Srixon Z F85 Fairway Review – The Srixon Z F85 fairway follows the same design principles as the Z 785 driver but in a body made of steel rather than titanium.
The Z F85 also uses a carbon crown to save weight and give the fairway a distinctive look, which is welcome, but a little unusual in a fairway, especially one that will come to the market at under £200.
Srixon Z F85 Fairway
This moves mass to the edges of the head to improve the MOI, but given the smaller head size of the fairway compared to the driver the effect may not be as pronounced.
The thinner crown also features what Srixon are calling a Crown Step that sees a small drop from the leading edge to the crown.
It looks similar to the sister Cleveland Launcher HB fairway without being as deep and ironically it is about the same price too.
This Crown Step helps lower the centre of gravity more and gives a strong leading edge visual at address that I am not really sure about.
The HT1770 steel Cup Face is a stronger steel than the rest of the body and wraps around the front of the head to increase speed across the face.
This gives the Z F85 a good sound and feel at address and the head is pretty forgiving for its size.
The rather subdued looking head is a little on the compact side and a touch closed so it doesn’t have the presence for me of the Z 785 driver.
There is a variable 3 part bulge and 2 part roll on the face that aims to suit different swing speeds and it was pretty straight for a head of this size.
Whilst the 18° fairway was easy to launch, the 15° version was a little harder work and with the fixed hosel there is no way to adjust the loft if you need to.
This could be a forgiveness thing or the stock shaft which is a Project X HZRDUS Red that is very stable and excellent quality in a fairway of this price.
Whilst the Z F85 is a decent enough fairway at a reasonable price, it is not really setting the heart on fire enough to make it stand out from the crowd.
Picture
Reviewed By Martin Hopley – Golfalot.com
