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

nostatic · July 13, 2021

On 5/23/2021 at 10:15 AM, K-Hook said:

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

Fwiw I hit the zx7 better than the zx5 (or i210 or HMP). I attribute it to sole width, though I’m not anywhere near scratch. My swing works better with narrower sole.

Edited July 13, 2021 by nostatic

driveandputtmachine · July 13, 2021

I tried everything this past winter through spring. I mean everything. Apex 21, Apex Pro, DCB, T100, T200, Sub 70 600 Pro and 639, i210, G410 and 425, P220, P7MC, P790, 921 Tour, 921 Forged, 921 HM, MiM, Forged Tec, RAD, Wilson CB, and I am sure a few others I missed.

I played Bridgestone J40 CB's longer than I had played any iron. However as my time to practice disappeared and had wrist surgery I wanted a change.

My Final five were the MiM, i210.g410 combo, Sub 70 combo, Srixon ZX, T100/T200. The MiM if they had a better blend into the RAD for a driving/long iron might have moved farther. Final three were the Titleist, Sub 70 and Srixon. I tried the Apex lineup considerably, as they look so good I wanted them to do better than they did. They finished 6th for me. Why were they 6th? Well the Pro's spun too much for me in the shorter irons I was able to try. The regular vs the ZX5? There was more offset on the Apex and the finish to my eye made it appear even more. I have seen this finish from Callaway look horrible on past instances of clubs, and prefer the finish. The ZX5 feels soooo much better as well.

The final test was on grass and luckily I was able to test a few clubs of each on grass. The turf interaction on the Srixon is what won me over in the end. On perfect strikes all were very close. Plus the blending of the Srixon set works better than any from 7,5,4,U than any other brand. I started with ZX7 in the 5 iron through PW. Then I decided to order a ZX5 in the 5 iron. I took one trip to the range to put it in the bag and pull the ZX7 5 iron. One day on the course where I played mixed tees to hit as many 5 irons as possible showed the ZX5 was the play in the 5 iron. Did the same thing in the ZX4 4 iron and Finally the ZXU 2 iron utility. Even if the ZX4 is not your cup of tea, using a ZXu in it's place will work fine as well.

In the end, the feel will be slightly different between sets, but you should get similar results off of mats with most clubs. Sure some may spin a little more and others a little less, but it won't be other worldly differences. Main thing is hit them off of grass if at all possible. You hit the ground AFTER the ball, but every swing is a bit different and will respond to previous interactions with the ground in the current swing. Even though it is after the ball your body still feels it, and if it is not pleasing your swing will change some. This is why people jive or don't jive with the sole of the Srixons, unless they hit every ball fat, because ball contact is always first.