Ok - I don't know about you, but I've used a lot of different golf balls in the last couple of years. I've tried Wilson, Maxfli, Titleist, Callaway and Bridgestone. Most of those just didn't seem to fit my game or I didn't feel confident standing over the ball. My choice for the best ball for my game was the Callaway Chrome Soft (from 2023). That ball seemed to fly really well, but have great stopping power on the greens. Chrome Soft was my golf ball choice for the foreseeable future. Right?
For starters - if you don't have any account with TaylorMade, you are missing out. Seriously. Create your account now, earn points toward future purchases and have the chance to try out the latest golf balls (I'm not sponsored by TaylorMade, I'm just super impressed with them and their reward program). I didn't know that last part was a thing, until I got an email saying that I'd been chosen to try out the new TP5 and TP5x. A couple weeks later, I got 4 of each in the mail (2 white and 2 pix of each style). I'm always excited to try out a new ball, but was super excited for the TP5x and the promise that it flies half a club longer. We'll see about that.
The first thing I did was put on the putting mat I have in my office. I started with the Callaway Chrome Soft to get a feel for how it came off the putter face and how it sounded. Then, I did the same with the TP5 and then the TP5x. All 3 had pretty much the same feel so nothing really different there.
Next, I took them out to chip and pitch for a bit. I was used to what the Chrome Soft did, so I went right to the TP5 and TP5x. The TP5x had a little more stopping power than the TP5, but I didn't feel like it was as good as the Chrome Soft, so nothing to really get me on the TaylorMade bandwagon…yet.
The final test was a couple of rounds of golf. This time of year is when my golf league starts, so I knew I would get some trial in with each of these. I did two rounds with each ball.
The TP5 performed very similarly to the Chrome Soft, but nothing to make me jump up and down about. Then I used the TP5x for two rounds. Not only was I seeing some good spin on the ball around the greens, but I would back up the claim that it does fly a half a club longer. Several holes that I know exactly what club to hit, I ended up going with 1 club lower and putting myself in a better spot for birdie putts or easy chips to the hole. I definitely saw a difference in my driver - hitting it at least 5 yards longer - so that was nice to see.
The other thing I'd like to point out with the TP5x - My bad shots weren't as bad. My miss is always right and, from what I could tell in two rounds, it didn't go as far right…except for the one shank that hit a house and landed in some rocks. I could hardly tell anything happened with that ball, maybe one scuff mark on it, which also speaks to the durability of the TP5x.
Have I been converted from the Callaway Chrome Soft to the TaylorMade TP5x? Possibly. I still have some Chrome Soft balls to use up…before I start using the TP5x balls that I bought last week. So, I guess I have been converted to team TaylorMade. I guess now I just need a hat ;)
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