Srixon Z 545 & Z 745 Driver Preview

Trying to figure this one out still. I feel like my shaft pairing isn't great with this one. I am getting better with it, but still have a two way miss going on right now that is hurting my scores. Being honest however, distance is phenomenal when struck well. I am going to continue to tinker. Does anyone know if this is the same adapter as the 588 Custom? If so I have a plan......

The distance I'm getting with this on well struck shots is absolutely intoxicating, but I've been a bit off with it lately. Nothing to do with the driver, it's all user error. But definitely a bit more penal on misses than the Bertha was. Weirdly, I've gotten more of the "rights" since I closed the face.

Looking at the manual for the classic, I think the adjustments are slightly different between them, as some of the face angle and loft changes look a bit different than what is on the hosel.
 
Ha, a, the wonderful world of multi adjustable drivers.

I find when I REALLY go after it, I have the best results. I just don't quite trust it yet- but it's getting there
 
Forgiveness is an interesting thing with this driver. My most relevant point of reference for comparison is the X-Hot, which is a very difficult driver to compete with.

I've looked at this a lot over the last month for a good reason. Forgiveness on my common misses is probably the most important thing to me in driver selection. Actually, total performance would be the better way to describe it. I'm willing to give up a few yards on perfect shots to gain them back on misses. For reference, my miss is almost always toe side. Last year, it was extreme high toe and this year with improvements it's closer to center both vertically and horizontally. However, if I am having a bad day the high toe miss can pop up.

That being said, I think the 545 is quite forgiving with my most common miss (moderate high toe). I seem to retain distance quite well, I don't drop into the extreme low spin range (diving toe knucklers), and gear effect isn't contributing to massive dying hooks. I will say that I'm actually quite surprised by this, because my initial thought was I'd struggle there. Compared to the 588 Custom for example - the 545 is a much better driver there for me.

However, on the extreme misses it drops very quickly with the caveat that I'm comparing directly to the X-Hot. If I miss extreme high-toe with this one many of those bad things happen - big loss of spin, trajectory drops, big gear effect hooks that are low and penal. Luckily, it's a pretty uncommon miss these days compared to last year. If you'd asked me last year about 545 forgivness I'd probably just say it wasn't forgiving for my miss. Now I'd say it's not as forgiving for my big miss. I'll finish all that by saying I haven't found a driver in almost 18 months that comes close to matching what I play now for mitigating that miss though. There's a reason I've played it for so long.

Bottom line/condensed version: Surprisingly more forgiving for a normal range of misses than expected. If you're missing the center regularly by large margins then give it a shot, but you may find better options out there.
 
Forgiveness is an interesting thing with this driver. My most relevant point of reference for comparison is the X-Hot, which is a very difficult driver to compete with.

I've looked at this a lot over the last month for a good reason. Forgiveness on my common misses is probably the most important thing to me in driver selection. Actually, total performance would be the better way to describe it. I'm willing to give up a few yards on perfect shots to gain them back on misses. For reference, my miss is almost always toe side. Last year, it was extreme high toe and this year with improvements it's closer to center both vertically and horizontally. However, if I am having a bad day the high toe miss can pop up.

That being said, I think the 545 is quite forgiving with my most common miss (moderate high toe). I seem to retain distance quite well, I don't drop into the extreme low spin range (diving toe knucklers), and gear effect isn't contributing to massive dying hooks. I will say that I'm actually quite surprised by this, because my initial thought was I'd struggle there. Compared to the 588 Custom for example - the 545 is a much better driver there for me.

However, on the extreme misses it drops very quickly with the caveat that I'm comparing directly to the X-Hot. If I miss extreme high-toe with this one many of those bad things happen - big loss of spin, trajectory drops, big gear effect hooks that are low and penal. Luckily, it's a pretty uncommon miss these days compared to last year. If you'd asked me last year about 545 forgivness I'd probably just say it wasn't forgiving for my miss. Now I'd say it's not as forgiving for my big miss. I'll finish all that by saying I haven't found a driver in almost 18 months that comes close to matching what I play now for mitigating that miss though. There's a reason I've played it for so long.

Bottom line/condensed version: Surprisingly more forgiving for a normal range of misses than expected. If you're missing the center regularly by large margins then give it a shot, but you may find better options out there.

Awesome follow up. I have similar misses high and toe. I will normally only miss on the heel if i am way off but the majority of my misses are out on the toe. I am liking what I hear. Regarding shaft lengths did you stick with standard length both on the 545 and X Hot or did you cut down?
 
Awesome follow up. I have similar misses high and toe. I will normally only miss on the heel if i am way off but the majority of my misses are out on the toe. I am liking what I hear. Regarding shaft lengths did you stick with standard length both on the 545 and X Hot or did you cut down?

The 545 is stock length and my X-Hot plays at 44.5 I believe. No difference in the frequency of misses that I notice.
 
I'm beginning to wonder about the spin on this head. I don't know if it is significantly lower than I am used to or not. Point being, I am struggling big time to control this. I'm thinking I have a bad pairing with the shaft and this head. This shaft is a shaft I enjoy in most drivers, but for whatever reason, the black tie with this head isn't agreeing with me at the moment. For a comparison, I took out my other gamer early last week and hit 4/4 fairways with it. Conversely, I have yet to hit 50% with this one. I need some serious range time but at the moment I'm thinking about PMing Alex to see if it would be possible to order another shaft. Thinking white tie maybe? Any suggestions?
 
Oddly enough, I love the black tie in the three wood and the 588 5wood....
 
The stock Kuro Kage in 60x has been decent Tim, really I have only been thinking about something a little heavier. I tried a cheap brand, but dispersion was not as good as the stock. White tie or Miyazaki kusala blue 72x are ponders.
 
Kusala silver also a ponder for higher launch
 
I'm beginning to wonder about the spin on this head. I don't know if it is significantly lower than I am used to or not. Point being, I am struggling big time to control this. I'm thinking I have a bad pairing with the shaft and this head. This shaft is a shaft I enjoy in most drivers, but for whatever reason, the black tie with this head isn't agreeing with me at the moment. For a comparison, I took out my other gamer early last week and hit 4/4 fairways with it. Conversely, I have yet to hit 50% with this one. I need some serious range time but at the moment I'm thinking about PMing Alex to see if it would be possible to order another shaft. Thinking white tie maybe? Any suggestions?

Since the Cleveland adapter appears to fit, you might be able to find a red tie to put in there pretty easily, since it's the stock for their current line. Would get the spin and launch up a bit.
 
Since the Cleveland adapter appears to fit, you might be able to find a red tie to put in there pretty easily, since it's the stock for their current line. Would get the spin and launch up a bit.

Probably going to give it a few more shots, then I think this is my plan. Plus they are giving away the 588's right now.
 
The stock Kuro Kage in 60x has been decent Tim, really I have only been thinking about something a little heavier. I tried a cheap brand, but dispersion was not as good as the stock. White tie or Miyazaki kusala blue 72x are ponders.

I might go the stock route too. Options are good. I feel like I just need to find a setting or a shaft to unlock the head. The head is long and feels amazing on well struck shots. It's too good to give up on. Like I said, it's the pairing I put together for myself and I'm not sure it's the best for me. I'm trying the setting one left of N next time out for the first time. I feel like that setting looks the best at that setting at address for my eyes. I'll report back. I'm still optimistic as it's rare that I can't figure out a driver. This one is just playing hard to get. Which makes me want it more haha.
 
I might go the stock route too. Options are good. I feel like I just need to find a setting or a shaft to unlock the head. The head is long and feels amazing on well struck shots. It's too good to give up on. Like I said, it's the pairing I put together for myself and I'm not sure it's the best for me. I'm trying the setting one left of N next time out for the first time. I feel like that setting looks the best at that setting at address for my eyes. I'll report back. I'm still optimistic as it's rare that I can't figure out a driver. This one is just playing hard to get. Which makes me want it more haha.


If you ever go the unfortunate route of giving up, let me know I will definitely take it off your hands and give it a good home....in the mean time here is to finding the right setting and crushing drives with it. Looking forward to hearing how this setting goes
 
If you ever go the unfortunate route of giving up, let me know I will definitely take it off your hands and give it a good home....in the mean time here is to finding the right setting and crushing drives with it. Looking forward to hearing how this setting goes

Thanks man - will do :)
 
I might go the stock route too. Options are good. I feel like I just need to find a setting or a shaft to unlock the head. The head is long and feels amazing on well struck shots. It's too good to give up on. Like I said, it's the pairing I put together for myself and I'm not sure it's the best for me. I'm trying the setting one left of N next time out for the first time. I feel like that setting looks the best at that setting at address for my eyes. I'll report back. I'm still optimistic as it's rare that I can't figure out a driver. This one is just playing hard to get. Which makes me want it more haha.

Tim, if you want to give the stock (in S) a chance, you're welcome to borrow mine for a bit. You're not too far away and I've got another driver I can play.
 
Tim, if you want to give the stock (in S) a chance, you're welcome to borrow mine for a bit. You're not too far away and I've got another driver I can play.

Thanks bud! I might take you up on that. Let me tinker some more first but I really appreciate the offer !
 
I couldn't find these on the srixon page
 
I couldn't find these on the srixon page

Probably won't be there unto 9/1 the pre-order date or around 9/12 when they are supposed to be available. TGW magazine showed up in the mail the other day which had pricing. The say for more info go,to tgw.com/srixonZ but no luck yet there either
 
Finally got my first round post Morgan Cup round in last weekend and of course took the 745 out for a spin again. It was an up an down day with it, mostly because of my layoff and also a few sloppy swings. I could feel my timing was just a bit off. But I still managed enough good drives with it to keep my spirits up about it.

I love the sound and feel at impact. Hard to compare to anything else right now.

I believe this is going as far as my previous driver that was an inch longer. I really have to stay behind the ball at impact to unleash it's full potential but when I do it is nice.

I still have yet to spend a good range session with it but I'm sure that will be coming this holiday weekend.
 
Finally got my first round post Morgan Cup round in last weekend and of course took the 745 out for a spin again. It was an up an down day with it, mostly because of my layoff and also a few sloppy swings. I could feel my timing was just a bit off. But I still managed enough good drives with it to keep my spirits up about it.

I love the sound and feel at impact. Hard to compare to anything else right now.

I believe this is going as far as my previous driver that was an inch longer. I really have to stay behind the ball at impact to unleash it's full potential but when I do it is nice.

I still have yet to spend a good range session with it but I'm sure that will be coming this holiday weekend.

The feel and sound are money with these. Totally agree. It is just a powerful piece if equipment
 
The 745 is getting a workout this weekend & I think someone new is a big fan.
 
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