New TaylorMade 5-piece golf ball Penta TP

[James_Black]

Absolutely NOT true. The ball is designed so that it can be used by any player wanting the playing qualities of a premium ball. I've used it (I still have the last of a box of 5 in my bag now) and my 90-95 swing speed gets all I want from this ball. Don't make such statements if you haven't used the Penta ball. You don't know what you are talking about.

Well I read this in a review.

Pro Appeal The Penta TP, which took some three years to develop, is being played by Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen and golf’s man-of-the-hour Y.E. Yang. The ball will take some muscle to get the most out of the layers’ compression characteristics, but keep in mind that club designs are making swings faster and thus more powerful through aerodynamics testing and MOI tweaking. It’s no coincidence that stable, fast-moving clubs and balls such as the Penta TP are crafted and released together.

but I think they were wrong about this too.

Unlike the pros, you’ll have to wait. The Penta TP golf ball isn’t expected anytime soon, perhaps as late as February 2010! But keep checking this article and the Penta TP product page for updates on ordering and ship dates.

http://www.discountgolfworld.com/blo...r.html#more-79

[jamo]

I personally cant wait.

IMO Taylor Made is the most innovative golf company is the business. If i didnt love My Vokey and plan on getting another, i would certainly get the xFT. Also i love my Superquad, though it is completely ill-fit for me.

The TP Red/Black balls were great, but i think Taylor Made suffered in their sales of them because people didn't know which one spun more/less then they changed them for the LDP version. The Penta should fix this.

[Fourputt]

Well I read this in a review.

Most balls are going to go farther for players with higher swing speeds... that's just simple physics. I guess my point is that for me the Penta was as long as long and straight off the driver as the Pro V1x, has as at least as much spin on approaches and chips as the V1, and felt as soft off the putter as the V1.

I don't deny that someone with a higher SS might get even more out of the ball than I do, but my experience is that it also outperforms any other single ball I've tried for total playability, even with my very average SS.

[msd3075]

There's been a ton of hype over the new TM Penta lately, some people saying that it's the best ball to come out in a long time. I was in Houston for the holidays and saw that the local Edwin Watts had some in stock, and I couldn't resist picking up a dozen to try them out. I played 3 rounds with the TM Penta. My normal ball is the Srixon Z-StarX, but I've at one time or another played pretty much every brand out there.

Driver - The fairways were wet so I couldn't really tell if there is a difference in distance since I had no roll. The trajectory was noticably higher than the Z-StarX (as I expected it would be), but it just kept going and going instead of climbing and dropping out of hte sky like other higher trajectory balls I've played. It also seemed like it wanted to go absolutely straight unless I really tried to shape it. The feel felt soft yet solid and really reminded me of the regular Z-Star but with a slightly heavier feel. It by no means felt mushy at all. IMO it felt solid like a ProV1x while still feeling soft like a ProV1.

Irons/Approach Shots - I usually have no trouble generating enough spin to stop my approach shots on the green with the Z-StarX, whether it be with an 9 iron or a 3 iron. With the Penta, I really didn't notice much of a difference in stopping ability on my irons. My long irons stopped within a couple feet, and my short irons hopped back about a foot. Basically it performed exactly how you'd want it to.

Wedge - This ball has similar spin to the B330-S and the ProV1; nothing crazy beyond those at all. Short pitch shots would bounce once and stop on a dime. I had to adjust seeing as I'm used to a little roll out with the Z-StarX, but this ball should feel exactly the same for anyone used to the ProV1.

Putter - The feel is a bit "clickier" than a ProV1 but softer than pretty much everything else out there. I hated the feel of both the TM Black and Red, but thankfully the Penta feels nothing like either of these. No "dead" feeling nor an overly annoying "click" feeling like the Callaway balls.

Durability - I played 27 holes with one ball and would still use it if it hadn't decided to go for a swim. Yes, it'll get scuff marks and nicks here and there, but it's noticably more durable than the ProV1. It scuffed more than my Z-StarX, but that is to be expected.

All in all, the Penta is a great ball. I personally think it doesn't live up to the extreme hype it has been getting nor is it worth a $ premium over other balls, but in the end it still is one of the best balls out there. It just isn't the end all, be all of golf balls like many people have tried to make it out to be.

[goblue107501]

Nice write up. Lots of good info. Thanks.

[Fourputt]

Good review. The best thing about the Penta TP from personal experience as well as other testimonials is that it performs that well for a wide range of swing speeds (I'm about 95 mph and the ball was great for me). It seems to combine the best features of all premium balls and rolls them into one package.

[flap]

Been all over the Ed Watts site and they do not offer the ball online yet.They are saying they will stock and take orders for the new Callaway balls starting 1/15 but nothing on the Penta.I will be in Florida in Feb.so hopefully I will find them live in a Watts store.

[sherwoodnatl]

Z-Star X or Penta?

[bogeyhitter25]

Haven't got to try them yet, but they must be decent. I doubt I'll blow dough on them, though, as I'd much rather be playing my ProV1x's.

[leezer99]

You can get the new TMs from Roger Dunn golf... follow this link. http://www.worldwidegolfshops.com/Me...roduct_Count=0

[nike_golf]

Erik just reviewed it. I know I'm excited to give it a shot.

Like Erik, it's going to have to really perform well to de-throne the current ball that I play.

It bumped the ProV1x out of Erik's bag (from what it sounds like).

Golfers, you going to give this one a whirl? I knew about the ball but didn't give it much thought to actually try it out, but I think I may have to now.

[xTsUnAmI]

I also play the nike one tour and love the feel, only wished they spinned a bit more for me. I'm going to be giving these a shot whenever I start playing again, when the days are a little longer. Just read the review and they sound great, I have played pro1x's and nike one tours like them both but these sound really good. Well see.

[iacas]

FWIW, the review was basically done several months ago, but since the balls didn't begin shipping until right about now (or later months for northern golfers), we wanted to wait until the review might mean something... no sense reading about a great product you can't buy for six months.

[nike_golf]

FWIW,

How brand name conscience are you? Does it or will it bother you to be shooting a ball other than a Titleist?

My point is is that, like you said in your review, it would have to take a real good ball to bump the ProV1x out of your bag. I feel the same way about my Nike One Tour ball. I almost DON'T want to try the Penta for fear of liking it better. As dumb as that sounds, lol.

[iacas]

How brand name conscience are you? Does it or will it bother you to be shooting a ball other than a Titleist?

I'm not. I'll play the best equipment I can. Typically, that's a TaylorMade or Titleist, but they tend to make equipment that suits my eyes, feel, and swing. I've tended to like Titleist clubs because I like the traditional look and performance characteristics (though I played the r7 425 TP and the FT-3 for a year+). No other reason, and "tradition" doesn't really apply to golf balls. They're all round, white, and dimpled.

I worked with Dave Koster and we wrote a very favorable review of the original TaylorMade balls. But I didn't switch because they weren't noticeably better than the Pro V1x. The Penta TP is. Same performance off the driver, more spin when I want it in the short game. That's all it boils down to.

[nike_golf]

Another inquiry into the brand aspect of the ball. IF the pros like these balls as much as every reviewer I've read on them, do they in turn use these balls?

Do Nike, Titleist, Callaway, etc. prohibit their golfers from using different balls? I know w/ clubs, the sponsoring manufacturer requires their golfer to use an X amount of their clubs.

I would think for the more high profile guys, they would really want them using their ball.

Since this TM Penta ball has been out for the pros since late last fall, you would think a fair amount of guys would be shooting it.

However, I don't know.

[iacas]

Another inquiry into the brand aspect of the ball. IF the pros like these balls as much as every reviewer I've read on them, do they in turn use these balls?

A lot of PGA Tour pros are under contract not just to play clubs, but to play golf balls too. Titleist has won the ball count since roughly 137 BC, and for good reason: they make a good golf ball that a lot of pros are willing to be paid to play. TaylorMade spends a lot of money on pros to play their stuff too - particularly their drivers when they were making a push there.

Most PGA Tour pros would switch to whatever would pay them better unless they're really stuck on a club, ball, etc. Look, who cares what the PGA Tour players use? Play what suits you.

[leezer99]

I got a sleeve of these the other day from our pro shop and couldn't believe how soft they were especially with the long irons. No joke, every shot felt like butter. This is one ball that will pretty much do whatever you want it to do and it feels great off the putter.