Srixon Q-Star Tour 2024 Golf Ball Review
Last updated:
-
At a glance
- TG Rating
- Owner Rating
-
Pros
- Tour ball tech in a club golfer ball
- Loads of spin around the greens
- Now easier to align
- Competitively priced
-
Cons
- You need to know your swing speed suits the ball
What we say...
The fifth version of the Srixon Q-Star Tour is going to be one of the best balls of 2025 for club golfers, offering tour-level performance for moderate swing speed players.
As Srixon’s softest tour-level performance ball, the new new Q-Star Tour features a reformulated FastLayer Core, a softer urethane cover and Spin Skin tech to give moderate swing speed players more distance and control, likely making it one of the best balls of 2025.
The Q-Star Tour shares lots of technology with Srixon’s Z-Star line–up, which is played on tour by the likes of Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry and Hideki Matsuyama.
But while that ball targets Tour players and faster swingers, the Q-Star Tour is very much a Tour-quality ball aimed at the club golfer, and the old version compared very well in our robot golf balls test last summer. How is that possible?
Tour ball performance
Srixon say that Tour performance starts around the greens, which is why the updated ball uses a 0.5mm premium urethane cover that’s coated in Slide Ring Material (SeRM).
Srixon’s Spin Skin with SeRM coating increases friction and bite for more spin and control when attacking flags.
Creating a faster golf ball while still maintaining great feel begins with the Q-Star Tour’s new FastLayer Core. This generation’s reformulated core has a slightly higher compression rating than its predecessor.
The new FastLayer Core sees a gradual transition from soft inner core to firm outer edge and behaves like a core with thousands of layers, helping to deliver distance and softer feel.
Softer core
It is Srixon’s softest core that still delivers Tour-grade performance, while also dramatically reducing long game sidespin to help your tee shots fly straighter.
You’ll also find 338 dimples on every Q-Star Tour ball, a pattern used in the Z-Star balls and designed to deliver less drag and more lift for a long and true flight, even in strong winds
Around the greens, the Q-Star Tour packs superb spin and control thanks to its ultra-thin, premium urethane cover, which is now even softer than the previous generation.
The Q-Star Tour is available in new Pure White and Tour Yellow colourways.
It is also available as a DIVIDE model with a 50-50 coloured urethane cover – read our verdict on that here.
Srixon Q-Star TOUR: Key Technology
FastLayer Core
The reformulated FastLayer Core offers distance and soft feel without compromise due to a gradual transition from soft inner core to firm outer edge.
Spin Skin with SeRM
Srixon’s popular urethane coating with flexible molecular bonds digs deep into wedge and iron grooves for increased friction and maximum spin.
New Alignment Aid
New longer side stamp helps align those critical putts.
338 Speed Dimple Pattern
Providing a penetrating ball flight in all conditions, the optimal dimple design increases lift and reduces drag to maximize distance.
What Srixon say about the new Q-Star Tour Golf Ball
“The new Q-STAR TOUR is a high-calibre option for players wanting to hit the ball farther, see more spin around the greens, and have more control across the course,” said Joe Miller, European Product Manager, Srixon Sports Europe.
“Players can work the ball tee to green with confidence and with an updated FastLayer Core, they can generate more ball speeds and distance without compromising feel.”
What we say…
We’re big fans of the Q-Star Tour here at Today’s Golfer and find it to be a genuinely excellent alternative to premium tour balls that cost a lot more.
The Q-Star Tour is marginally cheaper than a Titleist Pro V1 but without any significant loss of performance. The softer compression means you’ll give up a little driver distance over a premium ball, but you’ll gain that back in iron distance.
And while data will show it spins significantly less than a Pro V1, it actually launches and flies higher, dropping at a steeper angle, so will still stop quickly on the greens.
For us, the Q-Star Tour joins the Callaway’s new Chrome Soft, TaylorMade’s Tour Response or Wilson’s Triad in being a superb golf ball option for club golfers who have a “normal” swing speed and don’t have money to burn.
Robot test data and verdict: Srixon Q-Star Tour
| Driver 85mph Swing | Srixon Q-Star Tour |
| Ball speed (MPH) / Launch angle (º) | 123.4 / 13.6 |
| Backspin (RPM) | 2,442 |
| Carry (YDS) | 189 |
| Driver 100mph Swing | |
| Ball speed (MPH) / Launch angle (º) | 142.9 / 13.6 |
| Backspin (RPM) | 2,457 |
| Carry (YDS) | 238.7 |
| Driver 115mph Swing | |
| Ball speed (MPH) / Launch angle (º) | 163.6 / 11.7 |
| Backspin (RPM) | 2,077 |
| Carry (YDS) | 275.1 |
| 7-Iron | |
| Ball speed (MPH) / Launch angle (º) | 108.1 / 21.3 |
| Backspin (RPM) | 4,985 |
| Height (YDS) | 32 |
| Descent angle (º) | 44.8 |
| Carry (YDS) | 156.5 (T1) |
| Wedge | |
| Backspin (RPM) | 6,810 |
| Shot area (SQ YDS) | 3 |
| Carry (YDS) | 106.5 |
| Average Shot Area | |
| Averaged over driver, 7-iron and PW | 33.3 SQ YDS |
VERDICT: Srixon Q-Star Tour (2024)
Here at TG, we’ve been big fans of how the club golfer urethane cover golf ball market has grown over recent years. We love the idea of golf balls being designed with us in mind, and the Q-Star Tour is one such model that has helped convince golfers of the benefits of bringing together lower compression for a softer feel and a urethane cover for great greenside performance. Today however the market has become fractured as different brands are going after the same golfers in very different ways, which can easily lead to confusion.
The Q-Star Tour has always been about across-the-board performance, meaning when we’ve tested previous models rarely have they competed on flat-out ball speed or carry distance with the driver. Yet in reality at 85 mph and 100 mph with the driver, all six 3-piece club player balls in this test are covered off by just 3.4 yds of difference at 100 mph and 2.4 yds at 85mph, so there’s little to gain here anyway.
Yet with the 7-iron the Q-Star Tour offered up our fastest ball speed (108.1mph in the 3-piece club golfer category), and produced the highest ball flight, 2nd steepest descent angle, and at 156.5 yds it tied 1st for carry distance.
All impressive numbers, but it was also one of only four balls in the entire test to produce less than 5,000 rpm of backspin (4,985 rpm) with the iron which isn’t brilliant news for stopping shots at lower speeds. To top things off, with a wedge the Q-Star Tour produced 6810 rpm of backspin which is 625 rpm lower than our test average, numbers which are a little alarming.
To put it into context the Kirkland Signature V3, which also features in the 3-piece club golfer category, posted 6109 rpm (2nd highest of the entire test) and 8043 rpm (3rd highest for the entire test) of iron and wedge spin respectively. So, be aware there’s a real speed and distance or backspin decision to make here.
About the author
Simon Daddow – Today’s Golfer Equipment Editor
Having tested and played more than 10,000 clubs in his life, what Simon doesn’t know about golf clubs isn’t worth knowing.
He’s a specialist in all things metal having spent a large part of his career as a golf club maker and product development manager, and has worked in the golf industry for more than 30 years.
He joined EMAP Active (now Bauer Media) as Equipment Editor in 2006 and has made todays-golfer.com the most reliable source for golf club testing.
You can contact Simon via email and follow him on Twitter for loads more golf equipment insight.
