REVIEW: Malbon Tour M Golf Ball – Good Enough to Replace Your Premium Ball

Malbon is certainly known for its colorful and polarizing golf apparel, but did you know it also makes golf balls?

The Tour M is Malbon’s take on a premium golf ball, and it has all the characteristics and performance metrics you would want. Is it good enough to replace your Pro V1s and your TP5s?

I think it is.

The Basics

The Malbon Tour M features:

• Three-piece Urethane cover for spin and control
• A rubber mantle layer for greenside control and spin on approach shots
• A highly elastic rubber core for better compression on swing speeds greater than 95 mph

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Joey Klender (@klendergolf)

It is a firm-feel ball, similar to the Pro V1, but not quite as hard as the Pro V1x. Hitting it, it is not as soft and has a higher ball flight compared to the AVX. It is very comparable to Titleist’s best-selling golf ball.

Response

Feel

The Tour M ball is easy to compress for having a firmer feel. If you’ve read my balls reviews before, I have stated I have become extremely partial to the AVX because of its super soft feel.

This made me hesitant with the Tour M, and while it was not a ball I feel was my personal favorite based on feel and ball flight alone, it was a ball I would feel comfortable grabbing if I needed something, and I didn’t have any AVX left.

Quality

Granted, I am not a scratch golfer. I am not someone who is overwhelmingly obsessed with the ball I play to the point that if I have one AVX left in my bag and a dozen others, I’m spending $55 to buy 12 additional AVX. I’ll use what I have, for the most part. I do want a ball free of scuffs and any deformities, and if I’m playing a scramble or tournament, I will make sure I have the balls I prefer.

I felt the ball flight was consistent, and I was surprised by that. Malbon is a good company with very quality materials, and while their looks are polarizing and not for everyone, they are showing they can create more than just crazy clothing.

Spin

The spin on the Tour M was excellent. On a 148-yard par three during my test round, I hit an eight iron and spun it back to about 2 feet for birdie:

Of course, I played this round alone and came this close to my first ace. That’s neither here nor there.

I loved that I felt confident enough to take on pins with this ball. With the AVX, even though I prefer the feel, I have to play about 7-10 yards shorter than the flag because of the lack of spin and rollout.

This is the one thing I miss about playing a firmer ball. Solid iron shots are rewarded with a firmer ball because of the spin alone. The Tour M is no different.

Overall Thoughts

If you are looking to switch up and support a non-mainstream ball brand, give the Tour M a shot. You will be impressed with how the ball stacks up to others, with the spin, the feel, and the response.

Malbon even offers a subscription program that will bring 10 percent off the ball if you decide you want to have them shipped to you every month, two months, three months, or four months.

Check out the Tour M here.

Cover Image via Centre