TaylorMade Penta TP tour golf ball introduced

TaylorMade Golf has introduced Penta TP, a new tour golf ball designed to deliver a superior balance of performance, and the first with five layers.

Although engineered for professionals, the golf balls will be playable for everyone, combining the benefits of the TaylorMade TP Red and TP Black in one ball.

Each layer is engineered to optimise performance in five key shot categories that highly skilled players need - driver, long irons, mid irons, short irons and short wedge shots.

The soft urethane cover promotes higher than average spin rate for wedge play from 100 yards and in, with

the necessary characteristics to promote a lower launch angle and higher spin rate, while also providing soft tour feel.

Layer two, the outer mantle, promotes optimum spin off the short irons to stop the ball quickly. Due to its position just beneath the ball, it's easily compressed by slower swingers (120 mph and below), helping golfers to generate higher ball speed for increased distance.

The third layer, the semi-firm and fast middle mantle, promotes mid-launch and mid-spin off the middle irons. Mid-launch promotes control and mid-spin keeps the ball from up-shooting, ballooning and falling short of the target.

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The semi-firm fourth layer and fast middle mantle promotes soft feel, high launch and low spin off the long irons for exceptional distance and high, soft-landing flight that helps the ball sit quickly on the green. The inner mantle consists of a fast material, which helps players who average from 140 to 160 mph in ball speed to generate more ball speed and distance, because although they don't swing fast enough to activate the core, they are able to activate the three layers between the core and cover including the inner mantle, which is the deepest of the three.

The extremely soft, low-compression core is the most critical layer to promoting high launch and low spin off the driver, which are well known to be the launch conditions that promote maximum carry and distance. Penta TP's core is still very fast, which allows players who generate fast ball speed - upwards of 140 mph - to generate more ball speed.  

The added spin Penta TP promotes in the scoring zone is especially important in light of the groove change rule that will be implemented in high-level competitions by the USGA and R&A in 2010.

New grooves will impart less spin depending on the lie (much less out of the rough) and swing type (shallow swingers will lose more than steeper swingers). Penta TP will help some players recover some of the spin likely to be lost because of the new rule.

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