TaylorMade Distance+ Review

Distance+ is what TaylorMade sells to golfers who will not spend fifty dollars a dozen, and on its own terms it is a good product. The core is soft, sitting in the mid seventies for compression, so moderate swing speeds compress it fully and get high launch with very little long game spin. That combination is the recipe for carry plus roll, and on the course it shows up as drives finishing level with far more expensive balls and mid irons flying a touch further than they should.

The ionomer cover is close to indestructible, which matters at this price, because a dozen has to survive several rounds of cart paths and bunker lips to be the bargain it claims to be. Then you reach a wedge and the story stops. There is spin, and there is enough of it to keep a full pitching wedge on a soft green, but nothing under sixty yards checks the way a urethane ball checks, and chips release two or three paces past where you aim.

Feel follows the cover: a hard, high click off the putter that better players read as numb. Take it for what it is. Twenty five dollars a dozen buys distance and durability, and the short game is the thing you agreed to give up.