Quick Review: Taylormade TP Black LDP

[Matt Saternus]

My week of ball reviews continues. To this point, I've been testing balls that are equivalent in price, the Bridgestone E6+, the Top Flite Gamer, and the TM Burner TP. I have a good number of TP Blacks from my TMAG days, and they can be had new or used for tremendous prices (thank you Penta), so I thought I'd take one of my last few sleeves out today and see if I should be stocking up on these or moving on to something else.

 

Long Game

When I reviewed the Gamer, I noted how long it was and how I would not be going back to a high compression ball. That statement still holds. My swing speed is around 100MPH, and where I could feel the Gamer compress and explode off the face, I cannot get that feeling with the TP Black, I just don't swing hard enough. All that said, the TP Black was equivalent in length to the E6+ and Burner TP. One difference was that bad swings went further off line than with the other balls. Sactown posited elsewhere that a ball that you can compress will be straighter, and based on my experience today, I think I would agree. I have a very good sense of how much a ball should curve off the driver based on the swing I put on it, and the TP Black curved beyond my expectations on 2 occasions. Off the irons, length was fine and there were no surprises as with the Burner TPs. Spin on the irons was a bit better than with the mid-level balls, but not a huge differences.

 

Short Game

I was somewhat expecting the TP Black to blitz the other balls in this area, but it just didn't happen. Actually, let me be more clear: the TP Black blitzed, sacked, and stomped on the E6+. It was noticably better than the Burner TP. It was very slightly spinnier than the Gamer, and I mean slightly. On a full wedge, the TP Black backed up about a yard instead of staying in its ball mark, which is what the Gamer did. On a half wedge, I would have to hit them head to head to tell the difference, but it was not very big.

 

Overall

Overall, I think the TP Black is a very nice ball, very durable (no scuffs on full wedges), but I don't have the SS to maximize it off the driver. The greenside spin is definitely better than any midlevel ball, but not better enough (IMO) compared to the Gamer.

To me, this test was further validation of the Gamer, and I'm glad to have it. It's truly hard for me to accept what a good ball that is, but it's true. Sactown let me know that Gamers can be had for $1/ball and RXs can be had for about $2, and even after seeing the Gamer perform so well, I was thinking "Oh, but I should get the premium ball." I will try to give the RX a run at some point, but in truth I'm just not sure there's that much room for a ball to be better than the Gamer.

[Addicted2Golf]

Wow, I'm really surprised how much you like the Gamer. I really need to try that ball.

 

In terms of Taylormade, I don't game them on principle. I don't like their marketing tactics and that extends to their ball line. A guy at Golfsmith tried to sell me hard on a box of Penta's yesterday and I flatly refused to try them. I just don't like Taylormade as a company.

[jamo]

How was the TP Black off the face of the putter compared to the rest?

[Matt Saternus]

How was the TP Black off the face of the putter compared to the rest?

 

Pretty equivalent to the Burner or the Gamer. Not super soft, but very comfortable.