Gear: Srixon Q-Star Tour Divide golf balls
Price: $32.99
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered ball with matte yellow and orange coloration
Available: April 15
When March 24th dawned over Middlefield, Connecticiut, a chilly fog covered the first fairway of Lyman Orchards’ Player Course. It’s an uphill par 4 with a large tree guarding the corner of the dogleg right, but that tree was shrouded by the mist. Even the start of the fairway, about 50 yards up the slope from the tee box, was barely visible.
An orange and yellow streak suddenly split the foggy air like a disco ball. It was a Srixon Q-Star Tour Divide golf ball, the latest offering from the Japanese brand, and when it came to rest about 200 yards up the fairway, it was easy to spot because the Q-Star Tour Divide looks like few balls most players have ever seen.
The Q-Star Tour Divide is a three-piece ball with a core that is very soft in the center that becomes gradually firmer in its outer areas. Srixon calls it a FastLayer core, and it helps provide a soft feel and more ball speed.
The Q-Star Tour Divide is a three-piece ball with a large core. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
On top of the core is a thin casing layer, which is surrounded by a new thermoplastic urethane cover that features an aerodynamic 338-dimple pattern. The pattern is designed to make the ball more stable in the wind and reduce drag for more distance.
However, instead of adding paint to the cover, Srixon infused the urethane with yellow and orange pigments. The high-visibility matte colors make the Q-Star Tour Divide easy to spot in flight as well as on the ground. The bright coloring also makes it easy to see the spin on chip shots and pitch shots, as well as to align the ball on the green for a putt. The two-tone coloration clearly shows how well the ball is rolling on putts.
The Q-Star Tour Divide’s coloration creates a 360-degree alignment line on the greens. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
At the same time, Srixon said the Q-Star Tour Divide should provide the same performance and spin characteristics as the standard Q-Star Tour ball.