Star Grips - 2024 Forum Review

[GolfSpy_APH]

Testers Announced!

One of the most overlooked items on a golf club is the grip. Yet it is our single connection point to the golf club and shaft. Star Grips is not as well-known as some of the big names but they have a long history and provide grips purpose-built for the air-compressor installation method.

About Star Grips

If you haven’t heard of Star Grips, this is what they have to say about their brand, history and product: 

“Founded in 2001, Star Grip has been manufacturing golf grips in the USA for over 20 years. Made from our proprietary StarTack EPDM compound, our grips are produced using a seamless injection molding process which results in unmatched quality, performance, and consistency with a weight tolerance of +/-1 gram. They are also unquestionably some of the longest-lasting grips in the industry. As such, we are proud to offer an unprecedented 3-year durability guarantee on every grip we make - whether purchased directly from us or from any of our dealers located around the world. If they become hard, slick, or crack within 3 years, just contact us, and we'll send you a free replacement!”

Star Grips offers four different grips for full-swing clubs: The Sidewinder 350*, which is offered in eight different colors; the Classic Wrap and Tour Star+ 360* in four different colors, and the Smoother Wrap in black. As a bonus, Star Grips also offers a free installation gun when orders exceed $100.

Please welcome and congratulate our testers!

@BreakfastBall15

@LeakyValve

@Alf. S 

@EugeGall

[BreakfastBall15]

Star Grips – Official MGS Forum Review by BreakfastBall15

 

Greetings Spies! I want to give a massive thank you to MSG and Star Grip for allowing me to be a product tester and reviewer. A quick about me: I am 32 years old and currently serving in the Oklahoma Air National Guard on AGR (essentially Active Duty) status, I have a wonderful wife and 2 kids: ages 3 and 1. With the young kiddos I don’t get to play as much as I’d like but still get out to the course and range once a week. I currently live in Oklahoma but grew up in Syracuse, NY (playing year-round and no snow half the year? Yeah, I’ll take that). I started playing golf when I was in middle school but never played competitively in high school, I just played to spend time with my dad. Within the last few years, I have gotten much more serious about golf and really started to improve my game. I’ve worked my way down to an 11.5 (per 18 birdies) but still consider myself a weekend golfer.

 

 

My daughter running down the fairway on my dads home course (TI CC Lake Course, Wellesley Island, NY) while we were visiting. She was very upset she couldn't join us for the rest of the round.

I’ve come across Star Grips on Instagram, checked out their site, but that’s the extent of my knowledge prior to this testing opportunity. But now that I have been selected for this opportunity I started researching more. Star Grips have some serious claims about their product I am excited to test. Some of the key areas I plan on testing are the weight of the grips (Star Grips claim +/- 1gr off published weight), wet vs dry performance, and the durability. For the wet vs dry, I was going to take a spray bottle to the range, hit some shots with dry grips, spray them and see if performance if effected (this is of high importance for me as I sweat profusely). For durability, that will be a long-term test after the testing period is over but one worth keeping up on IMO because Star Grips offers a 3-year warranty.

As far as comparison, I currently have a GP Tour Velvet 360 on my driver and Lamkin Z5 on everything else (all midsize). I opted for the Sidewinder 360 midsize for all 13 grips but got a mix of Blue and Orange. I plan on only installing grips on a few different clubs to get a good comparison with my current set up. After that I will replace all other grips with the Star Grips and continue testing on the range and course.

Am I excited to have this testing opportunity? You betcha. Grips are always something I have overlooked and honestly never replaced with few exceptions. My current Lamkins are comfortable in the hands but there is minimal texture and poor performance with any moisture. If these grips can improve on moisture management and the texture, they will earn a permeant spot in my bag. My expectations are high, they seem like high quality, and I am excited to use the air gun for installation.

Current grip set up on driver, 5 wood, 7 iron and 60°

 

First Impressions: 6 out of 10 (Upgraded to 8 out of 10)

6 out of 10 may sound harsh but these deductions are not without reason. I'll start with the positives before I move on to the negatives and the reason for the deductions. First, and it's something that the other tester have pointed out, is the hand signed letter by the owner. Not necessary, but a nice touch and the letter goes over the benefits of Star Grips.

Another highlight of the customer service is that during the order confirmation stage I had gotten a call saying that the orange midsize was backordered and asked if there was another color I would like. I decided to go with red to pair with the blue, but not even 2 days later I got an email saying that the owner wanted to make sure I got the orange and somehow got some. A small gesture that went a long way in my opinion. Second, the colors are absolutely phenomenal. It's been said by a few people, both testers and non testers, that pictures of the orange do not do it justice and they are absolutely right. If we were only allowed to pick one color for this test I would not be disappointed with the orange (as a Syracuse fan and Oklahoma State Alum, I have a weird affinity for orange).

A third massive positive is the feel of these grips. They are VERY tacky, but in a good way. I am a player that uses a glove but these feel like they will appeal to players that chose not to wear one. I will do some testing without a glove to confirm this, but initial first impressions lead me to believe that they will do fine. A final positive, and this is one that maybe a few readers in the US will care about, is the grips are made in the USA, not a huge deal, but for me it is.

Now on to the negatives. Star Grip claims a +/- 1 gram weight difference. The posted weights for the blue and orange midsize on their website are 67 grams. All of the orange weighed between 63 and 63.7 grams, while all the blue weighed between 65.3 and 65.7 grams. I did weight each grip multiple times and even thought they're within 1gr of each other, they're not within posted weight. Now onto the biggest negative: there was no air gun in the shipment. Since this was on the packing slip I was disappointed that this was missing, especially give the stellar customer service earlier. I have reached out the the mods assigned to this testing to get this taken care of, but since the whole point of the install process is to use their air gun, not having one caused me to deduct 3 points. Assuming this gets taken care of and gets shipped, I will adjust my ranking, but for now I'm giving these a 6/10 on first impression. One other thing, but something I did not take points off for, is there is a small line on the bottom of the grip that could throw someone with extreme OCD off if not aligned properly.

To say that I am disappointed in the error to not include the air gun is an understatement, but I am very please with the feel of these grips and look forward to getting these put on.

UPDATE: RJ at Star Grip Customer Service had reached out to me to apologize for the missing air gun and had one shipped out and delivered within 3 days. I have upgraded my ranking from a 6 out 10 to a 8 out of 10. The customer service at Star Grip is truly amazing. 

Edited March 22 by BreakfastBall15

[LeakyValve]

INTRODUCTION

 

 

STAR GRIPS - OFFICIAL MGS FORUM REVIEW by LeakyValve

Hey Spies. My name is Mike (Leaky) and this will be my review of Star Grips.

I'm very excited for this opportunity and cannot thank the staff at MGS and in the forum for the chance to review a product. I'm relatively new to the forum so getting the message saying I've been chosen was a very pleasant surprise. I'm looking forward to the unboxing, installing and testing of these grips. Grips are an essential part of our kit and getting to test something in a style that I don't usually play may bring to light some things I didn't know I liked. Or it may prove otherwise. Either way I'm going to put these to the test!

 

A little about me and my grips!

 

I'm a 10 HDCP left-y from Canada. Where the weather is either too cold, too windy, or just snowing. The golf season isn’t the longest but I do my best to get out when the weather cooperates. I strike the ball pretty well, and I know I lose a lot of strokes around the green especially from putting. I currently work as an electrician and I'm in the process of trying to change careers to follow in my dad's footsteps and become a firefighter. My wife is an avid golfer as well and we enjoy long walks down the fairways and sunny time in the beaches. Our daughter is getting out on the course with us as well. She's almost 2 now but loves being outside on the course with us. We've been fortunate that any time we have taken her along we are met with "that looks so fun, she looks so happy" instead of "keep that baby quiet!". She's great on the course. Until she starts laughing in dad's backswing. She chases the ball around on the green, and has a little putter that Gido (grandpa) made that she's eager to test out this year.

(we couldn’t wait to play. I think our daughter was a few months old at this point. She was awesome)

I'm a weird one when it comes to my grips. My current line up is GolfPride MCC4'S on my driver, hybrids and my irons. And midsize tour velvets on my wedges. My grips all have to be symmetrical. All the golf pride logos square to the face. This becomes tricky if I'm using a club with an adjustable head since turning the club changes the grip position. And that just makes me feel all weird in the hands at address. I'm okay with the standard grips for the wedges since during a round I may open and close the face to hit different shots without feeling any difference in my hands. (Current grip photos to come!)

 

Okie dokie. STAR GRIPS TIME!!

 

I’ve asked for 2 different kinds of grips. The Tour Star 360* for my woods and irons, and midsized Sidewinder 360* for my wedges. Both in a range of colours you’ll see in the unboxing. The Tour Stars are said to have a “less tapered feel” being equal to around 3-4 wraps on the bottom. And the Sidewinder, to me, looks alot like a Tour Velvet or a Lamkin Crossline.

I’m looking to test how quickly I can get these grips on, since they’re made to be “blown on", and how well they “stick” from the moment I've finished installing. Also how hard they are to get off.  Along with the usual durability testing and feel, I want to test for how well they work in colder and wet conditions as well as check to see if I can get the colours to “bleed” onto my K-Sig gloves. It’s going to be a tall order to get me away from my MCC’s on the top end of my bag, can they get a “grip” on my hands?

 

UNBOXING AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS

9 OUT OF 10

 

I’ve received the goods!! And in quick time too. Shout out to RJ from Star Grips who had to quickly verify my postal code to get these babies on the UPS truck and up north for some unboxing. Where to begin? I don’t know if I’ve ever held such a tacky grip in my life! Not in a bad way, but almost… comforting? Like the grip just wants to be held. I can see how these have a 3 year guarantee with how sticky they are out of the packaging. I’m also super excited to have the air gun tool to test how quick I can blow these on. And off. The gun fits on the end of the grip nicely and secures it well. 

They were shipped and received pretty quickly. And in a standard bubble wrap lined bag. They’re grips, so I didn’t expect a flashy Muira box. BUT, I received the same letter from Star Grips that Euge got thanking me for my participation in the test and review. Hand signed from the boss man himself, who noted that smooth swinging “feel” guys like Fred Couples use their grips. I truly believe that getting a note or something small is a huge gesture and goes a really long way with people spreading the good word for products. 

As mentioned I ordered 8 of the Tour Star 360*s in blue, black and white. And 3 Midsized Sidewinders in orange, grey and green. The pictures and live stream of the unboxing do NOT do the orange justice as to how good it looks. 

The Tour Stars do in fact (as stated by multiple users who are in the know) not have a lot of the grooving in the wrap that had me a bit worried. My comparison picture to more of a true “wrap” grip might highlight that a bit, but I am positive they won’t affect my feel when holding the club. 

The Sidewinders feel great. Pretty close to the Tour Velvet or Crossline. I say “pretty close” since the little grooves on the grip don't seem to be as deep as the mentioned other grips. I don’t see this being a problem since what they lack in physical indents the Star Grips make up with pure tackiness.  

 

I’m going to be trying to install them this weekend if time permits with some overtime coming tomorrow and the wife being away all day Sunday, but my plan for which grips are going on which clubs is as follows: 

 

Sidewinders on the woods (driver/2 hybrids)

Tour Stars for the rest

I’ll keep things up to date in the thread with any changes I make, for now I want to see how close they will be to the MMC’s without any extra wraps. At a glance they seem a bit skinnier than the MCC’s, but I don’t have a spare one to directly compare, only the ones on the club. Hoping that they will fill out a bit once on the shafts. 

(The sad state of my gamer grips)

As for my score 9 out of 10. The knock I currently have is how the grips left my hands feeling after around a half an hour of inspecting and playing with them. My hands currently feel like I used some sort of cheap hand sanitizer, and it left a weird almost sticky feeling behind. I’m leaving an asterisk since if this goes away with maybe washing the grips or playing a round or two with them, I’m prepared to go 10/10. They showed up quick, feel super tacky and sticky and the note in the bag was a nice touch!

 

Stay tuned for the install! 

 

Install video!!

Star Grips Install!

 

 

Star Grips Final Review!

Quick disclaimer for my final review. Everything for me starts at full marks. And only if I can find something to be nit-picky about will it lose marks. I want to be as harsh but fair as I can be so others may find relevance. 

AESTHETICS  - 10/10

Simply put, these grips look timeless. Both the Tour Stars and the Sidewinders reminisce of the grips of our time. That being a classic wrapped grips. And a tour favorite in the Tour Velvet or Crossline. The colors, as bold as they are, give way for golfers to express themselves as they see fit. Or keep a classic all black look to their grips. Time will tell if the color bleeds into my glove. Or if colored grips break down faster than black ones. I usually only play with friends and they are as picky as I am about their grips. They say these look great but aren’t their cup of tea, feel wise. 

(These grips look as good as they feel...)

FIT AND FEEL  - 19/20

The immediate draw to these grips is their installation method. Being able to install and uninstall with ease allows golfers to change the shape and feel of the grip to their liking. I was able to make all the grips feel exactly how I wanted. Not only in terms of taper, but size as well. The Tour Stars took a bit of playing around to get them to fit the same way through my irons in terms of getting all the wraps set the exact same way,  but now that they’re set they feel excellent. My only knock on the feel aspect is that the Tour Star grips only come in a standard size. This leaves me with much to desire in the way of dealing with stingers I may get from my irons. Stingers will hurt no matter how big your grip but it definitely hurts less with a bit more cushion on the grip. The TourStars seem to be trying to imitate the MCC 4 grip with less taper. It would be nice to see them in a midsize option.  For this I’m docking 1 mark. Maybe I should have got the classic wraps in midsize and built them with tape to reduce taper. 

ON THE COURSE - 18/20

Being in the midst of a swing change it’s hard to fault the grips for my misses. They felt great after the initial 2 wrap install. And ever better with 4 wraps under the Tour Stars. The Sidewinders feel amazing with my 2 bottom wraps and 1 full wrap. There’s still enough feel in the grip to know when I’ve struck one out of the middle of the face and when I’ve got one in the toe or heel. With the TourStars I feel completely connected with my hands fitting into or on top of the actual wraps of the grip. Something I was worried about for the test. I didn’t have issues on the course but more so annoyances. Since these grips are so tacky and sticky they are very prone to collecting dust and dry grass and even little bits of lint in the bottom of your bag. Be sure to bring a little tool or your putter cover when chipping around greens when you are chipping.  Having shot-scope tags on the butt of the club helps with the ends staying clean but there have been a few times I’ve needed to wipe things down, and hope the grips don’t pick up more lint from my towel. Another place of worry is the trunk or backseat of your car. We had to leave a sim quickly the other day to pick the dog up. We have an suv. And to get the bags and clubs to all fit well for pupper we took out our woods from our bags. After getting home and putting everything away I looked at my grips. Covered in dog hair. Like a lint roller they scooped everything. And my wife’s normal Crosslines were spotless. I’m docking 2 points here. Total of 2 for the stuffs the grips would pick up on and off the course. 

 

(After a quick rub on the grass at the dry driving range)

 

(After a quick wipe with a dry towel)

 

(After putting some water in my hand, running it on the grip and drying it off. Good as new!)

 

THE GOOD, BAD AND INBETWEEN.  17/20

To be brief. The good, is the ability to exchange grips and create a custom feel infinitely and quickly. Quick shot of air gets them off. A few wraps of tape later and another burst of air and you’re ready to play. Instantly. With most grips the story is the same. Water/wet grips equals bad. However these grips even after a quick wipe down we’re back to sticky in a second. The bad for me is how they made my hands feel during install. Like my hands were covered in hand sanitizer. And how tacky the grips can be with a glove. Control feels good but almost too locked in. I personally like a bit of play when it comes to addressing the ball, being that I may loosen and tighten my grip to set the face correctly etc. My glove at times became stuck to the grip and wouldn’t let go. This would make the glove fold over in a weird way between my hand and the grip. Like the seam of your sock getting pushed under your toe. I tried to wash the grips with a grip scrubber and this actually made them even more tacky. The in-between. 2 things. One, the grips, particularly my Sidewinders, were all out of spec when I came to weight differences. Mostly lower than oem spec. I’m not good enough to notice a difference but some are. Second. While install is insanely fast, if you’re not careful I found you can be a bit off from fully installing the grip all the way on the shaft. I had a few instances where I would finish, grip the butt of the grip and feel it, and feel squishiness on the end. Compared to pure grips, the end cap of the Star Grips is bigger and squishier, but it felt more difficult to ensure it was fully on the shaft.  Also, if you do not have a form of compressed air, you’ll need to source one. Either borrowing a friends compressor or buying your own. A possible added expense for those looking to save a few bucks on regripping. For these reasons I’m docking 4 marks. (1 mark for my glove getting stuck (1). 1 mark for weight specs being out (2).  1 mark for the install issues I had and the need for a compressor in general. Total 3) 

(White and Orange are stand out colors for sure. After a few sessions the white has picked up some dirt.)

 

PLAY IT OR TRADE IT - 20/20

I’m leaving my play it or trade it mark at 20 since I believe it wouldn’t be fair to dock marks without playing a full season of these grips. If the issues I mentioned above resolve themselves I’ll be extremely pleased. The main issue being just how tacky the grip is at the moment. I have no intentions of switching grips for the  foreseeable future. And I’m hopeful I can put the 3 year durability claims to the test. I’m going to treat these grips the same way I’ve treated all my other ones. Wash them every now and then, check them regularly for any issues and hit the ball hard. If issues arise I will for sure let everyone know.

(Safe to say when I hit this one, it felt incredible.)

 

FINAL SCORE - 93/100

TL;DR - If you're in the market for new grips that give you the freedom to express yourself, are soft and tacky to the touch, and allow for incredibly fast install and alteration with no down time between install, these are for you. A multitude of colors. An install tool included with a full set purchase (subject to changes) and excellent customer service make Star Grips a definite choice to explore for your next set of grips. Buyer beware, the tackiness of these grips might not be for all, and they may be prone to picking up bits of dust and hair from your bag and trunk. A quick water wash will get them back to playing conditions in a snap!

 

A final “thank you” from me to all of you here at MGS for the opportunity to provide feedback on these grips. I hope I brought some insight to help you make a good choice when looking for your next set of grips!

one more big thanks to my old man for helping with some of the tools I needed to get the grips on and off in a pinch. Your help is always appreciated. I owe you a round this year. 

Edited Wednesday at 03:44 AM by LeakyValve
Final review + Photos

[Alf. S]

The Review March 2024

Star Grips – Official MGS Forum Review by Alf. S

Intro-

I’m a 63-year-old retiree based out of the West Lothian Golf Club in the central belt of Scotland between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Below is the short 18th looking over the Firth of Forth into Fife

I’ve always loved golf from my early days watching The Open, The Masters and The Ryder Cup on TV to playing the game. From historical documentaries, my memory has been re-written to what my first memory of watching golf was but Tom Weiskopf at Troon in 1973 does stand out. I also remember being really annoyed that Americans' won all the time especially Tom Watson.

I kidded myself and anyone I played with that from my teenage years until I got my first official handicap in my 40s that I could play off 18. But now after 20 years of competitive golf and some hard work I achieved a handicap of 5. I’m not a natural player but find a way to get it done.

I play on average 3-4 rounds a week; weekly competition, Senior League, bounce game with friends and I’ll try and get a couple of rounds by myself when the course is quiet.

What I’ll be looking at

• For me the feel of the grip is the most important, I like a nice soft feel to the grip.
• On the course I like to look good, and I like my clubs and my bag to look good, the aesthetics of the grips is important, I have chosen 4 green grips these will be for my woods and hybrids which are Callaway Epics with green heads and head covers and 9 red for my irons that will match more to my bag colours
• I’ll also be looking at the durability of the grips and looking to use air for the first time to re-grip but will also grip a couple with the more traditional tape and solvent.
• If they align easily

This test has come at exactly the right time for me, I usually regrip my clubs at the start of a new season and sometimes my wedges twice. I am always looking to try out new grips and what they will give me.

At the moment I’m mainly using Lamkin Crossline on my Irons, Crossline 1150 on my Wedges and Winn Dritac on my Woods and Hybrids. My expectations are that the Sidewinder 360 grips will stay on my clubs for the season and be my new Gamer.

First Impressions (9 out of 10)

The grips arrived packaged securely.

Star Grips sent me an extra green grip and a selection of the other colours they support. In the box were:

1. Nine red grips
2. Five green grips
3. One of each; orange, pink, blue, white, grey and black
4. Installation Gun

As the product name states the grips are 360° which means that there is no logo or alignment pattern on the grip.

The 360° grips were originally developed to support adjustable hosels on woods and hybrids, with no alignment markings when the hosel was adjusted the grip still looks the same to the player. The only orientation indicator is on the butt and some subtle alignment nicks. The 2nd picture below also shows the grip identification as mid-size with the M and D either side of the alignment nick.

The butt design is moulded to make the air gun snuggly marry into the grip

The grips are slightly tacky and are sturdy to touch. The colours are vibrant and eye catching especially the orange and pink.

My current grips are Lamkin Crossline standard size and I notice immediately that the Star Grip mid-size were significantly heavier; 49 grams compare to 68 grams. Comparing it to the Lamkin Mid-Size spec the grips are around 8 grams heavier. If you are swing weight sensitive then be careful. The grip weights also vary across the colours and specifications are shown below

I am very proficient at using tape and solvent to regrip my clubs but with Star Grips pushing tapeless re-gripping and some pressure from my peer group at the club I decide to get myself a compressor and use the installation gun provided.

I decide to try one of the spare grips on my MD5 60° wedge which is not in my bag at the moment. On the Star Grip website, it shows a guy taking 15 seconds to remove and regrip using the tapeless method, for a first timer like me this is wildly optimistic. For a first go I decided to take any existing tape completely off, I then cleaned the shaft with solvent and mounted it in the vice. The gun easily mounted on to the compressor pipe with the quick release fittings making a good seal. I just used the standard 6 bar setting and was ready to go. Some videos recommend dipping the neck of the grip in solvent, which I did. I also measured and marked the shaft to where the grip should slide to. With the club held in a vice I gingerly slid the grip on, then more aggressively. I did find it a bit of a fight for the last inch but made it successfully, Then out for a quick swing and feel, success. The grip was secure, feel was good and after a bit of apprehension on swing weight that too felt fine. For my first attempt it took approximately five minutes to regrip the club.

... Onward to the full set and beyond.

 

 

 

Edited April 15 by Alf. S

[EugeGall]

STAR GRIPS - OFFICIAL MGS FORUM REVIEW by EugeGall

Introduction

Howdy to my fellow Spies, I'm Eugene Gallacher so you can see I got very original with my username, well to be honest my creativity deserted me the day I joined.
Firstly I'd like to thank MGS and Star Grips for giving me this opportunity to test out their range of grips. Eagerly awaiting my shipment expected this Thursday and it just happens to be my birthday, so present is on its way, woohoo!!

I'm 52, married with 2 daughters and live in Brighton UK. A fun fact is I'm Scottish (Irish father), my wife is Welsh and my 2 daughters were born in England and we all have Australian citizenship. I'm an engineer by default and currently the general manager for a manufacturing company that designs instrumentation for the geotechnical, civil and structural engineering sector.

Been playing golf since I was 8 (dad was a big golf nut so must be in the genes) and played all through my school years as a junior. Work got in the way back in 2012 and so had a mad hiatus from playing up to around 15 months ago, joining my current track at Singing Hills, a lovely 27 hole course with 3 distinct 9 holes (Lake, River & Valley), north of Brighton. I play every weekend, at least once and get out for 9/18 midweek, most weeks. Currently playing off 9.
I do all my own club work, regripping & reshafting. Bit of tinkerer at heart.

1. How to test – blow on with air and give them a good bash both at the range and course seeing how they stack up against my current grips which I’ve used for years. Going Tour Star 360 on  Driver/Woods; Sidewinder 360 with lower build up tape on Irons and Sidewinder 360 (no tape) on Wedges (can always blow off and add tape).
2. Comparisons – Up against GP Tour Velvet Plus4 on Driver and MCC Plus4 on Woods, Irons and Wedges looking at feel, durability and tackiness; how do they work wet/dry. Other than actual playing numbers will use Toptracer Range to see if they effect distance & dispersion against my gamers. Interested in the softness (Star) vs firmer (Sidewinder).
3. Will they stay after testing – unless they bomb on for the season to give them a good longevity test.
4. Why did I want to test – Big fan of Pure Grips so always curious about these, and who doesn’t like a good grip test. Was about to put on GP CPX so may compare to them as well. Also at almost half price to my current keen to see if they are value for money or just cheap. See the tight Scotsman always comes out.
5. Product knowledge – Star Grips always come up when looking just never pulled the pin.
6. Expectations - high given the current reviews, but they have to be a seamless addition to my bag.

 

Anyway I'll keep you all posted..... fun times ahead.

EugeGall.

Unboxing/First Impressions (9 out of 10)

Woohoo!!! They have arrived and I have to say pretty impressive delivery from Sweden given I only submitted my specific requirements a week ago.

On opening the package had the gun on top then a packaging layer and then the grips themselves all contained in 2 separate clear bags for protection.

 

Now here was the really nice personal touch, the package included a letter from the owner of Star Grips Anders Dahlen, congratulating me on being selected as one of the MGS testers, that's pretty cool!!

I chose the Tour Star (Blue x4) and the Sidewinders (Green x6 and Orange x3) and I must say 1st looks I'm impressed with the colours.

The Blue is a nice matt colour which I was hoping would be the case and not shiny like the GP Tour Wrap 2G. The Green and Orange are very bright which I like. Other than the obvious wrap vs the velvet like Sidewinder they both felt very similar in feel and equally soft. I was expecting the Sidewinder to be a little firmer to the touch. I like the soft touch. Both grips felt extremely tacky which I was hoping for, so big plus here. The Tour Star wrap is visibly noticeable to see and whilst you can feel it it's not too pronounced to the hands.

My 1st impression was always going to be based on what they are up against.

The Tour Velvet Plus4 is on my Driver, the MCC Plus4 Align on my Woods & Hybrid and the MCC Plus4 on my Irons & Wedges.

The Tour Star I'm fitting to the "woods" and comparing yes they are softer as expected, with much more tack. When I held the Tour Star, butt end in my left hand and tried to slide my right hand down the grip, it just stuck. Repeating this against the above 2 GP grips I got noticeably more movement in the right hand, especially on the Tour Velvet. Star Grips claim their grips to be very tacky as used by Fred Couples and since he doesn't wear a glove they must be and my basic 1st test has me agreeing.
The Tour Star comes as a reduced taper and I think this actually is more (less taper) so than the GP Plus4's.

The Sidewinder I'm fitting to my irons (green plus tape) and wedges (orange no tape). Again the slide test showed a lot more grip on the Sidewinder compared to the GP grip, so all positive here. As a visual I would say it compares to the Tour Velvet, so good alternative if that's what you like.

Star Grips claim a weight tolerance of +/- 1 gram so how did my package weigh out.

Tour Star (blue spec 58g) - 2x grips 57g and 2x grips 59g so big tick for me.
Sidewinder (green spec 49g) - 5x grips 46g 1x grip 47g. All grips within tolerance of each other but as a bit light to spec I took 1 point off here. Yes I know a bit harsh, but overall very impressed.
Sidewinder (orange spec 47g) - 2x grips 48g 1x grip 47g. Again spot on.

Now the weight thing got me thinking, how do they compare to my current and will this make a difference - the Tour Velvet is 53g (spec of 52g), MCC Align is 52g (spec of 53g) and the MCC is 53g (spec of 52g).
Given the difference Tour Star when fitted to my woods (4-7g heavier) it would decrease SW by just over 1 point and on the Sidewinder on my irons/wedges (5-7g lighter) it would increase SW by just over 1 point. Ok I'm going to be honest and say I'm not good enough to notice, but then again it's a feel thing that I will look out for.

Last, but not least as these are going to be air fitted Star Grips include their air gun which looks pretty much like the old Pure Grips one I have so as expected, but the proof will be when used...more to come.

Depending on the air fittings I have on my compressor I'll use the above complete, but as the most important part for me is the blue fitment that attaches to the grip I may have to put that on my old setup until I get the correct parts.

Follow up tomorrow on the big install... can't wait then off to the real testing. 

Edited March 15 by EugeGall
Unboxing

[GolfSpy_APH]

Big thanks to Star grips for participating and excited to see what our testers have to say about the grips and the process!

[RohanVster]

Congratulations to the selected testers, will be checking out these grip reviews

[sirchunksalot]

Congratulations testers! 

[ParFore74x]

Congratulations testers! Looking forward to your thoughts on these grips. 

[Rob Person]

Congratulations testers!  How many will be installing them, and how many will go somewhere to install them?

[buckpillar]

Congratulations to all testers, can't wait to hear the feedback and discussions about the grips.

[Josh Parker]

Congrats testers!  I have a set on the way that I will be putting on my irons.  

[Jhampt00]

I am needing new grips so I’m very interested in the feedback. 
 

So I went ahead and ordered these. I dont have a great set up for grip installs so the process was kind of a pain in the butt for me without having a vice grip to hold the clubs. I am not changing the grip on my woods yet they are both new and I wanted to try the irons and wedges before adding it to the driver. I am suppose to play this weekend for the first time with the grips. Looking forward to it and will update. 

Edited March 29 by Jhampt00

[nvizble1]

This will be interesting to me.  I have played Golf Pride and Winn forever, so your opinions on how these perform will be anxiously awaited.

Good luck and congratulations!

[GolfSpy_BNG]

Congrats testers. Gotta love a grip test

[BallsLeon]

Sidewinders look super promising! Curious the testers preferences on grip setup/wraps? Anyone planning to reduce taper on the trail hand?

[Mike10487]

Congratulations guys. I'm pretty sure you guys will be impressed with these grips.

[revkev]

Always interested in grips - will be looking fir and to this test - congrats to a great testing group. 

[tdroma98]

Congratulation testers! Looking forward to reviews & how the air installation of the grip went! 

[Girldad18]

Congrats testers!

[Matumbo]

Awesome, congrats testers! Really interested to see these results. 

[TSauer]

Congratulations, testerinos!

[David Leighton Reid]

Congratulations testers!  I look forward to your reviews!

[jbern]

Congrats testers! Grips are something that I've overlooked and haven't given much thought until recently. I'll be looking forward to see how you all get along with these star grips!

[Michael.Sandoval33]

Congratulations @BreakfastBall15 @LeakyValve @Alf. S & @EugeGall! I can't wait to hear how these hold up for you all. I almost got a full set in orange a week ago but decided to wait and see what you testers think. I will be watching

[BreakfastBall15]

2 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Congratulations testers!  How many will be installing them, and how many will go somewhere to install them?

I am planning on installing using the air gun. After watching the video on the star grip website, it seems very me proof.

 

1 hour ago, BallsLeon said:

Sidewinders look super promising! Curious the testers preferences on grip setup/wraps? Anyone planning to reduce taper on the trail hand?

I'm debating on it. My driver currently has +2 wraps with a GP tour velvet 360 midsize and enjoy it, however the rest of my clubs are Lamkin z5 midsize with standard wraps. I may install one grip normal on an iron and another +2, go to the range and see how they feel, and go from there. Good news is that with the air gun it is a very simple install/uninstall without having to cut the grips. 

[William P]

Congrats testers! Looking forward to your thoughts and comments related to installation and feel of these grips.

[Alf. S]

2 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Congratulations testers!  How many will be installing them, and how many will go somewhere to install them?

Be installing them myself. Never used air before, so going to have to get a compressor but still going to do a couple with  tape and solvent to ensure they are durable during the re-gripping process.

[Preeway]

Congrats, testers. As someone who puts on new grips each year, I'm eager to hear how these hold up and whether you can truly get multiple years out of them.

[LeakyValve]

2 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Congratulations testers!  How many will be installing them, and how many will go somewhere to install them?

Planning to put the “ease of install” to the test and do them myself!!