Srixon Soft Feel Review

Srixon has been refining the Soft Feel since the early 2000s and the thirteenth generation is not trying to reinvent anything. The FastLayer core runs from a soft centre to a firm perimeter with no hard mantle boundary, the same idea used in the Z-Star, and it is the reason this ball feels considerably better than its price bracket usually allows. Against a putter face it is soft without being dead, and off an iron the strike sounds solid rather than tinny.

The speed dimple pattern keeps the flight low enough to hold up into a headwind, and low driver spin makes it forgiving of a swing that leaks one way or the other. Distance at a moderate swing speed is entirely competitive with anything at the price. The ionomer cover is the boundary, as it always is down here. There is not much bite on a half wedge and full wedges into firm greens will release, so the short game has to be played with the run in mind rather than against it. As a durable, honest, pleasant ball for a player not paying for urethane, it is the pick of the bracket.