WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x tour-preferred multilayer urethane-cover balls use a new rubber formulation in the core to create more speed with a better sound and feel. The revised five-layer construction now creates a greater separation between the softness of the core and the firmness of the outer mantle. Designers say that difference is crucial to yielding a better combination of low driver spin with high wedge spin.
PRICE & AVAILABILITY: $84.99 per dozen, in white and yellow. Also offered in an updated Pix visual graphic technology version for both TP5 and TP5x. Available at retail across Australia now.
3 COOL THINGS
1. The feel of speed. There’s a reason you never hear long-drive guys talk about the feel of a golf ball. They’re only interested in golf ball designs that emphasise speed to the exclusion of all other aspects. That’s generally a problem when you’re designing a golf ball for real golfers because the more resilience (speed) you put into the rubber core of the golf ball, the more it feels like, well, a rock. That’s where the TP5 and TP5x are looking to do something different. The cores utilise a new formulation (in simple terms, it’s less dense but just as energetic) the company is calling “Speed Wrap” that was developed with Dow Chemical. The result is the two designs can give the target players for each ball a new perception, what the company is calling “decoupling” speed and feel.
“We have a chemistry polymers group who’s looking at new rubber compounds and mixing different compounds together, different ingredients, and sometimes you find something that comes out of it like, ‘Oh, wow, this is kind of interesting, something’s happening here,’” said Josh Dipert, TaylorMade’s director of golf ball research and development, who compared the Speed Wrap’s function to that of the Speed Foam in the company’s P•790 irons. Dipert said just as the fill in the hollow iron allowed the faster-flexing face to feel better, so too does the Speed Wrap layer on the new TP5 and TP5x golf balls.
“Typically the ‘5’ guy is always going to focus on feel first and the ‘X’ guy is always going to focus on speed first, but with this technology it gave us the opportunity to increase the speed for the ‘5’ guy and maintain the feel, while the ‘X’ guy is going to get better feel than we were able to get him in the past when we were just pushing for more speed.
“Ultimately, what we’re doing is getting closer and closer to a ball that, depending on what attribute you make a priority, doesn’t have to compromise.”
2. Separate ways. TaylorMade’s golf balls for the past 15 years have taken up a unique position with their five-layer construction. Those layers are designed to optimise performance throughout the bag, activating differently based on the degree of impact ranging from the extreme of a driver to that of a mid-iron to the way the cover reacts with the firmest outer mantle for short-game spin.
In the new TP5 and TP5x, those layers are distinctly different compared to past versions and feature a new level of progressive firmnesses to create a larger gap, or separation, between the stiffness of the core and the stiffness of the outermost mantle layer. The greater that difference, the theory goes, the greater range can be created between lower spin off the driver and higher spin off the wedges.
“They go from a core compression of 5 to a firmness level in the 90s,” said Michael Fox, TaylorMade’s senior director of product creation for golf balls. “What happens when you have that large a speed gradient is these layers are now truly performing like completely different products.”
3. Dealer’s choice. While there are two primary offerings in the line-up, the TP5 and TP5x come in an array of visual offerings that is nearly limitless, including the company’s alignment format known as Pix, as well as yellow and personalised options through TaylorMade’s MySymbol program.
The TP5 is the softer of the two models, with the TP5x flying higher but with a flatter trajectory and spinning less on tee shots while offering the most ball speed off the driver and irons. The TP5 will offer less spin off the tee than in previous versions but remains the higher spinning around the green of the two models.
The Pix alignment graphic now features a diamond shape and a longer centreline to further facilitate aiming. TaylorMade’s groundbreaking customisation options through MySymbol include a USA palette, 22 collegiate logos and 20 retail-exclusive designs.
