Srixon Q Star Golf Balls

August 15, 2011

I ran across an online video ad the other day for these Srixon Q Star balls. It featured Peter Jacobsen making the argument that a Tour ball will hurt the amateur with its excessive spin. The solution, he says, is the Q Star.

However, when I went shopping for the ball, it looks like it’s still aimed at players who can handle a Tour ball, “designed for mid to high swing speeds.”

Has anyone out there tried this ball?

Posted By The Original Golf Blogger

Golf Blog Category:
Equipment, Golf Balls

Interact:
Permalink | Start a Forum Post on this topic or other golf topics | Email this entry

Legal Information, Privacy Policy, Comment Policy and Disclaimers

Comments

I got a box the other day. Little on the expensive side for a two piece - but given the popularity in my group for the Srixon ZStar, I wanted to try it out. I have tried the AD333 and the Tri-Speed, both are good, but not as good as the Nike PD Long or Bridgestone E6 IMO.

The ZStar plays well- I don’t think it spins as well as a ProV1, but some of the better strikers in my group think it does.

Playing on faster greens last week, I went off the PD Long and back to the Bridgestone E6, giving the 2011 version a full workout, and decided that I do like the 2011 E6 afterall. When I first tried the 2011 I thought it was poor compared to the 2010, now I am thinking that judgement was in haste.

I am going to give the QStar a quick tryout, and then have to settle on a ball before the trip to Pinehurst. The candidates are: QStar, the 2011 E6 and the ProV1. I just with there was a Yellow ProV1.

Posted by martin on 08/15
So I did a little comparison today between the PD Long, the E6, and the Q-Star.

Friday I went out and played QStar for the first time, and from the first drive, it seems pretty strong. It felt good, but most noticeable was that it was long off the tee. I was playing after a half day of work, and had anticipated playing solo, but a friend was going out at the same time, so I ended up rushing to the tee with him with no warmup. I was a little erratic for the first few holes, but even so, it was clearly a forgiving long ball.

Saturday, likewise I played with it, and while neither round was a strong round, I wouldn’t attribute any of that to the ball.

Today I wanted to compare the three balls as well as compare my three iron sets to validate I was playing the longer and/or more forgiving of the sets. We have one course undergoing a greens change, so the open fairways there provide a great place to do such comparisons. For comparing the balls, I hit a pair of each twice with the driver (Titleist 910D2) and once with my X-20 7-iron and once with my Adams Tech V3 7-iron. The fairways are pretty fluffy zoysia, and a little mushy from rain last night, so roll and bounce were not significant.

The Q-Star 2 of 4 drives flew over 5-10 yards further. The PD Long was next longest - when it was straight - the PD Long didn’t seem as forgiving as the other two. The E6 seemed the shortest, but only by a couple yards than the Nike. The QStar did seem as forgiving as the E6.

With the irons, I could not find a significant difference. During play the last couple days, I didn’t see any more ability to stop on the greens than I normally do (I don’t spin very well). Distance-wise, all three were in my standard variance for a 7-iron (130-140). One Q-Star did go further, but that was a more pure strike than I normally have and would not attribute that to the ball.

As I said above, I haven’t liked the sub $30 Srixons when compared to the other balls that I play. I do like the QStar. The QStar is a 2-piece, and at $25 I thought that was a little much, but actually Bridgestone’s E5 is similar in price and a 2-piece. (The E6 is a 3-piece).

So I like the QStar. I am going to take to our short game facility and work with it some more and compare to the E6 and the ProV1 - Right now I tend to think that I will probably be going to Pinehurst with the QStar and/or the E6 based on the forgiveness. I also doubt I can get enough rounds in the next 5 weeks to get comfortable with a white ball again.

Also- on the iron test, the candidates were the Adams Tech V3 - stiff, the Callaway X-20 - stiff, and the Gigagolf TRX Ion - regular. I felt like my distance was suffering lately, so I wanted to see if switching to the lighter irons (V3 is heaviest and current, and the TRX is the lightest) - or the regular shaft would improve distance. I found it did not. V3 is the longest, X-20 just a little shorter, TRX about 5-10 yards shorter. I was surprised by the accuracy of the X-20, on two tests, the X-20 had it’s pair within a yard of each other. The V3 was on the same line, but the short hits were the same distance as the X-20, and the long hits were about 5 yards further. The TRX was not as accurate, and not as long. I wonder if part of that was that the turf was thick and the heavier clubs moved through it with greater inertia and forgiveness.

Posted by martin on 08/21