Written By: Tony Covey
Did you know that TaylorMade is the #2 ball on tour?
Granted, nobody loves being #2, but when you’re up against the juggernaut that is the Titleist Pro V1, #2 on tour almost feels like winning.
144 Tour players put TaylorMade balls into play in any given week, and from a product validation standpoint it’s perhaps noteworthy that ever single one of them is playing the current version of the Tour Preferred or Tour Preferred X. There’s not a single straggler still playing Lethal or older.
100% adoption on Tour is rare, but TaylorMade believes it won’t be long before all 144 switch to one the new balls.
3 New Premium Balls
For 2016 TaylorMade is introducing 3 new Urethane-covered balls which bring meaningful updates to the now two-year old Tour Preferred, Tour Preferred X, and Project (a).
Fans of TaylorMade balls (or just consistency in general) will be delighted to learn that the Tour Preferred and Project (a) names not only carry through for another revision, but the company appears committed to retain the name moving forward.
It’s a strategy that’s worked almost incomprehensibly well for Titleist.
2016 TaylorMade Tour Preferred X
The 5-piece Tour Preferred X represents the evolution of TaylorMade’s Penta franchise. It’s the company’s most popular ball on tour, with 140 of 144 TaylorMade staffers, including Jason Day and Dustin Johnson, putting the Tour Preferred X into play each week.
As you might imagine, changing a ball that’s immensely popular with guys who have tens of thousands (sometimes more) of dollars riding on a single shot is particularly challenging. If the tour staff had its druthers, TaylorMade would have left the Tour Preferred X alone.
There’s a colorful quote from Jason Day that was relayed to me at the PGA Show in January. It’s not fit to print by the letter, but sufficed to say, he likes the current ball, and wasn’t keen on having it changed.
There are retail realities, however; so iteration – even with something as small as the ball, is a necessity. After some reassurances that everything they love about the current ball would be left intact, the tour guys were on board with the possibility of a new ball that would retain the primary playing characteristics of the current one, but offer even more greenside spin.
To achieve the desired spin rate, TaylorMade actually made the urethane cover of the Tour Preferred X thicker and softer. That’s interesting because many golfers believe a thinner cover yields more spin. To offset the effect of the thicker cover, TaylorMade softened up the mantle layer a bit as well. The end result is a ball that retains the feel (and performance) of the 2014 Tour Preferred X while adding what TaylorMade claims is more spin than any ball in its class.
How many times a round do you hit a shot from 30 yards or closer. Those testy little chip shots are were too little spin can leave us with too long a putt. This is where changes to the Tour Preferred X should be noticeable.
In TaylorMade’s robot testing, the new Tour Preferred X was the only tour-level ball to exceed 7500 RPM of spin on 30-yard shots.
Driver and iron trajectory characteristics are the same. Launch is the same, spin is the same. Even compression, which is a big part of nearly every manufacturer’s ball story this season remains nearly unchanged (it’s gone from 88 to 87). Greenside spin is the near total story here.
TaylorMade started with an initial count of 43 prototypes. When that list was whittled down to three, TaylorMade put the prototypes in the hands of its tour players. Fortunately, I suppose, for TaylorMade, there was unanimous agreement.
The ball preferred by Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and others is exactly the same ball you’ll find at retail.
2016 TaylorMade Tour Preferred
It’s no secret that the industry as a whole is moving towards increasing softer golf balls. While the astute will argue that perhaps Precept’s Lady/Laddie paved the way, Wilson’s DUO series and Callaway’s Chrome Soft have ignited a full-on trend. Even the venerable, and frankly, untouchable (from a retail perspective) Pro V1 has been softened up in its most recent iteration.
If you’re wondering why, the data from a recent National Golf Foundation ball survey indicates that consumers, for the first time, listed feel outranked both distance and spin as the #1 thing they want in a golf ball.
It’s hard to say exactly why the trend is what it is. We know many golfers prefer a softer feel, whether its from irons or the golf ball, and we suspect that even though there’s ZERO basis in reality, there’s likely a belief among recreational golfers that a softer ball spins more.
So given all of that, it makes sense that TaylorMade too would transition towards a softer golf ball, while at the same time taking advantage of an inherent opportunity to better differentiate the 4-piece Tour Preferred from the 5-piece Tour Preferred X.
As was the case with the TP X, TaylorMade felt like the Tour Preferred was already a very good ball, so with this model, the company focused on putting the same playing characteristics into a softer ball.
To that end, TaylorMade was able to drop total compression from 88 to 80. Within the competitive class (tour balls priced above $40), the new Tour Preferred is the softest (other balls range from 85-101).
Softer will likely be perceived as better, but that doesn’t tell the complete story. They key to the compression drop lies in TaylorMade’s next generation SpeedMantle™ layer (everything at TaylorMade gets a trademark). The new material is less rigid than the previous material, which ultimately allowed TaylorMade to provide better feel without compromising distance for higher swing speed players, which many of you will attest is the downfall of many of the soft offerings currently on the market.
TP vs TPX
For those looking for specific points of differentiation between the Tour Preferred and the Tour Preferred X…as we’ve already discussed, the Tour Preferred offers softer feel, while the X offers more spin around the greens.
Driver performance should be nearly indistinguishable. Off the irons, both balls will launch through a similar window, however, the Tour Preferred will climb higher and descend more steeply than the Tour Preferred X, which offers what I suppose we’ll describe with the obligatory label of a more penetrating ballflight.
To put some real-world context around all of that; Just Rose generally plays the Tour Preferred, however, in windy conditions he’ll switch to the Tour Preferred X.
Pricing & Availability
Both Tour Preferred and Tour Preferred X will be available at retail on November 6 at an MSRP of $47.99 per dozen.
2016 TaylorMade Project (A)
A huge success for TaylorMade thus far, the Project (a) franchise is designed for amateurs (that’s what the ‘a’ stands for), and is the best-selling balling the TaylorMade lineup. Over 1 million dozen Project [a] were sold in its second year on the market. That’s roughly the same as Tour Preferred and Tour Preferred X combined.
From a design perspective, Project (a) is a 3-piece ball that uses the same Soft Tech cast urethane cover as TaylorMade’s Tour Preferred lineup.
While the original Project (a) was well received, some would tell you it was a bit clicky (especially within its class). That’s a reasonable observation give that Project (a)’s compression, matched that of the Tour Preferred lineup.
As you might imagine given the success of DUO and Chrome Soft, TaylorMade felt the need to soften up the Project [a]. The results of their efforts are fairly substantial as the overall compression rating has dropped from 88 all the way down to 70.
As with Tour Preferred, what’s enticing about Project (a) is that TaylorMade was able to drop compression without adversely effecting speed.
The issue with traditional low compression balls is that as compression drops, speed drops as well. Typical soft construction involves building a rigid mantle on top of a softer core. If mantle is too firm, durability becomes an issue (cracked balls), and so manufacturers generally have to soften the mantle more than they’d like maintain acceptable durability
For higher swing speed players in particular, softer golf balls generally mean less distance.
TaylorMade’s REACT material is more pliable (less prone to cracking) than traditional material which enabled TaylorMade to retain speed without sacrificing durability. The result is a a ball that TaylorMade says will not only be measurably longer than its primary competitors in the soft space, but will also produce upwards of 1500 RPM more spin around the green – something that most amateurs sorely need.
Project A was already arguably the best performing ball in its class, by softening it up to match competitive offerings, TaylorMade hopes feel-driven customers will be more inclined to take note of its performance advantage.
Quite frankly, Project (a) is a ball that I think many of you should be at least trying, and certainly TaylorMade is going to do what it can to get you into Project (a) into your hands.
300K Free Sleeves + Buy 4 Get 1 Free
The company will be sending out 300,000 sleeves of Project (a) to golfers. Hopefully you’ll try it, love it – and if you do, you may want to take advantage of TaylorMade’s Buy 4 get One Free promotion.
The beauty of the Project (a) loyalty program is that instead of having to fork out cash up front (commit to 4 dozen), the incentive works a bit more like a punch card you’d get at your favorite frozen yogurt place. Each box of Project [a] comes with a unique code. Text that code to TaylorMade each time you buy a dozen, and when you hit #4, they’ll give you #5.
The 2016 Project (a) golf ball hits retail on November 6th with a MSRP of $34.99 per dozen. The Buy 4 Get 1 Free promotion begins immediately and will run through at least November 15th of 2016.
Which Ball is Right For you
We think TaylorMade has 3 must-try golf balls hitting the market for 2016. Based on what you’ve read here today, which TaylorMade ball are you most anxious to try?
GilB
8 years ago
I tested the Project(a) against the Wilson Duo Spin and, for me, the Wilson was the preferred ball. Love the feel, distance, and overall performance. I normally play, and will continue to play, the Bridgestone RX. When you have a winner, stick with it. I love testing various balls and put them through some serious testing in all facets of the game and really enjoy sharing my results with others who share the same enthusiasm. I’m sure I’ll test the other balls mentioned above as well as others at some point but it’s a long process to evaluate all the new, improved balls.