New TaylorMade Golf Ball

For those fans of the TaylorMade golf ball (I'm a fan too, but deciding between the TM Red and the Callaway Tour-i is tough), they will be coming out with a new golf ball that is reportedly going to be in play at this year's PGA Championship. Golf Magazine has some info on it (http://blogs.golf.com/equipment/2009/08/five-piece-taylormade-penta-golf-ball-hits-pga-tour.html).

Some excerpts:

Sergio Garcia and Retief Goosen plan to use TaylorMade's new five-piece golf ball, the Penta TP, at next week's PGA Championship at Hazeltine.

The ball, which took three years to develop, won't be available to the public until Dec. 1. It is golf’s first five-piece ball, and according to TaylorMade officials, was added to the USGA’s conforming ball list on Wednesday.

A Five Piece Ball, ought to be interesting.

The cover of the Penta TP is made of a soft urethane material to promote a high-spin rate, but lower trajectory on wedge shots and pitches for more control. The outer mantle layer, which can be found directly under the white cover, is the most-easily compressed. Of the three mantle layers in the Penta TP, it's the fastest, and TaylorMade says it is designed to create optimal spin and flight conditions when ball speeds are below 120 mph (short irons for tour pros).

The middle mantle layer is semi-firm, and TaylorMade designed it to be compressible on shots with a ball speed between 120 and 140 mph (mid-irons). According to a TaylorMade memo, the inner mantle is designed to create high-launching, low-spinning shots with a ball speed between 140 and 160 mph (long irons).

Encased under all those layers is the core, which is made from an extremely fast, low-compression material that only the fastest swingers will be able to activate. However, TaylorMade says those who do can expect more ball speed and less spin on drives for increased distance.

Ought to be interesting. However, I would wait on purchasing a box of these first as it will surely be expensive at first and then will likely die down as the interest dies down. Tough to beat the current deal offered at Dick's Sporting Goods where one can get two dozen TaylorMade TP golf balls for only $55.




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