Callaway Apex 21 vs Srixon ZX5 - anyone have a chance to compare?

[jol]

I had the opportunity to get fitted for a set of the Callaway Apex 21 irons.  They are really impressive, nice high and penetrating ball flight, felt solid and sounded great. They are definitely on my buy list.

Another on my try list are the Srixon ZX5s. Has anyone had the chance to compare the two?

[SuperDave]

So interested in any feedback ..... too cold here to hit them so anyone that has please post feedback. 

[MtlJeff]

I'm super interested in the ZX5 too. A bigger GI/SGI that is forged and has a clean look will always appeal to MtlJeff

 

The Srixons are ~300$ cheaper than the Callaways in Canada

 

Srixon also has a sweet selection of shafts, Ctaper and Tour Issue S400 no upcharge for example

 

Def want to see them

[Lefty1283]

10 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

I'm super interested in the ZX5 too. A bigger GI/SGI that is forged and has a clean look will always appeal to MtlJeff

 

The Srixons are ~300$ cheaper than the Callaways in Canada

 

Srixon also has a sweet selection of shafts, Ctaper and Tour Issue S400 no upcharge for example

 

Def want to see them

What do you play now? I would say the ZX5 soles are pretty narrow compared to traditional GI/SGI. 

[MtlJeff]

Just now, Lefty1283 said:

What do you play now? I would say the ZX5 soles are pretty narrow compared to traditional GI/SGI. 

 

I play G410's but i'm fairly flexible. I just like forgiving clubs ...the Srixon "5" series has always been appealing to me but i always found them ugly

[kiwihacker]

4 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

 

I play G410's but i'm fairly flexible. I just like forgiving clubs ...the Srixon "5" series has always been appealing to me but i always found them ugly

You found the Srixons ugly but you play Ping G410s?

[MtlJeff]

6 minutes ago, kiwihacker said:

You found the Srixons ugly but you play Ping G410s?

 

I dont think Gs are super appealing, they have a great personality though. 

[tbone18]

5 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

 

I play G410's but i'm fairly flexible. I just like forgiving clubs ...the Srixon "5" series has always been appealing to me but i always found them ugly

you need to go check out the ZX5 irons. much cleaner top line look with all the forgiveness of the older 5 models.  The ZX5 are GI irons not SGI.  Those may be released later this year ZX4.

[MtlJeff]

53 minutes ago, tbone18 said:

you need to go check out the ZX5 irons. much cleaner top line look with all the forgiveness of the older 5 models.  The ZX5 are GI irons not SGI.  Those may be released later this year ZX4.

 

Cool thanks, yeah for sure I will. I haven't found too many forged GI clubs that I really loved . Either they are too small or I just didn't like them for whatever reason. 

 

The set that best describes one I DID like was the JPX850 forged. If the ZX5 is like that I would really be interested 

 

I moved from the Mizuno to 2016 Apex Pros which were probably a tad smaller than I prefer

[tbone18]

1 minute ago, MtlJeff said:

 

Cool thanks, yeah for sure I will. I haven't found too many forged GI clubs that I really loved . Either they are too small or I just didn't like them for whatever reason. 

 

The set that best describes one I DID like was the JPX850 forged. If the ZX5 is like that I would really be interested 

 

I moved from the Mizuno to 2016 Apex Pros which were probably a tad smaller than I prefer

jpx921 forged are another one to look at.

[jol]

I'm waiting for my club to get the new Srixon fitting heads. They hope to have them in a week or so. Then I'll really be able to compare the Apex 21 to ZX5's with Trackman and hitting them off real turf.

I'll provide feedback when it happens.

Edited January 18, 2021 by jol

[mantan]

I'm looking for feedback as well.  I love my 565s, but the ZX5s look SOOOO good in the pictures.   

[Go Horns!]

5 hours ago, jol said:

I'm waiting for my club to get the new Srixon fitting heads. They hope to have them in a week or so. Then I'll really be able to compare the Apex 21 to ZX5's with Trackman and hitting them off real turf.

 

I'm in the same boat on waiting on the fitting heads. We were supposed to get this week, but shipment was delayed. Hopefully will have them this week. My luck is that they will get them and it will start raining for a week straight.

[beaney]

12 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

 

I dont think Gs are super appealing, they have a great personality though. 

I would imagine that’s how my wife would describe me......if she was in a good mood. 

[bombs]

17 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

I'm super interested in the ZX5 too. A bigger GI/SGI

 

The ZX5's aren't big... 

[MtlJeff]

4 hours ago, bombs said:

 

The ZX5's aren't big... 

 

How do they compare in size to the Apex and previous 5's like the Z585?

[bombs]

On 1/18/2021 at 11:57 PM, MtlJeff said:

 

How do they compare in size to the Apex and previous 5's like the Z585?

 

I prefer the ZX5 shaping over the old Apex. A little less rounded on the edge and a bit more squat looking.

 

From memory the ZX5 sole width is a shade wider. Blade length similar. Top lines similar too. 

[dsdouin0923]

On 1/17/2021 at 3:31 PM, MtlJeff said:

 

Cool thanks, yeah for sure I will. I haven't found too many forged GI clubs that I really loved . Either they are too small or I just didn't like them for whatever reason. 

 

The set that best describes one I DID like was the JPX850 forged. If the ZX5 is like that I would really be interested 

 

I moved from the Mizuno to 2016 Apex Pros which were probably a tad smaller than I prefer

 

On 1/17/2021 at 3:31 PM, MtlJeff said:

 

Cool thanks, yeah for sure I will. I haven't found too many forged GI clubs that I really loved . Either they are too small or I just didn't like them for whatever reason. 

 

The set that best describes one I DID like was the JPX850 forged. If the ZX5 is like that I would really be interested 

 

I moved from the Mizuno to 2016 Apex Pros which were probably a tad smaller than I prefer

The zX series is super clean.  Just hit the 5 and 7... probably will get a progressive set due to how clean the top line is on the 5 series.  The amount of shaft options for no upcharge is also a great selling point for srixon 

[ANimz]

I was fitted into ZX5's.  I had played Titleist 714 AP1's for quite a while.  These are exactly what I wanted.  More of a better players look with really solid forgiveness.  I have played one round, and it was in the middle 50's, and I honestly faced a lot of headwind throughout the round.  The flight I am seeing is a penetrating launch, and a relatively sharp decent angle.  I feel like the flight will take some getting used to, as I will have to club up a bit more in colder weather and headwinds.  I had no problems working the ball.  I played 4 really good cut shots, and I have a natural draw.  I could not play cut shots with the AP1's, and I fell in love with that.  I was able to flight the ball relatively low, when needed, for what the club is.  No tiger stingers, but you can definitely get under the wind.  

 

Look great, thinner looking topline that way I am used too, workable, soft feel, and forgiving.  Really love the fact that there isn't a ton of offset either, as I feel that increased my chances of a big miss left.  I had 0 hooks in my round, and that had typically been standard for my previous long irons.  Probably the straightest irons I have ever hit.  I don't love the flight, but as long as I can adjust, I will manage for all the other Pro's for these irons.  

[tbonetw]

I tested the Apex, ZX5, and G425 a week ago. At address I think the Srixon is the best looking of them. I felt like the new 

Apex felt the best. It feels much better than the 2016. I didn't hit the last model. Performance wise the G425 won handily for me. The G425 is definitely more forgiving. They are all long, but the G was a few yards longer than the other 2. The biggest issue I'd have with the ZX5 & the apex is the spin rates. Really low spin. So spin, launch and yardage was nearly identical on those two. The G had spin rates fairly close to what a players club would be. 6000 range on a 7 iron which is playable. 

I enjoyed hitting them all. I'm considering a GI experiment. I will likely order a set of G425 with the PX shaft. I wish they had a touch less offset and a little better feel, but I'll sacrifice that to get the best performance. 

[jol]

Bringing this topic around again. My club in Florida is finally getting Srixon in for a fitting day next week.
Would love to hear anyone's experience comparing these two offerings.

[boycer]

We have to hare more feedback on these. Let's hear it wrx. 

[jjfcpa]

Previously played the Titleist T300 and liked them, but when the Apex 21's were released, I decided to go back to the Apex line having played the Apex 16's before the T300's.  The T300's are good clubs but missed the feel of the Apex.

 

I've been playing the Apex 21's for the last month and a half and they are long and consistent with great feel.  I'm a senior golfer so I consider distance and feel to be the most important aspects of selecting a set of irons.  The Apex's are at least a club longer than the T300 and I'm getting a little better launch angle with the Apex.  

 

I did have a set of Z585's back when I was playing the Apex 16's and they gave up at least one club in distance to the Apex although they felt very good.  

 

I think the turf interaction of the Apex 21's is really good.  I also blended the set with the Apex DCB in the 5 and 6 iron and, while I'm not sure it really helped that much with distance, they are solid clubs and offer a nice feel.  Very forgiving and good launch numbers with them.

[K-Hook]

I'm currently gaming Mizuno JPX900 forged but was interested in both the Apex 21 & Srixon Zx5 given the great reviews they have both received. I hit both, Apex on trackman and the Zx5 out on the range. For me personally I didn't really like the Apex 21, wasn't hitting it all that well and more importantly the feel wasn't that good in my opinion. I was expecting the Apex 21 to be softer. Now the Zx5 was nice. Felt much softer off the face despite both of them being 2 piece forged. Also felt the Zx5 was more forgiving and higher ball flight/trajectory. Both about the same size top line but the Zx5 has sharper lines where the Apex more rounded. Zx5 has a wider sole as well. Both I would say are in the "Players Distance" category and not game improvement. Callaway has the DCB and Srixon got the Zx4 for that. Similar to Mizuno's JPX where you got the hot metal, forged, & tour. Likewise Apex Pro & Zx7.

 

I am seriously considering making the move from my JPX900 forged to the Zx5. My JPX900 are definitely a little bit softer and more buttery when you hit the sweet spot given its a 1 piece forged head, however a bit more forgiveness and that vt sole on the Zx5 are really tempting.

[dalillama47]

1 hour ago, K-Hook said:

I'm currently gaming Mizuno JPX900 forged but was interested in both the Apex 21 & Srixon Zx5 given the great reviews they have both received. I hit both, Apex on trackman and the Zx5 out on the range. For me personally I didn't really like the Apex 21, wasn't hitting it all that well and more importantly the feel wasn't that good in my opinion. I was expecting the Apex 21 to be softer. Now the Zx5 was nice. Felt much softer off the face despite both of them being 2 piece forged. Also felt the Zx5 was more forgiving and higher ball flight/trajectory. Both about the same size top line but the Zx5 has sharper lines where the Apex more rounded. Zx5 has a wider sole as well. Both I would say are in the "Players Distance" category and not game improvement. Callaway has the DCB and Srixon got the Zx4 for that. Similar to Mizuno's JPX where you got the hot metal, forged, & tour. Likewise Apex Pro & Zx7.

 

I am seriously considering making the move from my JPX900 forged to the Zx5. My JPX900 are definitely a little bit softer and more buttery when you hit the sweet spot given its a 1 piece forged head, however a bit more forgiveness and that vt sole on the Zx5 are really tempting.

I'm a big Srixon fan boy, and thought for sure the ZX5's were going to be very good for me coming from a mixed set of 585/785.  Could not for the life of me get solid contact consistently with the ZX5's. The soles being a bit thicker just didn't work.  Have since gone to a full set of ZX7's and it's so much better contact for me.  I have hit the Apex and I agree with you that they may not feel as nice as the ZX5, but turf interaction was good on those as well.  Just be careful with that wider sole.  I know some say it shouldn't matter, but it does.  

[K-Hook]

2 minutes ago, dalillama47 said:

I'm a big Srixon fan boy, and thought for sure the ZX5's were going to be very good for me coming from a mixed set of 585/785.  Could not for the life of me get solid contact consistently with the ZX5's. The soles being a bit thicker just didn't work.  Have since gone to a full set of ZX7's and it's so much better contact for me.  I have hit the Apex and I agree with you that they may not feel as nice as the ZX5, but turf interaction was good on those as well.  Just be careful with that wider sole.  I know some say it shouldn't matter, but it does.  

Yeah I have bit of a sweepers swing and don't hit down on the ball as much, so I tend to hit them thin or when I try a steeper swing I tend to chunk them. I also just tried the zx5's on the range, I'm interested how they would do out on the course. At the moment I'm sticking with my JPX900 forged with NS Pro 950gh HT stiff shafts in them, I had KBS Tour 90 stiff for a bit but couldn't get the height/trajectory and spin I was looking for so I switched back and just changed the grips and swing weight. I'll game these for awhile until I can test the zx5's some more and the price goes down or see what else is out there that I might get on with. I appreciate your input on your experience with the zx5's though, I like to hear other peoples views and opinions!

[K-Hook]

Has anyone else struggled with ball striking or any other issues with the Srixon Zx5 wider sole? Also, any comments on the tour vt sole? Thanks

[Tamo Hawk]

I spent about a month looking  at options.  770, 790, T200, 921, Apex21 to replace my Ping Gs. Ended up at an outdoor range (mats tho) for a fitting with trackman.  
 

770 and 200 were out immediately.  790, 921, and Apex averages were about the same.  790 was a couple yards longer avg, but distance was not consistent.  

 

Apex was next in avg distance, still a couple that flew a little long, but feel was way better for me.  Was pretty enjoyable to hit and felt familiar (played Callaway until I moved from Diablo forged to JPX EZ).  
 

921 was the best in dispersion, and a few yards shorter than Apex, but the Mizunos just seemed muted and dull.

 

I spent a few weeks trying to NOT want the Apex, but every time I hit it again, it was solid.  I went in to do one final fitting for the proper shaft (95i stiff) and lie specs.  I hit shots with the Apex and my Ping on the simulator while he tried to find the right shaft.  Swing was pretty consistent and I was hitting the 7 iron 160-165 carry with pretty tight dispersion on the Apex.  It went a little left of target in general, but pretty much solidified my decision, even with a little too much distance dispersion, until…

 

He handed me a club and said sorry, it’s a different head, but the shaft you want to try.   Stripe, stripe, stripe ensued.  161 -163 carry, 3 yd baby fade one on top of the other.  He then brought another club and said if you like that, try this.  Not even close.  Went back to the first club, more solid shots, minimal dispersion.  Starting really testing it, forgiveness was ok, 145 carry a couple times off the toe and thin.  Turns out that was the ZX5.  The 7 was the one he tried to get me to like, but it wasn’t even close. 
 

The fitter tells me about Brooks and I laughed.  He just watched me hit balls for 30 minutes but apparently I had to confess that my swing wasn’t anything like Brooks, so that’s not really part of the decision:-)

 

In fairness, both fitters and my wife said the same thing, the overall performance and dispersion was really similar.  Pretty much within any margin of error no matter what brand.  So, cost and availability come into play.  Srixon is less expensive than Apex.  Availability was about the same, crap shoot for both, but a few weeks was minimum.  No advantage at that time.  

 

Final decision came down to which one was more fun to hit, and personally I think is also a better looking club, which was the Srixon.
 

I would never have considered Srixon so had to do my research, but frankly am sold and ordered this week (ZX5  5-A, ZX4 4 iron, ZX Utility 2 iron.  AND a bonus to me that I didn’t have to go back to Callaway irons  after swearing them off.
 

Full disclosure.  Had a 5 iron crack on the seam and they would not take care of it. But hey, it gave me a chance to try Mizuno, Ping, and now Srixon.  And I do have the Epic driver, that’s a solid beast for sure.

[Tiptx1122]

I played the Apex CF16 and liked them but I just bought a set of ZX5's and I'm not sure how the new Apex 21's compare to the ZX5 but I'm loving everything about them. They are very forgiving, long and has a great feel plus they perform every it as good as they look. Oh they are several $100 cheaper so it's an easy pick for me Srixon all the way

[Elee913]

I'm hitting my Ping 425 Max incredibly well (10-12 fairways hit every time, which for me is amazing).  But I have not been able to hit my Z585s at all, and it's killing me to be 120-180 yards out in the middle of the fairway and completely miss the green.  I've always been a stronger iron player than driver, and now I have zero confidence standing over the ball with my irons (wedges are still ok thank God).  I had come from the Big Bertha 19s, which I had been hitting great.  But having dropped my handicap from high teens to 11, I wanted a smaller clubhead.  My miss on the Z585 is thinning it.  I've wondered in other posts whether it's the v-sole (I am a sweeper, never take divots unless I chunk it).  The jury is still out for me on the sole.  But the Z585 isn't cutting it for me.

 

I tested out the Apex 21s a few weeks ago on a whim helping my brother try out drivers, and I loved it.  I've since gone back 2x to keep testing the Apex, and have settled into a groove on the DCBs over the Apex (which I also hit well, just not as cleanly as the DCBs, and I figure why not get as much help as I can get). I've been striking the DCBs really well inside, so much better than my Z585 even side by side.  Just cleaner strikes.  I have noticed that the shaft is 1/2" shorter on the DCBs and Apex's...kind of strange.  

 

I did try the Z5s, and honestly I'm having the same strike issues as I do with the Z585.  I'm just not getting clean strikes with the Srixons.  And maybe because of that, the DCBs feel better than the Z5s.  I honestly can't tell much of a difference in looks between the DCBs and the Z5s/Apex irons.  Looking down at both they look really similar to me, and I guess if the feel is similar and I can get better strikes with the DCB (and better dispersion/distance), seems like a no brainer.

 

I'd love some feedback though on the stats for the DCBs.  At the store, I'm getting a 109 ball speed, launching at 18-19 degrees, 42-43* descent angle, 26 yards peak height, 155 carry, 165 total distance.  But spin is only 4800-4900.  Are these stats ok with the DCB 7 iron (all hit indoors on mat at a PGASS)?  I feel like spin is low, but the other stats seem fine.  Should I try graphite shafts to increase spin?  I'm using a ProV1x in testing.  I am going to see a fitter this weekend.

 

At this point I don't see anything standing in the way of me changing out of my Z585s.