Srixon's Z-Star and Z-Star XV golf balls are great. They're up there in terms of performance against of their peers in the Tour-caliber category. For the seventh generation of both balls, then, the company didn't think an overhaul was necessary.
Both balls have been slightly modified for 2021, but the sixth and seventh generations are pretty close in terms of performance.
After designing a new cover for the 2019 Z-Star model, the company has decided to go just with a 20 percent thicker cover for 2021 (0.6 mm vs. 0.5 mm). The reason? They're looking to generate a little more greenside spin and tweak scoring control just a little.
The idea behind making the cover thinner in the first place was to create more room for a bigger core that could then send the ball farther. That's not been lost with the 2021 Z-Star model, and some tweaks have also been made in the mantle and core layers to offset the thicker cover in the three-piece ball.
The Z-Star ball is the three-piece ball, while the Z-Star XV has four layers and is the firmer-feeling, longer ball of the two.
On the Z-Star XV, the cover was left at 0.5 mm. The new FastLayer inner core, however, is firmer, more resilient than the prior generation so that the ball can go a little farther. We're not talking 10 yards. We're talking maybe 2-3. But it's better.
The dimple patterns on both balls remain the same in count -- 338 -- but the dimples are deeper to flatten out the ball flight a bit. The cover of both balls also features updated SpinSkin coating, which is a very thing urethane layer that includes Slide-Ring Material (SeRM) for both durability and a little more friction on short shots for a pep of spin.
The 2021 Srixon Z-Star and Z-Star XV golf balls are available Feb. 26 for $43 per dozen in white and yellow.
