Equipment
TaylorMade Project (a) golf balls
In most ways, amateurs need their golf balls to perform like the premium balls used by professional golfers.
With the driver, for example, most amateurs prefer the low-spin performance that is typical of a multi-piece tour ball because it allows them to hit longer drives. And on short shots, amateurs will benefit from the high-spin performance that is characteristic of a tour ball’s thin, urethane cover.
TaylorMade’s new Project (a) golf balls are designed specifically for amateurs, and use the company’s “React Core” to create low-spinning drives and “Soft Tech” cast urethane cover to drive higher-spinning short shots. The three-piece Project (a) balls also have a “Spin Mantle” layer in the middle, which helps regulate spin on the shots in between. Where they’re different from TaylorMade’s new Tour Preferred and Tour Preferred X tour balls, however, is where their high spin kicks in.
According to Dean Snell, vice president of golf ball R&D for TaylorMade, amateurs with handicaps in 10-to-24 range miss the green from 150 yards by an average of 35 yards. They certainly don’t need the extra spin a tour ball would provide on those shots, because it would cause them to miss the target by an even greater margin. But where they do need spin is from 80 yards and in, where Snell said they record 80 percent of their shots during a round.
“The tour guys, they average about 10,000 rpm of spin with their wedges,” Snell said. “It takes about 9000 rpm for a ball to spin and come back [on the green]. But amateurs only average about 5000 rpm of spin.”
To close the gap between amateurs and professionals, the Project (a) golf balls are designed to have maximum spin with a golfer’s short clubs, from the 9 iron and in for most golfers. Every extra 1000 rpm amateurs can generate with those clubs will stop the ball 5 feet closer to its landing point, Snell said.
The Project (a) golf balls are available in stores now for $31.99 per dozen.
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- Adam Scott what’s in the bag accurate as of the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 TX
Driver: TaylorMade BRNR (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees), TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 9 X, Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 9 X
7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (21 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Black 9 X
Irons: Srixon ZX Mk II (3), Srixon ZX5 Mk II (4), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (5), Srixon Z-Forged II (6-9)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid 105 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-12F, 54-08M), SM9 (LW), WedgeWorks (LW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-54), S400 (LW)
Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Proto
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
See the rest of Adam Scott’s WITB in the forums.
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Driver: TaylorMade Qi 10 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi 10 Tour (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black 80 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P790 (3), TaylorMade P7MC (4-6), and TaylorMade P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-09SB, 54-11SB, 58-08LB)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Reserve Juno
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
Check out more in-hand photos of Pierceson Coody’s WITB here.
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Ben Griffin might be a little too young to remember some of the iconic Maxfli golf balls that won on tour, but that isn’t stopping him from putting the newest Tour X ball from the brand in play. Today, Maxfli and Griffin announced an exclusive partnership that will see the PGA Tour player using the company’s four-piece golf ball.
While Griffin might be the first PGA Tour player to put a new Maxfli golf ball in play, he isn’t the first profesional golfer to do so. Lexi Thompson has been playing the Maxfli Tour golf ball on the LPGA Tour since the beginning of the 2024.
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We caught up with Ben at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas this week to ask him about the new ball switch.
“I was able to finally get my hands on some and try it and immediately I saw faster ball speed with the driver, which is always something every golfer wants to see.
“Then I had to test a lot around the greens and test irons, test spins, test everything like that. Basically, I came to the conclusion that I thought this was probably one of the best golf balls for my game.
“And so I decided to make it official and partner with them and very excited to help kind of launch this golf ball and see where it takes us.”
Griffin’s ball of choice is the Maxfli Tour X, a four-piece golf ball that is made for highly skilled players that want consistent distance off the driver and spin around the green. An updated core design helps add the ball speed that Griffin mentioned and two ionomer mantle layers separate low spin driver shots from higher spin iron and wedge shots. Maxfli uses Center Of center-of-gravity balancing to ensure each ball has consistent flight in the air and roll on the green. Like all golf balls on tour, the Tour X features a cast urethane cover for maximum performance, and it has a tetrahedron dimple pattern to enhance aerodynamics.
It is exciting to see a golf ball at a lower price point — $39.99 at Golf Galaxy — being used by a top 100 ranked player in the world like Ben Griffin, and equipment junkies will be keenly watching his performance with the new ball.
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Adam Scott WITB 2024 (May)
Adam Scott what’s in the bag accurate as of the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (10.5 degrees)...
Pierceson Coody WITB 2024 (April)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi 10 (9 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi 10 Tour (15 degrees)...
WITB Time Machine: Billy Horschel’s winning WITB, 2017 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
The tournament bearing the name of one of golf’s all-time greats is now known as the CJ Cup Byron Nelson....
Austin Cook WITB 2024 (April)
Austin Cook what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. More photos from the event here. Driver: Ping...
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Ragin Kagin
Jul 25, 2014 at 12:34 pm
Love these, on my 5th dozen. Straight drives great spin on short shots and great durability no scuffs off my rotax wedges ,and excellent feel all around. Ive been searching for a ball to call my own for 2yrs and now ive got one. Was playing bridge rxs before . These are much straighter of the tee.
Gary
Feb 5, 2014 at 2:24 pm
Sounds like this ball is very much worth a try, probably a somewhat updated Rocketballz Urethane. Does this ball have a seamless cover?
Joe Golfer
Feb 5, 2014 at 1:47 am
If they spin that much, I hope the covers don’t get chewed up on wedge shots, especially with so many of the latest wedges having the extra laser etched grooving on the faces.
jc
Feb 4, 2014 at 5:02 pm
talk about spin!!!! I hit a driver and the ball hit the ground and spun all the way back to the tee!!!!
jc
Feb 4, 2014 at 5:01 pm
many optic tests have proven that yellow is easier to see…why do you think tennis balls are yellow now? they are also easier to spot in the early morning and dusk…the white ball is easier to see IF it is early morning, there is dew on the grass and the sun is bright..
I like yellow because I know which ball is mine when we get out in the fairway.
Erjhin
Sep 29, 2014 at 11:29 am
A good many vallubaes you’ve given me.
Arsotangkul
Oct 1, 2014 at 9:06 am
Thanks for the great info dog I owe you biigtgy.
Brandie
Jan 20, 2015 at 3:51 pm
cheap auto insurance
J
Feb 4, 2014 at 11:41 am
Any data to back-up the claim it takes 9000 RPM to back a golf ball up on the green? If that is the case, I’m hitting the 9k mark with a 6 iron and just shy of that on my 4 iron.
Zak Kozuchowski
Feb 4, 2014 at 12:11 pm
A lot of factors at play here, J: angle of descent, firmness of greens, moisture content, etc. But you bring up a good point. This is something I’d like for us to drill into in the future.
Poi
Feb 4, 2014 at 12:55 am
How is it off the driver? Does it balloon?
Indy
Feb 3, 2014 at 6:49 pm
I got some of these at the PGA Show, the spin rate increase was crazy! I generated 9800 with the NXT Tour, 11000 with Project A. Took it to the course the next day, backed both shots I hit with it back at minimal 20ft. The Rocketballz Urethane, could not do what this ball will do. Saw my dad do their test, went from 5000 to 6500. Same test with NXT Tour. This ball will spin!
Adam
Aug 5, 2014 at 2:50 pm
That’s because the NXT Tour doesn’t have a completely urethane cover. They advertise it as a “blend”
Jim
Feb 3, 2014 at 12:03 pm
Sounds like a rebranding of the the RBZ Urethane from last year – not that that’s a bad thing. Hopefully TM will learn about keeping the name of their golf balls consistent going forward too.
Brady Wilson
Feb 3, 2014 at 5:02 pm
Those balls surprised me by how good they were. our shop sold out of them because they were so cheap, and good quality combined. hopefully they improved upon that same idea. I’ll have to give these a try.
bootscrilla
Feb 3, 2014 at 6:33 pm
Same here, we couldn’t keep them on the shelves..I never did try them but I might have to give these a go
Justin
Feb 3, 2014 at 10:52 pm
I agree, they were really good balls, and I gamed them for a little bit in my college matches. They may have spun a tad much on the mid irons, but that may be because I still used the old TP/Black balls from forever ago (itself a mid spin design).
Chris
Feb 3, 2014 at 11:46 am
The reason most amateurs average around 5,000 RPM’s of spin is not just the golf ball, but the way they strike it. Hard to generate spin when they pick it off the turf or if they are hitting an approach from the rough, too.
Poi
Feb 4, 2014 at 12:55 am
You mean blade it off the turf. You can still generate a ton of spin by picking it on the grooves.
J
Feb 3, 2014 at 11:41 am
Similar to NXT Tours perhaps?
tbowles411
Feb 3, 2014 at 10:43 am
But can you get it in yellow?
deafninja
Feb 3, 2014 at 4:58 pm
Nope not currently in yellow doubt they will produce it in yellow. That’s why I will stick with Srixon since they have practically all of their offerings available in Yellow.
Dave
Feb 3, 2014 at 5:13 pm
What’s the benefit of yellow? Not trying to down play, just curious.
bootscrilla
Feb 3, 2014 at 6:31 pm
Visibility for the most part
Jeff
Feb 3, 2014 at 8:19 pm
They are no easier to see. It’s a gimmick.
RadioActive
Feb 4, 2014 at 11:07 am
Well if Jeff says they are not easier to see then they must not be easier to see…
paul
Feb 5, 2014 at 12:54 am
I play early morning golf and its way easier to see when the sun is barely up. And it is easier to spot in the rough I think.
fitterray
Feb 5, 2014 at 7:30 pm
I’ve lost every yellow ball that I’ve ever had.
Ragin Kagin
Jul 25, 2014 at 12:29 pm
Lmao @ fitterray is correct ive lost all of mine as well