This ball goes so far and high it burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere. I hit this ball so hard it burst into flames.
HAWT!
Actually this ball is one of hundreds one can find on my home course, burned to a crisp. My course is so swampy that the foliage grows so high that they burn it down so you can see the fairway from the tee.
This ball pictured above caught my eye, but there were others just as fascinating. One was a wound ball (the kind with rubber bands inside) and the side of the ball had burned open. The rubber bands had been shot outside of the hole, like the ball barfed them out. I should have shot a picture of that one too, but I was too busy trying to follow up an 11 with a birdie…
Don’t ask.
Today is May 5, Cinco De “Mayo.” Thanks to all HOG patrons for your support and readership.
Cinco De Mayo
Happy birthday to my long time friend and bass player in my old rock band, Johnny.
Finally, the inspiration for this post and many others in the over 10 years of golf blogging here comes from my old pal Rich, also known as Eat Golf.
TaylorMade Project (a) Golf Ball
Soft golf balls are the rage right now. That’s great for me as they don’t aggravate my tennis/golfer’s elbow and my driver swing speed is around 100mph. The problem with many of the softer balls which have been produced over the last few years is that they don’t have good spin characteristics in the short game end of things. That’s where balls like the TaylorMade Project (a) are filling the gap. The (a) in the name stands for “amateur.” The ball is designed for amateur swing speeds but has a cover design and materials which produce “tour” level spin and feel in the short game.
Construction
The Project (a) is a 3-piece ball, meaning it has three separate layers. Each layer gives the ball certain performance characteristics.
Most “tour” or high quality golf balls feature a thin cover made from a material called urethane. Urethane is found in the covers of nearly every great golf ball, but not often found on the covers of amateur balls. The Project (a) ball does feature a soft urethane cover. This is what gives this ball far more spin from 30 yards an in than most mid-level amateur golf balls.
The next layer is the mantle layer. This layer also contributes to the ball’s short game spin.
The innermost layer, called the core, is the powerhouse of the ball. The core gives the ball its distance and feel on full shots, and especially off the driver.
My unscientific and rough measurement of the ball’s compression via a very cool golf ball compression measuring tool called the Hexcaliber, shows the ball to be just above a 90.
TaylorMade Project (a) Golf Ball Compression Measurement
In the “old” days tour swing speeds matched up with balls having 100 compression or higher. Amateur golf swing speeds were between 85-100, and women’s balls around 80 compression. These days there are many balls in the 80 range, and even some down at 50 or less.
Hands-On – On The Course
I’ve quite enjoyed my testing rounds with this ball. The elbow feels great. Harder golf balls beat up my golfer’s elbow, which is why I can’t play them. No issues with this softer ball.
The compression level of this ball works well with my very amateur swing speed. I have plenty of distance. Plenty. Like I mentioned, I top out at around 100mph but can get it up to maybe 105 if I’m swinging hard.
The feel the ball has on iron shots is great. I can feel the ball compress and I can sense the control I have when working the ball either direction or trying to control my “traj” (trajectory).
As advertised this ball is great from not only 30 yards and in, but I’d say from 100 yards and in. Short game is my achilles heel but I’ve had success chipping and pitching with this ball and getting that little bit of bite around the greens.
Conclusion
I’ve found the TaylorMade Project (a) golf balls on Amazon for under $32 per dozen, which is close to half the price of some “tour” balls. And for the amateur this ball may be better than those more expensive balls due to the slightly lower compression. The cover is the same.
If you’re a regular golfing Joe with an average swing speed who needs an affordable high performing golf ball, the Project (a) could be the ticket. These could also be good balls for some of the better lady golfers.
Father’s Day is coming up by the way. A box of TaylorMade Project (a) golf balls would make a great Father’s Day golf gift.
What are Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, and all the golf troll websites and blogs to do? The latest damage to the golf industry is the announcement that Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn have broken up. It’s yet another in the growing trend of hot WAGS leaving golf. Forget declining equipment sales, bankrupt golf courses and tanking golf real estate. Golf has a bigger problem, the HWIGS (hottest women in golf) and HWAGS (hot wives and girlfriends) exodus.
Golf media outlets depend on drive-by click bait T&A articles for their traffic. After all, how many times can we fix the same hacker’s slice or produce yet another top driver list comprised of drivers by companies that pay the most in advertising dollars?
If you recall, golf lost a hot WAG in Caroline Wozniacki, Rory McIlory’s now former girlfriend and fiance. You know, the hot tennis player. On March 31st 2015, now known as black Tuesday to golf magazines, Amanda Dufner and Jason Dufner announced divorce.
And now Vonn is leaving. Red alert.
FWAGS
Surely Golf Digest and Golf Magazine, along with many other golf media outlets who produce such classy T&A content, are holding emergency meetings as we speak. They don’t want to go the direction of Back9Network, which essentially went belly-up when easy access to photos of Amanda Dufner dried up.
I predict a new content classification from the Golf Digests and Golf Magazines of the world, “Hot FWAGS.” Ah yes I can see the intern-written non-spell-checked Instagram re-post slide shows now: Get ready for “Hot Former Wives and Girlfriends.” They might even go “Hot WWLITSCAAGCS,” hot women who live in the same city as a golf course. Perhaps HWIGWLWFNMOAGC: Hottest women in golf who live within forty nautical miles of a golf course.
I also expect to see more “in depth” coverage of the hot WAGS and hottest women in golf that are still around, like Rickie Fowler’s model girlfriend. And don’t forget the puntastic “sexy golfer Blair O’Neal hits out of a wet lie.” I get it. So smooth.
While I can’t be 100% sure about who or where the golf media outlets turn to for their hot women wives girlfriends and all that, I can guarantee we’ll see yoga pants.
Today I began my testing of the new TaylorMade Tour Preferred golf ball having completed my testing of the Project (a) ball. The TP is a “tour” level ball, meaning their highest performance and most expensive. Today’s round was the first of several I’ll be doing with this ball, like I do when I test any golf ball. No one-hit reviews here.
TaylorMade Tour Preferred Golf Ball
Stay tuned for my review on the TaylorMade Tour Preferred ball soon.
« Previous
1
…
186
187
188
189
190
…
1,163
Next »
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
