Review of the Taylormade Penta TP

Being a Titleist Pro V1X loyalist, I was very hesitant to try out other balls. However, this 5 piece offering has been intriguing me for the past couple of mths.

So, with bated breath, I finally went and purchasd a dozen to try out for one of my last rounds of golf in Florida.



Conditions today were pretty good. Temps in the high 70s (ard 23*C), wind <10mph. Generally, a great day for golf.

The course was an 18 hole Executive course which had a few par 4s but mostly par 3s. Conditions were dry and greens were pretty fast (stimped ~ 10).

Here's the down and dirty:

1st Impression
Pulled out a sleeve and tested them out on the practice green. I also took a Pro V1x as a comparison. After a few tries, the difference was starting to show - the Penta comes off the face a tad softer and more muted. However, if you were to do a blind test on it, it will probably not be that noticeable.

Driving
Here, I found the Penta to carry slightly higher. I hit 2 drives downwind and 2 drives upwind with the 2 different balls. All had pretty high carry and I notice it was also slightly higher than the Pro V1X. The big thing was there wasn't any distance loss compared to the Titleist despite the higher ball flight. In fact, the TM had more run and creeped past the Pro V1X by a couple of yards on 2 occasions. The ballooning effect might not be so recognisable too as the headwind was not the usual Floridan gale-force type today.

Long and Mid Irons
There were a few par 3s that stretched out between 170-205yds. few of them were into the wind. On all occasions except 1 (caught that a little heavy), I was pin high on those tee shots. The ball definitely went high but I was surprised that it landed on the green nearer to the pin than I thought it would.

Short irons and Wedges
This was where I found the ball to really shine. It felt like an oldskool balata ball when hit with a full vokey wedge shot and the spin was more than what I have experienced with Pro V1s. On 1 instance, I hit my AW onto a front pin that was mebbe 8 paces on. My ball landed about 3 ft on the front edge of the green and zipped backwards onto the fairway. Note that the layout of the hole was flat. Left myself with 20ft from the green. With the Pro V1X on the same try, it sat after 1 hop and probably only came back 2 ft. The TM is definitely the spinner ball here.

Chipping
The check-&-run is easy to be played w this ball. Couple of times where I was chipping, I thought it was hit slightly too hard but the ball took a check on both occasions and cosied up nicely a couple of feet away from the hole. Controllabilty is there especially around the greens.

Putting
Similar to the practice putting green, the feel off the putter face is a tad softer than the Titleist. However, there was no pace or distance control issue.

Durability
After 18 holes, these were the only visible scuffs found on the ball:





This was exceptional considering I hit a few full wedge shots with my Vokeys. I have read other reviews about how they will scuff easily but I found no such problems throughout the 18 holes executing a variety of different shots.

Overall
Definitely a great ball if you are a TM fan. Some reviews I read has it longer than the Pro Vs but I found that they evened out on distance somewhat. Ball flight is slightly different with the Penta launching slightly higher than what I was accustomed to but no real gain or loss of distance with that.

The joy of using this ball will be when you get within the 100 yd range and u love to see zips or checks but unless you know how to control spin well, its really of no extra benefit to the avg golfer except the shiokness of seeing the ball dance (not necessarily nearer to the hole).

The durability is also somewhat refreshing. My mini peeve with the Pro Vs are that they last about a round and a half max. These look like they can go for 2 or 3.

I'm not sure what the price of a dozen of these is goin for in Sg but here in US, TM has this exactly priced the same as Pro V1s so it will be neat to see if competition will heat up in the near future.

great review.

S70B: Dude, great review. Mai Tu Liao..... Get out of the way man, Penta here I come.

S70B, you make me lust after the ball..

I would love to do another review in different playing conditions. Today's were pretty much ideal so that is probably why it rated so well.

Will try it out again in softer conditions and let you guys know how it performs.

interesting to hear from you IF you would replace your Pro V1x with these.
Price being the same, i think it really boils down to performance, brand loyalty etc.

Any serious golfer will always fall back to what he believes will help his game the best.

That is why I am back to my 905R even though I have hit quite a few great new drivers out there that gave better distance and performance. I believe that the most important aspect will be confidence over his shot with the equipment he trusts.

Am still a Pro V guy at heart. If there was a money game, I will definitely go back to the Titleist. However, being here gives me the opportunity to try out varieties which is more affordable than what it cost back home.

Next up: Srixon Z Star X Tour Yellows when they hit the shops Apr 1st. Will also do another write up on that if time permits.

By the way S70B, what wedges were you using? Just want to know if you are using vokey spin milled.

Yap he is using that, usually he get 15ft back spin for his wedges shot.

Thanks chris. I use the Y cutters. usually hop and stop or some roll with ProV1. Don't need back spin, just stop on a dime best.

mizzy wrote:

Thanks chris. I use the Y cutters. usually hop and stop or some roll with ProV1. Don't need back spin, just stop on a dime best.

I have seen he do that last weekend....

Detailed!

you should post this on golfwrx as well if you haven't already, short of stalking your posts there, i am not sure if u posted reviews there before except some comments.

Good review Rex.

The most impressive part is the durability as you made few shots using grooved wedges.

eiji wrote:

you should post this on golfwrx as well if you haven't already, short of stalking your posts there, i am not sure if u posted reviews there before except some comments.

I'm gonna keep it 'local' here. As you know, all the members in golfwrx plays to a +4 hdcp, with a swingspeed of 120+mph and are currently stack and tilting. j/k

Callaway Tour i/iX... not so durable. i managed to cut a few covers...

S70B wrote:

eiji wrote:

you should post this on golfwrx as well if you haven't already, short of stalking your posts there, i am not sure if u posted reviews there before except some comments.

I'm gonna keep it 'local' here. As you know, all the members in golfwrx plays to a +4 hdcp, with a swingspeed of 120+mph and are currently stack and tilting. j/k

lol i totally understand what you mean, everyone drives 280yds and just loves the 9015D because its low spin.

when you get back, hope to have a game with you and joey together

Stop tempting me with the 9015D and the 9032LS!

ghoonk wrote:

Stop tempting me with the 9015D and the 9032LS!

golfwrx public endorsed product with 50+ pages of raves about it, the mini-tour in US have quite a few using it as well.

just buy it and try it, if it doesn't work, sell to me at friendship price

Really nice detailed review Rex.

Did you feel you managed to activate the 5th layer of the ball (the core)?

Great review, Rex.

I am disappointed however that you didn't provide any photos showing the different layers of the ball having been cut in half J/k

Thanks.

@Birdman: I know that its the key ingredient in the promoting of high launch low spin. I think it works as advertised.

When you hit a ball, you don't go asking 'Gee, I wonder which layer did I optimise just now'

The Penta does what its suppose to do..very well in fact. That said, so does the Pro V.

For those not in the know, here's an extract of what the 5 layers do:

http://www.taylormadegolf.com/mainlevel/golfshop/balls/Penta-TP.html?IsPopUp=0#30

S70B wrote:

Thanks.

@Birdman: I know that its the key ingredient in the promoting of high launch low spin. I think it works as advertised.

When you hit a ball, you don't go asking 'Gee, I wonder which layer did I optimise just now'

The Penta does what its suppose to do..very well in fact. That said, so does the Pro V.

For those not in the know, here's an extract of what the 5 layers do:

http://www.taylormadegolf.com/mainlevel/golfshop/balls/Penta-TP.html?IsPopUp=0#30

hi bro

OT a bit..did you manage to try on the hi rev shaft ?

snowman

Hey Snowman,

No, unfortunately, they were out of stock. But I was told that both Hi-Revs will perform quite similar.

I'm heading over to California tmr. Its a long drive. Will check it out if they have it over there when I arrive.

cool....

which part of california you heading too ?

have a safe drive journey...

snowman