New TaylorMade 5-piece golf ball Penta TP

[nike_golf]

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.

Oh, I agree 100%. I was just curious.

[Fat Slice]

People hit the ball differently so it goes to reason that a ball that works well for one person might not work well for another. That said, I played with a Penta yesterday and loved it. Starting with the putter - it's got great feel and comes off the putter head with a smooth roll. Mid-long iron play was very good, especially off the tee - not too much lateral spin. I loved it off the driver! Driver spin is low and the ball just trampolines off the clubface. My least favorite aspect of it is with the wedges - I am not getting the bite I wanted which is very odd considering other reviews. I'll play it some more and see if I can't improve. So far, though, it's the best ball for me that I have tried. Maybe not the best for the *price*...

[Gioguy21]

have played the penta for the last 3 rounds and must say, it's not leaving my bag.

[youngskip40]

have played the penta for the last 3 rounds and must say, it's not leaving my bag.

I think I'm a +1 for this. It's like the ball "knows" what I want it to do when I get around the greens.

It doesn't help that I played my first round of the season the other day and was even par through 7 holes with the Penta, switched to the Callaway i(s) and ended up with a 77. Total coincidence that I drove it behind a tree on the 8th hole and made double, I'm sure... but all that aside, I just really really enjoyed the way the Penta felt and performed off of every club in the bag. My only complaint is maybe too much spin on full swings with my sand wedges only... but I'll be switching to wedges with conforming grooves soon, so that ought to take care of that issue.

[kfowler]

I'm curious if you guys have had any issue with distance while using the Penta? I finally got a chance to actually compare the Penta with a Pro V1x this weekend and the Penta was consistently shorter. Not just by a yard or two but 10-15 yards. This was only one day but I was surprised at the difference. My driver ss is average 100-105mph.

Anyone else seen this?

[youngskip40]

I'm curious if you guys have had any issue with distance while using the Penta? I finally got a chance to actually compare the Penta with a Pro V1x this weekend and the Penta was consistently shorter. Not just by a yard or two but 10-15 yards. This was only one day but I was surprised at the difference. My driver ss is average 100-105mph.

Be curious to see people's responses to this. I didn't really compare it side by side with too many balls. I did find it to be a very little bit longer than the ProV1 and the new Callaway i(s), but that was playing into a lot of wind, so I don't know if that affected the results at all. I do feel like the Penta gets through wind a little better than other balls I've used. Even when I know it has a lot of spin and gets up in the air a little, it doesn't really get stuck like most other balls I've played.

[kfowler]

I'm going to keep trying it. I want to see how I like it when it warms up here. I like everything but the distance.

[jldavis73]

I have been really impressed with the Penta so far. My bro-in-law can get them for $34/dozen, so it's not too ridiculous...

[jcrob902]

have played the penta for the last 3 rounds and must say, it's not leaving my bag.

I agree the ball to me has the greenside control of a pro v 1X with the mid-long iron distance of the tour I and the distance/ wind control of the B 330 I'm impressed and not even a taylomade fan.

[ry1808]

I think I'm gonna have to give these balls a go! A lot on ringing endorsements! Shame they are £10 for 3 or £37 for 12 ($15 and $52 respectively). I love TaylorMade clubs and have the R9 driver and 4-wood but I have never really got on with the balls so I may give 3 a go soon.

I wonder if this is the ball to topple the ProV1? Over the years we had a few challengers, I remember the Nike One Black being the closest ball for me, or even the Hogan Apex Tour, that was such a soft ball. But if the TM is as durable as people say then they may have a winner.

[OldManBirdie]

I bought one 3-ball sleeve of these balls, hit them at my course and was very impressed! They went far, the spun well on the greens and went straight (for the most part) So, I bought another two dozen of them and put them in my bag along with my Titleist Pro V1's.

After playing a few rounds using both balls, I noticed that the TM Penta was scuffed up...much like the old Balata Titleist balls would get. I thought maybe I hit a cart path with one or two of them. But that was not the answer. Last night, I went out to my course, got in a cart and played just wedge shots into the different greens on the front 9. Every TM Penta ball was scuffed up. If knew how to post pictures of these balls I would. They were actually scuffed and "flakey" I don't plan to purchase more of them

[youngskip40]

After playing a few rounds using both balls, I noticed that the TM Penta was scuffed up...much like the old Balata Titleist balls would get. I thought maybe I hit a cart path with one or two of them. But that was not the answer. Last night, I went out to my course, got in a cart and played just wedge shots into the different greens on the front 9. Every TM Penta ball was scuffed up. If knew how to post pictures of these balls I would. They were actually scuffed and "flakey" I don't plan to purchase more of them

This is probably the only downside to the Penta that I have seen, although they really don't get scuffed nearly as much as an old balata ball did. No balls nowadays really do. And personally I think the cover is more durable than the ProV1's cover. The only time that the cover gets shredded for me is when I take a swing with a wedge that has aggressive grooves. It doesn't do it with my short irons, and I just got a wedge with conforming grooves and it really doesn't shred the cover like the more agressive milled square grooves do.

The cart path, of course, is the enemy of all golf balls so there isn't really much one can do about that kind of damage. In any case, the point is that a soft cover ball is a soft cover ball and it will get scuffed up throughout the course of a round. Personally, I just think that the Penta is among the more durable balls in the "premium" market right now.

[delav]

Play the Penta today, had to switch back to the Trispeed Tour midway through the rounds due to soft greens and excessive spin on approach shots. Had several approaches within 150 spin back 20 - 30 feet, some off of the green. Pretty aggravating actually.

Feel off of the putter and driver are equally nice. Seems a bit more durable than the ProV1, I look forward to playing the ball more once the greens dry out from all the rain and t-storms we've had recently.

[tristanhilton85]

I picked up a box of these at Pete Carlsons (local golf shop) a couple days ago.  I had recently switched to the Nike One Tour D and really like that ball... however, I've wanted to try the Penta for a while now and at $32/dz I couldn't pass it up.  Played with it yesterday and was pretty impressed... The feel off the tee and driver was pretty comparable to the Tour Ds that I've been using... where I did notice a difference was off the putter... it seemed softer and to click less... also the durability was better.  I really like this ball but I'm not sure if a box is worth $10/dz over the Tour Ds (I can get them at $22/dz).  Anyways, I still have a bunch of both left, so we'll see how those go and I'll make my choice from there... Just thought I'd throw in my two cents.