The Srixon Z 785 irons replace one of the most underrated irons of the last two years in the Z 765, so it has a lot of live up to.
Thankfully Srixon has improved things further by making the Z 785 feel a little better and offer a touch more forgiveness.
The Tour Cavity has been modified with more weight moved towards the toe and a little more mass put behind the centre.
The MOI is slightly lower than before but there was not a noticeable increase in launch, just the same consistent flight. The Z 785 almost looks like a blend of the previous 765 and 745 models and the clean looks give it a better players’ feel.
The top line is a little thinner and this gives it a slightly sleeker look than the 765.
The sole seems a little narrower on the Z 785 too and the camber on the Tour V.T. Sole has been modified to be greater on the leading edge with a standard bounce of 19 degrees instead of a variable one.
The trailing edge bounce has been reduced a little so the effect is to change the angle at which the sole enters the ground and through the turf the Z 785 is as efficient as it was before.
The lofts are the same as before and a degree or so weaker in the 6 to 8 irons than the Z 585 which is where most people would break the set if they were blending the two models.
Testing the Z 785 against the previous Z 765 on GC2 with Titleist Pro V1x balls you could see that the new model was a few yards longer because it was a little faster off the face and had slightly less spin.
This could be because of the difference in shafts, but I would not rule out the new muscle back design changing the spin to improve the performance.
The Z 785 are forged from a single billet of 1020 Carbon steel so the feel is there but what makes this stand out for me is the mid-sized head shape that combines feel, performance and forgiveness for single figure handicappers.
The mid to short irons are excellent and even low single figure players could benefit from having some of the larger cavity back Z 585 irons at 4, 5 and maybe 6 iron for greater distance consistency.
The sets are made to be blended so check out on a launch monitor to see where you break point should be as you might be surprised.
The Z 785 are towards the top end of the iron market by price, but pretty good value when compared to the other forged cavity back irons, so this is one of the irons that should definitely be on your shortlist.