs, and that frees up an extra wedge slot, which is great because I have some larger gaps in the wedges on full swings - 20-25 yards between GW-54-60. So I'm considering going 52-56(bent from 54)-60 to hopefully tighten that up to around 15 yards, and I am having a hard time finding a good condition RTX3 52* to match my current wedges. I thought that since 52* will be essentially a 100yd full swing club for me, maybe it would make sense to make it match the irons - but Srixon doesn't make that loft in the ZX5. I have the crazy idea in my head of getting another ZX5 GW and bending it up a few degrees / cutting the shaft a bit to match the gap.

Am I nuts (don't answer that ) or do you guys think this is a good idea? Or am I better off just going with a conventional wedge in that slot?

Is that around a 4 degrees loft adjustment? I dunno man - many times I think we overthink this stuff, but that could have some impact on how the sole interacts.

 

[SkiBumGolfer]

Is that around a 4 degrees loft adjustment? I dunno man - many times I think we overthink this stuff, but that could have some impact on how the sole interacts.

It would be +3*. Yeah that is part of my concern for sure.

The other path instead of a blade wedge is to get something like a Cleveland CBX and put a Modus3 130 in it. A little more forgiveness than the blade wedge still, and preserves that same shaft feel from the irons.

 

[Hawk]

It would be +3*. Yeah that is part of my concern for sure.

The other path instead of a blade wedge is to get something like a Cleveland CBX and put a Modus3 130 in it. A little more forgiveness than the blade wedge still, and preserves that same shaft feel from the irons.

Maybe the beveled leading edge makes it not so much an issue. I haven’t seen them in person, but I assume there are some parallels to the 545’s.

 

[SkiBumGolfer]

Maybe the beveled leading edge makes it not so much an issue. I haven’t seen them in person, but I assume there are some parallels to the 545’s.

So actually turns out the ZX5 GW is 50*, so bending to 52* would only be +2*. But of course, I'd have to bend the OTHER GW -2* to 48* to get proper gaps. Seems like it could be done though. I'd have to label the 2 GW's something unique though so I don't get confused

And to the parallels to 545's, yes these are VERY MUCH the spiritual successor to that iron. Take a look at @Jman's review on the first page of the thread, but these have a profile, V-Sole and grind that is very very similar to the 545.

 

[GoldenBuff]

ZX7. I'll just going to say it. I think these are the best irons available. They balance amazing feel and playability with very consistent performance. I also think the forgiveness is far beyond what these should provide. And, yes, the turf interaction is very good. Love that sound through grass. Great irons.

For most of t his season I put in the T200 4 and 5 irons with my ZX7 set. Recently I pulled the T200 5 and put in the ZX7. OMG, I vastly prefer the ZX7. I lost a bit of ball speed but gained far more control and consistency.

I believe Srixon is on a 2 year cycle and will have an update maybe this winter. I'm not an industry insider, so this is just speculation. But whenever they do update these, I think they are going to have a very hard time improving them. If they do improve them, they will have my money.

 

[Templet0n]

The ZX7 is the best srixon iron in a long time. They should be getting close to a update. I am curious to see what they do..

 

[Bus]

These look really similar to my z745s. Has anyone played both that can comment on the differences?

 

[stoney_dukes]

I just built another set of zx7 with MMT 105S. Traded the 95S MMT set to a friend. Tried P770 and Apex 21 in between and neither were very close on feel and consistency for my swing. Have a set of Rogue ST pro as a back up, and I actually like the mid and long irons (9, P, and AW are a little squatty to my eye) but they aren't really close either to the feel of the solid forged head

 

[stoney_dukes]

These look really similar to my z745s. Has anyone played both that can comment on the differences?

It's been a while since I played the 745 but I think the sole and top line on the zx7 are a bit thinner without sacrificing much forgiveness at all. For my swing I actually work better with a narrower sole, so the ZX is improved in that regard

 

[GraniteRoost]

These look really similar to my z745s. Has anyone played both that can comment on the differences?

I have owned both. The biggest difference is the slightly wider sole on the z745s, the ZX7 has updated sole width and grind of the V-sole. IMO they actually did some things to make the ZX7 more similar to the 745 than the 765 or 785... such as the V-notched sole missing on 765/785, and brought back tungsten weighting missing from the 785. The ZX7 gets through the ground a little better, and top line might be a touch smaller, but not by much. I like both the 745 and ZX7 better than the 765 or 785. Cult classics.

 

[GraniteRoost]

So actually turns out the ZX5 GW is 50*, so bending to 52* would only be +2*. But of course, I'd have to bend the OTHER GW -2* to 48* to get proper gaps. Seems like it could be done though. I'd have to label the 2 GW's something unique though so I don't get confused

And to the parallels to 545's, yes these are VERY MUCH the spiritual successor to that iron. Take a look at @Jman's review on the first page of the thread, but these have a profile, V-Sole and grind that is very very similar to the 545.

Two ideas:

1) The ZX7 AW is a machine, and stock @ 51*

2) Remove the restriction of matching RTX-3, and take a long look at CBX Zipcore, or RTX ZipCore.

 

[Bus]

I have owned both. The biggest difference is the slightly wider sole on the z745s, the ZX7 has updated sole width and grind of the V-sole. IMO they actually did some things to make the ZX7 more similar to the 745 than the 765 or 785... such as the V-notched sole missing on 765/785, and brought back tungsten weighting missing from the 785. The ZX7 gets through the ground a little better, and top line might be a touch smaller, but not by much. I like both the 745 and ZX7 better than the 765 or 785. Cult classics.

Thanks!

Getting through the ground better sounds promising, but probably not enough for my cheap ass!

 

[GraniteRoost]

Thanks!

Getting through the ground better sounds promising, but probably not enough for my cheap ass!

I am splitting hairs a little, to try and answer the differences part. I'm a shallow swinger, and another person could easily like a bit more cushion. The z745 are darn good.

 

[SkiBumGolfer]

Two ideas:

1) The ZX7 AW is a machine, and stock @ 51*

2) Remove the restriction of matching RTX-3, and take a long look at CBX Zipcore, or RTX ZipCore.
View attachment 9111358

I actually ended up finding a good deal on an RTX-3 52* which is on its way to me, and then I think I'm going to bend the GW to 48 and my 54 to 56. Nice 4* gaps that way (PW is 44)!

 

[Chef23]

I just pulled the trigger on a used set of ZX5s with Steelfiber 95s. I really wanted to get another set of i95s and was interested in the ZX5. I am in a set of T100s right now with Modus 120s and was interested in a lighter shaft with a wider sole. There are times when I love the T100s but I think I miss the sole width of my old Ping i200s which had i95s in them.

In fitting I kind of steered things to the M120s which in theory should get me better trajectory than the i95s but I seemed to get better results on course with the i95s.

They will be here next week and may need to adjust the lie angle on them. I am looking forward to the comparison.

 

[GraniteRoost]

I just pulled the trigger on a used set of ZX5s with Steelfiber 95s. I really wanted to get another set of i95s and was interested in the ZX5. I am in a set of T100s right now with Modus 120s and was interested in a lighter shaft with a wider sole. There are times when I love the T100s but I think I miss the sole width of my old Ping i200s which had i95s in them.

In fitting I kind of steered things to the M120s which in theory should get me better trajectory than the i95s but I seemed to get better results on course with the i95s.

They will be here next week and may need to adjust the lie angle on them. I am looking forward to the comparison.

That sounds awesome.

 

[4hourrule]

I actually ended up finding a good deal on an RTX-3 52* which is on its way to me, and then I think I'm going to bend the GW to 48 and my 54 to 56. Nice 4* gaps that way (PW is 44)!

I have the A Wedge in ZX5 which carries 115-117 so I picked up 54 Glide carries 105-110 and a 58 Glide carries 80-95. I can step on them to get more so perfect gapping. I'm still having difficulty with bounce on hardpan and unraked Traps though. It's so hard to fix everything thing

 

[SkiBumGolfer]

I have the A Wedge in ZX5 which carries 115-117 so I picked up 54 Glide carries 105-110 and a 58 Glide carries 80-95. I can step on them to get more so perfect gapping. I'm still having difficulty with bounce on hardpan and unraked Traps though. It's so hard to fix everything thing

50-54-58 is definitely good gapping! I like having a full swing down to 70-80 yards though, which means I go down to a 60* and will hopefully end up at a 44*-48*-52*-56*-60* setup which covers roughly 70-130 yards with 10-15 yards between full swings.

 

[Chef23]

I have the A Wedge in ZX5 which carries 115-117 so I picked up 54 Glide carries 105-110 and a 58 Glide carries 80-95. I can step on them to get more so perfect gapping. I'm still having difficulty with bounce on hardpan and unraked Traps though. It's so hard to fix everything thing

It is interesting that the gapping on the A wedge is 50* in the T100s it goes 44* PW and 48*AW. Right now I go 53* then 58*. I will have to see how the gaps work out I could see strengthening the 50 to 49* then going with 53 and 58.

 

[4hourrule]

50-54-58 is definitely good gapping! I like having a full swing down to 70-80 yards though, which means I go down to a 60* and will hopefully end up at a 44*-48*-52*-56*-60* setup which covers roughly 70-130 yards with 10-15 yards between full swings.

I prefer full swings until I get my game back. Once that happens I can track 3/4 and 1/2 swings with my Wedges.

 

[4hourrule]

50-54-58 is definitely good gapping! I like having a full swing down to 70-80 yards though, which means I go down to a 60* and will hopefully end up at a 44*-48*-52*-56*-60* setup which covers roughly 70-130 yards with 10-15 yards between full swings.

That's a lot of Wedgies

 

[J4U]

The ZX7's have been such a joy to hit and believe they are wanting to stay in the bag the way they perform. I want so badly to get the T100s reshafted, but these are making it the desire fade. A good issue to have mind you!