Golf Equipment Review: Three TaylorMade Balls
Our ball is the only piece of golf equipment we use on every shot we make and TaylorMade is giving us 3 new, very solid ball options.
TaylorMade Golf Company, the number two golf ball brand played on the PGA TOUR with three tour staffers currently in the top ten in the Official World Golf Ranking, has released its 2016 golf ball lineup, highlighted by the new Tour Preferred X, Tour Preferred and Project (a). With these three models, TaylorMade’s new lineup provides exceptional feel, performance and spin around the greens.
With a little help from my friends I field-tested the Tour Preferred X and Project (a) balls and can reports that the amateur golfer team who played the balls said they live up fully to TaylorMade’s promotional hype.
Tour Preferred X – TaylorMade’s Tour Ball With the Most Control
The new Tour Preferred X ball (5-layer construction, 87 compression) features a new thicker re-engineered Soft Tech cast urethane cover for more greenside control and the same LDP™ 322 dimple pattern found in the Tour Preferred.
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Similar to its predecessor, the Tour Preferred X delivers low spin off the tee, low iron ball flight but with more greenside spin, as preferred by the best players in the world. TaylorMade Tour Professionals who play the Tour Preferred X include Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose and 2015 PGA Champion Jason Day, along with dozens of others.
The most enthusiastic among my Tour Preferred X field testers – all single-digit handicap men who pride themselves on their aggressive iron play – were wildly enthusiastic about this ball. They especially appreciated it’s spin and stick quality.
Choosing Between Tour Preferred & Tour Preferred X
With Tour Preferred and Tour Preferred X,
TaylorMade
offers two distinctly different performance golf
balls
with tour-caliber performance. What separates Tour Preferred and the Tour Preferred X from a performance standpoint is feel and spin.
Tour Preferred, TaylorMade’s softest-ever Tour ball, is the lowest compression tour ball the company has ever offered and is designed for players who prefer softer feel in a tour-caliber golf ball and more spin in the mid-to-long iron shots. This spin will also promote a higher trajectory on approach shots than the Tour Preferred X.
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In contrast, the Tour Preferred X is designed for players looking for a more penetrating flight with their irons and more feedback (firmer) on shots into and around the green.
Golfballs.com lists Tour Preferred and Tour Preferred X at $34.95/dozen (plus postage), slightly less than TaylorMade’s MSRP pricing ($47.99/dozen).
Project (a) – A Softer Tour Ball for Amateurs
TaylorMade’s 2016 lineup also features the bolstered Project (
a
), designed specifically for the competitive amateur player to promote more spin and improved performance where needed most: 30 yards and in. The new Project (
a
) has an overall compression of 70 (versus 88 in the original model), which was achieved by dropping the core compression 33%. The core compression has been reduced from 60 to 40 by way of a REACT™ Core with a new speed optimized formulation.
As amateur players generate nearly 50% less spin than players on tour, Project (a) is specifically designed to deliver more spin on mid irons, short irons and shots around the green, resulting in enhanced control and increased scoring opportunities.
The new Project (a) features many of the same technologies as featured in the original model, including REACT™ core technology for more distance on long shots. The new Project (a) also retains the proprietary Soft Tech™ cast urethane cover, TaylorMade’s softest and most durable, to provide higher greenside spin, softer feel and improved durability. Soft Tech is the same cover used on both Tour Preferred models.
My most enthusiastic Project (a) field testers were women amateurs with handicaps that ranged from the mid-teens to the mid-20s. They found Project (a) to be solid off the tee, forgiving on approach shots, and able to hold its line nicely on the putting surface. None of my field testers are aggressive iron players. Most preferred bump and run shots to high lobs and they reported that Project (a) performed beautifully for them.
As with the Tour Preferred and Tour Preferred X, Golfballs.com delivers at a slightly lower price ($29.95/dozen) than TaylorMade’s MSRP ($34.99/dozen).
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If you’re not satisfied with your golf ball or if you’re just the kind of golf who enjoys trying new equipment, I can safely recommend these new TaylorMade balls to you. They perform as advertised.