Srixon Introduces the 2021 ZX Iron Lineup

[Tzoid08 25]

They look fantastic but they appear to have raised the MSRP $ 300 Dollars a set above the Z585-Z785 Line.   I also don't understand the release date of January 6th 2021 for Pre-Orders.  They totally missed the Christmas Holiday business for 2020.   That said the ZX7 may replace my beloved OnOff Kuro Irons. 

[rbsiedsc 1,997]

1 hour ago, Tzoid08 said:

They look fantastic but they appear to have raised the MSRP $ 300 Dollars a set above the Z585-Z785 Line.   I also don't understand the release date of January 6th 2021 for Pre-Orders.  They totally missed the Christmas Holiday business for 2020.   That said the ZX7 may replace my beloved OnOff Kuro Irons. 

I presume due to COVID issues things got delayed in the US. The MSRP kinda sucks as I almost jumped on the 785/585 combo for under $1000. 
 

is it bad I drool when I see these?? My poor pxgs (and my wife, must think I am a split personality when it comes to clubs)

[Golfspy_CG2 26,468]

1 hour ago, Tzoid08 said:

They look fantastic but they appear to have raised the MSRP $ 300 Dollars a set above the Z585-Z785 Line.   I also don't understand the release date of January 6th 2021 for Pre-Orders.  They totally missed the Christmas Holiday business for 2020.   That said the ZX7 may replace my beloved OnOff Kuro Irons. 

Release in a normal year would have been August/September time frame.  When they had to make the decision in the spring to push back the release, A January launch and big push at the PGA Show in made the most sense, as there really isn't a ton of golf purchasing going on in November or December in most of the country.  Christmas sales for Golf Clubs isn't really a thing.   Trust me I've given Santa enough hints on that, and end up with no brown boxes under the tree every year

As for price, if you go to the Wilson Raw bal thread and read a lot of the comments in there on the Wilson Tour Model ball being priced up in the TP5 and Callaway range, Barbs gives some pretty good reasoning on why it makes since for the challenger brands to price near the premium brands when the quality of the product calls for it.   And these irons are without a doubt of the same quality as he current lines from the "Big 4" 

 

[Tzoid08 25]

2 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Release in a normal year would have been August/September time frame.  When they had to make the decision in the spring to push back the release, A January launch and big push at the PGA Show in made the most sense, as there really isn't a ton of golf purchasing going on in November or December in most of the country.  Christmas sales for Golf Clubs isn't really a thing.   Trust me I've given Santa enough hints on that, and end up with no brown boxes under the tree every year

As for price, if you go to the Wilson Raw bal thread and read a lot of the comments in there on the Wilson Tour Model ball being priced up in the TP5 and Callaway range, Barbs gives some pretty good reasoning on why it makes since for the challenger brands to price near the premium brands when the quality of the product calls for it.   And these irons are without a doubt of the same quality as he current lines from the "Big 4" 

 

I agree on the quality equals or eclipses the competitors but 30% price jump and when you struggle to even get retailers to stock your products it's a huge gamble.  Many of Srixon sales most likely come without demo or fitting because they are still a niche product. 

 

   

[RickyBobby_PR 5,857]

2 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

why it makes since for the challenger brands to price near the premium brands when the quality of the product calls for it. 

It’s one of several reasons why cobra always had the “cheap” moniker associated with the brand. Despite how good many of their iron releases were people viewed them as cheap and the interest wasn’t there

[dlow206 6,727]

I wonder how much these will cost from some of the retailers with the good prices. I emailed one but they said to email them back in Jan.

[mr.hicksta 3,349]

49 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

I wonder how much these will cost from some of the retailers with the good prices. I emailed one but they said to email them back in Jan.

I think you can look at the latest Mizuno release for a reasonable ballpark of where the prices may fall. 
 

Talking with some of my friends in the golf retail circle, almost all of them comment about how good Srixon products are, but follow that up with a comment about how they just don’t have the name recognition of the ‘big’ brands. Srixon trade in value seems to support that sentiment as used Srixon clubs are damn near worthless compared to other brands. All that said, I’m keeping my Z785s as my backup set and will happily bag either a ZX5/ZX7 combo or straight ZX7 set. And damn Christmas, this is my birthday gift!

[Siamese Moose 385]

3 hours ago, Tzoid08 said:

I agree on the quality equals or eclipses the competitors but 30% price jump and when you struggle to even get retailers to stock your products it's a huge gamble.  Many of Srixon sales most likely come without demo or fitting because they are still a niche product. 

The place I go (Miles of Golf) carries Srixon, and they're always present at the demo days I've been to. But then again, when I last got fitted he didn't even consider having me try Srixon.

[rbsiedsc 1,997]

Ya i wish when i got fitted i would have tried the srixons. i totally forgot to be it up for my Tour Van fitting and now have the PXGs. 

Question, are the Hogan V sole similar to Srixon? If so i may just demo that and if I like it go with the Srixon. Any thoughts?

[Tzoid08 25]

19 minutes ago, rbsiedsc said:

Ya i wish when i got fitted i would have tried the srixons. i totally forgot to be it up for my Tour Van fitting and now have the PXGs. 

Question, are the Hogan V sole similar to Srixon? If so i may just demo that and if I like it go with the Srixon. Any thoughts?

Ben Hogan demo Irons are not available as far as I know.  I requested Demo PTx Pros about 2 months ago and I'm still waiting.  I probably would have just bought a set but honestly they have s***** shaft options so I passed on that idea without hitting them 1st.  

[rbsiedsc 1,997]

1 minute ago, Tzoid08 said:

Ben Hogan demo Irons are not available as far as I know.  I requested Demo PTx Pros about 2 months ago and I'm still waiting.  I probably would have just bought a set but honestly they have s***** shaft options so I passed on that idea without hitting them 1st.  

Ya I didnt like their shaft options either, although now they are working with a 3rd party to do custom orders (not just club champion). I wish Srixon did demos of irons.

[Tzoid08 25]

1 minute ago, rbsiedsc said:

Ya I didnt like their shaft options either, although now they are working with a 3rd party to do custom orders (not just club champion). I wish Srixon did demos of irons.

I saw that and their 3rd Party charges a pretty big premium to shaft the irons that every other MFG offers at no upcharge.  It's so dumb I am turned off by Ben Hogan Golf....  

[ballplayer002003 1,236]

On 11/16/2020 at 9:52 AM, RickyBobby_PR said:

Yeah as a Srixon fan and with some ties to that brand I like to see them succeed and when you don’t have the same retail space and eyes on the product the price can help someone maybe give them a try. 

The price is WAAAAY to high for most people to look at.  As a smaller brand, most will turn to your big 3 (TM, Callaway and Ping) for irons in that price point.  It's a shame, these look great and I would love to try them but they are too much money.  We as consumers need to start demanding the price come back down to earth.  Trust me, if people don't buy clubs at premium prices the companies will have no choice but to lower their price tags.  Please don't reply with, "but the cost of materials or technology or r&d blah blah blah".  We, the consumers set the standard price.  If we continue to pay $1300 for 8 irons then the companies will continue to keep edging the price up and up.  Simple supply and demand.  Just my two cents.  

[RickyBobby_PR 5,857]

1 hour ago, ballplayer002003 said:

The price is WAAAAY to high for most people to look at.  As a smaller brand, most will turn to your big 3 (TM, Callaway and Ping) for irons in that price point.  It's a shame, these look great and I would love to try them but they are too much money.  We as consumers need to start demanding the price come back down to earth.  Trust me, if people don't buy clubs at premium prices the companies will have no choice but to lower their price tags.  Please don't reply with, "but the cost of materials or technology or r&d blah blah blah".  We, the consumers set the standard price.  If we continue to pay $1300 for 8 irons then the companies will continue to keep edging the price up and up.  Simple supply and demand.  Just my two cents.  

Srixon is far from a small brand. They are and have been one of the largest brands in Asia and Europe for quite some time. They were brought to the US in 2014 to expand the market as well as the offerings from SRI which also include Cleveland and XXIO (the premium brand in the group). 
 

The company has wanted to keep the Srixon brand more of a premium offering which is why they have a smaller retail presence in the US than the other brands you mentioned, which unfortunately hurts their exposure a bit as does the minimal advertisements on TV.

As for the other brands there are very few that have irons under $1300 that aren’t labels game improvement. 

Like it or not the cost of materials, the transportation of such materials and other economic factors for production play a role in the price as does the cost of research and development. This release utilized AI in its design which is going to add to the cost. But as @Golfspy_CG2 eluded too in regard to the Wilson ball companies have to consider the perceptions of equipment and names in heir relationship to the competitors. So raising the price to the same as the other brands plays a role in letting the consumer know they are on level with those other brands.

Yes you are correct that consumers thru demand have a role in the price of goods and if consumers stopped buy goods the demand would go down and such the price would too. But that’s not going to happen as long as we are in a thriving economy and have the means to buy. It’s the same with cars and what used to be the cost effective brands still are but they are just at a higher price than before.

Golf consumers have been spoiled for a long time with prices. Callaway had a $500 driver back in the 90s before what we became used to with $400 or less being the norm for drivers and now it’s getting harder to find that price and many of the fairway woods are creeping into that range as drives go past the $500 mark.

Golf retail Is a booming business and I don’t see consumers on a large scale deciding not to buy new clubs anytime soon. 

[Golfspy_CG2 26,468]

A meeting with one of the major OEM reps yesterday, and while I can't really share some of the numbers he showed us, it's sales numbers vs 2019 were some of the largest increases it's seen in many years, and that was going almost two full months of prime buying season being shut down.   He also showed increases for some of the major competitors, and they had huge increases as well.  So it wasn't simply a matter of taking market share from someone else, there was a whole lot of new demand once things opened up again.

Some of this demand, were golfers getting back into the game after many years away, and needing new equipment.  Some just having been pent up for two months and spending a lot of time on forums and other places reading about all the new equipment     While there were many tens of thousands of people out of work unfortunately, those who weren't suddenly found they had more time and in some cases money---that wasn't going to other pursuits such as travel or vacations etc, that were able to spend on golf and golf equipment. 

Will this carry over into 2021?  That's the million dollar question that none of us have an answer to.  Early indications are that it will, at least to me based on the inquires I'm getting in my role and things I see people discussing about 2021. 

So yeah, in short, demand is at an all time high right now, and companies are going to take advantage of that, as any other industry would as well.  

[dlow206 6,727]

@Golfspy_CG2 - any idea when they will announce the ZX4s?

[Golfspy_CG2 26,468]

1 hour ago, dlow206 said:

@Golfspy_CG2 - any idea when they will announce the ZX4s?

No official word on that. 

[ejcrossl 27]

3 hours ago, ballplayer002003 said:

The price is WAAAAY to high for most people to look at.  As a smaller brand, most will turn to your big 3 (TM, Callaway and Ping) for irons in that price point.  It's a shame, these look great and I would love to try them but they are too much money.  We as consumers need to start demanding the price come back down to earth.  Trust me, if people don't buy clubs at premium prices the companies will have no choice but to lower their price tags.  Please don't reply with, "but the cost of materials or technology or r&d blah blah blah".  We, the consumers set the standard price.  If we continue to pay $1300 for 8 irons then the companies will continue to keep edging the price up and up.  Simple supply and demand.  Just my two cents.  

To me it's the PXG effect.  PXG rocked the market with extremely expensive clubs.  All other brands took notice, and now the prices are rising.  Golfers won't stop buying because well marketing on new shiny clubs is so good.  So now all make more money and we lose on the "value".  Thanks PXG

[ejcrossl 27]

1 hour ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

A meeting with one of the major OEM reps yesterday, and while I can't really share some of the numbers he showed us, it's sales numbers vs 2019 were some of the largest increases it's seen in many years, and that was going almost two full months of prime buying season being shut down.   He also showed increases for some of the major competitors, and they had huge increases as well.  So it wasn't simply a matter of taking market share from someone else, there was a whole lot of new demand once things opened up again.

Some of this demand, were golfers getting back into the game after many years away, and needing new equipment.  Some just having been pent up for two months and spending a lot of time on forums and other places reading about all the new equipment     While there were many tens of thousands of people out of work unfortunately, those who weren't suddenly found they had more time and in some cases money---that wasn't going to other pursuits such as travel or vacations etc, that were able to spend on golf and golf equipment. 

Will this carry over into 2021?  That's the million dollar question that none of us have an answer to.  Early indications are that it will, at least to me based on the inquires I'm getting in my role and things I see people discussing about 2021. 

So yeah, in short, demand is at an all time high right now, and companies are going to take advantage of that, as any other industry would as well.  

Wonder if the major companies hired back those that were laid off in panic?  Heard lots of noise around TM laying off thousands, and business is booming?  I just don't understand how stock prices month to month matter more than long term company health? 

[ejcrossl 27]

On 11/16/2020 at 8:41 PM, dlow206 said:

I guess the question is, find a good deal on Z585s or wait for ZX5s?

Isn't that always the question?  Although as consumers, we are never satisfied without having the Latest and Greatest.  Every time we play that question creeps in, what am I leaving on the table.  

Flip side, I've been upgrading this and that.....handicap isn't moving