Srixon Q-Star Tour golf balls: What you need to know
What you need to know: The sixth generation of Q-Star Tour, Srixon's premium urethane option for players with mid-level speed who want other tour-level characteristics, champions sustainability without sacrificing performance. This version also brings the Divide line more naturally into the fold of the larger Q-Star Tour family. A plant-based cover is coated with Srixon's Spin Skin+, aimed at creating more friction with club grooves. Meanwhile, the FastLayer core is less rigid in its center than its edges, lowering compression and allowing moderate swing speed players to have more distance off the tee and accuracy with scoring clubs.
Price/Availability: Q-Star Tour is available in white and Tour Yellow; Q-Star Tour Divide comes in white/lime green, white/pink, yellow/red and yellow/orange. $40 per dozen. Available now.
3 Cool Things
1. New tech, less waste. This iteration of the Q-Star features a urethane cover made with Biomass. A relatively new process, scientists have found a sustainable alternative to conventional petrochemical-based polyurethane, instead using renewable oils and parts of plant cells to create biomass-based polyurethane, a more eco-friendly plastic. This isn't necessarily an improvement that affects performance, rather a more sustainable way of acheiving the same flight characteristics a petrochemical-based polyurethane cover offers. That said, it is, in theory, better for the planet when you eventually lose these balls, given the plant-based construction of the cover.
2. Control, control, control. A graduated core is softer in the center than it is around its edge, designed to produce longer, straighter shots on faster swings — think driver, woods and hybrids — while maintaining a soft feel on iron and wedge swings. This signature FastLayer Core allows for short-game precision while promoting distance for players with moderate swing speeds. It is the softest tour ball Srixon has ever made.
Speaking of short-game precision, the Q-Star Tour now features Spin Skin+, a new version of Spin Skin, which was originally introduced on Srixon's Z-Star line. Spin Skin+ is a coating that is highly elastic and durable, designed to dig deeper into club grooves to create friction and is resistant to dirt and grime. That all adds up to more spin and more bite on greens and more predictable ball flight.
3. All in the family. The Q-Star Tour Divide is now mostly just a name used to differentiate between a ball that is all one color (Q-Star Tour) and one that is half one color, half another (Q-Star Tour Divide). The matte finish that was unique to the Divide in the previous version is no more, with the third iteration of this line featuring the same glossy urethane cover as the main Q-Star Tour line. On top of that, there are now two more 50/50 color combinations offered, with white/green and white/pink joining yellow/red and yellow/orange combinations.
And then there's the obvious: the loud color schemes boost visibility and can be a helpful training aid around the greens to see exactly how the ball is spinning. At the very least, the line created by the dueling colors can be used as an alignment aid on putts, no need for a sharpie here.