When it comes to irons, so many companies are putting out great products each year and some get completely overlooked because of what is available to consumers. Srixon has been putting out high quality irons for quite a while and for some reason they seem to get overlooked by many of our readers in their search for their next equipment purchase. Many of you may remember that we were not huge fans of the Srixon 701 irons for a number of reasons. While they worked fine for many, our testers just thought that they lacked some of the performance that was available in other sets in the same price range. I must say that THP was certainly in the minority with those findings as many considered them some of the best irons available. At the same time, almost all of our testers agreed that they liked the looks of the club though. When we got word that Srixon was releasing a new iron set called the Z-TX we were excited to see what they were coming out with from both an aesthetic point of view and more importantly a performance and playability point of view.
From the Company
Designed for the low to mid-handicapper, these new Srixon Z-TX irons are premium forged irons with a slight cavity-back design, which offer added playability and increased accuracy without having to sacrifice on forgiveness. Forged from 1025 soft stainless steel, their proprietary heat treatment and lush chrome finish help give the Z-TX irons a soft, yet responsive feel for greater control and predictability on every shot. Five grams of Tungsten weighting positioned on the heel and toe of their sole offers increased MOI for added stability at impact, while their lower and deeper CG helps promote a higher ball flight. The Z-TX irons’ stepped sole design allows the longer blade to play like a shorter blade, while also making the irons more versatile in tough turf conditions. The Z-TX irons’ thinner face-center has expanded their sweetspot by 20%, making them not only one of the longest irons on the market, but also one of the most forgiving.
Looks & First Impression
Srixon was kind enough to send a set over for us to put through our non-scientific testing and when they arrived our first response was “They did it again!”. The clubs are absolutely gorgeous and offer a classic and elegant design while at the same time making the irons look strikingly clean and modern. The 1st thing you will notice about the Srixon Z-TX irons is the cavity and the simplicity to the design. The ZTX logo is in the center and there are a few cutouts throughout for weighting. The sole of the club features a unique design that is “stepped” at both the heel and the toe. This feature was extremely intriguing to most in the office and something we looked forward to trying out. The thin topline shows off exactly who this club is geared for and it appears that these have very little, if any, offset to them. The face of the club has a nice milled texture to it and is highlighted in two tones with the toe and the heel being slightly different. Overall the look had many golfers in our office salivating to try them out.
Click for a larger image of the striking looks of these irons
Range Session
THP was able to get 14 players to test the Srixon Z-TX irons out on the range and the handicap ranges were all over the map. We had 6 low handicap (0-6) players, 5 mid handicap players (7-15), and 3 golfers that were higher than that. Before we go any further I want to comment on who these irons are for. Srixon has said that they are geared for low to mid handicap golfers and while that may be true, 1 of our higher handicap testers (24) felt as though these were great for his game and his shot dispersion was tighter than with his clubs especially with the longer irons.
Each tester was given a large bucket of range balls and a set of irons to use for an hour and they were instructed to alternate shots between their current clubs and the new Srixon irons. Feedback was unanimous across the board with people having the same feelings. Every tester thought the clubs were extremely soft off the club face and the word used to describe them throughout was “buttery”. Each tester was also surprised by the high ball flight, however nobody thought it was too high, but the flight is certainly higher than some. The biggest surprise to each and every golfer was the amount of forgiveness they were seeing. No, these are not going to be at the same level of forgiveness when comparing them to the CG7 BPs we recently reviewed from Cleveland Golf, but there is certainly more than we expected on mishits, especially on the longer irons. Feedback is solid and exactly what people like when playing a Game Enhancement (GE) iron like these. The only real complaint given was that about 9 of the 14 people that tried these clubs out did not care for the stock grips that much. They are the Golf Pride Tour Velvet BCT cord grips and many felt as though they were a little harsh on the hands, but that is more a personal preference than anything else. Each tester was eager for more after the round with the exception of 2 of the 3 higher handicap players that just had a tough time controlling the club and preferred more of a Game Improvement (GI) iron.
Course Testing
Over the course of the last 6 weeks, I had the privilege of playing 18 rounds of golf with these irons and had countless range sessions with them. The first thing I want to say is again about the aesthetics of these irons. In the bag they look as good as any we have come across and if your preference is that of a classic GE iron, than these could be for you. Looking down on them before each shot was a joy as their simplicity shines through, yet the bold cuts throughout add a certain sophistication that we just do not see much of anymore. I am not a huge believer in looks over performance, but if I was, these would be near the top.
On the course my results were similar to that of the testers trying out the set on the range. The feel is soft and buttery smooth and the feedback is extremely solid and immediately telling. I also want to say that I had no issue personally with the cord grips that were chosen and actually quite liked them compared to the testers feedback that was given. The biggest key for me with these irons is the overall performance, it is one thing to have amazing feel and feedback, but if the clubs lack some performance and forgiveness, they will not work for most. These lacked neither.
Click for larger image to see stepped-sole
As mentioned previously, the ball flight is slightly higher than most GE irons that we have tested. For me, I liked the higher flight due to the rock hard greens we are playing right now. The ball gets up fast and stays up and there was no distance loss that was noticeable from our stand point throughout our testing. Distance was never an issue and while we did not notice an increase in our iron distances, there was no decrease and we liked the ball flight of the ZTX irons quite a bit more than others we have tested. When it comes to forgiveness in GE irons, for years that was a major sacrifice, when choosing clubs, you chose either performance or forgiveness. Well, times they are a changing, and Srixon has added some nice weighting to this iron line that really will help with off center hits. When missing on the toe we noticed very little change in terms of ball flight, however some small amount of distance was lost. The heel did not offer quite as much forgiveness on misses, but still had far more than expected.
The biggest thing that I noticed during my rounds with our testing was with the longer irons. Many who play or want to play GE irons struggled with the longer irons and the lack of forgiveness. Well, the Srixon Z-TX seems to have a remedy for that in the stepped sole. We found hitting the longer irons to be much easier than many of the sets we have tested this year and while we cannot confirm that the reason is because of the cut outs in the sole of the club, it appears that between that and great weighting, that they certainly have something to do with it. After 18 rounds of golf with these irons, I must admit I was reluctant to give them up.
Click to see up close milling
Overall
Srixon certainly has a great set of irons on their hands this year. The Z-TX Forged irons offer incredible feel, amazing performance, and add in some great forgiveness (for a GE iron) especially with the longer irons. My math was never great, but when I add those up, I get what equals incredible irons. These irons are not going to be for everybody and despite one of our higher handicap players enjoying the performance, I agree with Srixon that they are geared for the better player. The Srixon Z-TX Forged irons carry a MSRP of $899 and are available at many retailers now. For more information on these or any other Srixon Golf products, check out their website at www.srixon.com.
Till Next Time
Josh B.
