Titleist has introduced its third generation Tour Soft golf ball, with a new aerodynamic design for longer distance off the tee, combined with a large, fast core for a responsive soft feel.
“The Tour Soft golfer prioritizes feel and seeks the softest possible, but they are also looking for all around performance,” said Jeremy Stone, vice president of Titleist golf ball marketing. “The new Tour Soft has been reengineered for improved performance from tee through green.”
At 1.600 inches, the Tour Soft retains one of the largest core sizes in the Titleist golf ball portfolio and the same soft compression as the current generation. Such a large core requires an extremely thin cover, and Titleist developed the thin 4CE grafted cover to help generate reliable greenside spin for short game playability.
The Tour Soft golf ball features the 346 quadrilateral dipyramid dimple design for longer distance.
“Just like any of our golf ball products, we are always looking for a dimple pattern that is specific to each model and works best for that design,” said Mike Madson, senior director of research and engineering. “In the new Tour Soft, we saw an opportunity to improve upon the aerodynamics and improve upon the longer distance players were seeking.”
According to Madson, the 346 quadrilateral dipyramid dimple design was not on the original radar for the new Tour Soft golf ball:
“Our team developed many designs and went down a myriad of paths from a research standpoint, but it wasn’t until the Tour Speed golf ball when we tested and determined the quadrilateral dipyramid dimple pattern made for a really efficient way to process an injection molded cover,” he said.
“We never planned to put the same pattern on the Tour Soft and we looked at a multitude of other dimple counts and patterns within the same family that might work better, but when it came to optimized ball flight and total performance, the 346 quadrilateral dipyramid pattern was clearly the best,” said Madson.
While it may have the same aerodynamic package as reformulated Tour Speed, in comparison, the Tour Soft will fly slightly lower due to the unique construction, primarily the large soft core as compared to the multi-layer Tour Speed.
The Tour Soft will be available beginning May 10 in white and yellow at $44.99 Cdn. per dozen.
