Last year THP got a chance to review the new Srixon Z-Star golf balls and came away extremely impressed. So impressed that the new line from Srixon was nominated for the 2009 golf ball of the year award. Back in January of this year, while at the PGA Merchandise Show, THP got a sneak peek at something that was a little baffling to us. That was the Srixon Tour Yellow Golf Balls. Now we have seen colored golf balls in the past and heck as a young kid growing up a few decades ago, I played quite a few of them. But a yellow colored tour premium ball? Why?
Tech Specs – From the Company
By tapping into the psychology of hitting each shot and the visualization and calming effect at address, the Z-STAR and Z-STAR X Tour Yellow golf balls incorporate the science of visual perception with the psychology of color effect on the human brain. Science has proven that yellow is the most visible color in the visual spectrum and psychology has correlated green with calming and stress relief; therefore Srixon has combined the two colors based on these findings to tap into the player’s mind and expand the benefits of playing a better ball. The Z-STAR and Z-STAR X Tour Yellow golf balls were designed to offer best-in-category performance for players seeking the improved distance, spin, and feel preferred by Tour players and competitive golfers worldwide. The Z-STAR and Z-STAR X Tour Yellow golf balls use ultra-thin urethane cover technology, a larger core and a softer cover to also radically improve distance, spin and feel.
The Z-STAR Tour Yellow golf ball is designed to be the best-balanced golf ball for the low-to-mid handicap players, seeking a combination of long distance, spin control and soft feel. The Z-STAR X Tour Yellow golf ball is a distance-oriented tour-performance ball for players looking for explosive distance and high-spin performance around the greens. The Srixon Z-STAR Tour Yellow ball lines both feature new Energetic Gradient Growth core technology, which promotes increased ball speed, as well as high launch and low spin. Their newly developed 324 large seamless dimples also help reduce wind resistance for increased distance, while the new coating on their super-soft urethane cover significantly improves spin performance from the rough, allowing players to go after the pin from any lie.
First Impressions & Looks
When they arrived at our offices, I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was excited to try them out. It seems simple in thoughts from the aspect of visibility, yet for some reason, has not been tried to date. I have thought about this way too much and I believe I figured it out. Golf is about comfort and classic appeal and when you take that away from someone they do not like it. Take for example golf shoes, while sneaker type shoes could be far more comfortable, most avid golfers would not try them on, let alone make the switch. The same can be said for a golf ball. It is white and has always been white, so it must stay white is the philosophy that many seem to have. And frankly “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” comes to mind as well. The new yellow Z-Stars arrive in our office and the 1st thing I notice is how bright they are and how different they looked than the original yellow balls that I remember playing. Almost fluorescent like in color and quite appealing if you ask me. But again, I would be lying if I told you I was not hesitant to put them in play with my regular group of guys.
Tour Validation
The Srixon Tour Yellow is already being played on the PGA Tour and in this video the announcers discuss it a little bit. While we never condone choosing equipment based on what the guys on tour are using, simply seeing the color and the fact that the best in the world are okay with it seems to say that it should be good enough for the rest of us.
Testing
I was able to put this ball in play for about 10 rounds of golf and countless practice sessions and two things came out of it. One, I did not get any stress relief, and two, I am not sure I can go back to white golf balls now. On the first tee of the 1st round where I put these in play, I had a few guys in our regular group offer to give me a “regular” ball, and began laughing. I politely declined and ended up playing pretty poorly for the front nine. Yet despite my poor play, more than half the guys in my group wanted to try out the new Tour Yellow Srixon Z-Stars. Why? Because I did not lose a single ball despite being wild off of almost every tee. You can spot these things from a mile away!
The back 9 of the 1st round went pretty much the same as the front 9 yet I never lost a single ball. So in that aspect, I guess you could say my stress levels did get better since the thought of losing a bunch of balls in a round would have been quite irritating. My group was spotting them everywhere…behind trees, in the bushes, and more. Like I said, it was a rough round, but it became almost a fun little game as we tried to spot the “Easter egg”.
The next time out we gave a sleeve of the Tour Yellow Z-Stars to 7 other golfers in our group and by the end of the 18 holes, all but one was ready to make the switch permanently. Since I played better, I can now speak a little bit about the performance. If you liked the original Z-Star, you will like this ball as well. They seem identical in performance. Long off the tee, incredible amount of spin on approaches and around the greens, and a perfect tone at impact when putting. Simply put, the Srixon Z-Star has a ton going for it and as we mentioned before, THP came away extremely impressed in our review of the ball previously. This is a tour level ball that does offer just about anything a golfer could want in a golf ball.
Overall
Did using yellow keep me calm and cool on the golf course? No, not really. Did using a yellow ball make me play better? I believe it did. One shot every other round or so that may have been lost was found and that saves strokes off the score. Some have said they struggle looking at yellow when up in the air, and we just simply did not have any of that with myself or any of the other testers. On the ground, in the air, in the sand, or buried in a bush offered no problems for the yellow wonder of a golf ball and sighting it. But again, the thing to remember here is that it is not just the color, but the fact that it is a tour level ball that plays marvelously from just about anywhere on the course.
If you are like me and want to be just a little different around the course and stir up some great conversations while golfing, you will definitely want to try out the new Srixon Tour Yellow Z-Star golf ball. You get everything you would ever want in a tour premium ball but with some bright yellow fun added in.
Till Next Time
Josh B.
