Srixon Z-Star Golf Ball Review

May 20, 2011, 12:12 am
admin
In Golf Balls

Srixon Z-Star Golf Ball Review

Titleist has dominated the premium golf ball market for years with its Pro V1 and Pro V1X. However, competitors such as Taylormade, Bridgestone, and Srixon are certainly closing the gap on the iconic brand. With PGA professionals such as Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk hyping the Srixon Z Star for some time now, I thought I would give the golf ball a shot to see how it compares with the Pro V1.

Like the Titleist Pro V1, the Srixon Z-Star is a three piece golf ball designed for great spin and control around the greens while not losing any distance off the tee. The core of the golf ball is one of the firmest you will find anywhere (if you want to know the technical jargon, it is called the energetic gradient growth core), while the outside of it has a thin urethane cover that helps with both feel and distance.

Long Game

As far as the long game (driver, irons) I thought the golf ball performed on par with the Pro V1. For the driver, the distance was about the same as the Pro V1, maybe a couple yards short at times but not much of a real difference to tell. The spin off of the clubface was great and actually performed a little better than the Pro V1 did. I also found the Z-Star to be more durable than the Pro V1 after hitting numerous driver shots with both balls. Regarding the irons, the Z-Star was just as good as the Pro V1 when it came to both spin and trajectory. You know you are hitting a top quality golf ball when you can get some spin off of mid to high iron shots, and I certainly had many with the Z-Star. One minor difference that I found with the Z-Star is that it had somewhat higher trajectory than the Pro V1. This can be a good or bad thing depending on your swing and where you are, but I thought it was helpful for my three handicap swing.

Short Game

The short game really determines whether a premium golf ball like the Z-Star is worth the money, and it disappointed me on and around the green unfortunately. The problem with the Z-star that I found was in its stopping action. It just did not stop like the Pro V1 did, especially when it came to bunker shots. On normal chips around the green it performs okay, but if you are a bump and run kind of chipper like me it doesn’t check up as much as the Pro V1 did when I was testing it out on the golf course. When putting the Z-Star has somewhat of a more firm feel to it as opposed to the Pro V1. I am more of a firm kind of player anyways so I was able to drain more putts with it than the Pro V1, but if you are looking for a softer feel on the greens then do not go with the Z-Star.

Overall Impression

My overall impression of the Srixon Z-Star is that while it may be a little bit better for the long game, it is not as good as the Pro V1 when it comes to the short game. If the short game is one of your strong suits and are looking for a (somewhat) cheaper alternative to the Pro V1, consider trying out the Srixon Z-Star. If it isn’t, stick with the Pro V1 or consider trying the Bridgestone B330.

Check out some great deals on new and used Srixon Z-Star Golf Balls.