Taylormade Tour Response Red Stripe

[Minette Mccandrew]

Im a sucker for golf alignment aids, I mean I've played with a solid line on my golf ball since I was probably 12. That usually means sharpie markers in my bag and usually ink on my fingers for the first few holes. So when I first saw an ad for the new TaylorMade Tour Response with a large thick green/yellow stripe right down the middle, I was pretty intrigued. I have not previously played a TaylorMade ball or one of the several alignment balls Callaway does, something about the thick greenish yellow stripe is appealing to the eye. So about two weeks ago I swung by my local Walmart and picked up a dozen to try them out and possibly pass along what I like and didn't like about playing them.

I don't want to spend too much time on the specs as those could be found in various locations and to be honest the spin rates and softness of the ball isn't what made me click buy. Its that big thick green stripe down the center of the ball and will it help me make more putts....

First, When I'm trying a new golf ball I take the advice I've always heard and test it from the hole back, meaning the most important features are on the green, around the green, from the fairway, then last off the tee. With that in mind I've played three rounds with the ball currently and have a some initial feedback.

The first round I played was in a charity golf tournament for my university's Civil Engineering Scholarship program. I was excited to try the ball putting, especially getting to see a few putts ran at the hole in front of me in the scramble format. I was disappointed when I realized the greens on the back nine had been aeriated and it wouldn't do me much good watching it bounce up and down on its way to the hole. Luckily, it was only the back nine and after we made the turn I got the ball rolling (literally) with a big eagle putt the first 'real' roll I made with it from about 30'. I'll have to say that had us off to a great start with the testing. It was a pretty solid putting day for me, of course its always easier seeing a roll or two in front of you but initially the ball is soft off the putter face, seems to roll true, and gives instant feedback if you miss hit the putt, watching the flashing colors of the ball instead of the nice end over end line you would get when struck pure.

For the second round, I played a practice round at my home course in Crossville. I was riding solo so I decided to play a "worst ball" scramble where I hit two shots and played the worst of the two. I did make a couple caveats as I didn't want to spend all day in the tee box or putting green having to hole twice or hit two balls in play every tee shot. Off the tee if one ball was OB or in a hazard I just selected the other ball to play, but if both were in bounds I had to play the worst of the two. On the greens, or around the greens once a shot was holed that was my score, that just prevented me from missing a bunch of 2' putts and also made that second putt/chip really count instead of being less important if I missed the first shot. This also gave me the opportunity to hit a gamer and directly compare to the TM Tour Response. My usual gamers are the Bridgestone TourBX and Titleist ProV1.

The third round was again in a charity golf tournament for a local Christian school. My previous round led me to believe that little to no difference with the driver meant I'd mostly use the Stripe ball to putt, chip and hit approach shots with. Again I really like putting with the ball, approach shots into greens seemed to be the correct distance and spin the proper amount when hitting the green. There was one or two half to 3/4 wedge shots that didn't spin exactly how I thought they should and rolled out several feet longer than I anticipated but that does sometimes happen with my gamer balls too, I will certainly keep an eye on it as I work my way through the remainder of the dozen balls.

I think I will try next to hit some shots on my Skytrak and see if there is any difference in spin rates from ball to ball. It might be dicey as I do know the Skytrak does sometimes get finicky with balls with a lot of graphics. I guess we'll soon find out.

I had a buddy here from up north these weekend and he was playing these - he gave me a sleeve to try yesterday. The course was crowded so I only hit one and I rushed that - I drove the ball great yesterday but I managed to duck hook that one into the pond - not much chance for comparison there. My guess is that it won't perform all that well for me - I will generally give up 10 yards when using a lower compression ball - I can't afford those yards plus honestly I hate how they feel - I come from the balata era - you can't fool me - these so called softer balls feel nothing like the old balata ones did.

While not at the same time I was fit for every club in my bag as well as the Pro VI ball. I use the chrome soft x ls on my league course. It has much softer softer greens than the club that I belong to.

A few weeks ago I bought a box of yellow Tour Response from Walmart ( most likely 2020 version). They definitely underperformed against my MTB Blacks. If I could find a sleeve I might try the 2022 Stripe version. However not interested in paying 40+ for an experiment especially given my previous purchase.

I will agree with you there on the lower compression balls and distance especially this time of the year. For me it is a noticeable difference between the Srixon Soft Feel and any of their other offerings. Now I am ok with the Soft Feel in cooler weather.

And yes like you I am a product of the balata and wound days For me some are close but as you said nothing beats the real thing. Now on the Persimmon woods the Soft Feel and the Cally Super Soft work well. And I do have quite a few new in the box balata and wound Dunlop balls. When playing vintage I do pull one out for close approach shots and putting. And I will concede due to age that some of those balls have lost their pep. I have had some in the past wobble on wedge shots in the air but still I relish the feel. In my vintage rounds for me it is not about the score anyhow.

I do not see me trying these balls unless I find a couple because I still have so many various Srixon balls I have won. I do know one of my fellow members who is a good stick in his 70s bought some at Wally World the other day and he loves them.

I posted in another thread but I am going to repeat myself here as I am geeking out over this ball (after only 1 round so I may come back to this thread in a month with my tail between my legs but...). In comparison to my Snell MTB Black it is all even or better through one round. I was MURDERING this ball (for reference my swing speed is 105 mph with driver and my drives are usually 250-270 yds and my 5W usually carries about 220-230):

The two drawbacks to this ball are (1) it is hard to see in the rough as @DannyDipspointed out and (2) it is so soft off the putter that I have to adjust my speed calibration. They are rumored to have other stripe colors coming out which would probably be helpful or I will just get the all white ball. Gun to my head, this is a much better ball for me than the Snells but, again, it's just one round.

2) When the ball is laying in between tee and green the alignment aid will almost never alight with your next shot, does this cause a distraction on approach shots? It may be different for everyone and maybe just takes getting use to. But if you use it to align your puts and tee box shots, i could see it giving an odd visual on approach shots with its aligned at weird angle to where you are aiming.

The Tour Response ball is the best value quality ball out there. I play it in yellow (probably about to be discontinued..) and I find it lovely off the face and remarkably hard to lose. What's not to like ?

The stripe is kind of cool. Visually, very easy to align. It feels like it makes the ball look smaller to me for some reason. But, it does seem to help alignment. If it's successful, I wonder if we'll see it bleed into the TP5 line.

TM said they tried a bunch of alignment aids for this ball. They took those and put them on balls and had people line them up. They then took a laser to see which design was aligned the most accurate the most times, and they ended up with this.

My Duo Pro appears to be done, I may have to turn to the Tour Response as a replacement. But, I'm also less excited about the price increase. Might find myself hunting down the prior model, same as you...

Was sent a dozen of these. They are SUPER soft. I play tour b x and have played tour b xs before. They are softer than both of those by a big margin. I'd say these balls have adequate spin around the greens. Not as much as the tour b x but they don't rollout like crazy either.

From a putting perspective, I've tried a line on the ball before and can't stand it. A single line looks like it's pointing left of the hole when standing over the putter. This track thing REALLY helps with that. I could game the track system and it would probably really help inside 10 feet.

Played the TR and compared it to the Bridgestone e12 Contact, which was my gamer at the time. The e12 was longer off the driver and irons and about the same when hitting into the green. With a price hike of $5, I see no reason to compare it again. Currently, playing the 2022 Chrome Soft while also looking at the Bridgestone RXS which has a really, really good feel off the putter and slightly better spin characteristics than the CS.

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