Z Star or TP5?

Want to take advantage of one of the sales going on....which one do you guys like and why?

My son just did a Trackman session with the Srixon XV & TP5x....he found them to be very similar in all the numbers. He’s got a driver swing speed of 112-115 and is a high spin player but liked both balls. I’ve played the TP5x for 3 years and really like it in the wind...it’s very stable.

TP5x and its not even close. My most objective position on golf balls is that the top 3 are very defined and then there is a slight gap after them for a tier below:

TOP AAA Tier (as objective as one can be after MANY rounds with most tour balls:

Titleist Pro V1/ Pro V1x

TP5 / TP5X

Bridgestone Tour BX /BXs

A - Tier:

Srizon Z Star Series

Chromesoft

Snell

below those:

all the junk below

why do you like the TP5x so much? you like that a lot more than the TP5?

Z stars. Usually have a buy one, get one free deal in the summer. Even at reg. price, $10 diff. here.

For me the difference between the TP5,Z star, Pro V1 is negligible. I would rank the TP5 out of the three the best wind ball but I like the Z Star the best for all around ball. I just don’t think in today’s world that the Pro v is worth the premium charge. I know it’s only a difference of $5-10 but Srixons for me flat out perform and I just picked up 3 dz for the price of 2.

It ticks all the right boxes for me:

Very long off the DriverLong and Consistent through the rest of the bagGood short game performanceGood DurabilityFor some reason, I seem to be straighter with this ball as well.

I am far from being a scratch golfer, but I enjoy trying different golf balls and how they feel off my irons is a big part of my enjoyment of the game. I have always used the Z Star as my benchmark, primarily because I can buy recycled Z Stars here in Indonesia for $8.50 a dozen -- same price as recycled Soft Feels. I also like the way the Z Star feels - to me, they feel just right -- soft, but not too soft.

I have always steered away from the TP5x or any X balls -- the Z Star XV feels too firm for my taste. Today is the first time I tried the 2017 TP5x -- perhaps I was hitting them flush off the sweet spot of my irons each time -- but they felt great. To me, they feel softer than the Z Star XV.

I played the XV last year for most of the year and liked it. I just ordered 4 dozen of the TP5X with their 4-for-3 deal. For me the TP5X wins on 2 issues I like: in the wind and durability. The durability on the TM balls is really good, I've just had some scuff issues on Z-Stars and while they're a great value, I tend not to lose balls so durability is a big plus because I can use a ball through several rounds. For me TM and Titleist are way up there in the durability (heard good things about Bridgestone too, but I haven't used one of their balls for a while). And I've not played a ball that's as good in the wind as the TP5/TP5X. I don't play in a ton of wind often, but it's nice when I do because we can get the occasional very windy round here in SoCal, especially in Winter.

I also experienced the scuffing issue you mentioned. The times my Z Star lasts more than half a round, I generally toss it aside and use it during "high risk" holes.

Weird. The yellow xv’s must be different because they’re almost bulletproof.

I will say the XVs were better than the regular Z Stars, but still not quite as good as the TP5s. I have found yellow shows less wear in general for most balls though.

I think the general consensus is right, but I find the cover of the TP5 to be so fragile! I easily scuff the cover once a round and find myself switching out to something else. Excellent performance though.

I found the 2017 z-stars to be extremely durable! In fact all 2017s and prior were amazingly durable, but the 2019s would scuff up. I stocked up on 2017s as a result.

I did just buy some 2019s in yellow to see how well they do.

Played both yesterday, prefer the Z-Star because it feels a tad softer.

Not what I wanted to hear. I have been scuffing the 2017, and stocking up on the 2019.

There is something different about the Z Star -- to me, it feels .... firm yet soft ... hard to describe. Everytime I go back to the Z Star from playing other balls, I am always reminded of how much I like the feel of this ball.

I think if you put all of the top balls at your feet without their labels, you'd struggle to tell the difference between them. Get the best deal.

Used to z star

i disagree. we can definitely tell the differences, but we may not know which ball is which in your scenario.....

The older Z-Stars (pre-SpinSkin) were most durable premium ball, especially the yellow model. At that time, there was a significant difference in durability between the Z-Star and the other tour balls in the market. I remember posts here about guys playing just an insane of amount of holes with the same yellow XV and the ball showing little to no wear. I had similar results myself.

Since the SpinSkin addition, I feel durability of the Z-Stars had gotten noticeably worse. I'm sure that in robot testing that the SpinSkin is adding some level of additional spin, but is that worth the trade-off in durability? I would say no. Sure, it makes good copy for the box and marketing materials, but as a long-time Z-Star player, I haven't seen a great deal difference in green-side performance between the generations.

At the same time, the other OEMs (especially Titleist and TaylorMade) have made their cast urethane covers much more durable. I remember playing the old TaylorMade Penta TP3 & TP5. A full wedge shot or two and your ball would have large gill marks on one side. That doesn't happen with the current TP5/TP5x.

the lethal was the best....now TP5 carries that torch

I’ve played both before. Don’t think you can go wrong with either. TP5 has a slightly higher trajectory and will spin a little more around the green. But both are very good balls.

I LOVED the lethal. That being said, the TP5 is close to that but with a more durable cover. I've really enjoyed the tp5. it's my primary ball. My original 4pc ksigs are sitting in a box unused.

Both balls are great. The prior gen TP5 was horrible in terms of durability. Current gen is very good for feel, durability, etc. etc. Current gen Z-star for me has problems with durability on both the Z-Star and XV models. You can see hairline cracking around the seem after a few holes. Now, does this impact playablity and use / reliances of flight of the shot etc. etc? I dunno. It was a little bit of a bummer though because the Srixon balls absolutely perform for the price. The new gen TP5s are just awesome balls to use.

I have a dozen Srixon z star xv balls and found off of the driver that they weren't the longest it has a compression of 102 which is very high

on the smash factor scale you better be swinging hard with the driver to properly compress that golf ball it is a 4 piece ball compared to the other

Z star which is a 3 piece ball , I found the xv performed well around the greens and checked up nice ,it's funny you ask this question because I played

the tp5 alongside the xv and found the tp5 better off of the driver but would say the srixon performed slightly better around the greens the tp5 is nicer ball

to putt with ,overall I would say the Taylormade tp5 is a better ball it plays just as good as the pro v's or the premium Bridgestones , hope this helps .

Doubtful. Most guys can't put two good swings together let alone tell the difference between unmarked premium balls.

A while back when I had the course to myself I compared the ZStar to the ZStar XV. The XV goes higher on all clubs and was a couple paces longer off the driver. Great balls. I haven't hit the TP5 much but what little I've hit it I noticed it felt pretty soft. Good ball - low trajectory.

Waiting on my order of Z-Stars. I haven't tried the TP5x Yet but did try a sleeve of TP5's and thought they were great with the short irons, around the green, and putts but durability was lacking and they were punishing on mishits with long irons and woods.

Can’t speak for white as I used yellow but have been told it does happen. I noticed it on the yellow balls I used. I wonder if they were bad batches or something but, I always remember them being there. I won’t use the current gen any time soon as I have 5 dozen TP5x I need to get through first.