The new Srixon ZXi RKT Woods represent one of the most ambitious development projects in the brand’s history. From the earliest stages to the final product, the goal wasn’t simply to improve upon the previous generation, it was to rethink every aspect of performance. Speed, sound, feel, forgiveness, workability. Nothing was off limits.
The result is a completely rebuilt lineup shaped by extensive Tour player feedback, relentless testing, and years of engineering work. Along the way, the team challenged themselves to their full capacity to explore new design approaches and created the most complete woods platform the company has ever produced.
This month, we sit down with Patrick Ripp, Srixon’s Tour Engineering Manager to discuss the journey from concept to completion, the critical role Tour players played throughout development, and why they believe these woods represent a major step forward for the future of Srixon in the metalwood category.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF PRODUCT CYCLE
Not every product cycle starts the same way. Sometimes engineers inherit a successful platform and focus on incremental improvements. This cycle was different.
Srixon set out to challenge virtually every aspect of the previous generation, asking fundamental questions about how a Srixon metalwood lineup should look, sound, feel, and perform. That approach created opportunities to rethink design choices that had existed for years while opening the door for entirely new ideas.
SRIXON'S MOST TOUR-DRIVEN WOODS LINEUP EVER
Tour feedback has always been important, but for the ZXi RKT Woods lineup, it became central to the development process. Players were involved earlier, feedback cycles became more frequent, and the engineering team worked closely with Tour staff to evaluate everything from shaping and visual preferences to performance, acoustics, and shot characteristics.
The result is a woods lineup influenced by some of the best players in the world but designed to benefit golfers at every level.
BUILDING SPEED AND SOUND INTO EVERY SWING
When golfers are testing new woods, two things usually stand out immediately: How fast they are, and how they sound.
For Srixon, those two elements were closely connected throughout development. The pursuit of greater ball speed led to the introduction of new technologies like RKT Face, while an equal amount of attention was devoted to refining the sound and feel players experience at impact with new ACOUSTICORE technology.
The challenge was creating a metalwood lineup that delivers speed consistently across the face while producing the kind of sound and feedback that inspires confidence on every swing.
THE FUTURE OF SRIXON WOODS
Creating the all-new ZXi RKT Woods wasn’t just about improving performance in a few key areas. It was an opportunity for Srixon to take a fresh look at its woods category and establish a new foundation for future innovation.
Throughout the development process, the team identified specific areas where they believed meaningful gains could be made. Speed remained a priority, sound was a big one, but so was consistency, player feedback, and the overall confidence golfers feel when standing over the ball. Rather than focusing on a single breakthrough, the goal was to elevate the entire experience.
That mindset led to a complete rethinking of the woods lineup and introduced new technologies, materials, and development processes that will influence future generations of Srixon products.
MEET PATRICK RIPP
Patrick Ripp is the Tour Engineering Manager and Principal Tour Performance Engineer for Dunlop Sports Americas. With 14 years of experience in the golf industry and an additional five years in aerospace engineering, Patrick brings a unique blend of technical expertise and player-focused innovation to product development. He began his career at Dunlop working on multiple Cleveland Golf RTX Wedge programs before expanding his role across all Tour product categories, helping guide the evolution of equipment for Srixon’s global Tour staff.
Before we wrap up, we asked Patrick some quick questions:
1. What is one club from Srixon’s history you'd modernize?
For irons, my answer would be the 945 and 745. But in a lot of ways, we’ve basically been doing that since the ZX irons launched.
For drivers, I’d like to modernize the ZX5 LS Mk II. That was a really good driver with a great shape and feel, but it lacked some of the modern technology in terms of materials and cosmetics. I’d love to take what was good about that driver and bring it forward with what we can do today.
2. What’s something golfers would be surprised to learn about the product development process?
I think they’d be surprised by how much attention to detail goes into the cosmetic decisions. Things like masking lines, alignment features, laser and decal placement, and the overall shaping at address all get a tremendous amount of attention. Small details can make a big difference in how a club looks and feels to a player.
3. What's one golf course you've never played but still want to?
There are too many to choose from. The obvious answer is Pebble Beach because it’s fairly close to us, but with the good vibes around New Zealand after Ryan Fox’s major win, I’ll go with Te Arai Links. I’ve always wanted to get to New Zealand, and the golf there looks amazing.
4. Favorite Tour stop of the year?
This may be a basic answer, but my favorite stop is Torrey, especially when the weather is good. The Del Mar area is great, the trailers are close to the range and course, and the views are incredible. Golden hour on the South Course overlooking the Pacific is hard to beat.
We also have an amazing Thai place that we go to basically every night we’re there because it’s so good. The combination of the golf course, location, views, and overall atmosphere makes Torrey pretty hard to beat for me.
5. What still gets you excited about a new launch?
For me, it’s the buildup and the potential of what could happen. We have close-to-final parts for a long time before launch, but we have to get to a good place with inventory and make sure the timing aligns with the marketing needs. With this generation, we knew we had a really good product that we were sitting on, and we just wanted to launch it in the most efficient way possible for the players.
That first week out is still incredible. You’ve done all the preparation with the parts and builds, and then you finally get to show the players the finished product and be there for their initial reactions and testing. Going from the range to the course during practice rounds and seeing how everything compares to their gamers is both fun and rewarding.
Then you get to watch them put the new product in play during tournaments and follow the stats. For this generation, the coolest moment was watching Fox over the weekend at the Open, and specifically watching him play 18 on Sunday. I was watching with my family, and we have young kids, so getting to experience that final hole and celebrate together as a family was a crazy feeling.
It was amazing to get that win and validate the new driver before the public launch. It set everything in the right direction and gave us a ton of positive momentum.
