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Ball Lab – Srixon Z-Star XV Review
MyGolfSpy Ball Lab is where we quantify the quality and consistency of the golf balls on the market to help you find the best ball for your money. Today, we’re taking a look at the 2021 Srixon Z-Star XV. An overview of the equipment we use can be found here. To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls and our True Price metric, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.
With two models reviewed previously (and two others fully measured), Srixon is proving to be hit or miss in our Ball Lab tests. It’s fair to say the Q-Star Tour failed to live up to expectations while the prior-generation of Z-Star proved to be more in line with what golfers expect from Srixon. As we continue to measure Srixon golf balls, we’ve noticed some patterns across multiple models (detailed within).
Suffice it to say that while many of you love Srixon, we’re not entirely without some concerns.
About the Srixon Z-Star XV
The Srixon Z-Star XV is a four-piece golf with a urethane cover. It’s the firmer of Srixon’s two Tour offerings and, with the release of the new models, the compression gap between the two has grown.
The Srixon Z-Star XV is the company’s “X” ball in the Tour category. While Srixon describes it as low spin off the driver, it’s typically the higher spinning of the Srixon Z-series on full shots. Z-Star covers are likely the thinnest in golf and should provide enough spin around the greens to satisfy most golfers.
The XV is about 15 points firmer than the standard model so it should prove a bit faster, most appreciably off the driver.
Srixon makes the Z-Star XV at its factories in Indonesia and Japan. Our samples of the prior-gen ball referenced in the review were all made in Indonesia while our samples of the new model were all made in Japan.
Srixon Z-Star XV—Compression
On our gauge, the 2021 Srixon Z-Star XV measures 96 compression on average. That’s exactly the same value we measured for the previous generation. Other balls with similar compression values include the Snell MTB-X, Callaway Chrome Soft X and the Titleist Pro V1x.
Srixon Z-Star XV—Diameter and Weight
None of the balls in our Srixon Z-Star sample exceeded the USGA weight limit of 1.62 ounces.
We did flag 17 percent of the sample as not round. Perhaps notable, perhaps coincidentally, that’s exactly the same number of 2019 Z-Star XVs that failed to meet our standard of roundness. For 34 of the 36 balls tested, the diameter at the pole exceeded the average seam diameter. While we can’t be certain, one potential cause is over-polishing of the seam. Regardless of the causes, the wider pole measurement is something we’ve found with several Srixon models.
Srixon Z-Star XV—Inspection
Centeredness and Concentricity
As we’ve come to expect from four-piece balls, not every one of the cores in our Srixon Z-Star XV sample was perfectly centered. However, none was so far off-center as to have likely performance implications. Likewise, while there were a few minor concentricity issues with the outer layers, we didn’t find anything that rose to the level of significant defect.
Core Consistency
Across the sample, we noted two different core mixtures. Boxes 1 and 2 had an abundance of visible regrind material that was not present in the third box. Looking at the gauge data below, you’ll note that the third box was generally heavier, compression was a bit less consistent from one ball to the next and there was greater variation across the three points measured on each ball. We’re far from certain that these differences are directly related to the core mixture but that’s the one visible difference between boxes.
Cover
We noted no significant (or even minor) cover defects in any of our Srixon Z-Star XV sample.
Srixon Z-Star XV—Consistency
In this section, we detail the consistency of the Srixon Z-Star XV. Our consistency metrics provide a measure of how similar the balls in our sample were to one another relative to all of the models we’ve tested to date.
Nothing particularly stands out about the weight, diameter and compression consistency of the Srixon Z-Star XV golf ball. For all of the metrics we track, it falls solidly within the average range.
Weight Consistency
As noted, balls in the third box were a bit heavier on average. As a whole, the weight consistency of the Srixon Z-Star XV still falls within the average range.Diameter Consistency
Diameter across the sample as a whole falls within the average range. As noted, the ball tends to measure a bit wider at the pole with the differences between some pole and seam measurements exceeding what we define as round.Compression Consistency
Total compression consistency falls within the average range but, as with the Q-Star Tour, there is some nuance. There was an average compression-point spread of approximately 9.5 across the entire sample. That pushed the Z-Star XV into the higher end of our average range. The compression delta (the compression range across the three points measured on each ball) was only Fair with one ball exceeding what we allow by a fairly significant margin (the same ball failed to meet our roundness standard). This is also something we find at a higher than average rate with Srixon balls.True Price
True Price is how we quantify the quality of a golf ball. It's a projection of what you'd have to spend to ensure you get 12 good balls.
The True Price will always be equal to or greater than the retail price. The greater the difference between the retail price and the True Price, the more you should be concerned about the quality of the ball.
Srixon Z-Star XV—Summary
To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls and our True Price metric, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.
While we wouldn’t describe the Z-Star XV as a bad ball, the data we collected from the samples we purchased suggest it’s not without its quirks.
The Good
The Srixon Z-Star XV is Average across the board for our key consistency metrics.The Bad
Compression consistency within a single ball can be a bit of a mixed bag. Measures consistently wider at the pole, leading to a healthy percentage of balls that are out of round.Final Grade
The Srixon Z-Star XV gets an overall score of 70.
Although that’s perhaps not what fans of the brand were hoping to see, it still falls within our Average range.
For those who liked our previous metric, the “True Price” of the Srixon Z-Star XV is $51.54. That’s an increase of 20 percent over retail.
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