Unofficial Srixon ZX7 Review

[ZMendle10]

About 3 months ago I was on the hunt for a new set of irons. I was previously gaming a set of P790's with Nippon Zelos 7's and I simply wanted a change into fully forged single piece iron. I was looking for better feel, better turf interaction, and more consistent gapping between clubs.

The Fitting

I went and got fit at Club Champion since I work part time at an indoor golf simulator and we partner with them for fittings plus, this partnership also lets me get fit for free on top of a 10% discount. We ran through a shafts first and then worked our way through the club heads. It was down to the Titleist T100S, Srixon ZX7's, and the Cobra MIM's. The ZX7's won out because the misses that I was getting with them were not much different than the solid hits. Everything was just fading a little left to right and with a nice tight dispersion. The final build from the fitting was the Srixon ZX7's with the Tour issue Dynamic Gold 120 S400's standard length, 1.5° upright, and a few other custom options.

Delivery Day

Clubs were ready for pickup on Friday May 21st after about two months of painstakingly waiting. I rushed to get them during my lunch break and spent the rest of my workday admiring my new sticks.

  

These clubs are absolutely beautiful from every angle but my personal favorite is the back of the club. I went with red, black, yellow, and white custom ferrules because if I am going custom I am going custom all the way.

Initial Simulator and Course Impressions

As stated in the beginning what I am looking for these irons to do is to deliver great feel and a consistent gapping yardage. I took these into the simulator over the course of two days and did odd clubs one day and even clubs another day. 

Club	P790	ZX7
AW	122	115
PW	130	130
9i	145	145
8i	155	160
7i	167	170
6i	183	180
5i	189	190
4i	197	200

The yardages I was seeing were super consistent and exactly what I was expecting the spaces where there is a 5° loft difference between clubs I get a 15 yard gap which in the higher lofted clubs is fine a that 10 yard gap from 8 iron down is perfection. 

Out on the course I achieved exactly was I was hoping to when switching out of my P790's. I was seeing a lower flight but still retaining that steep landing angle. To keep it in perspective the landing angle went from 52° with the P790's to 48° with the ZX7's (taken on trackman). I was still having absolutely no trouble stopping the ball on the green and rollout distance was within a yard.

I use Arccos for all shot tracking and stat keeping so once I hit about 10 rounds I will give a comparison between the Arccos data of the two irons. I might have missed a few points but if anyone has any questions fire them away. 

Edited June 9, 2021 by ZMendle10

[Rchang]

How do you feel with doing flighted shots or draw/fade control?

[ZMendle10]

Flighted shots aren't an issue at all. My natural shot shape is a fade and I can flight it high or low no issues. a draw is where I tend to struggle but it can be done as this is more me than the club and I am working on this in my swing to be more in to out. High and low shots are also not a problem and i love that I can punch out some low shots in windy conditions. Every shot with my P790's was just way to high and the wind would eat me up and would come to a dead stop. 

[fixyurdivot]

Great review!  I'm currently waiting for my set of ZX5's with MMT 80R shafts.  I considered a combo set with ZX7's at the 7i-AW but was already nervous enough about moving from the G410's into the smaller head size envelope .  I did hit the ZX7 7i at a demo day and really didn't find it any better than the ZX5... slightly crisper sound though.  I figured I could use whatever additional forgiveness the ZX5's offer.  Overall size-wise they are virtually the same. I note that our handicaps are pretty close... perhaps I'm just too conservative .

I absolutely love the look of your clubs and wow... the way CC packages their product... that is top shelf!! 

[ejgaudette]

Great share and great looking irons. Hit some the other day after testing the Max LS and they felt amazing. When my irons finally go, I am leaning heavily towards something like this, I210s, T100, MIMs, etc. Hope they keep working for you.

[M. Parsons]

@ZMendle10 Nice write up, and great gapping.  I love the choice of the white grips as that's what I have on my ZX5/ZX7 combo set.  I was like you, where I ordered in March and just finally received my 4-5 irons last week (which I still haven't hit).  I was thinking about re-doing the paint fill on the back just slightly...just to make it my own, but I've been wanting to do that to my wedges as well and haven't found the time.  I love my ZX7s...the distance and feel I get, even on mishits, is 100x better than the previous irons I had in the bag.

[hartrick11]

Nice! I will be going through this same process in the fall and have a similar contender list...look forward to an update in another month or two to see how you and the Srixons are getting along.

[THEZIPR23]

14 hours ago, ZMendle10 said:

About 3 months ago I was on the hunt for a new set of irons. I was previously gaming a set of P790's with Nippon Zelos 7's and I simply wanted a change into fully forged single piece iron. I was looking for better feel, better turf interaction, and more consistent gapping between clubs.

The Fitting

I went and got fit at Club Champion since I work part time at an indoor golf simulator and we partner with them for fittings plus, this partnership also lets me get fit for free on top of a 10% discount. We ran through a shafts first and then worked our way through the club heads. It was down to the Titleist T100S, Srixon ZX7's, and the Cobra MIM's. The ZX7's won out because the misses that I was getting with them were not much different than the solid hits. Everything was just fading a little left to right and with a nice tight dispersion. The final build from the fitting was the Srixon ZX7's with the Tour issue Dynamic Gold 120 S400's standard length, 1.5° upright, and a few other custom options.

Delivery Day

Clubs were ready for pickup on Friday May 21st after about two months of painstakingly waiting. I rushed to get them during my lunch break and spent the rest of my workday admiring my new sticks.

  

These clubs are absolutely beautiful from every angle but my personal favorite is the back of the club. I went with red, black, yellow, and white custom ferrules because if I am going custom I am going custom all the way.

Initial Simulator and Course Impressions

As stated in the beginning what I am looking for these irons to do is to deliver great feel and a consistent gapping yardage. I took these into the simulator over the course of two days and did odd clubs one day and even clubs another day. 

Club	P790	ZX7
AW	122	115
PW	130	130
9i	145	145
8i	155	160
7i	167	170
6i	183	180
5i	189	190
4i	197	200

The yardages I was seeing were super consistent and exactly what I was expecting the spaces where there is a 5° loft difference between clubs I get a 15 yard gap which in the higher lofted clubs is fine a that 10 yard gap from 8 iron down is perfection. 

Out on the course I achieved exactly was I was hoping to when switching out of my P790's. I was seeing a lower flight but still retaining that steep landing angle. To keep it in perspective the landing angle went from 52° with the P790's to 48° with the ZX7's (taken on trackman). I was still having absolutely no trouble stopping the ball on the green and rollout distance was within a yard.

I use Arccos for all shot tracking and stat keeping so once I hit about 10 rounds I will give a comparison between the Arccos data of the two irons. I might have missed a few points but if anyone has any questions fire them away. 

Good write up. I agree completely on the mishits. One of the few sets that I have ever had where distance is consistent on different points of the face. And they feel pure when hit on the center. 

[ZMendle10]

11 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

Great review!  I'm currently waiting for my set of ZX5's with MMT 80R shafts.  I considered a combo set with ZX7's at the 7i-AW but was already nervous enough about moving from the G410's into the smaller head size envelope .  I did hit the ZX7 7i at a demo day and really didn't find it any better than the ZX5... slightly crisper sound though.  I figured I could use whatever additional forgiveness the ZX5's offer.  Overall size-wise they are virtually the same. I note that our handicaps are pretty close... perhaps I'm just too conservative .

I absolutely love the look of your clubs and wow... the way CC packages their product... that is top shelf!! 

I do see where you are coming from with the size of the ZX7's and the ZX5's. Aside from the sole width I didn't see any difference in the size but the sole width disappears once you put the club down behind the ball. The reason I went with a full set of the ZX7's and not the ZX5's is that I anted a full set of ZX7's and I liked the 4 and 5 iron in my P790's so I figured if I need that extra forgiveness I can combo them up with them. 

And you are right the packaging blew me away as well and was the perfect final touch when picking up my clubs.

[ZMendle10]

8 hours ago, THEZIPR23 said:

Good write up. I agree completely on the mishits. One of the few sets that I have ever had where distance is consistent on different points of the face. And they feel pure when hit on the center. 

They feel so pure when hit on center. I demoed the Hogan Icons and PTX Pro's before my fitting and the ZX7's felt even better than those which definitely lived up to the signature "Hogan" feel.

[ZMendle10]

8 hours ago, hartrick11 said:

Nice! I will be going through this same process in the fall and have a similar contender list...look forward to an update in another month or two to see how you and the Srixons are getting along.

Favorite part of the fitting is the process and trying all the different clubs. Put the ZX7's on your list for sure but I think a new MP line might be out by then depending on when in the fall your fitting is. I will be posting another update once I get 10 rounds under my belt so I've got about 5 more to go before a full update with some stats to go along with it.

[ZMendle10]

11 hours ago, ejgaudette said:

Great share and great looking irons. Hit some the other day after testing the Max LS and they felt amazing. When my irons finally go, I am leaning heavily towards something like this, I210s, T100, MIMs, etc. Hope they keep working for you.

All great choices. I didn't get the hit the i210's but the T100's and MIM's were absolutely fantastic and I was incredibly surprised by their feel. 

[ZMendle10]

8 hours ago, M. Parsons said:

@ZMendle10 Nice write up, and great gapping.  I love the choice of the white grips as that's what I have on my ZX5/ZX7 combo set.  I was like you, where I ordered in March and just finally received my 4-5 irons last week (which I still haven't hit).  I was thinking about re-doing the paint fill on the back just slightly...just to make it my own, but I've been wanting to do that to my wedges as well and haven't found the time.  I love my ZX7s...the distance and feel I get, even on mishits, is 100x better than the previous irons I had in the bag.

Love the white grips for the fact that when they get dirty it's time to clean them (something I could be more on top of). I played with the paint fill in the fast but the ZX7's are just so beautiful I don't want to mess around with them at least not yet. Srixon has done something special with the forgiveness of this iron and I am here for it. 

[Golfspy_CG2]

51 minutes ago, ZMendle10 said:

They feel so pure when hit on center. I demoed the Hogan Icons and PTX Pro's before my fitting and the ZX7's felt even better than those which definitely lived up to the signature "Hogan" feel.

You’re right about the feel.  I have a 5/7 combo with the split at the 8 iron. I just love it when I get inside a number where I can hit one of those. All though the 6/7 of the ZX5 are giving me some needed distances on that end.  

9 hours ago, hartrick11 said:

Nice! I will be going through this same process in the fall and have a similar contender list...look forward to an update in another month or two to see how you and the Srixons are getting along.

You know that’s about the time Titleist will be releasing its new iron lineup

[ZMendle10]

10 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

You’re right about the feel.  I have a 5/7 combo with the split at the 8 iron. I just love it when I get inside a number where I can hit one of those. All though the 6/7 of the ZX5 are giving me some needed distances on that end.  

They are just fun clubs to hit and so satisfying when you find the middle of the clubface or even relative middle of the clubface for that matter.

[ZMendle10]

Irons are performing phenomenally. Plenty of stopping power on the greens and I really love the AW and the fact that it looks like a traditional wedge from the back and not the cavity back design is a huge plus. It still does have the same sole as the rest of the set of irons as well as the laser milled grooves so spin is not an issue on the scoring clubs. 

My GIR have improved since adding them to my bag and the predictability of these irons is exactly what I am looking for. I have had 2 rounds with 8 GIR which for me is unheard of. The clubs are repeatable and I know if I have to hit a low 4 iron out of trouble it is going to stay low and naturally cut. This is also my first set of fully forged clubs and they are do not disappoint but it did hurt a bit to see the bag chatter but I learned to get over that quickly as it happens. 

These irons have definintly been fitting the bill and the output I put in is the same as a I get out. Good swings are rewarded and bad swings are punished slightly but do not take you out of the hole. A few more rounds in and I will start posting the arccos data. 

[ZMendle10]

As the ever curious I have been comparing the feel of my ZX7's to a few iron models. I hit them alongside the Taylormade P7MC's and I gotta say the feel with the ZX7's was fantastic and softer than the P7MC's. The P7MC's felt really good off the face as well however I just found them firmer than the ZX7's.

I also hit them along the Mizuno MP 20 MMC's and the ZX7's are right up there with them and have a much lower ball flight which is a huge plus for me.

A range near me already has the new Titleist irons so I plan on putting them up against the new T100's and even the T200's because why not. 

[Cstobaugh]

Please let us know how they compare. 

14 hours ago, ZMendle10 said:

As the ever curious I have been comparing the feel of my ZX7's to a few iron models. I hit them alongside the Taylormade P7MC's and I gotta say the feel with the ZX7's was fantastic and softer than the P7MC's. The P7MC's felt really good off the face as well however I just found them firmer than the ZX7's.

I also hit them along the Mizuno MP 20 MMC's and the ZX7's are right up there with them and have a much lower ball flight which is a huge plus for me.

A range near me already has the new Titleist irons so I plan on putting them up against the new T100's and even the T200's because why not. 

Please let us know, interested to hear how they compare. Thanks!

[ZMendle10]

Last Saturday I hit my ZX7's alongside the new T200's, T100's, and T100S and my notes on feel are as follows.

T200's: This isn't the most direct comparison however I never intended it to be. These were hit alongside the ZX7's as a case of because I can and what if they do feel comparable. What I was really hoping for was something that gave a close enough feel so I can pair them up with my ZX7's as a 4 or 5 iron. Unfortunately as expected they were not even close. To me they felt firm, were clicky, and overall not for me. The back badge of the T200 is also some kind of plastic and is great for looks but is also really hard and clicks if tapped with a fingernail so its very off putting.

T100's: Feel is very muted but soft at impact. The T100's feel soft but only for a short period of time and then the feeling is gone. Compared to the ZX7 which feels softer and tends to last longer. The difference being if I were to hit a Tour Soft  with a T100 I would get the same feel as hitting a Pro V1X with my ZX7 if that makes any sense.

T100S: Felt almost exactly like the T100's but just a tick firmer. This could very well come down to me not absolutely middling the ball as well.

[WildcatGolf]

On 8/12/2021 at 11:10 AM, ZMendle10 said:

Last Saturday I hit my ZX7's alongside the new T200's, T100's, and T100S and my notes on feel are as follows.

T200's: This isn't the most direct comparison however I never intended it to be. These were hit alongside the ZX7's as a case of because I can and what if they do feel comparable. What I was really hoping for was something that gave a close enough feel so I can pair them up with my ZX7's as a 4 or 5 iron. Unfortunately as expected they were not even close. To me they felt firm, were clicky, and overall not for me. The back badge of the T200 is also some kind of plastic and is great for looks but is also really hard and clicks if tapped with a fingernail so its very off putting.

T100's: Feel is very muted but soft at impact. The T100's feel soft but only for a short period of time and then the feeling is gone. Compared to the ZX7 which feels softer and tends to last longer. The difference being if I were to hit a Tour Soft  with a T100 I would get the same feel as hitting a Pro V1X with my ZX7 if that makes any sense.

T100S: Felt almost exactly like the T100's but just a tick firmer. This could very well come down to me not absolutely middling the ball as well.

Your explanation is spot on and the exact reason why I switched away from the 2019 T100/T100S. To me, I can hit the ZX7 about a club longer and I believe it is due to the feel difference and confidence hitting the Srixon's