TaylorMade Blind Ball Testing Results

[One-T]

yeah, thats kind of my findings....but yet still a softer ball to putt

 

[Hawk]

I know that a few people remarked that the ball felt soft, but I'm curious what everybody thinks regarding the cover. Does it seem like urethane or more like a surlyn cover?

 

[RxGus]

Has anyone here that has played this ball been able to compare them to Wilson Zip Zero compression balls?

 

[TC]

I know that a few people remarked that the ball felt soft, but I'm curious what everybody thinks regarding the cover. Does it seem like urethane or more like a surlyn cover?

seems like egg yolk to me hawk. it has an interesting feel, texture to it. like i said, i keep thinking of the word "rubbery".

 

[clam fist]

I can't believe it. I lost half of my review last night!

Hawk- I don't know what material the cover is, but I found it extremely durable. I hit a few trees hard and made full use of the patented clam cart path roll out. All of my full monties are still playable.

 

[Puttin4Bird]

Nice write up One-T....sounds like you had a pretty good time out there playing that hole with a dozen shots from various locations! Once you get your irons back and get a 18 hole round in with one come back and chime in again, will ya? Just curious to see if your thoughts change at all when playing it from every different shot you'll see in a normal round.

 

[One-T]

Nice write up One-T....sounds like you had a pretty good time out there playing that hole with a dozen shots from various locations! Once you get your irons back and get a 18 hole round in with one come back and chime in again, will ya? Just curious to see if your thoughts change at all when playing it from every different shot you'll see in a normal round.

Thanks buddy! I definately will. I played with my pops a couple of weeks ago and made him hit my irons because mine are reg flex. He plays a stiff and hits freaken low line drives. Well, since playin mine he has consistantly been shooting 80'2 so no whe wants to borrow them all the time. Ugh. But I will def get back word on the ball when I get them back. Sorry I couldnt this time

 

[One-T]

Has anyone here that has played this ball been able to compare them to Wilson Zip Zero compression balls?

I used to have Wilson Zipps and I quite like them, it is a totally different feeling ball!!

 

[TC]

Approach shot on #1 with mystery ball. I hit this from 160 with an 8 iron. Not too bad.

 

[One-T]

Nice shot, man, that is not bad at all.

Edit: you better have birdied that!

 

[Bridges]

So did you tell everyone you were gaming the new R11 driver with some secret TM balls? Cuz you be hooked up like that yo

No I put the headcover back on then put it in the truck, didn't want to risk embarrassment of having a spray painted white driver on the course haha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TC]

Yep! 1 under after 1. I can tell that this ball will take some spin on full irons but it will not when chipping/pitching. I also launch it much higher than the b330 off the irons but distance seems to be pretty similar so far.

 

[TC]

Approach shot on #3 from 118 with a 50*. It backed up about 4 inches. My impressions of this ball is changing on the course so far.

 

[Hawk]

I hate you right now, TC.

Not really Thanks for the cool updates and info on the ball!

 

[One-T]

dude, thats another easy bird...Left edge

 

[TC]

Finally! Got the perfect comparison shot.

Pic #1 is the b330 with a pw from 130. Ball spun back about 12 feet.

Pic #2 is mystery ball from same distance with same club. It spun back about 4 feet.

I have to be honest, as much fun as this is, its time consuming. I have a meeting at 2 and I want to get in plenty of golf. Sorry.

 

[johndeere10]

I'm guessing really soft greens help too with "iron/wedge spin". Where I was playing they are very firm greens. If I left a pitch mark it still wasn't nearly as deep as one in second picture. But this goes back to people playing different conditions and results they find.

 

[Golf Chick]

I switch between the Precepts and the Srixon Lady Soft Feels, but lately the Srixon Lady Soft Feels have been working better for me so I'll be testing the mystery golf balls with the Srixons

 

[johndeere10]

TC just take pics as you play and post your findings after your meeting!

 

[Spank818]

I'm guessing really soft greens help too with "iron/wedge spin". Where I was playing they are very firm greens. If I left a pitch mark it still wasn't nearly as deep as one in second picture. But this goes back to people playing different conditions and results they find.

Maybe... if you look at my review I played in the rain with soft as you can be greens and nada.

 

[bgoody]

where I hit 12 tee shots. then moved in to 100 out and hit the same 12 balls, then I finished the hole out with all 12. I used 6 of the TM balls, 3 Prov1, and I bought a sleeve of Nike Power Distance (so I could have a non premium, distance ball).

Great idea. This is good stuff.

 

[bgoody]

Ok I took this ball down to our local exec course and really beat on it with wedges. I finally scuffed the ball a few time which is no easy task. Even after 15 or so wedge swings, I'd still put the ball back in play. 9/10 for durability.

Irons felt great again. The ball really wants to stay straight. I hit alot of cut shots that moved less than I expected. I suspect this feature will come in handy on mishits. The ball is springy off full wedges and irons and goes as far as it should. 9/10 off the irons.

The flipside of this characteristic is that the ball doesn't spin a whole lot. Most wedges that normally back up a few feet would instead roll forward a few feet. It should be noted that not 1 time during the round did I feel like this lack of spin had a negative effect on my game. In fact it was nice to be able to punch/roll a PW back towards the pin a bit instead of throwing a dart onto the green like my Nike Tour D usually does.

Putting was fantastic. I drained 3 birdies on the front and had 0 3 putts. Putting is the weakest part of my game but with this ball I feel like I can make anything. Absolutely love it off the putter. If this ball doesn't work out for another reason then I'm going on a quest to find a similar feeling ball. 10/10 off the putter.

I never had any of those short sided flop type shots to deal with which is the only shot that I feel like this ball can't handle. But really how often do you need to play that one? Do the other benefits outweigh this?

Is this ball right for my game? Still not sure. If it holds up reasonably well off the driver then I'd have to seriously consider putting it into play. If its a complete sponge on the tee, this could be a deal breaker. Hope this isn't the case.

 

[claycribbs]

Ok I played this ball again today and I'm still not sure about it.

Driver: It was ok..... nothing special, didn't pop it out there as much like I did yesterday. I hit a couple of good drives with these today, just not as much as yesterday.

Fairways I don't know why but I'm popping my fairway woods right now, good shots.

Irons They felt good, but none of that magic I had yesterday. Didn't stop on the green, especially with the longer irons

Full Wedges: Hit the green and stopped. All I can ask for.

Half Wedges and Chips Ok, this is where I have problems with this ball. Sure, it feels great, but this ball WON'T STOP! I was playing on some very firm and fast greens today, and this ball was killing me! I eventually started playing my B330 RXS on the back because it was killing my scores. I had a lot of missed greens today because I was playing a longer course, and this ball was killing my scores.

Putting Still love this ball off the putter, I couldn't make a putt though today, new greens and just wasn't working.

SO overall.... what is this? It spins for me just as well as a tour ball on full shots, but not on chips???????? I just don't know if this is the ball for my game. I'm gonna keep playing it for now, but apparently I need more spin around the greens.

Durability is still great on these things BTW.

 

[pickemfootball]

Here is my update to the bite test, after playing 27 holes (9 and 18) over the weekend.

Caveats:

1. It rained on and off this past weekend here in Southern California, so the grounds were a bit softer than normal.
2. Because of the rain, I had more clothing on than usual.
3. My typical iron shots are low trajectory and do not stop after hitting the greens.

Driver:
My drives were about the same trajectory and shape (mid-high with slight fade at end of the drive) with the TaylorMade Test Ball ("TMTB") as my usual ball of choice, the ProV1x. Because of the soft cover of the TMTB, the sound was different than what I am used to hearing with my Ping G5. It was a quiet thump versus the ping I hear with the ProV1x. On some of the drives, I had to look down at the tee to make sure I made contact with the ball. I am used to feeling the ball make a firm contact, so, it took a while to get used to the soft feel and sound. In terms of distance, I probably lost about 10 yards. After the bounce test (in my prior post), I thought the ball would explode off the clubface, but it did not. It had a good launch, as evidenced by the mid-high trajectory, but no explosion. Not sure if it was the wet grounds that accounted for less roll out or just less carry from a softer cover. To my eyes, it seemed to carry the same distance, but I did not have my regular foursome to help me watch my ball flight.

Irons:
As expected the irons felt great. I prefer a soft feeling shot with the irons. The ball took off, soft and smooth. There was nothing clunky about the feel off the irons. Irons are probably my weakest area of the game. I never had much spin or stopping power with my irons. My typically trajectory is a low ball that hits the green and releases. Depending on the distance and the iron used, it can hit the front of the green and roll all the way back. With the TMTB, my trajectory seemed ever so slightly higher, but not by much. This little bit of higher trajectory and softer cover helped with the ball roll out less.

Short Game:
Because my shots don't stop, I don't try to hit flop shots on the green. I usually play a bump and run for my chips and pitches, unless I am stuck behind a bunker or water. I noticed that for bump and runs with the TMTB, the ball rolled a little more. With a softer cover, I expected less roll. In the beginning, I thought it was me being too excited with the TMTB and swung too firm. It a few holes to figure out that the ball was rolling more than what I was used too and had to adapt my landing spot for more roll out.

Putt:
After my bite test and carpet test, I knew the TMTB would feel very soft off the putter. What I didn't expect was that the ball would roll more and faster than the ProV1x. This was penalizing on putts from about 5 feet. I typically hit my putts to die into the hole. But, because the TMTB rolled more, I went by the hole a few times. Once, I accounted for the extra roll, it was right on.

Implication:
I really like the TMTB for irons and putts, not so much for drives, chips, and pitches. For me, because my iron play is my weak link in my game, I need that extra 10 yards off the tee. When I have to hit any irons longer than a 7-iron, my score tends to shoot up. To be fair, I intend on playing two more rounds this week during the holidays when the forecast for Southern California is sunny (with exception of possible rain tonight). If I can get the same distance on my drives with the TMTB, I will need to seriously re-evaluate my ball for the future.

Thanks for reading. Update coming soon.

 

[One-T]

great reviews fellas