Srixon Q-Star Tour 2022 Golf Ball Review

Over the last few years, we have seen an interesting trend in the golf ball market towards more affordable, urethane-covered models aimed at regular golfers. The Q-Star Tour is Srixon’s offering in this department and it comes in with a recommended retail price of $34.99 (£34.99) per dozen. 

We wanted to see whether this was one of the best mid price golf balls on the market so we tested it on a launch SkyTrak monitor, comparing the performance to a similar 3-piece design in the Wilson Triad, and out on the golf course.

The first thing to talk about here is the short game spin. Any golfer investing in a urethane ball - whether it is one of the best golf balls used on Tour like the Srixon Z Star or not - will want high levels of control as they pitch and chip. Make no mistake, the Srixon Q-Star Tour is a hugely impressive performer in this department. In our testing, it delivered an average of 5141rpm of spin on a 50 yard pitch. This is up there with what we’d expect from a more expensive Tour-played ball. It also launched and flew fairly high (30˚ and 8 yards respectively) offering superb stopping power. 

The Q-Star Tour also excelled as we pitched from 100 yards. It offered over 1000rpm more spin than the Wilson Triad, although the latter did launch a little higher and offered a peak height of 2 yards more.

When you combine this short game spin performance with the soft feel - something we really noticed out on the course, especially off the putter face - it is clear the Srixon Q-Star Tour delivers excellent control in and around the greens. So, that begs the question, how does it perform in the long game? 

Well, Srixon has introduced its’ FasterLayer Core here that has a gentle transition from soft inner core towards a firmer outer edge. As our swing speed increased as we hit 7-irons and drivers, so the spin dropped. With a 7-iron (and a relatively high) clubhead speed of 116mph, the spin dropped to 4133. It is worth saying that this is fairly low for a mid-iron but as the ball was launching at 22˚, it offered the sort of peak height we would expect to see. 

Likewise, with the driver the Q-Star Tour delivered low spin (2061) and high launch (14.6). It is worth saying the Wilson Triad launched a little lower (12.6˚) and spun a little more (2305) so the overall flight was very similar, as were the total distance numbers.

If you are a relatively slow swinger, these low spin rates might create a lower flight than you are expecting - so it could be something to keep an eye on. Having said that, Srixon says the Q-Star Tour 2022 is “calibrated to fit moderate swing speed players that seek the distance and spin of a tour-calibre ball”.

All in all, the new generation Srixon Q-Star Tour delivers plenty of bang for its buck. If you don’t want to stretch your wallet to the premium price of a Tour ball, this offers the sort of control that could really help your scoring potential.