The Titleist Tour Speed is in its second generation in 2022.

– Solid from tee to green

– Lot of ball for your money

– TPU cover puts the Tour Speed behind competitors

– Soft feel won't suit everyone

The Tour Speed golf was first introduced in 2020 after Titleist watched the likes of TaylorMade, Callaway and Srixon move into this market space.

They said the original model delivered category-leading speed, distance and precise short-game control, but unlike the competition (Tour Response, Chrome Soft, Q-Star Tour), the Tour Speed has a thermoplastic urethane cover (TPU), not the urethane cover you’d find in the brand’s market-leading Pro V1 and Pro V1x.

The TPU cover hasn’t changed in the 2022 model, with Titleist happy with the levels of greenside spin and short game control its R&D experts created in the original, but the new Tour Speed does feature a reformulated high-speed core and a high-flex casing layer.

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The 1.550-inch core is designed to create fast speed on full swing shots for maximum distance, while Titleist say the new casing layer helps to maintain low long game spin.

The 346 quadrilateral ‘dipyramid’ dimple design has been created for a penetrating flight and long distance, while the alignment side-stamps found in the original model remain to help you on the tee and greens.

It means Titleist continue to shy away from the ‘visual technology ball space’ that Callaway (Truvis), TaylorMade (Stripe) and Srixon (Divide) eare now exploiting.

There is a yellow model available, while orders made directly through Titleist’s website allow you to customise the number and add your name.

– Proprietary Titleist Performance Urethane (TPU) Cover is engineered to deliver exceptional greenside spin for short game control.

– Reformulated, high speed, high compression 1.550” core generates fast speed on full swing shots to deliver maximum distance.

– Reformulated proprietary high-flex casing layer helps maintain low, long game spin.

– 346 quadrilateral dipyramid dimple design provides a penetrating flight trajectory for long distance.

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“The key to the development process was successfully reformulating the core and high-flex casing layer to perform in conjunction with the proprietary Titleist Performance Urethane (TPU) cover to our stringent quality controls, so the golf ball performs consistently on every shot,” said Frederick Waddell, Titleist’s director of product management.

“The Titleist Performance Urethane cover material is innovative and best in class. We did maintain the 346 quadrilateral dipyramid dimple pattern based on feedback from the Tour Speed golfer who prefers its penetrating mid-flight trajectory and long distance,” said Mike Madson, Titleist’s senior director of research and engineering.

For us it’s key not to see the Tour Speed as a cheaper Pro V1. If it’s a softer feeling Pro V1 you’re after (the Pro V1 has a compression around 90, and the Tour Speed is 15-20 points softer) then you really should be looking at the AVX, but remember this ball gives a lower, more penetrating ball flight, which is not optimal for lots of club golfers. 

We’re yet to test the new Tour Speed, which was only revealed in late May, but in our club golfers’ balls test earlier this year the original model wasn’t our fastest or longest with a driver (20 yards back from our longest) or 7-iron (five yards back from our longest).

And as nice as the Tour Speed felt with a wedge, there’s no covering up how our data supports exactly what Titleist say, which is that you can expect high wedge spin from the Pro V1 but just mid-spin from the Tour Speed. For us that meant 625rpm less stopping power than a Pro V1 and 16% less than our top spinning model, the Wilson Triad. For us at least, that means the original Tour Speed was a tad disappointing.

Hopefully, the new model will see those numbers improve, but without an update to the cover, we’re not sure. However, as a standalone ball, the Tour Speed is certainly a solid option for the majority of amateur golfers, and the TPU cover is arguably more durable than the urethane option found on its competitor models.

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Rob Jerram is the Digital Editor of todaysgolfer.co.uk

He has been a journalist for more than 20 years, starting his career with Johnston Press where he covered local and regional news and sport in a variety of editorial roles across ten years.

Rob joined Bauer Media in 2010 and worked as the Senior Production Editor of Today’s Golfer and Golf World magazines for ten years before moving into the Digital Editor’s role in July 2020.

He has been playing golf for almost three decades and has been a member at Greetham Valley in Rutland for eight years, playing off a 12 handicap.

Rob uses a Ping G driver, Ping G 3-wood, TaylorMade M5 5-wood, TaylorMade P790 irons (4-PW), Ping Glide 2.0 Stealth wedges (52º, 56º, 60º), Evnroll ER2 putter, and TaylorMade Tour Response golf ball.

You can email Rob or get in touch with him on Twitter.

RRP £38 per dozen | VIEW OFFER

Cover Thermoplastic Urethane Cover (TPU)

Generation Second. First-generation launched in 2020

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