Srixon Q-Star Tour Review (2026): The $40 Urethane Ball Worth Playing

Quick answer

Srixon Q-Star Tour spec sheet (2026 model)

Specs from Srixon’s official 2026 Q-Star Tour page and BallCaddie’s ball catalog.

Q-Star vs Q-Star Tour vs Z-Star: the Srixon side-by-side

Srixon sells its balls in compression tiers, and around the green the cover material separates them. Srixon’s Q-Star page now lists only the Tour, the Tour Divide and the Q-Star Ultispeed (~85), a firmer three-piece ionomer ball that replaced the plain two-piece Q-Star. In 2026, “Q-Star vs Q-Star Tour” means Ultispeed vs Tour.

Compression and MSRP come from the ball catalog; the green-side and driver rows are BallCaddie’s reading of the 2026 robot test. The row you’ll feel most is the pitch shot, where the Tour checks up and the Ultispeed hops forward. The cover causes that gap, so more swing speed won’t close it.

The Q-Star Tour Divide is the same ball wearing a two-tone cover for alignment and visibility. Everything below applies to it too.

What changed for 2026

Srixon released the sixth-generation Q-Star Tour in early 2026, and the update is the cover. Two things changed and one stayed, per Srixon’s product page:

• The urethane cover is now made partly from plant-based biomass. Srixon calls it “extra thin” and sells the change as a lower-carbon material with the same feel and spin. The 2024 cover measured 0.5 mm on Srixon’s own spec sheet.
• Spin Skin became Spin Skin+, the same coating the Z-Star family uses. Srixon says it digs deeper into wedge and iron grooves and resists dirt better.
• Compression stays at 74 on Srixon’s scale, with the FastLayer core and 338 Speed Dimple Pattern carried over. Srixon rates the feel “softer.”

So a sleeve of the 2024 ball fits the same golfer, and Srixon’s store still listed that previous model at $34.99 on October 4, 2026.

What the 2026 robot test measured

The 2026 test put 48 balls on a robot at three driver speeds (about 86, 102 and 116 mph), three 7-iron speeds, a full wedge and a 35-yard pitch; the setup and the field-wide findings are in our 2026 ball test breakdown. The Q-Star Tour’s pattern across those clubs is the reason to buy it.

Driver: low spin for a urethane ball. At the 116 mph speed it spun 2,157 rpm, 10th-lowest of 48 and in the bottom dozen alongside the TaylorMade Tour Response, Vice Pro Air and Bridgestone Tour B RXS, all urethane. At 86 mph it was 13th-lowest. You pay for that in ball speed: it ranked 43rd of 48 at every driver speed, and firm balls led the speed charts throughout. Low spin bought some of that back at 102 mph (15th of 48 for carry), but at 86 mph it carried about 3 yards under the field average, 42nd of 48. Low spin didn’t make it the straightest ball either: its left-right spread ranked 29th, 40th and 15th of 48 from the fast speed to the slow one. Off the tee you get a low-spin, average-length drive.

Irons: soft with a little spin. Off the mid-speed 7-iron it was among the softer balls with the most spin, which still landed it in the bottom third of the field. If you fight ballooning irons, that is a feature.

Wedges: tenth of 48 on the pitch. On the 35-yard pitch the Q-Star Tour spun 5,702 rpm, tenth of 48 and ahead of the Titleist Pro V1 (~92), which spun 5,443 rpm and ranked 21st. On a full sand wedge it spun 10,169 rpm dry and 9,647 rpm wet. About 800 rpm separated it from the test’s top full-wedge spinner, the Srixon Z-Star Diamond (~93) at 10,971 rpm; the drop from there to an ionomer ball is far bigger. The Ultispeed spun 6,670 rpm on the dry full wedge, and 4,009 rpm on the 35-yard pitch, third-lowest of 48.

Golf Monthly’s 2026 review reached the same split from a launch monitor, describing a stable, low-spin driver flight with ample greenside control. The urethane vs ionomer breakdown explains how the cover produces that greenside spin.

Which Srixon fits your swing and your miss

Pick by your miss as much as your speed. Of the 2,570 golfers who have taken the BallCaddie quiz, 1,226 report a driver swing of 85–99 mph, the band the Q-Star Tour is tuned for. In that group, 29% say their drives curve right with a fade or slice, another 43% hit it mostly straight with a slight right turn, and only 9% say the ball balloons. Those are self-reported answers, not measured results.

We built the miss column from the catalog and the 2026 test data. Three of those calls, with the numbers behind them:

• For a slice, the Ultispeed under 100 mph and the Z-Star Diamond above it. The Q-Star Tour’s driver spin is low (10th-lowest of 48 at 116 mph, 14th at 102, 13th at 86), but its left-right spread ranked 29th of 48 at 116 mph, 40th at 102 and 15th at 86, so it misses the top 10 at every speed. The Ultispeed was the straightest Srixon at the two slower speeds: 4th of 48 at 86 mph and 15th at 102. At 116 mph it fell to 47th, and the straightest Srixon there was the Z-Star Diamond at 12th. You give up urethane wedge spin with the Ultispeed. The swing still starts the slice, and if the slice is the only thing you’re fixing, start with the best golf ball for a slice.
• The Ultispeed for a ballooning drive too. It launched high but flew low: 43rd of 48 for peak height at 86 mph, with the 12th-lowest spin at 116. The ionomer cover keeps the price at $29.99 and costs you the pitch shot, third-lowest spin of 48. If your drives already fly low, the Q-Star Tour (11th-highest apex at 86 mph) is the Srixon that adds height.
• The Z-Star above 100 mph. A flatter iron flight and the fourth-highest pitch spin in the test; the Z-Star Diamond had a top-10 driver apex at 116 mph if you need the height. Skip the XV if you slice: it spun 4th-highest off the 116 mph driver and 3rd-highest at 86.

Start from your swing speed, then apply the miss. The golf-ball compression chart shows where ~70 lands against every current ball, and how to choose a golf ball by swing speed walks through the speed side.

Q-Star Tour vs Wilson Triad, Maxfli Tour and Kirkland

Four urethane balls get cross-shopped against the Q-Star Tour, from Costco’s Kirkland to the $55 Tour B RX.

The Q-Star Tour is the softest ball of the five. That’s the feature for a swing under 100 mph that wants a soft feel and lower driver spin, and the drawback above it, where the firmer Triad or Maxfli Tour holds ball speed better. At MSRP all three sit at $39.99, so pick on fit. Srixon’s Buy 2, Get 1 Free drops the Q-Star Tour to about $26.66 a dozen while it runs. Maxfli sells multi-dozen deals through DICK’S too, so compare prices the week you buy.

The Kirkland is the only ball of the five that costs less: about $15 a dozen in the Costco warehouse ($29.99 for two dozen), or about $20 shipped from Costco.com ($39.99 for two dozen). You give up greenside spin, which in the 2026 robot test had dropped to roughly ionomer level (35th of 48 on the 35-yard pitch for the yellow ball, 40th for the white). MyGolfSpy’s 2026 Ball Lab graded both colors a B (84 yellow, 85 white) and found no bad balls in 36 of either. The full breakdown is in the Kirkland golf ball review.

Buy it if / skip it if

Buy it if:

• You swing 75–100 mph and want a urethane cover at $40 instead of $58
• You score inside 100 yards and want a pitch that checks up
• Your drives curve right and you’d rather play a lower-spinning urethane ball than an ionomer one
• You play shoulder-season golf below 50°F and want a softer strike on a cold morning

Skip it if:

• You swing above 100 mph and want every mph of ball speed: the Z-Star or Z-Star XV gives up less
• You balloon the driver at a slower speed and don’t need wedge spin: the Q-Star Tour flew 11th-highest of 48 at 86 mph in the 2026 test, the Ultispeed 43rd
• You have a Costco card and lose a sleeve a round: the Kirkland is the cheaper urethane

Price, as of October 2026

Checked October 4, 2026: the 2026 Q-Star Tour was $39.99 a dozen at Srixon’s own store and at PGA TOUR Superstore, and Srixon still listed the previous 2024 model at $34.99, though the yellow was out of stock. Expect the range to sit between those two numbers most of the year.

The bigger saving is Srixon’s Buy 2, Get 1 Free deal. It ran May 21 to June 21 in 2026, timed to Father’s Day, and a holiday version ran November 10 to December 31, 2025. Three dozen at the two-dozen price puts the effective cost at about $26.66 a dozen. Against a Pro V1 at $57.99 that’s about $31 a dozen, or roughly $250 across an 8-dozen season, for a ball that out-spun the Pro V1 on the 35-yard pitch in 2026 robot testing. The broader value-ball ranking lives in the best value golf ball guide.

The next step

The tables above cover one brand. The BallCaddie fitting quiz asks your swing speed, your miss, your flight and what you want from wedges, then scores the Q-Star Tour against the rest of the ball catalog. It takes about 90 seconds. Your fitting report is free; naming your #1 ball is paid. If a $30 Ultispeed fits your game better, that’s the ball the quiz picks.

For deeper dives:

• How to choose a golf ball by swing speed — the pillar guide that maps swing speed to compression tier.
• Golf ball compression chart — where ~70 lands against every other current ball.
• Srixon golf balls: the complete lineup — every Srixon ball by swing speed, spin and price.
• Srixon Z-Star vs Pro V1 — the next tier up, with the 2026 driver and wedge numbers.
• Best golf ball for 90 mph swing speed — the bracket the Q-Star Tour fits best.

Key takeaways

• ~70 compression (74 on Srixon’s sheet), 3-piece urethane, $39.99 MSRP. Tuned for moderate swings; above 100 mph the Z-Star gives up less ball speed.
• Low driver spin, real wedge spin. Bottom dozen off the 116 mph driver, tenth of 48 on the 35-yard pitch at 5,702 rpm, ahead of the Pro V1.
• The 2026 update is the cover: biomass urethane and Spin Skin+, same 74 compression and 338 dimples, so the discounted 2024 ball is the same fit.
• Q-Star vs Q-Star Tour is ionomer vs urethane: the Ultispeed hops forward, the Tour checks up. Swing speed doesn’t close that gap.
• Promo floor near $26.66 a dozen during Srixon’s Buy 2, Get 1 Free; stock up then and an 8-dozen season saves about $250 against a Pro V1.

Sources

• MyGolfSpy, 2026 golf ball test
• Golf Monthly, Has Srixon just released the best value ball in golf?