Srixon Z 545 Driver Review – The Srixon Z 545 driver is the larger 460cc brother of the smaller 430cc Z 745 driver and a lot of the features are the same.
Srixon Z 545 Driver Review
A 6-4 titanium cup face is there to increase the ball speeds as the weld line is not on the face of the club. Combined with thinner heel and toe sections, Srixon claim a 35% larger sweet spot than previous models.
Srixon has also played around with the weight of the head, grip and the balance point of the Mitsubishi Kuro Kage shaft to try and eke out a few more mph.
In our tests on Trackman, the Srixon Z 545 was generating as much ball speed as the leading drivers in the market with a relatively low level of spin, so if you can get the launch angle right then it could go a long way.
At address the look is very classic with a simple, clean dark head and the colour scheme gives it a bit of a sinister look.
This contrasts with the white groove lines on the silver face and reminds me a little of the old Cleveland Launcher 460 driver with the gold shaft. I like seeing these lines at address, especially as this is a 9.5° head and you normally don’t see the loft on the face.
Srixon recently bought Cleveland and like all their recent drivers, weight is kept to a minimum and the Srixon Z 545 continues this tradition weighing in at 268g. It feels lovely and light to swing, yet with enough weight to feel and sound like you are giving the ball a good thump.
The trajectory is very good and around the medium height you would expect from this type of driver. The large face is reasonably forgiving and it still retains the ability to shape shots.
If you need a different flight then you can use the adjustable hosel and sole weights to change the set up of the Z 545. The hosel offers 3 different lie settings of Neutral, +1° and +2° and 2 different face angles of up to 2° open or closed, together with a few options in between.
There is an instruction book, which is useful as the notations on the shaft are not the clearest, but you would be well advised to be professionally fitted to get the optimum set up.
In the sole there are two weight ports for a white 3g and red 7g weight to be swapped between, whereas on the Z 745 driver there is just the front one.
This is the first driver I can remember with the back weight more towards the toe than the heel. What this means is that if you put the heavier 7g weight at the back it will create a fade bias, possibly to counter all the draw bias that the hosel settings will create.
Having this configuration does seem unusual to me, but it does do the job, so there must be something different about the weight balance of the Z 545 head. Personally, I preferred the 7g weight in the front position with a neutral hosel setting as it felt more balanced, although as expected, the spin decreased and I got a lower flight.
Overall the Srixon Z 545 is a quality driver that offers good forgiveness combined with some shot shaping if you want it. The adjustability options do offer some variability, although when they all increase the lie, it seems a little one dimensional.
It’s not particularly cheap so whilst Srixon diehards will not go wrong, others may want to check how it performs against other premium adjustable drivers to ensure that their investment delivers the correct set up for their swing.
Reviewed by Martin Hopley – Golfalot.com
Picture
