Gear: Titleist Tour Soft golf ball (2020)
Price: $34.99 per dozen
Specs: Two-piece, Surlyn-covered ball. Available in white and yellow.
Available: Jan. 22
Titleist debuted its first Tour Soft golf balls in 2018 to replace the NXT Tour and NXT Tour S in the company’s stable. According to the company, golfers who bought the Tour Soft liked the soft feel at impact and the distance produced with their irons.
Still, company research showed that if there were areas where players wanted to see improvement, it was distance off the tee and control around the greens. For 2020, with the release of the updated Tour Soft balls, Titleist made a point to address those two areas.
The spherically-tiled 342 cuboctahedron dimple pattern has not changed for 2020, but the edges and depth of the dimples were modified slightly and the Surlyn blend used to make the cover is subtly firmer. As a result, the Tour Soft now has a lower, more penetrating trajectory.
The ball also should deliver more greenside spin because the cover is thinner, so the grooves in wedges and short irons can bite into it and generate spin more effectively.
To make the ball longer off the tee, the core has been enlarged to 1.61 inches in diameter (by rule, balls cannot be smaller than 1.68 inches in diameter including the cover). It’s the largest core found in any Titleist ball, and the company said it delivers more speed off the tee and with long irons. The softness of the core also helps offset the slightly firmer cover material, so the ball still feels soft at impact.
Finally, Titleist gave the Tour Soft a new side stamp, modeling it after a popular custom offering the company had made available online. The perpendicular lines are designed to boldly stand out against the white and yellow balls and make it easier for golfers to align putts and square their putter at address.