The Green Fee Where These Came From
A few weeks ago I reviewed the Elite Grips Y360 Tour20 and walked away impressed. In that same shipment, I also received three Standard 48 Star grips. Since that wasn’t enough for a full iron set, I installed them on my driver and two hybrids instead (my 3-wood’s spot in the bag was still up in the air).
First Impressions and Comparison
I’ve played an Iomic grip on my irons for the past two seasons. It gives me everything I want: tacky, soft enough to be comfortable, firm enough to deliver real feedback. The moment I saw the Elite Grips lineup, I suspected the 48 Star would be the closest match to what I already play, so I was excited to get these installed.
Beyond the visual similarity to an Iomic, the first thing I noticed was weight. These felt very light, and the name gives it away: they weigh 48 grams. Fresh on the club, they felt thinner than my previous Tour Velvet +4, which tracks since they lack that thicker lower-hand build-up (something you could absolutely add with extra tape if you wanted more bulk).
Tack was present right out of the gate, and the texture surprised me. It wasn’t aggressive at all. Firm in the hand, but never uncomfortable. Some grips manage to be rough and aggressive at the same time (looking at you, Z-Cord), which just ends up hurting your hands. A Tour Velvet Cord is a better example of firm-but-comfortable done right, and the 48 Star lands in that same category.
The Good
Feel in Hand
How a grip feels off the club and how it performs on the course are two different things, but the 48 Star delivered on both. Out on the course, it felt exactly like a premium golf grip should: soft, and almost molded to my fingers. It landed somewhere between an Iomic Sticky and a Tour Velvet, both strong grips in their own right.
Elite Grips markets the 48 Star as a two-part build: a firmer top section for torque transfer and a softer bottom section to let the shaft move properly. I can’t verify the engineering claims, but the softness was noticeable throughout the swing. It’s not Winn-level soft or in the same territory as Golf Pride’s CP lineup, but it’s genuinely soft for a performance grip.
Moisture Management
Like the Y360 Tour20, moisture management here is excellent. The special elastomer wipes clean easily and doesn’t hold onto sweat or water at all. I played a few holes in light rain and experienced zero slippage. I also deliberately got the grip wet and took practice swings to stress-test it. No issues at all.
The Bad
It Gets Dirty Fast
My biggest complaint is how quickly these grips pick up dirt. I noticed black streaks and visible grime after just a couple of rounds. The tack never seemed to suffer from the dirt buildup, but once I actually cleaned the grips, I realized how much tackiness I’d been missing. The same elastomer that makes these grips tacky also makes them a dirt magnet, so be prepared for that trade-off.
The good news: cleanup is fast. A spray of Windex (or really any liquid) and a quick brush removes most of the grime in seconds.
The Price
Let’s address the elephant in the room: these grips run $15.50 each. Compared to Iomic’s $13.50, that $2 gap isn’t a big deal. The real problem is the Golf Pride Tour Velvet +4, which comes in at just $6.99.
I genuinely like the Elite Grips 48 Star, but is it $8.50 better than a Tour Velvet +4? That’s a harder case to make. Elastomer grips do tend to outlast standard rubber grips, but they’d need to last roughly twice as long to justify the price gap. If you’re comparing this against a multi-compound (MCC) grip instead, the price starts to make a lot more sense.
Final Verdict
This is a genuinely good grip. It feels great in hand and delivers a locked-in connection with the club. If you’re comparing it against an MCC or Golf Pride Align grip, the Standard 48 Star holds up well and could easily be exactly what you’re looking for.
That said, if pure comfort-per-dollar is your priority, it’s hard not to point out that you could buy two Tour Velvets for the price of one 48 Star.