Srixon Z-Star Golf Balls(1 Dozen)

Srixon’s new premium ball is the Z-Star, which the company compares to the Titleist Pro V1, Callaway HX Tour 56, and TaylorMade TP Red—so much so that they’re offering a Money back Guarantee.

The Z-Star is a three piece affair, with a “Energetic Gradient Growth Core”, an ionomer mid-layer, and what Srizon says is a “super soft” urethane cover. It also features a new “powershear” 324 dimple design that hides the seam. The end result, Srixon says is Tour level distance, spin, and feel. 

If it matters to anyone, these are the balls being played by Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk.

While I’ve always found Srixon balls to be good, the company clearly is an also ran among the ball marketing machines. It’s good that they offer a money back guarantee, but the real way to attract customers would be to offer this premium ball for $10 less than the competition. Given the opportunity to purchase a $40 box of balls, everyone I know would purchase the Pro V1. I just don’t know how anyone competes with that—unless they offer the same (or better) performance at a lower price.

NIKE Juice Plus 312

The Juice Plus 312 is the latest from Nike. It’s a two piece improvement over the previous iteration of the model, with a new softer high-energy core and a 312 dimple design. The result, Nike says is improved distance and feel.

I’ve liked every Nike golf ball I’ve played, from the Power Distance Line to the Mojo to the One Tour, they’ve all had a nice feel and good performance. My only beef is that they lack durability.

TITLEIST Pro V1 2009

The new Pro V1s are here, and in its latest iteration, Titleist is promising more distance and more spin than ever before. This year’s version has a larger core for what Titleist promises is softer feel; the reformulation of the core’s material is supposed to offer more distance at the same time. The top layer now is correspondingly thinner, and its reformulation promises improved “Stop and Drop” performance. Not to worry, though, the new thinner layer, Titleist says, also offers improved durability (that would be quite a trick, as those things already are incredibly durable). What remains the same seems to be the 392 multi-dimple design with the Staggered Wave parting line.

None of this matters, though for me. I still don’t have the swing speed to take advantage of this ball. In the Tour Level ball category, I think I’m more likely to get something out of the BRIDGESTONE Tour B330-RX

CALLAWAY Big Bertha Diablo

The new Big Bertha Diablo is a two piece distance ball that replaces traditional dimples with Callaway’s patented HEX system. This is supposed to reduce drag and promote a more penetrating ball flight. It certainly works for the HX Hot line, and I see no reason why it wouldn’t work here.

The ball also features what Callaway calls a “High Resiliency Core”, a rubber formulation which is supposed to increase ball velocity through a wide range of swing speeds, while still providing great feel.

There’s another ball I need to try this spring—if the snow ever melts.

CALLAWAY HX Hot Plus

I saw these Callaway HX Hot Plus golf balls at Wal-Mart about a week ago, and my initial thought was “why mess with a good thing.” After all, the Pro V1 is ten years old and people still are playing it. The HX Hot has been one of my go-to balls for the last few years and I’m afraid of what they might have done to it.

So what’s new? Callaway says that the HX Hot Plus features a “new high-speed hot core” that offers more distance with better feel. A new “Speed Layer” is supposed to increase driver speed with a more penetrating trajectory.And finally, it’s got a new cover for more durability.

It sounds good. So I’m worried.