ZX5 vs. ZX7 -- a 6HC's review

[Russ757]

I'm a bit of a mess. Long time zx5 guy with cbx 2s for wedges. Was able to hold off temptation until last month but ran across a zx7/Z forged setup I couldn't pass on. The zx7 in the 5 and 6 are more than I should be using so sticking with the 5s there. But, previously played the blades and only sold when I ordered the zx5s. First range session reminded me just how good those heads are. 

 

But felt a bit weird going zx5 5&6 then z forged 7-pw then going back to cbx2s. So got some full face zip cores coming in. 

 

While pursuing, ran across a zx5/zx7 combo that are now heading this way...i have a feeling ill end up w the zx5 5-7, zx7s 8-gw, then full face 54 and 58.. 

 

I was doing so well until now. 

 

I'll put up some comparison pics once everything arrives. 

 

 

Oh and a zx utility 23 came yesterday... 

Edited July 25, 2021 by Russ757

[kiwihacker]

5 hours ago, Russ757 said:

I'm a bit of a mess. Long time zx5 guy with cbx 2s for wedges. Was able to hold off temptation until last month but ran across a zx7/Z forged setup I couldn't pass on. The zx7 in the 5 and 6 are more than I should be using so sticking with the 5s there. But, previously played the blades and only sold when I ordered the zx5s. First range session reminded me just how good those heads are. 

 

But felt a bit weird going zx5 5&6 then z forged 7-pw then going back to cbx2s. So got some full face zip cores coming in. 

 

While pursuing, ran across a zx5/zx7 combo that are now heading this way...i have a feeling ill end up w the zx5 5-7, zx7s 8-gw, then full face 54 and 58.. 

 

I was doing so well until now. 

 

I'll put up some comparison pics once everything arrives. 

 

 

Oh and a zx utility 23 came yesterday... 

Lol - I am happy with my ZX 5 5-PW and CBX2 50° wedge but must admit getting the ZX7 in 7-PW as an 'alternative' setup to try/play from time to time is very appealing. 😁

[SteelieD]

Glad I found this thread. Been trying to decide between the 5’s and the 7’s (leaning 5’s). Glad to see y’all liking these so much. Best looking irons out there IMO

[Lefty_89]

Went to a fitting on Friday, hit 6 different heads and ZX7 was the chosen one. I had never hit a Srixon club in my life and insanely surprised at the performance.

 

Pairing them with KBS Tour V 125 S+

 

Can't wait to get them on order this week!

[Russ757]

Yep.. Hot mess. Let me know if you want comparisons before I list them 

 

 

[BostonWRX]

Anyone get any flyers with their zx5? First time playing distance beefier irons. Was on the tee of a par 3 hit my normal 185 shot and the thing went right over the flag upper deck of the trees. Had to of been 20 yards long atleast randomly 

Edited July 30, 2021 by BostonWRX

[ob1soccer]

sounds like a great problem to have, did u eat a big breakfast?

[rondre3000]

5 hours ago, BostonWRX said:

Anyone get any flyers with their zx5? First time playing distance beefier irons. Was on the tee of a par 3 hit my normal 185 shot and the thing went right over the flag upper deck of the trees. Had to of been 20 yards long atleast randomly 

Nope.

 

Great strikes go marginally longer, but in my experience so far (approx 4 months) these are very consistent with yardage control.

[BostonWRX]

18 minutes ago, rondre3000 said:

Nope.

 

Great strikes go marginally longer, but in my experience so far (approx 4 months) these are very consistent with yardage control.

I’ve got about 5-6 rounds with mine. Was first time it happened. 

[Natural1]

1 hour ago, rondre3000 said:

Nope.

 

Great strikes go marginally longer, but in my experience so far (approx 4 months) these are very consistent with yardage control.

 

100% agree with this. You get out what you put in. Very consistent for a non-traditional construction.

[vancouver81]

No fliers at all. Pure shots go maybe 5 yards further, crappy shots go 5-10 yards shorter. Very consistent in the long irons. 

[Imp]

No fliers here either. I assume you're playing the same ball round to round? Or have you switched? I have found some balls offer more "opportunity" to have random fliers, not the clubs. (I.e. Cally Supersoft, Titleist TruSoft / TruFeel)

Edited July 31, 2021 by Imp

[BostonWRX]

2 minutes ago, Imp said:

No fliers here either. I assume you're playing the same ball round to round? Or have you switched? I have found some balls offer more "opportunity" to have random fliers, not the clubs. (I.e. Cally Supersoft, Titleist TruSoft)

Ya same ball always snell black. Must have just been a random fluke. Played 5/6 rounds never had an issue. Was just curious if anyone else ever did 

[Imp]

4 minutes ago, BostonWRX said:

Ya same ball always snell black. Must have just been a random fluke. Played 5/6 rounds never had an issue. Was just curious if anyone else ever did 

Same ball I play.  Never had a "huh" moment with this combo (other than obvious bad swing)....  

It took me about 5+ rounds to dial in the distance (it was a little longer) than my old clubs, but now that I have about 20+, it's going well. 😉

Edited July 31, 2021 by Imp

[Lefty_89]

Picked these up today - 2 weeks from the fitter

 

[Myherobobhope]

34 minutes ago, Lefty_89 said:

Picked these up today - 2 weeks from the fitter

 

Looking good! I’m on week 4 of my wait, which seems better than some other people.

[ob1soccer]

On 8/12/2021 at 10:02 PM, Lefty_89 said:

Picked these up today - 2 weeks from the fitter

 

sweet ferrules

 

[SuperDave]

Long time Z565 player and have loved them.  Recently fitted at Club Champion and was surprised how much I didn't like the feel of the ZX5's and you can image how much the ZX 7's felt so much better.  Then came performance, was hitting the ZX 7's so much better, distance same but better dispersion.

 

Needless to say I made the switch over to the ZX 7s.    Just waiting for the build to be complete.

[Tiptx1122]

I don't think the ZX7 felt all that much better then the ZX5's. That's more of a personal preference  as thats like saying the ZX5's are way more forgiving then the ZX7's. Both are fabulous looking and feeling clubs with more than enough forgiveness that is very close to any SGI irons out there.  I'm so glad I went all ZX5's as I never hit the ZX7 with the Recoil Smacwrap shafts only the Nippon's as they were very nice but having Recoil shafts is a great combo with my ZX5's...at least for me 

 

[kiwihacker]

In the past the club ho in me has bought other sets of irons just out of curiosity and to experiment with different sets and use them in casual rounds, practice rounds etc. But I always go back to my 'gamers' for competitive rounds. I'm playing a full set of ZX5 5-PW and I'm very happy with them but the ho in me is tempted to just buy the ZX7 7-PW as my alternative, casual, practice set. 

 

Cheaper than a full set I guess. 🤷‍♂️😈

[nostatic]

One advantage to moving to more hybrids is an iron set becomes much smaller and cheaper to experiment with 🙃

[timbo08]

On 7/31/2021 at 12:28 PM, BostonWRX said:

Ya same ball always snell black. Must have just been a random fluke. Played 5/6 rounds never had an issue. Was just curious if anyone else ever did 

 

Might have been a fluke but I think it has something to do with the "newer" forged face/flexible face design that's become prevalent the last 5-6 years in irons.  Could be totally wrong for sure since I've only personally experienced this with Callaway, both CF16 and CF19 models, especially on Par 3's off a tee. 

 

I've found that if I catch it a groove or two low on any of the "forged face" longer irons, typically a 6 iron, I catch a "clean lie" flyer that just tanks the spin and causes the shot to take off like a rocket.  Was relatively common on my CF16's, less so on the CF19's but it for sure happens.  That's just me, could totally be a swing flaw and probably is but food for thought. 

[bbjr]

I just picked up a set of Zx5’s in 5-AW and I have only had them in my hands for a few hours, but so far I’m impressed.  A little background on me, I have been a sweeper since I started playing a little more than 25 years ago.  I have always had a high ball flight and have had trouble flighting the ball down, but I can work the ball both left and right.  Some days I can be throwing darts with my irons, and other days I suffer with my low point control where I hit some thin, followed by the inevitable fat shot.  I am coming from a set of Mizuno MP18 MB’s, and I wanted to try the Zx5’s due to the sole design and to get a little forgiveness.

 

When I received them today, I took them on my sim just to see where my bag mapping is with them in the stock configuration.  They ended up being about a club longer on the short end of the bag and a club and a half longer on the long end.  They are giving me pretty close to a 15 yard gap right out of the box, although I think I can probably bend the PW and AW a degree or two weaker to really dial them in.  Oddly, even if I bend the AW to 51˚ or 52˚, it will still be 10-15 yds longer than my 52˚ Vega wedge that I play as my next wedge.

 

Then, I took them to the range.  We have a nice bent grass range where I play, so it gave me a nice opportunity to see how they interact with the turf.  This is where the irons really impressed me.  I know the general consensus is that the sole design pairs well with diggers, yet some sweepers/pickers seem to really like it.  I think this is because some of us who are sweepers have taught ourselves that swing because we are afraid to hit the dreaded fat shot.  When I was hitting these irons on the range today, I had full confidence to take a divot without hitting it fat, it was quite eye opening for me.  Also, I had no trouble hitting any of the trajectories that I was shooting for, and I still had the ability to work the ball left and right as well as I could with the MP18’s.  

 

I know I’ve only been able to take a couple hundred shots with them today, and with no actual course play, but I am looking forward to giving these a chance over the rest of the season.  

[Hawkeye77]

I was going to give my zx7s the entire season. They are great, 6-AW, but 6i has been a bit odd. 
 

For some reason I took them out of the bag and put my old Legacy Blacks back in for today. I haven’t touched them for a round of golf since last year. Shafts are same as I have in the Srixons. 
 

They were like old friends. Feel nice and soft and awesome and hit some super shots.  Ball flight a bit higher, turf interaction actually better, and the zx7s are no slouch. Sorry to say, but the zx7s are now on the bench. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

[BallerNate]

Any other long term reviews of the ZX5’s and ZX7’s?

 

For those who have combo’d them, have most of you gone with 4-5 in ZX5 and 6-PW in ZX7?

 

I’ve got the ZX5’s now in 4-5 and have an order in with Srixon for ZX7’s in 6-PW to replace my Z 785’s. On the fence for the 6-iron though whether I should go ZX5 there and bend it 1* weak, or  just go ZX7 there?

Edited September 6, 2021 by BallerNate

[mitchdoc]

Well it is now two months I have been using my ZX7 irons and my handicap has now dropped to an index of 5.0 which is the lowest it is been in over 20 years. I am 53 years old and I am hitting my irons as good as ever. I see no forgiveness loss of any significance compared to the five series. Additionally the feel is so much better as is the control and work ability. These just look so fantastic sitting behind the ball. I highly recommend them for anybody 10 handicap or lower.

[06VistaGT]

On 9/6/2021 at 12:13 AM, BallerNate said:

Any other long term reviews of the ZX5’s and ZX7’s?

 

For those who have combo’d them, have most of you gone with 4-5 in ZX5 and 6-PW in ZX7?

 

I’ve got the ZX5’s now in 4-5 and have an order in with Srixon for ZX7’s in 6-PW to replace my Z 785’s. On the fence for the 6-iron though whether I should go ZX5 there and bend it 1* weak, or  just go ZX7 there?

 

My exact set: 4 and 5 iron in the ZX5, 6-AW in the ZX7. 4+ rounds at this point. Only got the 4-iron this past week, so haven't even hit the range with it yet.

 

If anything, I would consider going ZX7 across the board. The ZX5 long irons are nice, don't get me wrong. But the sole is pretty chunky. And the ZX7 6-iron has been super easy to hit.

 

Can't really offer much from a gapping perspective yet. Just haven't played enough rounds. 

[BallerNate]

14 minutes ago, 06VistaGT said:

 

My exact set: 4 and 5 iron in the ZX5, 6-AW in the ZX7. 4+ rounds at this point. Only got the 4-iron this past week, so haven't even hit the range with it yet.

 

If anything, I would consider going ZX7 across the board. The ZX5 long irons are nice, don't get me wrong. But the sole is pretty chunky. And the ZX7 6-iron has been super easy to hit.

 

Can't really offer much from a gapping perspective yet. Just haven't played enough rounds. 

Good to know, thanks for the feedback.

 

Yeah, I got fitted for the ZX5’s back in March, but didn’t get to hit the ZX7’s as part of my fitting for whatever reason.

 

There’s a 15% part of me that really wants to love the ZX5’s and get a full set of them, but the 85% just prefers the smaller profile of CB/Blade type clubs, and prefers the turf interaction, feel, and control that they offer.

 

Like the Z 785’s in the 6-PW alongside the ZX5 4-5 irons, but everything I’m hearing about the forgiveness of the ZX7’s, and the forgiveness I’m already seeing in the ZX5’s is really appealing.

 

Thanks for the insight, I think realistically the 4-5 ZX5’s with the 6-PW ZX7’s should be awesome once I get my hands on them for sure!

[mukster]

Really enjoying my ZX5's added two Zipcore wedges, a 54* and a full face RTX 58*

I see no need to change my 8-PW to zx7s as the ZX5s are doing exactly what I want from them.

Playing them with the Modus 120 stiff. really starting to like those shafts.

 

 

[RoyalMustang]

On 6/14/2021 at 5:13 PM, nostatic said:

 

As far as I can tell on this and other forums, it is a small minority who have gone from ZX7 to 785. 

 

I'm not near scratch, play ZX7, bought/owned both ZX5 and ZX7 before finding that I hit the ZX7 better. And confirmed by my swing coach. Sold the ZX5s except for 5-6i. People should hit them both (and others) - ideally off grass - and decide for themselves. The forums are full of conventional wisdom that often is neither...

 

I doubt many players would see much, if any, improvement from going to a ZX7 to 785. Kind of like some of the tour players still gaming 718 AP2 over the newer T100.  There just aren't a lot of changes to irons at this level when a new model rolls out.  

 

It is more about whatever you can find the center of the clubface with, consistently.  

 

I have a set of 585 and I concur with you: great irons, but my MP20 MMC irons (equivalent to the 785/ZX7) are more forgiving and more consistent.  I just find the center of the club face more on those irons, and that is all that matters!