Z-Star XV

I’ve been waiting nearly 25 years to make my first eagle on a par-5. Poor I know, for a six-handicapper.

But after taking the Srixon Z-Star XV for a spin recently on the Duchess Course at Woburn, I was finally able to cross that feat off my golfing to-do list.

A 270-yard drive down the left-side of the fairway at the par-5 15th set me up with a 4-iron into the heart of the green, before the putter sent those delightful XV dimples into the bottom of the cup from five-feet.

I then hit the worst drive of my life on 17 and was forced to chip out sideways. With 100 yards in and the thought of handing back my eagle-three with a double-bogey-six, I hit my Cleveland 588 wedge behind the pin and spun it back several feet for a kick-in par.

I’ve never enjoyed such spin, trajectory, acceleration and responsiveness in a golf ball before. Oh, I see. That’s what S.T.A.R. means…

I have also started practising with the Z Star XV in a Tour yellow version recently. The ball certainly doesn’t have the traditional look of a Titleist Pro V1, in fact it looks like a cheesy distance ball, but I got over that very quickly. I may have little excuse for my inability to locate a ball at the tender age of 24, but the Tour yellow certainly helps a lot!

Beyond looks, the reduced side spin off the driver is what I noticed most about the Z-Star XV, as too, an extremely desirable feel off my putter face. I can’t quantify that exactly because it is a feel thing, but for me, the Z-Star XV exceeds the performance of other balls I’ve used before.

Srixon says its new four-piece dual Energetic Gradient Growth core provides the best distance in a premium offering, while maintaining low spin to optimise driver performance. And it’s hard to disagree. The ball presented me with the perfect combination of distance off the tee, zip with my irons and feel off the blade.

VERDICT

While you will regularly find a gold sleeve of Titleist balls in my zip pocket, I now have a dilemma given my performance with the Z-Star XV.

If there was one criticism, it would be that the sound of impact was more muted than that of a Pro V1.

Perhaps it was just luck that I made my first eagle on a par-5 and shot 5-over around one of the tightest tracks I’ve ever set foot on, but maybe it was because I was using a new set of dimples that really did suit my game.