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Taylormade Penta Golf Ball Review

SuperStroke
JB I'm a huge fan of the Nike One Vapor. It doesnt kill me with spin and I hit it straight off the tee. I've tried the blacks and reds and I have to say off the tee is where I disliked them. How would you compare the Penta to a ball like the Vapor even though they are clearly in different niches. Does it have enough forgiveness to make the switch?
 
That is a great question SolidK and my answer is I am not sure. I liked the Vapors quite a bit when we reviewed them. They are similar in theory to that of the Bridgestone E6+. Very solid ball. however with the harder cover they will be very different than the Penta. we should have our new batch here soon and I will give that a good run since I have a few Vapors here as well.
 
solidkjames said:
JB I'm a huge fan of the Nike One Vapor. It doesnt kill me with spin and I hit it straight off the tee. I've tried the blacks and reds and I have to say off the tee is where I disliked them. How would you compare the Penta to a ball like the Vapor even though they are clearly in different niches. Does it have enough forgiveness to make the switch?
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I was told that the Vapor is basically the One Black with a harder cover. Too bad TM has to have only one ball choice at the top, the red is a great ball.
 
pjcedog said:
I was told that the Vapor is basically the One Black with a harder cover.
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I don't think that's right. If anything, the Vapor would be the Ignite.
 
pjcedog said:
I was told that the Vapor is basically the One Black with a harder cover. Too bad TM has to have only one ball choice at the top, the red is a great ball.
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Harry Longshanks said:
I don't think that's right. If anything, the Vapor would be the Ignite.
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Harry is right in that the Vapor replaced the Ignite in the lineup. The Vapor does have a harder cover than that of the One Black. Similar to the NXT Tour having a harder cover than the ProV1. Both are 3 pieces but there is more to it than just a surlyn vs a urethane cover.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
I don't think that's right. If anything, the Vapor would be the Ignite.
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The vapor replaced the ignite in the price range but those of you who have never played the Vapor is a GREAT ball for someone who swings under 100 mph. It's a soft feeling ball with decent spin and it flies as straight as any ball I have tried. It will be hard for the Penta to top it for my game because most people play a ball that does not optimize their game, the Vapor does that for me and its why I wanted to know from JB if the Penta is a forgiving enough ball that along with all the great feel and performance, will still allow you to stay in the fairway. I drive my Vapor consistently 260 and up and usually I stay near the fairway. That is good enough for me but I never rule out changing to a new ball if it meets my needs.
 
solidkjames said:
The vapor replaced the ignite in the price range but those of you who have never played the Vapor is a GREAT ball for someone who swings under 100 mph. It's a soft feeling ball with decent spin and it flies as straight as any ball I have tried. It will be hard for the Penta to top it for my game because most people play a ball that does not optimize their game, the Vapor does that for me and its why I wanted to know from JB if the Penta is a forgiving enough ball that along with all the great feel and performance, will still allow you to stay in the fairway. I drive my Vapor consistently 260 and up and usually I stay near the fairway. That is good enough for me but I never rule out changing to a new ball if it meets my needs.
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With the softer cover and more layers to get through to compress in my mind it will not be as forgiving as the Vapor off the tee, however the short game is where it really shines and I think it would be worth checking out a sleeve when they are available and see what you think.
 
Have you tried out the TaylorMade Burner TP ? Good value, long off the tea, spins well off a wedge and has great feel when putting. Personally, I can't wait to try out the Penta TP.
 
pjcedog said:
Composition and performance features are the keys here not market position.
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They are NOT One Tour Black with a different cover. Composition, and I believe off memory dimple position is different as well.
 
JB said:
They are NOT One Tour Black with a different cover. Composition, and I believe off memory dimple position is different as well.
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Don't get in a wad I was just passing along what someone told me. I don't hit them anyway.
 
pjcedog said:
Don't get in a wad I was just passing along what someone told me. I don't hit them anyway.
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Nobody was in a "wad". Relax dude!
:banghead:

You made a statement. Harry Longshanks and myself came in with different info. Then you made the same statement again, and then I wanted to make sure that people got the correct info.
 
With more of the THP Testers putting reviews up, we wanted to bump this thread for others to read.
 
JB said:
With more of the THP Testers putting reviews up, we wanted to bump this thread for others to read.
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I'm reading all of these reviews from members and it's making me wish I'd signed up for testing! The Penta sounds like a winner!


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Hi JB,

One question - do you know what these are going to retail at? I hope TM keep it at or under the Pro V1 pricing level. The TP red has been available for $55 for 2 dozen of late, I think as people run down their stock before the Penta comes out. Would be very interesting to know what bracket the new ones land in.
 
The street pricing seems to be around $45 a dozen which puts them at or around the same price as the Pro V1
 
i'm ready to give these a try. I've been playing the TP Red a while and love that ball. I knew when they started doing the 2 for $ sale that they wouldn't be around long. Should be interesting to try the Penta.
 
I look forward to giving the Penta a try after I use up the Nike One Platnium's I stocked up on earlier in the summer.
 
I'm lucky enough to have become friends with a guy who owns a golf shop in my area (I only had to buy $2000 in equipment etc haha!) and he just got his Penta's from his TM rep. I was able to steal one from him! I've been dying to play this ball with all the great reviews and I have become a big TP Red fan in the past year... I hope the weather holds up for the weekend!!!
 
I first tested the Penta's on a cool weekday afternoon with virtually no one on the course. I was able to hit 3 to 4 balls on every shot. I chose the Nike one Platinum, TaylorMade Burner TP and ProV1 to compare.

The Penta out distanced all of them in most cases, though the ProV1 was pretty close most of the time. I hit more fairway's and greens and the spin on the greens was remarkably better. To be fair I took turns hitting each ball first to change the order.

If there was a downside it was the scuffing, but even there the Prov1 showed more scuffing quicker. The trajectory was pretty crazy and I mentioned this several times. Not as high as I'm used to with my R9 Driver, great penetration, but the ball would start to turn like it came off the face with side spin and then straighten out as if it lost that spin. I had several balls start to draw towards the edge of the fairway that faded back in at the last minute. I have never hit a shot like that, ever. When mine start to go, they go. The few balls I sent to the rough were straight pushes.

They are a good ball, even for my paltry 88 to 90 swing speed.
 
Fantastic review! Cannot wait until I get to try them!
 
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