From the outside, golf balls look simple — dimpled, urethane-covered orbs designed to fly through the air toward their intended target.
Of course, the engineering actually is a lot more complicated than that, which is why when technologies like those found in the new TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x golf balls are introduced to the world, we perk up.
First off, as the name implies, the TP5 series of balls is keeping its five layers to offer tee-to-green performance, but it’s what engineers and materials scientists do with those layers that matter, and that’s what we’re here to help break down for you.
New TP5 technologies
TaylorMade’s premium 5-layer construction isn’t going anywhere. What’s new is the speed-layer system that incorporates what TaylorMade calls High-Flex Material (HFM) into the mantle to provide a combination of faster speeds with a softer feel and acoustic — something that was previously difficult to isolate.
“Our learnings from countless player and tour tests show that golfers, unsurprisingly, favor a softer more muted sound with added distance,” says TaylorMade’s senior director product creation for golf balls. “Historically, the challenge has been the inability to improve one without negatively impacting the other. With this understanding, we’ve evolved our golf ball design process by uniquely decoupling feel and speed through material science, a complete departure from the conventional. The material-level advancement positions our TP5 and TP5x family as having the best feel in the industry with faster constructions.”
The key component of this technology is the HFM, which creates variable stiffness between the layers of the cover down to the core to not only optimize the physical performance of the ball but also its qualitative elements like sound and feel. The result is a ball that is both faster off the club face and also softer feeling, too.
A few weeks ago at Pebble Beach, I spoke with Rory McIlroy about the new TP5 and how it has performed for him this year. This was soon after he’d run the ball through testing at a DP World Tour event in Dubai.
“You’ve got desert conditions, there’s not a ton of wind, it’s a place that I’m comfortable with,” McIlroy told me. “I tested it a little bit at home and liked that it was a touch of a lower launch than the golf ball I was previously playing, then a touch lower spin as well.
“It was a great test — it was two weeks in Dubai, because the greens got pretty firm at the weekend on both courses, so it was a good test to still make sure that the mid-irons were spinning enough going into greens and still being able to hold greens. And it’s fast, it’s a fast golf ball. I definitely feel like I’ve picked up a little bit of speed with it, especially off the tee.
“It’s a little funny, it (TP5X) is a lower spinning ball, but it feels a touch softer to me around the greens, so I like that feel of it. I think the sort of lower launch with the short irons and then a little bit more of a softer feel around the greens was sort of the big selling point to me.”
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TP5 vs. TP5x
To help make the ball-selection process easier, the TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x differentiate themselves more than previous generations. To help you better understand the differences TaylorMade created this simple chart:
Another way to explain the differences is the TP5’s softer profile is aimed at golfers who prefer a bit more spin and a softer feel in the short game while still offering lower spin off the driver. The TP5X, on the other hand, is designed to maximize ball speed and offer a slightly firmer feel along with a flatter overall trajectory.
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Regardless of the model you choose, both balls offer as much if not more short-game spin than previous generations while still being faster off the driver meaning you can’t lose either way.
More visual technology
For those who like a little extra visual help, don’t fret, because the designers at TaylorMade have you covered with the newest iteration of Pix and their ClearPath alignment system.
The new Pix TP5 and TP5X balls feature a longer centerline logo along with newly reshaped pix graphics that have been adjusted based on player feedback to help make alignment more precise. A big part of the change was separating the color contrasts to move the black elements of the design away from the centerline toward the poles and let the orange half of the diamond stand out.
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Price and availability
The 2024 TP5 and TP5x will be available at retail starting Feb. 15, and will be $54.99 a dozen. The new TP5 and TP5x Pix along with the TP5 and TP5x yellow will also be available for the same price.
Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.
