August 26, 2024 – TaylorMade Golf, an industry leader in innovation and technology, introduces TP5 and TP5x Stripe golf balls. Both TP5 – the softest five-layer ball on Tour – and TP5x – the fastest five-layer ball on Tour that’s now a 1⁄2- club longer (*) – are available for the first time with TaylorMade’s cutting-edge 360° ClearPath Alignment.
For the first time, golfers can play the ‘Number One Ball for Them’ with the added benefit of a clear 22-millimeter digital band that wraps around the centre of the golf ball with a thin black line to match putter sight lines providing an immediate aid in alignment. TP5 and TP5x Stripe allow the golfer to align putts more accurately, consistently, and quickly.
The design of Stripe also makes proper strikes easily identifiable as the Stripe rolls consistently toward the hole, while off-centre strikes cause a can’t-miss wobble of the digital band. ClearPath Alignment makes it easy to aim tee shots straight down the middle of the fairway as well.
“The reason golfers have fallen in love with the 360° ClearPath Alignment Stripe is because it really allows them to lock in on their line from behind the ball. The immediate feedback about how the golf ball rolls is pivotal as well,” said Michael Fox, Senior Director of Product Creation, Golf Balls.
On professional Tours, Tommy Fleetwood, who has readily embraced TaylorMade’s Visual Technology and currently plays TP5x pix, is testing TP5x Stripe and using it as an alignment aid during practice. Keita Nakajima also continues to test the TP5 Stripe golf ball.
TP5 and TP5x Testing and Development
The development of 2024 TP5 and TP5x took 42 months. Throughout that time, TaylorMade engineers asked a simple question: how can golf ball performance be simulated in a way that matches what golfers experience on the course? The testing process included:
- 326 hours of robot testing
- 19,477 player test shots
- 18,876 robot test shots
- 30,312 Aerodynamic Research Lab shots
- 555 prototypes
- 67,000 total golf ball measurements
- 30 dimple iterations
- 106 materials
Countless hours were spent having real golfers line up putts with 360° ClearPath Alignment and we found that the digital band helped them to aim more accurately.
Proven TaylorMade Technologies
The technology story starts on the inside with the Speed Wrapped Core that’s found in both TP5 and TP5x Stripe. The materials used in the core produce a soft sound and feel while also paving the way for construction that promotes fast ball speeds. The use of core materials is the genesis of being able to both enhance feel and maximise distance without sacrificing one or the other.
Moving outward, Speed Gradient construction incorporates a progressive five-layer design that optimises variable stiffness between the core and mantle layers. The result is less spin with driver, fairway woods and long irons while maintaining spin in the wedges and short irons.
“Our learnings from countless player and Tour tests show that golfers, unsurprisingly, favour a softer, more muted sound with added distance. Historically, the challenge has been the inability to improve one without negatively impacting the other.”
“With this understanding, we’ve evolved our golf ball design by uniquely decoupling feel and speed through material advancement, a complete departure from the conventional. The material-level advancement positions our TP5 and TP5x golf balls as having the best feel in the industry with fast constructions,” concludes Michael Fox, Senior Director of Product Creation, Golf Balls.
The all-new TP5 and TP5x Stripe not only give golfers the tee-to-green performance benefits of the most complete five-layer Tour-level ball, they take the guesswork out of the alignment equation in a way that’s visually appealing to discerning players.
(*) 1⁄2-club longer claim based on robot iron testing at Tour launch conditions showing 2024 TP5x 5 yards longer than 2021 TP5x.
