My boy is in summer golf camp. Rather than dropping him off and coming back 1.5 hours later, I’ll be on the range today doing a side by side comparison of the Nike STR8-FIT and the TaylorMade r9 drivers.
It should take me a few days to complete my writing after today’s research so stay tuned.
TaylorMade has been busy. They signed Greg Norman earlier this week and now Rory “MoMoney” Sabbatini. Rory will play TaylorMade equipment and sport their head wear.
TaylorMade’s web site is nauseating
I just realized why I stopped going to TaylorMade’s web site. I thought I’d stop by there this morning to see if I could get some details on this endorsement deal. Then my morning was ground to a halt when all the fancy Adobe Flash “things” hit my screen and I had to wait for them to finish spinning around and making sound effects.
The flash work is really impressive, but I can’t stand it. Please give me a simple, fast loading web page which I can find what I’m looking for quickly. No more “loading…” or “skip intro” type of stuff. Where do I look for details about this endorsement deal when inside “the clubhouse?” Oh, wait I found it I think. Perhaps on the “lower level” in the “locker room”? Never mind, I got the “loading…” again. Adios.
A note to people who are considering making a web site or redesigning one:
The fancy Adobe Flash animations, sound effects, and things flying around your screen are only cool for two people…
1. The person who hired the Flash designer.
2. The Flash designer.
This isn’t an April fool’s joke.
Greg Norman has inked a deal with TaylorMade. The Shark will play the TP Red golf ball (which he played in that great performance at the (British) Open last year, TaylorMade golf clubs, TM staff bag and a TM logo on the side of his hat. Yes the side. There’s NO way the Shark would let his Shark logo play 2nd fiddle to any other.
What about MacGregor?
Not sure what the ramifications are with this deal and Greg’s relationship/investment in MacGregor Golf, which is still sporting Greg’s photos on their home page.
Norman video on the switch, The Masters
In this nine minute video, Norman explains his decision to switch to TaylorMade. He also mentions playing golf at The Masters this year. He says the length of Augusta National makes Beth Page Black look like a pitch-and-putt course.
Equipment & Accessories, European Tour, Golf Balls, Golf Clubs, Golf Courses, Golf Equipment, PGA Tour, The Masters
Wow the folks at Golfsmith are big risk takers. Read a portion of their press release below, but it basically says that that if you buy one of three TaylorMade drivers from Golfsmith between now and April 11th, you’ll be refunded your money if Sergio Garcia wins the Masters.
It is no secret that I’m critical of Sergio. I lost respect for the guy when he spit in the hole on national TV and then denied it in a post round interview.
I’m also quite confident that Sergio will NOT win the Masters as his putting on the slick Augusta greens will be his downfall. In fact, I’m so confident that Sergio will not win the Masters that I’ll make the following statement.
IF SERGIO GARCIA WINS THE MASTERS, I’LL PLAY THE PAR-5 1ST HOLE OF MY HOME COURSE NAKED.
I have lost a few pounds recently. In fact, I weigh 10 pounds less than I did in high school. So there won’t be any beached whale sightings on the course should Sergio win. That being said, I’m no spring chicken and I don’t exactly have a six pack or abs of steel. 
I’m not alone in my skepticism:
Deadspin piece (read the great comments, except for the Payne Stewart one)
Read more…
Golf Equipment, Hackers, Life, Miscellaneous, PGA Tour, The Masters
The 7th and final day of my “7 straight days of golf equipment reviews”
The TaylorMade TP Red golf ball is one of two new offerings, the Black being the other. The Red is considered the higher spin and/or softer of the two balls.
I’ve been playing the TaylorMade TP Black and Red golf balls for a while now (being a top golf blog has it’s preveleges…hehe). My friends and even the local TM sales reps envy me. Sometimes I show the TM reps their new gear before they get their hands on it.
Technology
This multi layer ball has a large core made of a rubber based neodymium compound. I’m very familiar with neodymium because in my other world (the audio industry), some microphones employ neodymium magnets in their circuitry. Neodymium magnets are much more powerful than standard magnets. What this has to do with golf ball cores is beyond me but it apparently lends itself to a high COR, low compression, low driver spin and high ball speed.
The cover is an ultra thin proprietary urethane which provides tons of spin and feel. TM calls this cover “ultra thin yet very durable.” In another description they say “superior durability.” We’ll discuss that later in the review.
The red has 322 dimples. TM’s dimple design is especially effective on the back half of the ball flight, adding lift for more carry and distance. I can attest to that. I saw the ball fly a little farther than I expected.
On the course
Off the driver the Red is very long. My unscientific tests tell me it’s much longer than a standard “premium” spin/control ball. I had a period of a couple of weeks where I was knocking the Red into areas on the course I don’t normally see, about 330 yards from the tee.
When you are bombing a ball this far, you’re going to be hitting a ton of wedges into greens. I found the Red to be exceptionally responsive to my wedges and short game. I could easily hit a more controlled and less “wristy” shot and have the ball land on the green and stop instantly.
If I pounded down on the ball harder and got a little more wrist action with the wedges I could get what I like to call “Phil super spin.” I had one shot where I got too carried away with the spin on my lob wedge. The ball hit the center of the green pin high and spun back about 25 feet off the green. The next hole I carried the ball over the entire green and spun it through the longer grass back onto the green!
Green side I loved the feel of the Red. I could close down a wedge and get some over spin for a longer runner. I could put the ball back in my stance and chop it for one of those 2-3 bounces and check shots.
Off the irons the softer compression of the Red felt nice as well. You can work the ball easily and control your distance. There’s no better feeling than feeling the ball compress on the club face for that extra thousandth of a second with a 3 or 4 iron.
Critic’s corner
“Superior durability” and “very durable” are words used to describe the Red on TM’s web site. I’m going to have to disagree here. While this is an amazing ball it is anything but durable.
The day I was bombing those 300+ yard drives I was hitting many sand and lob wedges into greens. Even a 3/4 swing with my lob wedge would result in extreme shearing or shavings on the urethane cover. After 3 or 4 sand/lob wedges the ball looked like it had hit about 10 cart paths. Even the decoration (logos and text) on the ball shaved right off.
This article I wrote a while back covers a little experiment I did on ball performance when the cover is damaged. Given what that article finds, I doubt the damage to the surface of the TM balls has much of an effect on the overall performance.
Conclusion
Though it’s not the most durable ball out there, TM TP Red is a great golf ball. It’s long, workable and great on touch shots around the green. You’ll be able to pull of many great shots thanks to this ball.
TaylorMade has had the “#1 driver on tour” for some 190 consecutive weeks now. The r7 series with the 4 movable weights has been one of the biggest equipment stories in the past several years.
Enter the new r5 Dual TP Driver. The r5 TP is the latest movable weight driver offering from TM. Rather than the 4 weights the r7 employs, the r5 TP uses two located in the back of the club.
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