We talk a lot about performance when it comes to our golf ball products – because, frankly, there's nothing more important. The ball is the only piece of equipment that you use on every shot, so it has to perform. It has to fly, feel and spin the way you need it to on the golf course.
Though performance is the most important consideration, it is not the only determining factor when you choose a golf ball. You may be looking for a softer or firmer feel in your ball. Or you may prefer a high-optic color or a unique play number. One preference we don't talk a lot about is price. Golf can be an expensive game and the price you pay is a completely valid concern. If you're looking for a golf ball that strikes a perfect balance between outstanding performance and affordable price, you owe it to yourself to try the newly reformulated Titleist Tour Speed.
"Tour Speed was designed for that golfer who wants to play their best and who really cares about their game, but is targeting a certain budget," Courtney Walsh told me. Courtney is the Titleist Product Manager for Tour Speed. "It is going to give you best in class performance with long distance, consistent flight, and optimized greenside spin."
As is the case for all Titleist products, development of the Tour Speed golf ball was a multi-year undertaking. It began when Titleist Golf Ball R&D began searching for new ways to manufacture urethane golf ball covers. Titleist Pro V1, Pro V1x, AVX and Pro V1x Left Dash all feature cast urethane elastomer covers. In this process, liquid materials specifically formulated by Titleist are combined and heated, initiating a precise chemical reaction to form the solid cover. This urethane is termed “thermoset,” meaning that the cover, once formed, will not re-melt. This proprietary casting process is the most advanced in the industry and it allows us to create a golf ball cover with unparalleled feel and short game performance.
The challenge for scientists and engineers working on the Tour Speed project was to find an alternative way to produce a high-performing urethane cover that would also provide a cost savings. The answer would come in the form of thermoplastic urethane. Unlike thermoset urethane, thermoplastic urethane can be remelted and remolded. Instead of being mixed during the cover casting process, it is pre-formulated and supplied in pelletized form. This requires an entirely different process to mold the cover onto the core of the golf ball and it wasn't without its challenges.
"The toughest thing was just to be able to make a part, a viable golf ball," said Scott Cooper, Project Manager, Golf Ball Development. "At first we thought, this is a bag of pellets - pretty similar to the Surlyn pellets we already use to make casing layers and covers for some of our other products. We should be able to work with pelletized urethane in the same way. And that was not the case whatsoever."
What Scott and team would quickly discover is that Surlyn and thermoplastic urethane are radically different. "Thermoplastic urethane does not act at all like Surlyn," Scott said. "For one, it's very hydroscopic, meaning it soaks up moisture like a sponge. This can seriously undermine the physical properties of the material and, ultimately, the quality of the cover.
Viscosity was also an issue," Scott added. "When heated, this stuff goes instantly from solid to liquid. And then, as it cools, it solidifies almost as quickly. Because we designed the Tour Speed cover to be very thin, we had to develop a brand new, accelerated process to apply an even layer of urethane around the entire core."
Once Golf Ball R&D figured out the process side of the equation, the work truly began – developing a grade of thermoplastic urethane that would be worthy of a Titleist golf ball.
"For almost two years Scott and his team developed and tested dozens of urethane formulations," said Courtney Walsh. "The final formulation, Titleist Performance Urethane, met or surpassed every standard we've instituted at Titleist for quality and consistency."
"One thing we certainly learned through that exercise," Scott Cooper said, "is that not all urethane is created equal. It took a long time to find a formulation that we could work with to produce pristine covers on a large scale. It had to be extremely durable, to maximize the play life of the ball, yet it also needed to be soft and responsive. And, most importantly, it had to perform. And throughout all our testing, Titleist Performance Urethane has exceeded all our expectations in terms of spin, resistance to shearing, and consistency."
Titleist Performance Urethane is certainly the headline when it comes to the Tour Speed story, but as our friends in Golf Ball R&D are fond of saying, no single element of the golf ball's construction determines the performance of the ball – on any kind of shot. The cover, core and casing layer must all work in concert to produce favorable results. So, in its entirety, what can you expect to see on the golf course from Tour Speed?
"Penetrating flight, fast speed, excellent short game control," said Courtney Walsh. "Tour Speed is a great value option for any golfer who wants to be competitive and who appreciates the performance advantage that a urethane-covered golf ball offers."
