Gear: Srixon ZX7 Mk II irons
Price: $1,199.99 with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour shafts or KBS Tour Lite steel shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips. $1,299.99 with UST Mamiya Recoil Dart graphite shafts.
Specs: Forged 1025 carbon with progressive grooves.
Available: Jan. 20
Who It’s For: Golfers who want tour-level maneuverability and feel in a compact, cavity-back iron.
The Skinny: The ZX7 Mk II irons enhance the feel of impact for elite players with the addition of the PureFrame weighting system while still allowing golfers to shape the ball.
The Deep Dive: While some golfers who shoot in the low 70s (or better) still prefer a muscleback blade iron, many accomplished players prefer an iron design that provides more game-enhancing features than blades typically offer.
For them, Srixon is offering the ZX7 Mk II irons, an updated design that blends several features and a new technology to enhance feel and control.
Forged from 1020 carbon steel, the most significant change in the ZX7 is the addition of PureFrame. While Srixon’s game-improving ZX4 Mk II and ZX5 Mk II irons are made with MainFrame (a technology that involves channels, ridges and cutout areas on the inner-facing side of the face that increase ball speed), PureFrame creates a thicker region directly behind the center of the hitting area on the back of the head. Srixon said making this region up to 80 percent thicker amplifies the feel created at impact, which is critical for golfers who typically generate all the distance and power they need.
To help players maintain speed through the hitting area, Srixon designed the ZX7 Mk II irons with its Tour V.T. sole. It creates a ridge that runs down the center of the sole from heel to toe, with the leading-edge side having extra bounce. The back half of the sole has less bounce but plenty of trailing-edge relief. There are also notches in the heel and toe areas that reduce the amount of surface area on the bottom of the club. All those features combine to help the ZX7 Mk II irons avoid digging and press through the ground more efficiently.
As with the other ZX Mk II irons, the ZX7 Mk II irons have progressive grooves, with the 3-iron through 7-iron having wide, traditional grooves while the 8-iron through attack wedge have deeper grooves that are packed closer together. Srixon said this should help increase spin and precision on approach shots.
Srixon also added a small piece of tungsten in the toe of in the long and mid-irons to increase the perimeter weighting and boost stability on off-center hits.
When the ZX7 Mk II irons are set down in the address position, golfers will see a classic shape with a compact blade length, minimal offset and a relatively narrow topline. Interestingly, all the ZX Mark II irons have the same topline width, which can make creating a blended set easier.
