Tag: 2024 TaylorMade golf balls

TaylorMade TP5 Stripe, TP5x Stripe golf balls

TaylorMade is bringing its 360 ClearPath Alignment Stripe to its most premium balls.

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”https://cdn5.anyclip.com/P3sIzY0BPzRpr9ZOSUhB/1708542376830_248x140_thumbnail.jpg” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLmFueWNsaXAuY29tL2FueWNsaXAtd2lkZ2V0L2xyZS13aWRnZXQvcHJvZC92MS9zcmMvbHJlLmpzIiBkYXRhLWFyPSIxNjo5IiBkYXRhLXBsaWQ9Imthenhnc2wybGV5ZWV1ZDJranloZW9rMmo1anZrMmNjIiBwdWJuYW1lPSIxOTk4IiB3aWRnZXRuYW1lPSIwMDE2TTAwMDAyVTBCMWtRQUZfTTgzMjciPgo8L3NjcmlwdD4KPHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJhcHBsaWNhdGlvbi9sZCtqc29uIiBuYW1lPSJhYy1scmUtc2NoZW1hIj4KIHsKICAiQGNvbnRleHQiOiJodHRwczovL3NjaGVtYS5vcmciLAogICJAdHlwZSI6IlZpZGVvT2JqZWN0IiwKICAibmFtZSI6IlRheWxvck1hZGUgVFA1LCBUUDV4IGJhbGxzIiwKICAiZGVzY3JpcHRpb24iOiJUaGUgVFA1IGFuZCBUUDV4IGZvciAyMDI0IGhhdmUgYmVlbiByZWxlYXNlZCB3aXRoIHVwZGF0ZXMgZm9jdXNlZCBvbiBkaXN0YW5jZS4gVGhlIG5ldyBjb3JlIGJsZW5kLCB1c2luZyBhIG1hdGVyaWFsIG5ldmVyIGJlZm9yZSB1c2VkIGluIGdvbGYsIGFsbG93cyBmb3IgYSBsLi4uIiwKICAiZHVyYXRpb24iOiJQVDZNMzAuNTVTIiwKICAidGh1bWJuYWlsVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9zdHJlYW0uZ2VuaXVzcGx1cy5haS9QM3NJelkwQlB6UnByOVpPU1VoQi8xNzA4NTQyMzc2OTkzXzQ4MHgyNzBfdGh1bWJuYWlsLmpwZyIsCiAgInVwbG9hZERhdGUiOiIyMDI0LTAyLTIxVDE4OjU4OjA4LjgzM1oiLAogICJpbnRlcmFjdGlvblN0YXRpc3RpYyI6ewogICAiQHR5cGUiOiAiSW50ZXJhY3Rpb25Db3VudGVyIiwKICAgImludGVyYWN0aW9uVHlwZSI6IHsgIkB0eXBlIjogImh0dHA6Ly9zY2hlbWEub3JnL1dhdGNoQWN0aW9uIiB9LAogICAidXNlckludGVyYWN0aW9uQ291bnQiOiAyMDU3NAogIH0KIH0KIDwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

Gear: TaylorMade TP5 Stripe, TP5x Stripe golf balls
Price: $57.99 per dozen
Specs: Five-piece, urethane-covered golf balls with a 360-degree, 22-millimeter stripe pattern
Available: NOW

Who it’s for: Golfers who want tour-level distance off the tee and spin around the green, along with a visual aid that helps with aim and putting performance.

What you should know: TaylorMade is bringing the 360 ClearPath Alignment Stripe, previously available only on Tour Response balls, to its most premium balls.

The deep dive: Golfers have been drawing a line on their ball and using it to aim putts for decades, and several manufacturers have printed thin lines on balls too. In early 2022, however, TaylorMade took things to another level with the introduction of the Tour Response Stripe. The ball features TaylorMade’s 360 ClearPath Alignment Stripe. At 22 millimeters in width, the bright yellow (TaylorMade calls it lime) stripe made it easy to aim down your intended target line. After you hit your putt, if the line rolled smoothly, you knew you had made a good stroke. If the line wobbled, it was a clear indication that you either pulled, blocked, or mis-hit your putt.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM TP5 Stripe golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/XY612y”]

TaylorMade TP5 Stripe
The TaylorMade TP5 Stripe golf ball makes it easier to align and aim when you putt. (TaylorMade)

Now, TaylorMade is bringing a version of the 360 ClearPath Alignment Stripe to the balls that tour players like Rory McIlroy, Nelly Korda, Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa play—the TP5 and TP5x.

While the Tour Response Stripe is now available with a blue, red, orange, and light blue stripe, the new TP5 Stripe and TP5x Stripe are more subtle and are being offered with black-dot borders and a black line in the center that goes all the way around the ball. So instead of a bright-colored stripe, golfers who use this ball will see a white stripe in the center of a white ball. While fans of bright golf balls may be disappointed, this subtle introduction of the technology in TaylorMade’s tour balls will likely make it something traditional golfers are more willing to try.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM TP5X Stripe golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/B0jKR0″]

TaylorMade TP5x Stripe
The TaylorMade TP5x Stripe golf ball. (TaylorMade)

From a performance standpoint, the TP5 Stripe and TP5x Stripe are identical to their non-striped counterparts.

The TP5 Stripe and TP5x Stripe are both five-layer balls that feature a three-layer core infused with an additive the company calls SpeedWrap. Developed by Dow Chemical, SpeedWrap changes the way the balls sound, allowing TaylorMade to elevate the compression for more speed without making the balls sound and feel too hard.

The TP5 should still feel softer than the TP5x because it has a lower overall compression. The TP5x should provide players with more speed with woods and long irons because it is firmer, and it will generate a higher launch angle too. The TP5, however, is designed to create slightly more spin than the TP5x with wedges.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM TP5 Stripe golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/XY612y”]

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM TP5X Stripe golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/B0jKR0″]

TaylorMade’s Performance Decision Kit could be a great golf ball fitting option, but you can’t buy it

This is exactly what many golfers need.

With its namesake mountain looming in the background, twilight descending, and the empty, emerald-green fairway laid out in front of me, the 18th hole at Superstition Mountain Golf Club in Golf Canyon, Arizona, was the perfect place to have a little fun.

No one else was around that evening, so I dropped five or six three-ball sleeves of the newest golf balls on the ground and started hitting approach shots, pitch shots and chip shots until darkness made it too hard to see. I made little notes on a pad about how each ball felt and flew, how much it appeared to spin (I didn’t have a launch monitor), checked-up on the green and which balls seemed to end up closest to the hole.

It was the first time I’d really tested golf balls, and it has become a yearly ritual that starts my season every year, although, sadly, Central Connecticut is not as pretty as the Arizona desert in late March.

I have encouraged Golfweek readers to buy three-ball packs of newly released balls at the start of every season and test them against the ball they currently play on several occasions, so when I recently received TaylorMade’s Performance Decision Kit, I thought a brand had finally made the job of ball testing a little easier. Inside the box were six two-ball packs of each urethane-covered ball in the 2024 TaylorMade stable: TP5, TP5 Pix, TP5x, TP5x Pix, Tour Response and Tour Response Stripe.

One box, three different balls in both white and in each ball’s visual-technology version.

TaylorMade Performance Decision Kit
The TaylorMade Performance Decision Kit includes six two-ball packs of TaylorMade balls. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

But when I reached out to TaylorMade to find out when the Performance Decision Kit was going on sale to the public, I got the bad news: This unique box will not go on sale to consumers. It was created for select members of the media and influencers to make them aware of TaylorMade’s new offerings for 2024.

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”https://cdn5.anyclip.com/ZGzRs40B4tYbd-8K-MC9/1708119517843_248x140_thumbnail.jpg” playlistId=”undefined” content=”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”][/anyclip-media]

I recently went to TaylorMade’s golf ball manufacturing plant in Liberty, South Carolina. I have also visited Callaway’s facility in Chicopee, Massachusetts, along with Titleist’s golf ball plant in New Bedford, Massachusetts, several times. These state-of-the-art facilities turn out millions of dozen boxes of golf balls every year thanks to lots of proprietary systems, customized machines and other automated processes. The assembly lines are built to make thousands of the same ball at a time, paint them, number them, add them to sleeves and then get those sleeves into dozen-ball boxes.

I assume creating something like the TaylorMade Performance Decision Kit involves a level of small-batch work that would be difficult to do at scale. In fact, it would likely fall to the custom golf ball department that handles corporate orders and other small-batch projects. Still, that doesn’t mean I don’t want TaylorMade and other brands to make dozens of boxes like this available to everyone.

For the last 20 years, the percentage of golfers who buy their clubs after going through a custom fitting season has dramatically increased because while a good-quality custom fitting session can take time, the result is a club that is ideally suited for the player. Once players go through a fitting for a driver or irons, they never buy “off the rack” again. Custom fitting for putters and wedges still lag behind woods and irons, but those numbers are going to climb.

Golf ball fittings? Almost no recreational golfers get fit for the ball they use, which is why a multi-ball pack sold as a fitting tool is something we need. It would make the process easier if you could buy a dozen box and get a sleeve of:

Any time I talk with a brand about helping golfers find the right clubs, they all say custom fitting is the key. If you don’t get custom fit for your woods, irons, wedges or putter, you are almost certainly leaving some performance behind. The same thing holds true with golf balls.

Unfortunately, TaylorMade’s Performance Decision Kit may be an example of a great idea that is not ready to become a reality for most golfers.

TaylorMade SpeedSoft golf balls

A option for budget-minded golfers who want more distance off the tee.

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”https://cdn5.anyclip.com/Q47GzY0B4tYbd-8Kniqr/1708554611599_248x140_thumbnail.jpg” playlistId=”undefined” content=”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”][/anyclip-media]

Gear: TaylorMade SpeedSoft golf balls
Price: $24.99 per dozen
Specs: Two-piece, ionomer-covered ball available in white, yellow and Ink pattern (green, blue, orange, pink and red)

Who It’s For: Budget-minded golfers who want more distance off the tee.

The Skinny: TaylorMade designed a new, ultra-soft core for the SpeedSoft for more distance, then developed a new visual pattern to make it stand out.

The Deep Dive: TaylorMade is trying to make significant inroads in the golf ball category in 2024, and the balls that you will hear the most about are the TP5 and TP5x, along with their TP5 and TP5x Pix counterparts. Those are the balls that Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Nelly Korda and Rickie Fowler are playing, and those are the balls that will put the most considerable dent in your wallet. For many players, $54.99 for a dozen balls is just not going to happen, and the $42.99 per dozen Tour Response may be out of reach, too.

For budget-minded golfers who still want a ball that delivers solid performance and doesn’t feel like a rock when you hit it, TaylorMade is releasing the SpeedSoft. This two-piece, ionomer-covered ball was designed to provide soft feel, more distance and possibly add some pizazz to your game.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM SpeedSoft golf balls” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/5gErRL”]

TaylorMade SpeedSoft golf balls
The Ink version of the SpeedSoft ball is eye-catching. (TaylorMade)

At the heart of the SpeedSoft is the newly developed PWRCore. It is an exceptionally soft core, so every golfer should be able to activate it off the tee for more distance. However, because the SpeedSoft has a 50 compression, it holds the distinction of being the softest-feeling ball in the TaylorMade lineup.

The SpeedSoft does not create the same level of greenside spin that the urethane-covered TP5 and TP5x can. Still, its ionomer cover is designed to generate a mid- to high-launch trajectory with wedges, so golfers should be able to create stopping power by bringing shots in more vertically.

In addition to traditional white and yellow color options, TaylorMade is offering the SpeedSoft in a new Ink pattern that features splashes of green, blue, red or pink, along with a complimenting black. The pattern, which looks like splattered paint, is eye-catching, but there is still an arrowed side stamp for golfers who like to use a line on their ball when they putt.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM SpeedSoft golf balls” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/5gErRL”]