Srixon Z-Star, Z-Star Diamond, Z- Star XV golf balls (2025)

Gear: Srixon Z-Star Balls (2025) 

Price:  $49.99 per dozen

Specs: Three-piece golf balls with urethane cover with spin-enhancing coating 

Available: NOW

Who it’s for: Golfers who want to maximize greenside spin (Z-Star), get a blend of greenside spin and more distance (Z-Star Diamond), or maximize distance (Z-Star XV) 

What you need to know: Srixon reformulated the core material and the cover design of its Z-Star golf balls to enhance greenside spin, add distance and provide maximum performance. 

The deep dive: Over the last few years, Srixon Z-Star golf balls have been used to win the British Open (Shane Lowry, 2019), the Masters Tournament (Hideki Matsuyama, 2021), the PGA Championship (Brooks Koepka, 2023), and FedEx Cup events like last season’s BMW Championship, which was won by 2025 Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley. 

But just as one driver or one iron is not perfect for every player, one Z-Star ball is not the perfect ball for everyone, so Srixon offers three versions and has updated them for 2025. 

The Z-Star, Z-Star Diamond, and the Z-Star XV share some technologies and construction aspects in common, but they have been optimized for golfers with different needs. 

Each of the three new Z-Star balls features a large rubber core, a form casing layer, and a thin urethane cover that has an aerodynamic 338-dimple pattern. For 2025, Srixon added a durable, plant-derived material it calls Biomass that reduces the environmental impact of the balls. 

A coating that Srixon calls SpinSkin+ is applied over the urethane cover to increase the cover’s friction. It won’t affect tee shots, but on short irons and wedges it helps golfers generate more spin. For 2025, Srixon has made SpinSkin+ more durable, so players can expect to get the spin-generating benefit for more shots. 

While some golfers may not be aware of it, Srixon is a part of Dunlop Sports America, a sub-brand of Dunlop and Sumitomo Rubber Industries, companies that make tires and lots of other rubber products. So, Srixon engineers have plenty of in-house rubber expertise, which allows them to design and enhace golf ball cores. For the 2025 Z-Star balls, each offering has been made with a FastLayer DG core that has progressive stiffness. The inner regions are very soft, but the cores get progressively firmer toward the perimeter, which allows them to rebound quicker for better energy transfer. 

That’s how the Z-Star, Z-Star Diamond, and Z-Star XV are alike, but here’s how they are different. 

Z-Star: Soft with Greenside Spin The standard Z-Star ball is available in white, yellow and white/yellow Divide, and it has an 88 compression. That makes the standard Z-Star the softest feeling Z-Star ball in the family. It is also designed to be the lowest flying Z-Star ball. The standard Z-Star will create less spin with woods and irons than the Z-Star Diamond. While it will be as long as the Z-Star Diamond, the standard Z-Star will also not be as long as the Z-Star XV. 

Z-Star Diamond: Blending Distance and Spin The Z-Star Diamond, which is available in white and yellow, has a 100 compression, so it will feel firmer than the standard Z-Star. This ball is unique because it blends traits of the Z-Star and Z-Star XV. It offers the highest iron spin in the Z-Star family, more greenside spin than the XV and slightly more driver spin than the standard ball. The Z-Star Diamond should produce higher-flying shots than the Z-Star. 

Z-Star XV: Maximizing Distance The Z-Star XV, which comes in white, yellow and white/yellow Divide, has a compression of 102, making it the firmest Z-Star ball. Srixon is touting it as being the longest ball too. The XV spins less through the bag than the Z-Star Diamond, but it should achieve similar peak heights, and that combination of high-launch and lower-spin is where the added distance comes from.