2019 Srixon Z-Star & Z-Star XV Golf Ball

The new 2019 Srixon Z-Star Golf Ball line aims to please by offering a softer feel, all while maximizing distance.  While I loved last year’s Z-Star, the Z-Star XV didn’t offer the greatest feel in the “distance ball” arena.  Can they improve on both?  I’ll take a look below at the new 2019 version of the Srixon Z-Star Golf Balls – #BuiltForDistance.

How Does it Feel?

For me, feel in a golf ball is one of the most important factors, although it can be subjective.  The Srixon Z-Star golf balls tout a softer feel, but are they?  Let’s start with the Z-Star.  The “spin-focused” ball definitely is the softer of the two, and I found the Z-Star to be just a touch softer than last year’s model.  From the tee, approaches, chips, and putts, the feel was soft yet the ball still felt responsive.  Nobody wants to feel like they’re hitting a marshmallow with their clubs, and this certainly isn’t that.  There’s enough feedback on solid shots, while still giving you that soft feeling in the hands.

The feel of the Srixon Z-Star XV is what I think needed to be most improved from last year.  Last year’s ball felt very hard and too “clicky” for me.  With the 2019 Srixon Z-Star XV, I think Srixon made some great improvements in its feel, but still has some room to grow.  The feel is fairly soft compared to a lot of distance balls, but still has a little bit more of a firm “click” feel to it, especially on mishits.  Again, it’s a huge improvement from last year though, and it’s definitely worth testing against other balls on the market.  Keep in mind, your hands are different than mine and you may have a different sense of feel.

Off the Tee

With the 2019 Srixon Z-Star Golf Ball lineup, Srixon wants to deliver distance, and they definitely do.  I found the regular Z-Star model to give similar distances off of the tee to my current gamer, which is in the distance ball category.  I consider that a pretty big positive for a spin-focused ball.  The Z-Star XV was even a few yards further than its counterpart.

The one thing I will say about the regular Z-Star is that it can get spinny off of the tee.  Misses will exaggerate a bit more more because of the side spin generated.  However, if you’re a straight driver of the ball, it won’t be much of an issue.  Because of this, I also found it to have a marginally higher ball flight than last year’s model, to the tune of an extra degree of launch.

If you need more accuracy, take a look at the XV.  What the XV lacked in feel for me, it made up for in accuracy.  The Z-Star XV is long and straight, plain and simple.  In terms of spin, it averaged about 600 less RPMs for me than the standard Z-Star, which is considerable.  With that, each ball did what it was designed for – deliver distance with more spin in the Z-Star and less spin in the Z-Star XV.

On the Approach

Yet again, the Srixon Z-Star Golf Ball lineup fits two different types of golfers – those who need more spin, and those who want a straighter ball flight.  Off of irons, I found that the 2019 Z-Star spun significantly more than its predecessor.  The ball generates good backspin that can easily hold greens, but keep in mind, it will also generate more side spin as well.  If you like to work that ball, this is a good thing.  The Z-Star XV had a much straighter flight, and I found it to launch lower than the Z-Star.  That’s not to say that the XV doesn’t generate any spin, because it does.  I didn’t have problems holding greens with the XV either, it’s just not as “drop and stop” as the regular Z-Star.

Around the Green

Let’s start with the Srixon Z-Star.  It’s extremely soft off of the face of wedges and the putter.  It has a more muted sound to go with that, but again, still responsive.  The spin I was able to generate off of a wedge was actually a few hundred RPMs more than last year’s model, and i felt very in control of the ball around the greens.  The most important thing is that it performed consistently in terms of release, and how the ball reacted after the first hop.

The Srixon Z-Star XV is going to give you a little bit different performance around the greens.  The feel off the face of a wedge or putter is going to have a littler firmer feel and click sound to it.  However, I found the short game aspect of the XV to be worlds better than last year’s version.  Like the regular Z-Star, the XV is predictable in terms of performance, but the ball is going to give you some more release on chips/pitches.  Not a crazy amount, but it will definitely release more than the standard Z-Star.  You just need to adjust to it.  For those of you that play a Tour-level distance ball today, you’re probably used to this already.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think Srixon has produced two solid golf balls with the 2019 Z-Star Golf Ball lineup.  The regular Z-Star generates great spin and feel with solid distance, while the Z-Star XV gives an extra distance boost with added accuracy.  What I will say is go out and try a sleeve of both balls and get a feel for them to see which is best for you!

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