Expert Review: Srixon Golf Balls

Published on 03/14/2023 · 8 min readThinking of switching up your golf balls? Get to know Srixon golf balls with this comparative test by Golf Expert Rob H.
Rob H, Golf Expert
By Golf Expert Rob H

Photo by Rob H.

I have been employed by TaylorMade for most of my golf industry career, but I just ran out of my supply of TP5s, Project As, and TaylorMade Tour Response golf balls. I am ready for a change. It is always good to try new things or revisit old things, especially in golf where your ball speed, short game spin, approach shots, and swing mph can change with your game. Since I am not required to play a certain golf ball, I decided to revisit Srixon golf balls to see if they could help my accuracy and long game!

I have always been a believer in these golf balls from the performance and durability side. But the best thing is they are not a Titleist golf ball! I never liked being a crowd follower, so I typically do not like to play products that a vast majority of golfers are playing. I want to play a premium golf ball and demo a variety of Srixon balls to find the best golf balls for me from this major manufacturer with category-leading performance.

I am going to test out the following golf balls: Q-Star Tour, Z-Star, and the Z-Star XV, to find the best ball for me.

Srixon does make a high velocity distance two-piece golf ball, appropriately named the Srixon Distance Ball designed to increase driver distance for high handicappers, that I will not be testing. These balls are most comparable to a Callaway Supersoft or a Titleist Tour Soft. I am also not testing golf balls from any different manufacturers like the Callaway Chrome Soft X, Titleist AVX, Wilson DOU Soft, Bridgestone Tour B RXS, or any off-brands from Vice Golf, such as the Vice Pro, Pro Plus, or the Kirkland Signature golf ball. I will also not be testing three-piece or four-piece premium balls from other different brands, like the Callaway Chrome Soft.

These are all more premium Srixon soft feel golf balls with multiple layers and beginners or players with slower swing speeds (such as seniors) do not necessarily need to spend extra for these soft feel ball options. However, they should make sure they're getting the best Srixon golf ball for their own game, ball flight, and greenside spin needs, just as tour professionals or higher swing speed players who play the brand—like avid players, Cameron Champ, Inbee Park, Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry, or Hideki Matsuyama—would do as well.

A Curated Golf Expert with expertise in fitting a ball design that plays its best for each skill level from average golfers to the low handicapper can help with that. Whether needing low spin to reduce slices and hooks, or need a fastlayer core to energize slow swing speeds or a ball that reduces drag for powerful distance, there is a golf ball for you. Conversely, if you have a high swing speed or fast swing speed like Tiger Woods and are on the fence, hopefully, this demo with a discussion about the golf ball compression rating and high-compression golf balls to low-compression balls will be helpful to you.

The Tester

Before we jump into the test, I want to mention that I am not sponsored or paid by Srixon Golf with no obligation to write this article. I purchased these high-quality golf balls to do this review.

I have been a fan of Srixon balls and their exceptional performance since my old retailer I worked at brought them in to sell, back in 2006. I loved playing and selling the AD333 when it came out. It had a great price point and provided as good, if not better control, then some of the tour performance golf balls providing a tremendous value.

As for me, I play at least nine holes a week. I am currently a 10 handicap. When I was practicing every day of the week, I was down to a 2 handicap.

The Subjects

Srixon Q-Star Tour Golf Balls

This golf ball features Energetic Gradient Growth Core Technology, a 338-speed dimple pattern, and a proprietary Urethane cover called Spin Skin. This is a multi-piece golf ball. This ball's rubber core is much softer than the following tour balls, and you will have a soft feel on all your shots. The Q-Star Tour is a lower-compression golf ball with a high compression rating of around 75.

This ball comes in pure white and tour yellow color options.

Srixon Z-Star Golf Balls

In the Z-Star, Srixon engineers designed a three-piece golf ball that also features Energetic Gradient Growth Core Technology, along with a 338-speed dimple pattern, and Spin Skin. This golf ball is all about soft feel on all shots, and is a low-compression golf ball (the medium-compression golf ball option for this blind test) with a rating of around 90, similar to a Titleist Pro V1.

This ball comes in pure white.

Srixon Z-Star XV Golf Balls

The Z-Star XV is a four-piece ball that features dual cores in addition to Energetic Gradient Growth Core Technology, a 338-speed dimple design pattern, and Spin Skin. This ball differs from the non-XV version because it produces lower spin with a slightly high launch. You will find a firm feel off the driver and a little more of a clicking sound on iron and wedge strikes. This is a higher-compression golf ball. The ball's compression rating is around 102.

This ball comes in pure soft white.

The Test

I had one of my lab assistants white out all the identifying markers on the golf balls and assign them numbers. My assistant will know which golf ball is which and I will be totally blind.

To test these golf balls, I am going to hit various shots with the same golf club to see which one performs the best for me. I am going to try shots from various locations hitting three shots with each ball. All these golf balls have a cast urethane cover and have softer feel specifications and a thin cover with spin skin technology, which should be especially noticeable on the short wedge shots to provide greenside control.

Once I am done with my testing, my lovely assistant will hand me the number she assigned to each ball. Let’s dive into the performance!

The Results

Around the Green

I was really surprised. All the golf balls felt the same around the green. All of them produced great friction and wedge spin, enough to stop the ball where I wanted them to with my trajectory preference. I really could not tell them apart, except for the clicky sound off of the XV ball. They also had good alignment cues and were comparable with the putter at greenside performance.

75 Yards

There definitely was some separation between the golf balls in this test. The XV ball rolled out just a little more than the other two despite the high approach. The Q-Star Tour ball and the Z-Star ball also launched higher off of my wedges and generated a little more spin consistency for more short game control.

150 Yards

This range had similar results for most of the golf balls and it was hard to pin which one grades the best. I think with the full shot, I was able to get more of the XV ball to compress. All the golf balls felt great from the fairway, and the clicky sound on the XV seemed to be a bit softer, most likely due to more of the golf ball being compressed. The Z family balls were a little more workable than the Q-Star Tour, mainly due to the softer compression.

Driver

The XV showed its teeth on my driver shots. It had a higher but penetrating ball flight and maintained low driver spin compared to the other golf balls. The Z-Star was about 5 yards on average behind the XV and had the second less spin. The Q-Star Tour was only a yard or so behind the Z-Star. This was the only test where I could have predicted the results before we started. The XV was built to maximize distance and to appeal to levels of golfers who are looking for the next extreme distance upgrade to their game to stop hitting irons instead of chips into par 4s.

Conclusion

The winner for me was the XV golf ball. The little extra distance off the tee and the spin I can get from full-swing shots will fit my game nicely.

Overall, though, I think the real “star” here is the Q-Star Tour. It was hanging with the tour ball providing tour-caliber greenside spin and it is more reasonably priced (approx $30 vs. $40 for the Z family). The Q-Star Tour has a softer core than the other balls tested and would be a great choice for mid to high handicaps or moderate swing speed players.

If these golf balls do not appeal to you or if you have more moderate swing speeds, try the Soft Feel line or the Q-Star. They contain soft cores, have ionomer covers, and are a two-piece construction. Their price points range around $20-25 and they come in varying colors.

If you have any questions about which golf ball would be right for your elite game, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or a fellow Curated Golf Expert.

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Srixon Q-Star Tour 3 Golf Balls
$34.99
Srixon Z Star 7 Golf Balls
$34.99$44.99
Srixon Z Star XV 7 Golf Balls
$14.97$44.99

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