The Good Guys at GolfMart and Seaside were kind enough to put a dozen of TaylorMade's new balls aside for me .. I picked them up this morning and off to the course I went... I have been warned. The Head of TaylorMade, Mark King, told one of my partners that TM has never had Pros switch so fast. My friend went on to say, "The ball is unreal. For me it’s better everywhere. Longer with driver, rescue, and irons than any other ball. More spin around the greens. Putts great. Wears much better than a ProV." This is no slacker talking either... he's a scratch player who has shot 68 this year and has a lot of game. Also the wherewithal to test the best and not shy with an opinion... and very serious about his golf...A tech CEO told me today, "Titleist better have something very special in the lab ready to release or they are going to lose a lot of market share.".. so you get the picture.. I'm built up and here's what I found... Though not a player of this caliber, I currently play to just over a 4.. have a slightly higher than 100 swing speed and most of the guys who play with me know that if I drive the ball well and am reasonably solid with my irons I will shoot close to par (or slightly better).. I putt well and average around 28 putts per round (helped by the fact that I play a course with very small greens).. I played the pro V1 (black... for years) and have tested a lot of balls as they come out looking for an edge..
So I tee it up and put a good swing on it. Perfect position and I am 10 yards short of where I'd be if the ground were dry and I had hit the Boom-Boom Bridgestone 330-RX (my ball)... 4 wood up the hill - nice sound and feel... excellent distance and a sandwedge into the elevated par 5 1st green... all good.... nice feel and 8 feet for birdie... As I hit the putt (no warm-up btw) I like the sound and feel.. like the ballata... serious... and I like making putts... first hole and -1... par 3 second is playing 115 into a slight breeze... 9i and the ball flys just left of target and a bit longer than what I'd be used to with my ball...and (only one more shot before conclusions)... on the 3rd tee I pull my drive left and it double bounces on a cart path and sure to be rashed up... hit a gap wedge over a tree to 10 feet and inspect the ball... playable... OK... at one point I hit a 3/4 lob wedge and I use an x forged mac daddy groove lob wedge and it shreds everything... certainly took some hide but it was alright...
Had one little delicate shot to hit over a bunker and small hill..had 2 feet to land the ball and needed to have some spin on it. The ball was sitting down just a little... I fatted it just a touch and it landed a slight bit short but bit perfectly and left me a 2 footer uphill for par... Made.
So I tee it up and put a good swing on it. Perfect position and I am 10 yards short of where I'd be if the ground were dry and I had hit the Boom-Boom Bridgestone 330-RX (my ball)... 4 wood up the hill - nice sound and feel... excellent distance and a sandwedge into the elevated par 5 1st green... all good.... nice feel and 8 feet for birdie... As I hit the putt (no warm-up btw) I like the sound and feel.. like the ballata... serious... and I like making putts... first hole and -1... par 3 second is playing 115 into a slight breeze... 9i and the ball flys just left of target and a bit longer than what I'd be used to with my ball...and (only one more shot before conclusions)... on the 3rd tee I pull my drive left and it double bounces on a cart path and sure to be rashed up... hit a gap wedge over a tree to 10 feet and inspect the ball... playable... OK... at one point I hit a 3/4 lob wedge and I use an x forged mac daddy groove lob wedge and it shreds everything... certainly took some hide but it was alright...
Had one little delicate shot to hit over a bunker and small hill..had 2 feet to land the ball and needed to have some spin on it. The ball was sitting down just a little... I fatted it just a touch and it landed a slight bit short but bit perfectly and left me a 2 footer uphill for par... Made.
So the Penta putts great, is longer off the irons and woods and is a little shorter off the tee.. very durable to boot ...someone who has played it said they thought they got too much side-spin off the tee with the driver... had a little of that perhaps but I did knock one drive to a rare place today and was pleased with the distance. One kicker... ProV's are now 39 dollars at GolfMart.. the Panta is $45/46 depending on where you buy them... One top Am told me yesterday that unless "they give them to me, I'm not paying $6 extra for a ball that might sound better".. We are hoping to do some extensive coverage of the balls available for the coming season and this will be the first in a series..
..as for me? well I still have a couple of boxes of RX's around and the test will be what I will play when I'm really ready to buy the next "batch".. If the weather holds up (it was 65 here today)...I'll be out tomorrow and will play the RX... and we'll go from there... One TaylorMade exec wrote me today: "It's the buzz on tour. People are going crazy for it. We can't come close to making enough to meet demand... it's the first real ball that You can really play.. the results aren't really even close.. It's just math. We're better. Especially for the average good player!"... hmmm that's me.. We'll see. Could be.
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