GOLD
GOLD
GOLD
GOLD
‘Love the textured back
OVERALL RATING ★★★★★ PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ INNOVATION ★★★★ ½ LOOK • SOUND • FEEL ★★★★★
OVERALL RATING ★★★★ ½ PERFORMANCE ★★★★ ½ INNOVATION ★★★★ ½ LOOK • SOUND • FEEL ★★★★
OVERALL RATING ★★★★ ½ PERFORMANCE ★★★★ INNOVATION ★★★★ ½ LOOK • SOUND • FEEL ★★★★ ½
OVERALL RATING ★★★★★ PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ INNOVATION ★★★★ ½ LOOK • SOUND • FEEL ★★★★★
‘Feels like a players iron. More centre
and how it looks at address. Good feedback in the hands. Consistent and workable. Could hit a fade or draw.’ – 7-HANDICAP
‘I like the gradual progression of the topline. Minimal offset. Longest I’ve hit.’ – 6-HANDICAP
strikes and fewer toe misses, which is my usual miss.
‘Soft feel through impact. Shots launch high with distance. Forgiving, too.’ – 14-HANDICAP
Nice increase in distance.’ – 11-HANDICAP
PXG 0311 XP GEN6 R32 000
PING G430 R25 000
MIZUNO JPX923 HOT METAL R21 000
SRIXON ZX4 Mk II R22 000
WHY WE LIKE IT If you’re a player seeking raw distance, you might be drawn to an iron named Hot Metal. The achievement in this club is that it’s able to bring high ball speeds through metallurgy. Mizuno used nickel chromoly 4335 – a strong steel alloy used in military aircraft – to create the thinnest face of any Mizuno iron ever. Of course, a hotter face brings a powerful sound. In this case, Mizuno was able to neatly walk the line of producing audio that was pleasing and have others in your fourball take notice.
WHY WE LIKE IT When you have success with an iron line, you’re not going to mess with it much. Still, tiny changes here equal big benefits. A proprietary heat-treating process created a super-strong 17-4 stainless steel that allows for more face flexing. This results in the much sought-after combination of increased distance and higher max height. The sole was altered, too. Approximately 1 degree of bounce was added to each iron to promote the kind of clean turf interaction that mitigates the effect of fat shots.
WHY WE LIKE IT It’s easy to be drawn in by the lighter and more flexible core material or the interior groove around the face that helps the face bend at im- pact, but more than doubling the amount of tungsten in the heel and toe areas gets our at- tention. Although the heft is a nice bonus in a players or players-distance iron, the game- improvement crowd misses the centre of the face more than they hit it. This makes the sta- bility/forgiveness boost received from putting extra weight in those areas noteworthy.
WHY WE LIKE IT Arguably the most technologically advanced iron in Srixon’s line, the ZX4 Mk II brings all the power one could want. The cast, multi-piece hollow-body iron features a forged high-strength steel face insert that has the ball coming out of the blocks like an Olympic sprinter. That’s not just from the springy metal though. Srixon used a supercomputer to simulate thousands of impacts, and a variable-thickness face pattern was milled into the backside of the face insert to maximise ball speed.
• Sole width is slimmer to be more in line with ZX5 Mk II. • Tungsten in the toe of the long, mid irons increases stability. • A forged high-strength steel face insert creates more flex. • 7-iron: 28.5 degrees; PW: 43 degrees
• An ultra-thin maraging-steel face enhances ball speed. • A perimeter channel behind the face allows deflection. • Core material reduces mass, allowing weight to be moved. • 7-iron: 27 degrees; PW: 41 degrees
• Flex zones on the badge deliver ball speed, better feel. • A compact head, shorter hosel help lower the CG. • Stronger lofts stay mindful of distance gaps. • 7-iron: 29 degrees; PW: 41 degrees
• A 360 cupface provides maximum rebound. • The design is based on more than 175 000 fitting sessions. • A thicker face on the 8-iron eases transition to short irons. • 7-iron: 28.5 degrees; PW: 42.5 degrees
BALL FLIGHT
BALL FLIGHT
BALL FLIGHT
BALL FLIGHT
Lower
Higher
Lower
Higher
Lower
Higher
Lower
Higher
SENSORY
SENSORY
SENSORY
SENSORY
Softer
Firmer
Softer
Firmer
Softer
Firmer
Softer
Firmer
PLAYABILITY
PLAYABILITY
PLAYABILITY
PLAYABILITY
Workable
Forgiving
Workable
Forgiving
Workable
Forgiving
Workable
Forgiving
TOP 5 BEST SOUND/FEEL, GAME-IMPROVEMENT IRONS, LOW-HANDICAPS
TOP 5 MOST FORGIVING, GAME-IMPROVEMENT IRONS, HIGH-HANDICAPS
TOP 5 BEST LOOKING, GAME-IMPROVEMENT IRONS, LOW-HANDICAPS
TOP 5 BEST SOUND/FEEL, GAME-IMPROVEMENT IRONS, LOW-HANDICAPS
83 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 84
HOTLIST 2024
HOTLIST 2024
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