Midline Cracks with Srixon Z-Star XV

[Holy Moses]

Supposedly the defect is cosmetic only, but I wouldn't play it

[bigeasy]

I just recently purchased the buy 2 get 1 free of the Z star. I have been playing the BXS since May. So i bought out the first sleeve and played 18 holes, the Z star is a much firmer feeling ball, almost topflite rockish compared to the Bridgestone. Secondly, i was hitting the z star at least 5-10 yards shorter, no difference really in spin. My playing partner noted how short I was compared to where I usually ended up, near to his drives. I also saw on MGS the srixons had some quality control issues with balls coming out of their Indonesia plant, and my srixons came from Indonesia. I have played Z stars  before and they were not this short. Needless to say I will not be playing Srixons, I gave them away.

[ChaosTheory]

I just experienced this seam cracking on a yellow QST that I played for 2+ rounds.  I also have it on a white QST.  It’s definitely a crack on the seam.  With no pressure, I can insert a very small portion of the tip of an exacto knife into it.  Can feel it with a fingernail.
 

I’ve seen this before but didn’t recognize it as being a crack, I thought it was from a wedge groove.  
🙁

[phizzy30]

15 hours ago, Snowman9000 said:

I just experienced this seam cracking on a yellow QST that I played for 2+ rounds.  I also have it on a white QST.  It’s definitely a crack on the seam.  With no pressure, I can insert a very small portion of the tip of an exacto knife into it.  Can feel it with a fingernail.
 

I’ve seen this before but didn’t recognize it as being a crack, I thought it was from a wedge groove.  
🙁

It's common with Srixon balls.  I've had a few XV's crack at the seam as well.  Besides durability issues, Srixon makes good balls that flat out perform.  It's too bad they fly under the radar though. 

[storm319]

17 hours ago, Snowman9000 said:

I just experienced this seam cracking on a yellow QST that I played for 2+ rounds.  I also have it on a white QST.  It’s definitely a crack on the seam.  With no pressure, I can insert a very small portion of the tip of an exacto knife into it.  Can feel it with a fingernail.
 

I’ve seen this before but didn’t recognize it as being a crack, I thought it was from a wedge groove.  
🙁

It is not a crack, it is wearing through the coating/paint at the seem where the cover and mantle median join. Cracking would be through to the mantle and core layers.

[ChaosTheory]

22 minutes ago, storm319 said:

It is not a crack, it is wearing through the coating/paint at the seem where the cover and mantle median join. Cracking would be through to the mantle and core layers.

The tip of an exacto knife drops into it.  

[storm319]

34 minutes ago, Snowman9000 said:

The tip of an exacto knife drops into it.  

That would be a small gap between the the cover and the mantle median (not always flush) that is covered by the final finishing which is wearing through. It is not a crack in any of the layers.

 

This is a crack:

 

 

 

*I am not saying that this is a good look for Srixon (this is the risk that they take going so thin with their TPU covers),but there is a big difference between this which is still playable and an actual crack which renders the ball un-useable. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by storm319

[ChaosTheory]

My solution is to take a minute to find the seam, them line it so I can avoid hitting it on tee shots at least.  It takes a bit of looking to find the seam, but I got better at it after a few.  The ball is staying un damaged  longer this way.
 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Snowman9000

[J13]

14 hours ago, Snowman9000 said:

My solution is to take a minute to find the seam, them line it so I can avoid hitting it on tee shots at least.  It takes a bit of looking to find the seam, but I got better at it after a few.  The ball is staying un damaged  longer this way.
 

 

It's wild they haven't fixed this problem by now.  It's been an issue for at least 6 years

[ChaosTheory]

1 hour ago, J13 said:

 

It's wild they haven't fixed this problem by now.  It's been an issue for at least 6 years

 

Agreed.  Anyone who loses a ball at least every 18 will probably not see it.  Our course lets me often get several rounds out of a ball, so it was happening to me.  I have 4 rounds on my current one, with a line on the seam, and I am just now barely seeing the start of the seam line.

 

BTW I sent a complaint in to Srixon, had to send a photo, and they sent me a dozen balls.  I know others mentioned the same in the past.

[phizzy30]

11 minutes ago, Snowman9000 said:

 

Agreed.  Anyone who loses a ball at least every 18 will probably not see it.  Our course lets me often get several rounds out of a ball, so it was happening to me.  I have 4 rounds on my current one, with a line on the seam, and I am just now barely seeing the start of the seam line.

 

BTW I sent a complaint in to Srixon, had to send a photo, and they sent me a dozen balls.  I know others mentioned the same in the past.

There was a visible crack in the seam in my XV's after 2 rounds.  That is, the balls that made it that long, lol.  It's a shame because the XV and Diamond are such good performers. 

Edited January 3, 2023 by phizzy30

[golfinbrad]

I keep hearing about this, but have yet to see it.  I've been using the Z Star and XV for 5 years and all appear to wear normal.  Maybe it is not an issue across the board.

[J13]

13 minutes ago, golfinbrad said:

I keep hearing about this, but have yet to see it.  I've been using the Z Star and XV for 5 years and all appear to wear normal.  Maybe it is not an issue across the board.

I played the XV for 3 years and it happened routinely.  So much so that I reached out to Srixon and they acknowledged the problem and offered me a few dozen on them.  I declined their offer and said I want a resolution not more balls that will have this problem.  At that point they stopped communicating with me and lost a customer.  

[golfinbrad]

1 minute ago, J13 said:

I played the XV for 3 years and it happened routinely.  So much so that I reached out to Srixon and they acknowledged the problem and offered me a few dozen on them.  I declined their offer and said I want a resolution not more balls that will have this problem.  At that point they stopped communicating with me and lost a customer.  

I wonder if I was still using an older version before this.  I had a case I was still working through.  Any idea if the same issue exists with the current models?

[MHAQ1967]

Have played the Z-Star for a couple of years. 

QST too.

 

Hit Z-Stars in the hitting bay repeatedly.

 

Never an issue.

 

However, there is a seem. You can feel it.Especially with the Divides.

But never had one crack or issues related to it.

 

Just my experience.

[brew4eagle]

1 hour ago, MHAQ1967 said:

Have played the Z-Star for a couple of years. 

QST too.

 

Hit Z-Stars in the hitting bay repeatedly.

 

Never an issue.

 

However, there is a seem. You can feel it.Especially with the Divides.

But never had one crack or issues related to it.

 

Just my experience.

Same experience for me.  I've used QST, Z, and ZX over many iterations.  Zero issues.

[ChaosTheory]

7 hours ago, golfinbrad said:

I keep hearing about this, but have yet to see it.  I've been using the Z Star and XV for 5 years and all appear to wear normal.  Maybe it is not an issue across the board.

I had it happen on a Z Star too.  Again after playing a few rounds.

[J13]

21 hours ago, golfinbrad said:

I wonder if I was still using an older version before this.  I had a case I was still working through.  Any idea if the same issue exists with the current models?

Not sure as I switched balls a few years ago to the TP5X and now Chrome Soft X.

[tilasan]

Love my zstars with zero issues.  Although, I am not using one ball for four rounds, I am not that good I guess.

[leftynick]

I’ve had this issue happen to me. I actually thought it only was me. It’s not a crack per se, rather after playing the same ball for a few rounds ( if you’re lucky enough to not lose a ball after a few rounds) a thin line not a crack begins appearing along the ball’s equator.

 

[J13]

16 hours ago, leftynick said:

I’ve had this issue happen to me. I actually thought it only was me. It’s not a crack per se, rather after playing the same ball for a few rounds ( if you’re lucky enough to not lose a ball after a few rounds) a thin line not a crack begins appearing along the ball’s equator.

 

 

Its the seam and gets worse with time and the more speed delivered to the ball the worse it is.  I ran a test with the balls between myself and a friend who's driver SS is about 95mph (mine is around (115mph).  After 9 holes my ball had a noticeable seam split and his looks pretty good.   We did this over 3 rounds so my guess is it's a combination of speed and the course you play. 

 

To be more specific I don't think driver has any impact but short irons do and because I have way more wedges/short irons into holes than he did I was creating more wear and tear on the ball due to loft and steeper attack angle (typical of short irons).  I'm not a scientist but this was my best guess. 

 

Again, I told Srixon this and they just brushed me off with free balls which i didn't want and instead told them to donate those to a first tee program.  I just wanted the issue fixed as I supported the brand.

[leftynick]

7 hours ago, J13 said:

 

Its the seam and gets worse with time and the more speed delivered to the ball the worse it is.  I ran a test with the balls between myself and a friend who's driver SS is about 95mph (mine is around (115mph).  After 9 holes my ball had a noticeable seam split and his looks pretty good.   We did this over 3 rounds so my guess is it's a combination of speed and the course you play. 

 

To be more specific I don't think driver has any impact but short irons do and because I have way more wedges/short irons into holes than he did I was creating more wear and tear on the ball due to loft and steeper attack angle (typical of short irons).  I'm not a scientist but this was my best guess. 

 

Again, I told Srixon this and they just brushed me off with free balls which i didn't want and instead told them to donate those to a first tee program.  I just wanted the issue fixed as I supported the brand.

Thanks for replying, and I agree that the ball is fantastic. Ive actually converted a few buddies as well.

I’ve read that they have two factories. One in Indonesia and the other in Japan. Maybe it’s a quality control thing.  I play the XV and here in Canada, I’ve only been able to get my hands on the Indonesian ball. Does the Japanese version have the same issue?
 

[storm319]

38 minutes ago, leftynick said:

Thanks for replying, and I agree that the ball is fantastic. Ive actually converted a few buddies as well.

I’ve read that they have two factories. One in Indonesia and the other in Japan. Maybe it’s a quality control thing.  I play the XV and here in Canada, I’ve only been able to get my hands on the Indonesian ball. Does the Japanese version have the same issue?
 

The factories are both owned by SRI and use the same equipment/processes so that is not the problem. This really boils down to a unique cover design/assembly process and propensity to go really thin with the covers in recent years that makes it susceptible to this.

[storm319]

8 hours ago, J13 said:

Again, I told Srixon this and they just brushed me off with free balls which i didn't want and instead told them to donate those to a first tee program.  I just wanted the issue fixed as I supported the brand.

What exactly were you expecting? SRI Sports is a fairly large company and you were likely communicating with a low wage CSR that possibly didn’t even work for the company (I imagine the experience would be similar with any of the other large OEMs). The only thing that person could realistically do is offer replacement product and record the feedback if there is a mechanism to do so. The best you can hope for is that there are enough volume of similar complaints that prompt the design team to address it in the next product cycle.

[J13]

On 1/6/2023 at 5:27 PM, storm319 said:

What exactly were you expecting? SRI Sports is a fairly large company and you were likely communicating with a low wage CSR that possibly didn’t even work for the company (I imagine the experience would be similar with any of the other large OEMs). The only thing that person could realistically do is offer replacement product and record the feedback if there is a mechanism to do so. The best you can hope for is that there are enough volume of similar complaints that prompt the design team to address it in the next product cycle.

 

It wasn't with a basic CSR person.  I work in golf and it was clear that the higher ups knew about the issue but didn't want to spend the money to fix it.  

[ChaosTheory]

Since I have another dozen and usually get multiple rounds out of a ball, I'm sticking with it.  And if they do a 3 for 2 sale, I'll go ahead and buy a year's supply.  It's the best ball I've found.  I will continue to find and mark the seams so at least on the tee, I can avoid hitting them.

 

 

[storm319]

4 hours ago, J13 said:

 

It wasn't with a basic CSR person.  I work in golf and it was clear that the higher ups knew about the issue but didn't want to spend the money to fix it.  

 

I agree with your assessment that this is likely more prevalent with higher speed players that experience a greater number of high friction shots (high speed short iron/wedge), but those situations likely represent a smaller portion of the market than we enthusiasts realize (not to mention the average player is likely losing the ball long before this would manifest). Again it is not like the balls are being rendered useless, the performance impact is limited to aerodynamics and likely less drastic than scuffs that many play with (again I’m not saying that this looks good, but when we have shafts snapping and driver faces flying off this is a relatively small deal in the realm of equipment defects). 
 

Given your unique player profile and the fact that it was clearly a distraction for you, seeking an alternative was likely the right decision. 
 

To be honest, I would probably make the same decision if I were faced with  having to make a sizable capital investment to change the cover production method that had been used for roughly the past 20 years due to a relatively small failure rate when my job was almost solely judged upon the company’s financial performance. 

Edited January 8, 2023 by storm319

[cardia10]

So knowing that this is a recognized and real problem and testing has shown that sometimes even minor imperfections in the cover can cause odd spin and weird offline shots, how can one have confidence in this ball. If there is visible cracking that can be felt, then it is affected by the air. 

[joliver233]

I have played the Z star line for the better part of the last decade or so, and have never had any major issues with cracking or anything out of the ordinary in terms of wear. In fact, I've tested countless other golf balls and keep returning to Srixon because their cover is usually as durable or more durable than any other premium ball I've played. I am a higher speed player, and like one of the posts said above, I notice more wear on any ball from wedges etc. so maybe I just have to replace them before anything happens. But, when testing ProVs, Callaway, Taylormade etc. I notice the same issues and probably get a few more holes out of the Srixon than any other ball before needing to replace it. Maybe it's just me and I've gotten lucky, but I've never had any noticeable playability issues compared to other brands.

[CJ57]

I play the Lady Srixon. I loved the balls until this last batch I bought in a BOGO sale. I have had at least 4-5 balls per dozen end up with a crack in the cover. Won’t be buying Srixon again, once this batch is gone.