Equipment
All-new Titleist Tour Speed golf ball builds on EXP•01 lineage
When you are the maker of the number 1 ball in golf, it could be easy to become complacent, but the engineers at Titleist aren’t known for resting on their laurels. Instead, they are constantly looking for ways to innovate and provide performance benefits to golfers across categories, and today Titleist introduces the all-new Titleist Tour Speed golf ball.
Titleist Tour Speed golf ball: The details
Although the Tour Speed is new, many golfers might be familiar with the prototype ball that lead to the Tour Speed becoming a full-blown release—the EXP•01. It was through that extensive testing process, conducted on a scale that Titleist had never done before, that the team—including designers and engineers—had the opportunity to get valuable feedback from golfers of all skill levels. It was that direct feedback, along with controlled player testing, conducted at Titleist’s Manchester Lane R&D facility that lead to the final product.
“Every new Titleist golf ball must exceed our stringent machine and player testing targets in order to advance from the R&D phase,” -Scott Cooper, Titleist Golf Ball R&D’s lead implementation engineer for Tour Speed.
Although the EXP•01 was released only 10 months ago, the Tour Speed has been years on the making as Titleist worked on producing a new proprietary thermoplastic urethane cover to produce the fastest ball in its market segment.
Not only is the cover material different, but the process to create the new ball involved a 4,300 square foot expansion of the Titleist Ball Plant 2, which demonstrates a huge commitment to the new Retractable Pin injection molding process and a belief in the product.
“Our golf ball scientists and engineers have gone to extraordinary lengths in the development of Tour Speed – testing numerous core formulations and aerodynamic patterns, while formulating and analyzing hundreds of TPU cover blends – to deliver on that promise. We have made every investment necessary in these new technologies, including a significant expansion of our manufacturing facility and process.” – Michael Mahoney, Vice President, Titleist Golf Ball Marketing.
Let’s talk about that performance
The Titleist Tour Speed is a three-piece thermoplastic urethane (TPU) covered ball designed to deliver distance and greater green stopping power. Titleist still believes that a cast urethane cover like those found on the Pro-V1 series offers the absolute best short game control and performance, but TPU allows them to combine enhanced distance with precise scoring control. The TPU formula used in the cover is proprietary and was formulated by Titleist’s team of R&D chemists to enhance distance while still maintaining feel.
The last piece of the cover puzzle is the new 346 quadrilateral dipyramid dimple design that provides a lower, more penetrating flight, so the ball is less affected by the wind.
Underneath the TPU cover sits a what Titleist calls its fastest ionomer casing layer ever, designed to create maximum speed leading to more distance.
Availability and price
The Titleist Tour Speed will be available in the U.S. at Titleist accounts beginning Friday, August 7, and they will be priced at $39.99 a dozen.
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Whats in the Bag
Matthieu Pavon WITB 2024 (May)
- Pavon’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 Max (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
3-wood: Ping G430 LST (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Ping i230 (3-PW)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Wedges: Ping Si59 (52-12S, 58-8B)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Ping Cadence TR Tomcat C
Grip: SuperStroke Claw 1.0P
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Pavon’s gear here.
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Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Equipment
Club Junkie WITB, league night week 4: Some old, some new
We enter week 4 of Thursday night men’s league feeling a little more confident in the game. BK is hoping to go a little lower and reduce the mistakes out there with these clubs in the bag. Watch the video for the full breakdown of why these clubs are getting the starting nod this week!
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, neutral setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana WB 63 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Lin-Q M40X TSPX Blue 7F5
7-wood: Ping G430 Max (-1 degree, flat Ssetting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 S
Iron: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi 4
Shaft: Aerotech Steelfiber hls880 S
Irons: PXG 0317 Tour (5-PW)
Shaft: LA Golf A-Series 105 Low (4)
Wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10 (50-08F)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F4 Wedge
Wedge: Ping S159 (56-10H)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Wedge: Ping S159 (60-08B)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Putter: PXG Battle Ready II Brandon
Shaft: BGT Stability Tour Spec One
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X
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Mike
Aug 8, 2020 at 9:38 am
With all the options out there, if you’re paying new-ball prices for the major OEM balls, you’re nuts. Everyone OEM has their own ball in different ‘categories; unless you’re a ‘player’ (single-digit index in my book) you probably can’t tell much difference between brands. Best thing is to test them out on the course.
Chuck
Aug 6, 2020 at 6:15 pm
Every time I see ball manufacturers market a new golf ball design to players with lower clubhead speeds, what I think is that there must be a way to design golf ball testing specs such that the highest swing speeds will see a distance rollback while lower clubhead speeds will be barely affected. I have little doubt that the design and engineering knowledge to accomplish that exists right now.
jgpl001
Aug 6, 2020 at 4:44 am
Every year I buy a few sleeves of the new balls form all the well known OEM’s out there and trial them through a round or two, but I keep coming back to the ProV1 or TP5.
The last time I switched was for TM’s LDP Red, and boy that was a good ball, I was devastated when they dropped it
I’ll add these to the list…
Rich
Aug 5, 2020 at 9:08 pm
Golf balls have been on a distance-spin continuum ever since the first 2-piece Surylyn balls were introduced. Yes, the gaps have been closed due to (a) solid cores and (b) multiple layers. But the basic dynamics haven’t changed at all.
And this ball doesn’t change it, either. It just slides a bit down the spin scale from the ProV1 and a bit up from those re-branded Pinnacles they sell for 20 bucks a box. In other words, it fills a gap, it’s a tweener.
So? Seriously, who cares? A ton of companies are doing it. Everyone’s got a distance ball, a tour ball (usually two) and a tweener ball. Ho-hum. Unless….
This is just a marketing ploy to get those distance ball players to fork over some extra bucks for a ball closer to the ProV1. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Bridgestoner
Aug 5, 2020 at 6:13 pm
So they came out with a Tour BX?
DukeOfChinoHills
Aug 5, 2020 at 11:12 am
I like the fact it has a urethane cover, for short game control. I would consider testing this ball to see how much of a difference there is from ProV1.
JT
Aug 5, 2020 at 9:40 am
So between tour soft and the new tour speed, it appears NXT and NXT S are back, at a higher price point. I’ll try it and will probable like it, Tour Soft is a quality ball, but the price points are high.