The ifrothgolf review
The TaylorMade TP5 is a five-layer urethane tour ball, the soft-feel sibling to the TP5x, aimed at better players and improvers who want a proper premium ball and care more about greenside control than squeezing out every last yard.
What's great
This is genuinely one of the best balls money can buy, and I rate it. In independent robot and player testing (independent testers, Today's Golfer) the TP5 produces some of the highest greenside and iron spin of any ball going, so it bites and stops on the green instead of running off the back. The five-layer build means it does everything: fast off the driver, controlled into greens, soft and muted off the putter. Honest take, it goes toe to toe with a Pro V1 and beats it on stopping power. If you compress a ball properly, you'll feel the difference.
Worth knowing
Two real gripes. First, durability. Plenty of owners (and independent testers) report the cover scuffing on flush wedge and iron shots, and it'll shred completely on a cart path, so if you're a one-ball-a-round hacker who clips concrete, this is an expensive habit. Second, quality control: independent ball-lab testing has repeatedly flagged TP5 for off-centre cores and inconsistent layer thickness, with a chunk of samples failing. It's also a premium price, and a mid handicapper who can't compress it won't unlock half of what they're paying for. The TP5x is the better shout if you want lower spin and more distance.
The verdict
A brilliant tour ball that I'd happily play, best suited to decent ball strikers who want spin and feel over raw distance. Just go in knowing the cover marks up easily and you're paying top dollar.
What reviewers say
Reviewers praise its soft feel and exceptional greenside grab; the main gripe is that the extra spin can amplify a driver miss for faster swingers.
