Equipment
TaylorMade launches ultra-low compression Tour Response and Soft Response golf balls
TaylorMade Golf has introduced its new Tour Response and Soft Response golf balls – both of which feature an ultra-low compression.
The Tour Response ball contains a soft 100% cast urethane cover designed to allow grooves to better grip the ball for increased wedge spin. At the same time, a crosslinking chemical reaction forms the urethane material and creates an irreversible link in a bid to provide for improved shear resistance and maximum durability.
The new addition is the first non-Tour ball to offer this 100% urethane cover from a major manufacturer. Per the company, the use of a urethane cover also aims to provide golfers with effortless compression and Tour-quality performance at an affordable price.
Speaking on the new Tour Response ball, Eric Loper, TaylorMade Director of R&D, Golf Ball stated
“Urethane is simply the best performing cover material you can use on a golf ball. That’s why it’s found on 100% of the balls used on the PGA Tour. It’s that good. We’re bringing that same innovation to our Tour Response line – essentially making a softer version of our TP5/TP5x that utilizes multiple Tour technologies.”
The Tour Response from TaylorMade contains an ultra low-compression of 40 and features the same technologies found in their TP5/TP5x pix balls. The brand’s Speedmantle with HFMq aims to produce faster ball speeds while the firmer second layer of the ball surrounds the soft inner core in a construction designed to deliver an explosive transfer of energy.
In the brand’s new Soft Response, the company utilized a specialized Extended Flight Dimple Pattern in a bid to protect distance in a softer golf ball. The shallow u-shaped dimples are designed to promote decreased drag and increased lift, ultimately allowing the ball to stay in the air longer at a lower spin rate.
Aimed at players who possess average swing speeds and who struggle to keep the ball airborne, the Soft Response balls contains a soft ionomer cover.
The soft ionomer cover aims to add to the feel of Soft Response, but also provide improved scuff-resistance, shear resistance and overall durability.
Equipped with an ultra-low compression ZnO Flex Core (a compression of 35), Soft Response is designed to meet the needs of golfers seeking an extremely soft feel without diminishing distance.
On the new Soft Response, Loper said
“Soft Response is a multi-layer golf ball designed for even softer feel, and with our new Extended Flight Dimple Pattern the player can obtain explosive distance.”
TaylorMade’s Tour Response arrives in white and yellow, while Soft Response will be available in white, yellow and matte red.
Tour Response ($35/dozen) and Soft Response ($25/dozen) will be available at retail on 2/28/2020.
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.
From the listing:
(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.
(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 60 TX
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 70 6.5
5-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Max (18 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 TX
Irons: Srixon ZXiU (23 degrees), Srixon Z785 MB (5-PW)
Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 100 6.5 (4), KBS Tour 130 X
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (50-08F, 54-10S, 58-04T @59)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.
Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.
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Christher
May 22, 2020 at 1:42 pm
How does this compae to the Bridgestone Tour B XS ball?
Kevin Ricciardelli
Feb 4, 2020 at 7:22 am
As Dean Snell has said: soft = slow.
Bushwood Caddie
Feb 3, 2020 at 9:20 pm
This is their replacement for the project (a). I like the project ball will definitely try this one out.
chisag
Feb 3, 2020 at 2:31 pm
… I am a fan of marketing getting our attention because it provides information that gets us in the ball park for any given product. It is obviously then up to us to explore further and find what works best. So I rarely point a finger at any OEM for engaging in misleading hype. But Taylor Made has gone off the rails with this one.
“Utilizing a technology similar to the hottest Tour ball in golf (TP5/TP5x), the 3-piece Tour Response ball is designed to deliver fast ball speeds.”
… You just can’t get more misleading than this claim. A 3 piece ball with a soft 40 compression core has almost zero in common with a 5 piece ball with a firmer core.
Michael
Feb 3, 2020 at 9:34 pm
What is misleading about The statement ““Utilizing a technology similar to the hottest Tour ball in golf (TP5/TP5x), the 3-piece Tour Response ball is designed to deliver fast ball speeds”? You have actual knowledge or proof they didn’t utilize a similar technology or design the ball as they said? I don’t think so.
Gunter Eisenberg
Feb 3, 2020 at 10:29 am
35 Compression? That is soft. Any softer you would put it on a stick and roast it over a campfire.