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What’s new? How much does they cost? And how does they perform? Jack Backhouse brings you the low down on Srixon’s new ZX5 MKII irons
How does the player’s distance iteration of Srixon’s upgraded ZX iron family perform? Find out in our Srixon ZX5 MKII irons review.
The Srixon ZX5 MKII irons are the middle ground between the tour-preferred ZX7 and the game-improvement ZX4. The head has a slightly thicker sole and top line than the ZX7 giving it a bit more meat behind the strike.
These irons will suit a player looking for more distance and forgiveness packed into a players looking head. You will see these irons in many bags at your golf club this year as they look and feel amazing.
PROS
CONS
The ZX5 MKII irons have serious bag appeal. The sole design creates some intrigue, and like all Srixon irons, the back of the club is shiny and draws the eyes of onlookers.
The top line is fairly confidence-inspiring for a player’s iron, and with the thicker sole and weight behind the face, you do really feel like you’re going to get some performance out of the irons.
I am surprised that you don’t see more Srixon irons in the bags of golfers. They look fantastic, perform really well, and are generally reasonably priced for the quality you get, and the ZX5 MKII irons are no different.
The ZX5 MKII irons are a combination of the tour-inspired looks of the ZX7 MKII irons and the mega performance of the ZX4 MKII irons, giving golfers a tough decision when upgrading their irons in 2023.
Straight away, these irons feel fantastic off the face. The ball comes off the face really strong, producing flights for me that would play well in the wind. These irons don’t have particularly strong lofts compared to other players’ distance irons out this year, but they are no slouch for distance.
Srixon have continued to use the MainFrame design on the back of the clubface, which is essentially grooves, channels and cavities all milled into the forged SUP10 steel face, which acts like the variable thickness technology we see in driver faces now.
This means that not only are the centred hits long, but miss hits perform well, too, because the face can flex. This is made possible by the ZX5 MKII irons being multi-material, something that the smaller, tour-preferred ZX7 MKII iron is not.
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I hit these irons a great distance, and apart from one crazy long 6 iron, pretty consistently too. Something I think golfers need to be wary of is that consistent distance control is essential to good iron play and low scores. It’s no good having an iron that potentially goes really long, but not always, as it becomes very difficult to get the ball to finish on a green when you don’t know how far it’s going.
One of the ways Srixon make distance control easier is with its progressive grooves design, with the 3i to 7i featuring wide grooves and the 8i to wedges with deeper, closer set grooves which do a better job of clearing out mud and grass when hitting from rough lies. There is also laser milling in between the grooves, which adds to the friction and, therefore, control.
I didn’t quite see the same tight dispersions as I did with the ZX7 MKII iron, but that’s to be expected with the slightly larger head and more flex in the club face.
The ZX5 MKII irons have quite a thick sole for a player’s distance iron, but for good reason. Srixon have implemented their Tour VT sole on these irons, which means each iron has a different sole width, bounce angle and notches on the heel and toe, which improves ground interaction.
This means a golfer should be able to get out of thick rough easier than before with less chance of the club head snagging up. I hit a few shots from the rough during my test and can confirm that I was able to get the ball up in the air easier than normal.
My only worry for these irons is that they lack a bit of identity in this year’s new ZX MKII iron line up. They’re not quite a players iron like the ZX7 MKII, and they aren’t quite an all-out performance club like the ZX4 MKII, leaving them a bit in no man’s land.
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Srixon have done such a good job making the ZX4 MKII appealing to look at that they don’t give off the game improvement club vibe you normally get, and I think a lot of players will see the distance and forgiveness gains and overlook the ZX5 MKII. They’ve almost done too good a job with them.
Where I see the ZX5 MKII irons fitting into players’ bags in 2023 is probably in a split set with one of the other iron models. They offer complimentary forgiveness and distance to top out a set of ZX7 irons and are just a bit more controllable than the ZX4 irons in the short irons for that to be a good option too.
RRP: £167 per steel shafted iron, £184 per graphite shafted iron / $857.16 – $999.99
Lofts: PW 44°, 9i 39°, 8i 35°, 7i 31°, 6i 27°, 5i 24°, 4i 22°
Shafts: KBS Tour Lite (steel) Diamana ZX Graphite (graphite)
More information: Srixon Website
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