Golden Balls: Which TaylorMade golf ball is best for you?

GolfMagic has teamed up with TaylorMade for a four-month reader test to find out which golf balls work for different golfers.

Johnny Percival

27 Aug 2024

What’s your Golden Ball? Everyone has a favourite, so to find out what balls golfers around the UK are using, we've teamed up with TaylorMade for a four-month-long reader test.

Utilising a selection of core and avid golfers, GolfMagic and TaylorMade have launched a reader test to better understand which balls are best suited to different golfers.

TaylorMade offers a wide selection of golf balls, all offering different characteristics that will benefit different golfers.

GolfMagic has invited three golfers, as well as our in-house Equipment Editor, Alex Lodge, to test out the full range of balls over a four-month period and share their experience.

The GolfMagic testing team was carefully chosen to represent a broad spectrum of handicap levels, with the four golfers evenly distributed from scratch to 18 and above, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation of the full TaylorMade range.

Over the course of four months, each tester will have the opportunity to experience a different TaylorMade golf ball every month, providing a detailed account of their individual findings and preferences.

So, let's find out what our team of testers discovered in month two.

Joe

Handicap: 0

Golf Ball: TaylorMade Tour Response Stripe

Best second-month score: 70 (-1)

Joe found the Tour Response delivered a very solid performance across the board in terms of distance off the tee, soft feel around the greens and visual assistance on the greens.

Having used the balls for over a month, Joe particularly noticed how he was holing many more putts from mid range, which he attributes to the thick blue line he found very useful for lining up his putts.

In terms of performance with driver, Joe was able to achieve similar distance and speed to the TaylorMade TP5, and noted that his launch windows were also exactly where he wanted them to be, with the ball producing a neutral flight that produced just the right amount of spin he wanted from his driver.

While the performance on offer is top notch, Joe did find the balls were alighty difficult to find in the rough, due to the thick line.

Would Joe use the TaylorMade Tour Response Stripe in the future?

Joe would happily use the Tour Response Stripe, however he might switch to the all white option so he can take advantage of the performance benefits the ball offers without having to worry about losing his ball if he does hit an errant tee shot.

James

Handicap: 14

Golf Ball: TaylorMade TP5 Pix

Best second-month score: 87 (+16)

James found that the TP5 Pix offered excellent performance off the tee, adding 5-10 yards to his wells truck drives.

Compared to the Tour Response Stripe, James found the TP5 Pix to be firmer, but emjotyed the feel off the face at impact.

James also appreciated how durable the ball was having played a number of rounds where his ball saw all four corners of the course, James was impressed that the TP5 Pix remained completely unscathed with only minor markings but no real wear and tear.

In terms of visibility, James noted that he had no issues at all finding the TP5 Pix in the rough, and thanks to the pattern he even found that it stood out, making it easier to find than an all white golf ball. James loved the Pix pattern and claimed that he liked it so much it made him feel even more determined to keep the ball in play.

It took James a while to get used to the clear path alignment, and he found the tour response stripe a bit more straight forward with putting. But, once he got used to the pattern, and how the alignment was meant to work, it was very useful, and he found more of his mid distance putts were having a chance to drop.

Would James use the TaylorMade TP5 Pix in the future?

He would be happy to play with the TP5 Pix long-term. The only thing slightly holding him back from gaming the TP5 Pix permanently is the high price point, which is slightly beyond his budget as a player who is prone to losing a ball or two per round.

Overall though, the TP5 Pix was James' favourite ball from testing so far.

Alex

Handicap: 4

Golf Ball: TaylorMade Speedsoft

Best second-month score: 75 (+3)

Alex used the TaylorMade SpeedSoft in month two and believes it offers remarkably strong all around performance at a very affordable price point.

In terms of distance, Alex did notice a bit of a drop off compared to the TaylorMade TP5, however he loved the lovely soft feel off the face, especially with wedge shots and the putter.

As a player who naturally hits the ball quite high, Alex also noticed that the SpeedSoft did spin quite a lot, which in turn meant he did lose a bit of distance off the tee, however he did note, that the SpeedSoft would be ideally suited to a slower swing speed player, who would be able to better take advantage of the spin profile in order to keep the ball airborne longer to maximise carry distance.

In terms of aesthetics, Alex liked the simple design of the SpeedSoft and wouldn't change anything from a visual stand point.

Would Alex use the TaylorMade SpeedSoft in the future?

Despite its excellent price point and lovely soft feel off the face, Alex would rather use a TaylorMade TP5 as it offers better spin characteristics for his swing speed and launch angle.

Yoshimi

Handicap: 23

Golf Ball: TaylorMade SpeedSoft Ink

Best second-month score: 104 (+32)

Yoshimi used the TaylorMade SpeedSoft Ink during her second month of testing and noted that they were great, but she did prefer the Tour Response Stripe.

She found that her scoring was higher this month, but was reluctant to put that entirely down to the ball.

From an aesthetic point of view she loved the variety of colours available and the unique ink splatter pattern.

Would Yoshimi use the TaylorMade SpeedSoft Ink balls in the future?

While Yoshimi loved the look of the TaylorMade SpeedSoft, she did prefer the performance of the Tour Response, and would probably use that instead moving forward.