Gear: TaylorMade TP5 Pix golf balls
Price: $44.99 per dozen
Specs: Five-layer, urethane-covered ball with a high-visibility pattern
Available: March 22
The Goal
Today’s golfers are more open than ever to non-white balls, so TaylorMade has created a ball with an easy-to-see multicolor pattern that combines performance with high visibility.
The Skinny
TaylorMade enlisted the help of vision specialists at the University of Indiana to develop the new alignment lines on the Spider X putter. That partnership also produced a second product, the TP5 Pix balls.
TaylorMade said studies have shown people can see a two-colored pattern more effectively and track it more easily than with a single color, so each TP5 Pix ball is covered with a series of red Xs that are yellow in the center. (The Pix portion of the name comes from ‘pixelated.’)
To get the Xs on the balls, TaylorMade utilizes a new machine that took 18 months to design and create. The Xs should not wear off during play because they are applied using the same undercoat printing method used to create the side stamps on the company’s TP5 and TP5x balls.
From a performance perspective, the TP5 Pix was given the same five-layer construction used in the new TP5 balls. The inner-most portion of the ball is the large, 16-compression core. It is encased in a second core and then a mantle layer, with each layer getting progressively firmer. This is designed to assist golfers in generating more ball speed and less spin on tee shots and long-iron shots. Finally, a rigid inner cover is coated with a soft, cast-urethane outer cover to help players generate greenside spin and enhanced short-game control.
