WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: TaylorMade’s latest version of its urethane-covered, three-piece Tour Response and Tour Response Stripe boasts a new core (the same as on the TP5 and TP5x) as well as a new mantle layer designed to increase distance for non-elite swing speeds (sub-105mph). All while maintaining a soft feel with its compression of 70. A new design on the Stripe models was made to make the ball more visible on the grass.
AVAILABILITY & PRICE: Tour Response golf balls will be available for $66 per dozen and Tour Response Stripe for $70 per dozen. Both models will be in retail stores across Australia from February 13.
3 Cool Things
1. Path to success. The original Tour Response Stripe was a cool idea but a green stripe on green grass, particularly in tall rough, proved to be a tough thing to spot. To solve that issue, TaylorMade, working with leaders in ink and print technologies, brought a first-of-its-kind (in golf) neon digital ink into Tour Response Stripe golf balls. The ink includes fluorescent additives that make the alignment stripe easier to spot.
Colours aside, the 22-millimetre alignment stripe that goes around the entire ball improves target awareness while helping golfers with instant feedback on the quality of the roll.
“Stripe is our most successful marking, 2.5 times more than Pix,” said Mike Fox, TaylorMade’s global senior category director for golf balls. “We have seen significant growth via the printed-ball category. However, it is difficult to put a straight line on a round object. You need proprietary machinery. We’ve increased our supply capability of Stripe tenfold since starting. Tour Response was the most research of any visual tech we’ve done, including testing.”
2. Borrowing from the best. If you’re going to bogart some of your other ball’s technologies, you want it to be from the top-of-the-line stuff. That’s the case here as TaylorMade brought the core technology from its TP5 and TP5x balls into Tour Response.
According to TaylorMade, the material reduces the density of the core, which dampens the sound and fosters an overall faster construction for enhanced ball speed and distance. With a compression of 70, Tour Response balls give golfers exceptionally soft feel, too.
Also coming over from the TP5 family is the aerodynamic package. Used for TP5 and TP5x since 2021, the dimple pattern is designed to deliver distance, ball speed and aerodynamic efficiency. Specifically, it promotes shots that come off the face fast with stability in the wind.
3. Flex move. Mantle layers in multilayer golf balls tend to be incredibly firm. However, by using a high-flex material for the mantle layer on the Tour Response, TaylorMade was able to maintain the desired speed and spin characteristics while allowing the ball to further interact with the clubface, enhancing speed and feel.
