Srixon ZX5 Irons
The new Srixon ZX5 irons are the latest release from the Huntington Beach, California based brand. Blending together a smooth, clean look of a players iron, with the forgiveness of a cavity back makes the ZX5 one of the top mid-handicap irons on the current market. Not only that, but they look good doing it. Srixon has definitely made a big impression with the new ZX lineup, so let’s take a look at the more forgiving iron of the group.
The Looks
I said this about the ZX Utility Iron, and I’ll say it about the Srixon ZX5 iron: these are some of the best looking irons on the market. Time and time again, Srixon has made some of the best looking clubs in the game, and the ZX5 continues that tradition. At address, the top line and shape gives you the look of a thinner, clean player’s club, with a little bit of a longer blade.
If you’re coming from a blade, you will notice that you’ll see slightly more offset, but not quite as much as a game improvement club. Not too little, not too much, but enough to help you get the club square. The ZX5 also features a shiny chrome finish with a tungsten weight in the toe, and sharp edges in the cavity design. The club flat out looks clean, crisp, and amazing. There’s not much else to say, really. Thumbs up Srixon!
How Does it Feel?
I’ve always found Srixon irons to have great feel, and the Srixon ZX5 is no exception. I was surprised at how solid they feel at impact for a cavity back iron. There’s no hollow or dead feeling that you’d get with many game improvement-ish clubs out there, but rather a soft, yet solid forged feel at impact. On misses, while the ZX5 are fairly forgiving, you will still feel a slight sting in your hands. Thin shots stung my hands in the Arizona morning cold, while shots off of the toe just gave me firmer feedback. It’s by no means harsh, but enough to let you know you missed it.
A major plus for me was the new Tour V.T. Sole, which is designed to improve turf interaction. The ZX5 glides right through the turf cleanly and helps create solid contact, even if you hit a little behind the ball and make contact a tough higher on the face.
How Does it Sound?
The Srixon ZX5 irons – Solid feel, solid sound. As usual, feel and sound go pretty hand in hand here. Well struck shots have a solid “thwack” noise to them, similar to a player’s iron. Misses tend to have a higher-pitched click sound, which coincides with the stinging in the hands. You feel you missed the ball, but you also hear it. In my opinion, that’s a good thing for accurate feedback.
On-Course Performance
As soon as I unboxed the Srixon ZX5 irons, I couldn’t wait to get them out on the course. I had to see if the amazing looks aligned with their performance. For the most part, they delivered. Srixon engineered the ZX5 with a milled backside of the face, in order to produce faster ball speeds. By milling the back of the face, Srixon can push the club to the legal limit. This is intended to lead to more distance. Once I got the ZX5 irons on the course, I found that to hold true. Ball speeds and distance were strong, and they were consistent. I wasn’t breaking distance records, but the consistency is impressive.
In terms of ball flight, the ZX5 had a mid to high ball flight with my swing when paired with the stock Nippon Modus 3 shafts. I found it was easy to stop the ball on greens, especially with the shorter irons. This is partially due to the higher flight, but also the progressive grooves, which feature more sharp and narrow grooves in the short irons to promote spin where you need it most.
In terms of forgiveness, the ZX5 were solid for a player’s-esque club. Again, these aren’t like a game-improvement iron, but they have enough forgiveness to let you get away with bad shots. For both thin and toe shots, I found the distance loss to be marginal compared to other clubs in the player’s category. Call it 10 yards for toe misses, which isn’t all too punishing. The tradeoff is I found it easy to work the ball for more playability. For once, I was able to set up and hit a cut on command, or draw the ball when needed fairly easily across the set. I will say, the long irons did have a tendency to want to just go long and straight, but the workability was still there.
Final Thoughts – Srixon ZX5 Irons
Srixon designed the ZX5 irons to be long, forgiving irons, in a compact shape that better players will love. And Srixon delivered. The ZX5 forgiveness and distance are great, but the playability and consistency are what set it apart. If you’re a mid-handicap player looking to upgrade your irons this year, make sure you give the ZX5 irons so much deserved attention.
Stock Srixon ZX5 Irons Specs
| Club # | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | PW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loft º | 20º | 22º | 24º | 27º | 31º | 35º | 39º | 44º |
| Lie º | 60º | 60.5º | 61º | 61.5º | 62º | 62.5º | 63º | 63.5º |
| Length | 39″ | 38.5″ | 38″ | 37.5″ | 37″ | 36.5″ | 36″ | 35.5″ |
I need info on the zx5/7 to see which is best for me.
Hi Les,
You’re in luck. Check out our ZX7 review here.
We also recommend stopping by your local fitter to try them out and see what’s best for your game.
Thanks,
Tommy
Hi,
Great review, as always!
I just have a question that I thought you may be able to answer. I’m looking at the ZX5s and Callaway Apex 19s. I know a lot comes down to preference/swing/etc., but would you be able to advise if the ZX5s are more/less/similar in their forgiveness compared to the Apex 19s in your opinion.
I’m coming from a set of PING G15s and I don’t think I need the most forgiving irons and looking to get into the more “player improvement” rather than game improvement irons. Just don’t want an iron that is really difficult to hit or flat out punishes you on mishits (which obviously comes from the person swinging the club).
Thanks,
Sebastian
Sebastian –
I haven’t done a full review of the Apex 19. I have only hit them a handful of times. What I will say is (spoiler alert) the ZX5 are in my bag right now. I liked them that much.
Based on your categorization of “player improvement” I’d say the ZX5 fits the bill.
Thanks!
Tommy
This may be too late for you Sebastian, but I did an iron fitting the other day and once we had the shaft dialed in, we were down to the Apex 21, ZX5 and T200.
The T200 had the thinnest top line and felt good (a little heavier than the Apex or ZX), but the spin rates weren’t there for my swing. (For reference, my swing speed on a 7 iron is around 80mph, a 2-3 degree down angle of attack, and a 1-2 degreen in to out swing.)
The numbers on the Apex 21 and ZX5 were very similar. They were within the same range in distance, spin, launch angle, height, etc. It came down to personal preference and I picked the ZX5. Literally could not have gone wrong with either club, I just liked the way the ZX5 looked a little better.
So it’s not just me then. Apparently, I’ve had the exact same experience as so many when it comes to fitting for new irons. I had it narrowed down to the Apex 21, T200 and ZX5, with the Apex slightly leading. Then my fitter suggested I try the ZX5 again but this time with a Project X LZ 5.5 shaft. Instantly, my dispersion window narrowed right up and with my inherent slight draw, everything was only slightly off center but consistently the same distance. Even my mishits were right there.
And TBH, Srixon wasn’t even on my radar prior to that day. I’ve played plenty of TM and Ping irons over the years so I just assumed it would be one of those or maybe a Callaway. When he handed me that ZX5, the preliminary results put it into my top 3 right away, and, not gonna lie, I was kinda hopeful I would end up there (such good looking irons). However, the Apex was right there too as it had slightly better spin numbers and distance but a bit wider dispersion.
The most important aspect of your clubs IMO is most likely having the right shaft to match your swing, along with the right head that gives you the launch and feel at impact that breeds confidence. That combo ticked off all the boxes and I couldn’t be happier now that I’m swinging these Srixon ZX5’s. So good.
Hey Tommy,
Curious what shafts you went with in your ZX5?
I just ordered my set with the KBS $ taper 120 stiff
Alex –
To be 100% honest, the stock nippons were so good I didn’t even change them out.
Thanks for stopping in!
Tommy
I was fitted for ZX5s last year. I selected Nippon NS Pro 950 GH Stiff shafts. PW – 4 Iron. These irons are easy to hit and offer great performance. I didn’t try a lot during the fitting and mostly focused on shafts. Srixon feel and build were easy to select and I’ll be using for the next decade or so.
I’m an 8. I recently picked up the zx5 8-pw to go with the 5-7 zx5 in my mixed set(zx4 4i)before they disappeared. I have the zx7 8-aw, but the distance gap between the 7 and 8 was in the 18 yd range. The zx5 are much easier to dial in than the zx7, but do run out a couple of feet longer. When hit on the button, the zx7 feel soft and solid and the zx5 feels soft with the balls (Tour bx and Snell MTB-X) literally springing off the face. I have played forged irons (Mizuno, Miura and Snake Eyes) since the mid 90s, but as I’m getting up there I still want to hit my 9i 150ish. The zx5 is the ticket. Pro Modus 120 (short irons and Project X lz soft stepped in the long irons.