Titleist Tour Speed Golf Ball Review

Okay, took me some time to get my thoughts down from my 2 rounds over this long weekend, but here it goes.

I Played 36 holes, 18 on Saturday, and 18 on Monday. I am going to split my thoughts into two posts, as I did quite different comparisons on each day.

Saturday - September 5th 2020
Temperature: 85-89 Degrees
Wind: Light - Sustained 8-10 MPH Winds
Course: Falcon Lakes - Basehor Kansas

During my Saturday round, I played all 18 holes with the Tour Speed, this was really my "Get to Know You" Round, and I want to delve into the different aspects of the game, and my feelings on each, without comparison to my gamer.

Driver: I felt the ball really excelled here. It seemed every bit as long as my gamer, potentially even longer, and I am not entirely sure if that should be attributed to my swing, or maybe lower spin off the driver, but either way, distance is a definite positive of this ball. I ended up hitting 8/14 fairways, which isn't an abnormally low or high number for me, in fact, probably about average. I lost one ball off the tee, it was a shot I tried to take over some trees, on a shorter Par 4, and I ended up pushing it into the fescue.

Long Irons: Again, I felt the ball performed well here. I had a couple of Par 3s where I pulled 5/6 Iron, as well as some approaches into some longer Par 4s, and I got the expected distance I expected. I am not "Good" enough to have a REAL expectation of high spin with the longer irons, so I am speaking really based on distance here, where I felt the ball hit my expected yardages with a good swing.

Short Irons: This is where the ball starts to lose a bit for me. While I was hitting my expected yardages, sometimes even further, I was not quite getting the spin I would expect from a Urethane ball on a clean strike. For example, I hit a flush 9 iron on a Par 3, a shot I expect to see immediate stop, if not even a bit of backing up, and the ball ran past my mark a good 4-6 feet. Nothing INSANE, but again, not the spin I would expect to see from a Urethane ball.

Wedges: Very similar to the short irons for me, I hit expected yardages, but I definitely have to play for a bit more run-out, than I would expect, given a Urethane ball. The feeling off of the club face was good, but the expected outcomes didn't always match what I expected, given the contact I was seeing.

Putting: One of my favorite aspects of this ball, the arrow, as opposed to just the name of the ball, on the side. I typically mark my ball with a line, and with this ball, I never even thought twice about needing it, given the arrow. The feel off the putter face was about what I am used to, and I felt the ball rolled true.

My next post, will be more of a comparison with my Gamer, but wanted 18 holes where I focused SOLELY on this ball, without any biases coming through.

As always, feel free to ask questions.
 
Monday - September 7th 2020
Temperature: 73 - 76 Degrees
Wind: Moderate - Sustained 10-13 MPH Winds
Course: Stone Canyon - Blue Springs, MO

I felt like I really needed to do a comparison between the Tour Speed and my current gamer (2020 Bridgestone Tour B XS), to come up with some Pros and Cons of the ball, and to determine if this would be a better "Value" for me, given the cheaper price. Here are my thoughts:

Driver: I feel the Tour Speed does everything off the Tee that I expect from my gamer, if not even a bit more. I don't have access to a Launch Monitor, but given the course was slow, and I was in a twosome, I was able to hit 2 tee balls on a few holes. I found, with solid contact, the Tour Speed kept up, if not surpassed, the Bridgestone Tour B XS, in distance. After this round I have to assume it is due to lower spin, but again, would love to compare them on a Launch Monitor, if I had the ability. If I had to lean one way or the other, I would actually give the edge to the Tour Speed.

Long Irons: This is a very similar story to the Driver. I find the distance is slightly longer with the Tour Speed than the Bridgestone Tour B XS, and without much difference in roll-out/spin. Again, I am not consistent enough to have some expectation of spin here, I am more focused on putting a good swing on the ball and hitting a green, with anything longer than a 7I in my hand.

Short Irons: Similar to my thoughts in my initial post, I was seeing consistently more spin with the Tour B XS than the Tour Speed with the Short Irons. I hit an 8 Iron into a Par 3 with both the Tour Speed and Tour B XS. With my Tour B XS I saw an immediate hit and stop, with the Tour Speed, it ran out a good 6-8 feet. I felt both strikes were similar, but saw less spin with the Tour Speed.

Wedges: Rinse and repeat the above. I have to play more runout with the Tour Speed than the Tour B XS. I prefer the "Hop and Stop" with the Tour B XS, but I think if I played the Tour Speed long term, I could get used to playing for a bit more rollout.

Putter: I didn't see a significant difference between these two balls off the putter.

Overall, I think the Tour Speed is an excellent ball at the price point, but I wouldn't play it over my Tour B XS. I am going to continue to put the ball into play as I can, I still have 4/6, and see if I can come up with more comparisons or feedback, but overall, I think it is an excellent ball, with a bit less spin than I see with the higher-priced Tour B XS I play today.
 
One area I didn't really touch on was durability. I feel like the ball is plenty durable, or at least as durable as I would expect from a Urethane cover. Unfortunately, I had a ball I played for 16 holes that I lost with a really poor Tee Shot on 17 on Monday, but I didn't notice anything "Poor" as far as durability was concerned.

I will really try and grab some cover pictures the next time I am out.
 
Monday - September 7th 2020
Temperature: 73 - 76 Degrees
Wind: Moderate - Sustained 10-13 MPH Winds
Course: Stone Canyon - Blue Springs, MO

I felt like I really needed to do a comparison between the Tour Speed and my current gamer (2020 Bridgestone Tour B XS), to come up with some Pros and Cons of the ball, and to determine if this would be a better "Value" for me, given the cheaper price. Here are my thoughts:

Driver: I feel the Tour Speed does everything off the Tee that I expect from my gamer, if not even a bit more. I don't have access to a Launch Monitor, but given the course was slow, and I was in a twosome, I was able to hit 2 tee balls on a few holes. I found, with solid contact, the Tour Speed kept up, if not surpassed, the Bridgestone Tour B XS, in distance. After this round I have to assume it is due to lower spin, but again, would love to compare them on a Launch Monitor, if I had the ability. If I had to lean one way or the other, I would actually give the edge to the Tour Speed.

Long Irons: This is a very similar story to the Driver. I find the distance is slightly longer with the Tour Speed than the Bridgestone Tour B XS, and without much difference in roll-out/spin. Again, I am not consistent enough to have some expectation of spin here, I am more focused on putting a good swing on the ball and hitting a green, with anything longer than a 7I in my hand.

Short Irons: Similar to my thoughts in my initial post, I was seeing consistently more spin with the Tour B XS than the Tour Speed with the Short Irons. I hit an 8 Iron into a Par 3 with both the Tour Speed and Tour B XS. With my Tour B XS I saw an immediate hit and stop, with the Tour Speed, it ran out a good 6-8 feet. I felt both strikes were similar, but saw less spin with the Tour Speed.

Wedges: Rinse and repeat the above. I have to play more runout with the Tour Speed than the Tour B XS. I prefer the "Hop and Stop" with the Tour B XS, but I think if I played the Tour Speed long term, I could get used to playing for a bit more rollout.

Putter: I didn't see a significant difference between these two balls off the putter.

Overall, I think the Tour Speed is an excellent ball at the price point, but I wouldn't play it over my Tour B XS. I am going to continue to put the ball into play as I can, I still have 4/6, and see if I can come up with more comparisons or feedback, but overall, I think it is an excellent ball, with a bit less spin than I see with the higher-priced Tour B XS I play today.
Great reviews! Question for you, did you do any solid wedge shots with them? I picked up a dozen last week and played them both rounds this weekend, ripped up the covers pretty bad on 6 of them with aggressive swings on my 55 and 60 wedges. Admitted, they are new wedges but, they barely leave a mark on my QSTs.:confused2:
 
Haha, was typing when you posted that! :D
 
Great reviews! Question for you, did you do any solid wedge shots with them? I picked up a dozen last week and played them both rounds this weekend, ripped up the covers pretty bad on 6 of them with aggressive swings on my 55 and 60 wedges. Admitted, they are new wedges but, they barely leave a mark on my QSTs.:confused2:

Interesting... I did hit quite a few "Full" wedge shots with these, but my wedges are definitely not new.

I hit all my wedges full, probably to the detriment of my game, but I cannot say I saw a ton of durability concerns, at least no more than I am used to seeing out of a Urethane ball.

This is definitely something I will try and pay attention to my next time out!
 
Sort of. According to Titleist, a prototype version during testing became this ball.
Good to know because I didn't like the prototype :rolleyes:
 
Got rained out of my round today.. Hoping to reschedule soon so I can play this on course
 
I played 27 holes on Friday with the Tour Speed. For comparison, I played 18 holes yesterday with the Bridgestone RXS. I like the RXS better. Both balls offered sufficient greenside spin, something that I am concerned with as I don’t hit as many greens as I would like. However, the RXS was longer for me and it was more durable. The Tour Speed tended to scuff up in ordinary play ( no cart paths or trees causing it). It wasn’t bad so that I had to remove it from play, but it was noticeable.
 
I’m running low on the balls but I was able to use one all day yesterday in some real wet conditions and my swing was working and my big miss was absent. These are LONG with the lower spin and grabbed real well with the receptive greens. And the durability seems fine for me - I won’t be singing its praises But I’m also not sure I have anything really negative to say there. That alignment aid though - still not a fan but that’s super minor
 
So I got out yesterday with my Tour Speed by Titleist. Played a different course that i like here in the Metroplex, Sherrill Park #1. Again this ball performed. Its not my Tour B X as far as Spin, Runs out s bit more when it hits the green. Distance wise, I hit a few drives with the TS and with the BX side by side and they were within a few yards of each other.
So i would hit both into the green, the BX stops and checks, the TS checks and releases. a couple of yardsmore.

There wee times i tried to draw into a pin placement, the BX turned over where i figged it would, the TS moved about half as much.

I could draw it with the UiHi 3 and 4 irons off the tee on the shorter holes.

I hit 10 of 14 fairways with he Tour Speed, but i hit all 4 of the par fours with it. When i mossed the green on holes, i was usually short sided, so i could bump it into the green side and it would hope like i wanted. The ball held up well.

Over all its a respectable ball for the price point as what you would expect for a 3 piece.
 
this is good to know, i guess when i look at a prov1 the white looks dull/grayish and the cover looks to be soft, when i look at this tour speed it looks brite white which then makes me think plasticky.

I've noticed that as well for many years. Titleist white is not necessarily anybody else's white!


Nice review! Another ball option. Whooboy. Maybe I'll find one on a course to hit because even at $39 or so, it's still out of my price range.

That's kind of how I try them out! I really love the TM TP5, but it's far too expensive for me to buy!
 
I’m curious as to why Titleist claims this ball is faster than the Srixon Z-star, Callaway Chrome Soft, and Taylor Made Tour Response. Tour Response I understand, but shouldn’t they have tested against the Srixon Q-Star Tour and Callaway ERC soft? Those would be the comparable “lower tier” tour balls.
 
I’m curious as to why Titleist claims this ball is faster than the Srixon Z-star, Callaway Chrome Soft, and Taylor Made Tour Response. Tour Response I understand, but shouldn’t they have tested against the Srixon Q-Star Tour and Callaway ERC soft? Those would be the comparable “lower tier” tour balls.

I assume it was based closer on design and price.

Telling golfers its better than a cheaper product doesn't really resonate.
ERC Soft FWIW is not a urethane covered golf ball. With that said, it spun more for me than AVX did and less than this Tour Speed does.
 
So I got out yesterday with my Tour Speed by Titleist. Played a different course that i like here in the Metroplex, Sherrill Park #1. Again this ball performed. Its not my Tour B X as far as Spin, Runs out s bit more when it hits the green. Distance wise, I hit a few drives with the TS and with the BX side by side and they were within a few yards of each other.
So i would hit both into the green, the BX stops and checks, the TS checks and releases. a couple of yardsmore.

There wee times i tried to draw into a pin placement, the BX turned over where i figged it would, the TS moved about half as much.

I could draw it with the UiHi 3 and 4 irons off the tee on the shorter holes.

I hit 10 of 14 fairways with he Tour Speed, but i hit all 4 of the par fours with it. When i mossed the green on holes, i was usually short sided, so i could bump it into the green side and it would hope like i wanted. The ball held up well.

Over all its a respectable ball for the price point as what you would expect for a 3 piece.

It sounds like you and I are seeing a LOT of the same....

I got out for another 18 this weekend, and decided to alternate this and my gamer every other hole, and my thoughts really haven't changed.

It is a SOLID ball, just with a bit less greenside spin than I see from my gamer. I would not hesitate to recommend this ball, or play it, if needed.
 
Unfortunately we got rained out at the beach and I never got the round in but I will be playing later this week. I got to the range when we got back this weekend and spent some time in the short game area with these. Putting it is still a little firmer off the putter but it isn't off-putting. I can chip fine with it and just play for a little more rollout. I did find that I'm better with bump and run shots with these as I can get them rolling out easier although that may be all in my head.

I just completed the 7 iron testing on my skytrak and I want to caveat this with the fact that I don't fully trust the skytrak numbers. This is why I want to have JB test a skytrak against a GCQuad. I know the skytrak is guessing on the clubhead data and some of the numbers seem off. In general, the backspin is a good bit lower from what I've seen on Trackman and GCQuad. Additionally, some of these show 12+ yards of rollout which I've never seen except on a worm-burner. I do hope the niners are at least consistently off. When hitting into a green I usually see 5-10 feet of rollout with the occasional one that hits and sticks. I was hitting my Cobra Forged Tec Black 7 iron and I usually play this on shots between 170-175. I was trying to produce an on course swing but I'm no Iron Byron and it shows from the data. Here is the Taylormade TP5x which averaged 4924rpms of backspin with a carry of 161 yards and total distance of 173 yards.
20200914_213110.jpg
Here is the Snell MTB-x which averaged 4861rpms of backspin with a carry of 163 yards and total distance of 175 yards.
20200914_214142.jpg
Finally, here is the Titleist Tour Speed which averaged 3949rpms of backspin with a carry of 162 yards and total distance of 177 yards. This was significantly lower spinning than the other 2.
20200914_215221.jpg

I think for the remaining testing it may be more accurate to use on - course data and compare it to my Arccos data to see true distance with driver. If the skytrak data is helpful, please let me know what else you would like to see!!
 
I’m curious as to why Titleist claims this ball is faster than the Srixon Z-star, Callaway Chrome Soft, and Taylor Made Tour Response. Tour Response I understand, but shouldn’t they have tested against the Srixon Q-Star Tour and Callaway ERC soft? Those would be the comparable “lower tier” tour balls.
Rick Shiels did a video today on this exact comparision. All 4 balls were very close but with his 110 swing speed it was slightly behind the Srixon and Chrome Soft. The fine print on their box indicated they tested at I believe 140 ball speed at a specific launch angle on a machine.

Based on his numbers with driver I don't know that I could ever tell a difference between any of them. Based on those numbers alone, I would certainly consider playing this ball over the Chrome Soft and Z-Star just because it is slightly cheaper. I'm still not particularly interested in paying that much for them. I would like to see how it tacks up agaisnt the Q Star Tour or Vice pro Soft since that is what I normally play. I still have a sleeve of the EXP-01 balls so maybe my own on course test is in order.
 
I've finally had the chance to play two rounds with the Tour Speed. I felt that the TS was a bit longer than my QST, an average of about five yards, and just as straight. Iron play was consistent and again a little longer, especially out of the rough. I flew two greens from the rough (165 and 150 yards out) early in the first round before i started to club down. My normal approach shots into the green usually hit and roll a foot or less and the TS did exactly this. Near/around the green the TS felt good off the wedges with minimal roll out. The TS rolled very well off the putter for me. I don't use an alignment aid when I putt but the arrow didn't bother me. The TS will not be replacing my QST yellows; however, I could game the TS if my QST were unavailable.
 
I was able to get out the past 2 days for rounds of 9 holes and used the remaining Tour Speed balls in the process. In doing so, I will provide my final thoughts on the testing of these balls.

Both days (Wednesday and Thursday) were similar in temperature, on the cooler side, about 68 degrees when teeing off. Slight breeze (nothing more than 10mph). I was able to do a side by side comparison with the Q-Star Tour during these rounds.

Driver: The performance off the Driver was very consistent. Distance wise, for me was comparable to the Q-Star Tour, Nice penetrating ball flight that held it's line. To me it felt a little firmer then the QST but not terrible.

Fairway Woods: Very similar to the Driver, good solid feel off the club face, which produced a nice penetrating ball flight. Distance was slightly above average (~5yds) more than the QST.

Hybrid: Feel off the Hybrid was solid, it performed almost identical as the QST. The main difference I saw between the 2 was the Tour Speed had significantly more roll out off the Hybrid than the QST. I had multiple shots over the 2 days with this and the result was the same.

Irons: I saw no real difference in distance with this ball compared to the QST. So that was nice knowing the adjustment would be easy compared to my normal ball. Feel off the irons was a bit more firm than the QST, not "clicky firm" that would be an annoyance, just slightly different than what I was used to. With shots into the green , there was a bit more rollout, but nothing to substantial.

Wedges: With full wedge shots the Tour Speed performed very similar to the QST. I saw a touch more roll out ( 1-2 feet) but nothing out of the ordinary. Where I saw the big difference using the wedges was in chipping. The Tour Speed did not check up like I had hoped, this is where I saw the biggest difference in the roll out compared to the QST. After seeing this during the first few rounds with this ball, it was an easy adjustment to play for but it was important to note for me.

Putter: Performance off the putter did not change from my initial review. The ball felt good coming off the face, a little more firm than the QST but nothing that would be annoying. Feel was very good. I was able to adjust and gauge distances very well with this ball.

Durability: Overall this ball held up fairly well for me. I did not see the scuffing issues off the wedges that some had reported. I did introduce it to several trees over the course of the testing :rolleyes: and it seemed to be no worse for the wear. Overall wear during the course of play the cover held up as one would expect. No cuts, gouges or scuffs.

Overall: I think this is a solid ball overall and it will fit in nicely in the market space it's designed for. Like I have stated several times, It performs very similarly to the Srixon Q-Star Tour. I would have no problem playing this ball in the future. Although, I don't think it out performed the QST in any fashion, so, I will not be switching from my current gamer.
 
A playing partner of mine this past week put one of these into play and he was a huge fan. It was only three holes, but he had one of the longest drives I’ve ever seen him hit. Dropping that spin really gave him some extra yardage.
 
I played TS on Tuesday Night on our league night and they perform just fine for me.
Now conditions were wet and the greens were receptive however I had no issues with the ball hitting the green, bounce once and stop.
I'd have no issues gaming them long term.
 
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I'm currently waiting on my new clubs to arrive so in the meantime, I've been spending some good time on my Puttout with these golf balls.
I really like the alignment aid on the Tour Speed over my current gamer. This ball feels great off the putter face too IMO.

I'm excited to get these on a launch monitor or out on the course very soon.
 
I played these for 9 holes yesterday and here are my thoughts after getting them out on the course:
Driver: I believe these knocked the spin down way too low on my driver. The ball had a more penetrating flight with a shorter carry but they really rolled out well when I hit the fairway. The rough on the course is Bermuda which snags the ball and they sit down in it quick so looking at Arccos my driving distance was down a good bit with these overall. I will say I had a 309 yard drive with one of these due to it bouncing multiple times down the cart path. 🤣

Irons: these felt really good off of my irons and I had a lot of confidence in these even though I know the spin was lower. One shot that stood out was a 9 iron from 152 yards in the fairway. The flag was in the middle of the green and this was my best strike of the day. With my normal gamer ball this one would have landed between 150-155 and stopped within a foot of the ball mark. With the Titleist Tour Speed ball it hit at the front of the green and rolled out about 12ft to finish pin high. This is very similar to what I saw on the skytrak that the carry was slightly shorter with more rollout.

Wedges /short game: this is an area that I struggled more than I anticipated. I have put a lot of work into my 40-100 yard pitch shots and on my chipping. I had several pitches which hit and rolled out more than I accounted for and randomly had a few hit and check up quickly which was unexpected. The greens were on the quick side as the course had their member guest tournament the day before. When chipping on fast, curvy greens like these I like to throw my chips a little higher and further with spin to take a lot of the break out. I could not get comfortable with these as sometimes they would check up really fast and other times they would just keep rolling. I do believe with more practice I could get these dialed in.

Putting: these were fine off of the putter. They are a little more firm than the softer balls (like a ProV1) but my gamers are a little firmer so these felt fine.

Durability: these held up really well over the front nine. The ball that hit the cart path had a minor scuff and was still very playable. I did not see a chewed up cover or anything like that. I was going to get a picture of the ball after finishing the front 9 (that long drive which was cart path assisted was on 8). Unfortunately on hole 9 there's water to carry in front of the green and I took an aggressive swipe from the rough and it found its watery grave.

Overall thoughts: I do believe this is a good ball especially in the price range they are targeting. If you need to reduce spin, this is definitely one you should try. For my game, I believe I could adjust for this ball with my irons and wedges with enough time but the big area I would need to fix is driving. I'm not a long hitter and find the rough enough so I would have to find a way to get more carry. I may experiment with lofting my driver up to see if that helps. I switched balls on the back 9 and immediately saw a different flight off driver which even my playing partner commented on.
 
Played a part 3 course today...I wanted to test roll out of these compared to gamers. Definitely experienced some crisp shots that went long. Unfortunately the spin isn't there vs other offerings. It's not bad by any means just plan accordingly. 15ft vs less than 8
 
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