Vice Pro vs TaylorMade Tour Response: Which Value Urethane Ball Should You Actually Buy?

The Vice Pro and TaylorMade Tour Response live in the exact part of the golf-ball market most golfers should probably care about more.

Not the “which $58 tour ball proves I have standards?” part.

The smarter part.

This is the lane for golfers who want a urethane cover, real performance credibility, and a receipt that does not make them feel like they just financed a sleeve.

This comparison is research-based and built from the current official Vice Golf and TaylorMade product pages as of May 1, 2026. No fake launch-monitor session. No pretend nine-hole diary where I “learned everything” from one windy twilight round.

Image: Vice Golf

Quick Verdict

Buy the Vice Pro if you are actually shopping for the smarter value urethane ball, especially if you buy multiple dozen at a time or want a lower-spin long-game profile.

Buy the TaylorMade Tour Response if you care more about softer feel, want the simpler TaylorMade brand-name answer, and do not mind paying a little more for it.

For most golfers making this exact comparison, I would recommend the Vice Pro.

For the golfer who prioritizes soft feel over all else and just wants a familiar brand-name urethane ball that sits below TP5, I would recommend the Tour Response.

If you want the wider ball map first, start with Best Golf Balls 2026, the existing value test in Vice Pro vs Pro V1, the TaylorMade ladder check in TP5 vs Tour Response, and the cross-brand benchmark in Pro V1 vs Tour Response.

Price: Vice Actually Wins This One

	Vice Pro	TaylorMade Tour Response
Current listed price	$39.99/dozen	$42.99/dozen
Bulk pricing story	as low as $34.99/dozen at 6 dozen	$42.99/dozen subscription price listed
Construction	3-layer cast urethane	3-piece cast urethane
Main positioning	balanced premium value with lower long-game spin	soft-feel TaylorMade urethane option
Best for	golfers shopping value and flatter flight	golfers shopping softer feel and brand familiarity

The first thing that matters here is simple: Vice Pro is cheaper.

Not by some absurd amount if you buy one box. It is only about three bucks less per dozen.

But the moment you buy in bulk, the gap becomes much more interesting. Vice lists the Pro at $34.99 per dozen when you buy six dozen, which is exactly the kind of pricing that makes golfers start questioning why they keep acting like the logo matters more than the ball.

If you are a “one box today, another box next month” golfer, the price gap is not huge.

If you are a “buy enough balls to survive an actual season” golfer, the Vice Pro has a much stronger value argument.

What Tour Response Still Does Better

The Tour Response still has a real case, even if it is not the cheaper ball here.

TaylorMade’s current product page leans on:

• revolutionary microcoating
• 100% cast urethane cover
• Speed Wrapped Core
• a soft feel story

That is not nothing.

If you are the golfer who likes TaylorMade’s ball lineup and wants to step into urethane without going full TP5 pricing, Tour Response is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

The softer-feel angle matters too. TaylorMade is clearly pitching Tour Response as the more approachable, easier-feeling ball in this part of the lineup. If that is your priority, it becomes a very easy product to understand.

That is why I would not call Tour Response a bad buy.

I would just call it the more feel-driven buy, not the better value buy.

Vice Pro Has the Cleaner Value-and-Flight Identity

This is where the Vice Pro gets more compelling.

Vice is very direct about what the current Pro is supposed to do:

• lower spin rate with driver and long irons
• 3-layer design
• cast urethane cover
• compression rating of 90
• a more balanced spin-and-distance profile

That is a pretty damn useful identity.

It means Vice is not trying to sell this as some vague premium-adjacent ball that “does everything.” It is giving you a cleaner fit:

• lower-spin long game
• real urethane-cover credibility
• a price that gets better when you buy like an adult instead of panic-buying one dozen before every buddy trip

That combination makes the Vice Pro feel more purpose-built for golfers who actually think about price-to-performance, not just shelf prestige.

Feel: Tour Response Has the Simpler Soft-Ball Argument

If your whole buying decision starts with “which one feels softer?” the answer is probably Tour Response.

TaylorMade is leading with softness here. That is one of the product’s clearest selling points, and it is part of why so many golfers see it as the entry point into the brand’s more serious ball lineup.

The Vice Pro is not some hard rock. But it is not really sold as the “softest, easiest-feeling choice” in the way Tour Response is.

That matters because a lot of golfers shop balls emotionally:

• what feels soft off the putter
• what sounds a little quieter
• what feels less jumpy on chips and pitches

If that is your lane, the Tour Response has the better pitch.

If your lane is “I care more about flight window, value, and not overpaying,” the feel story becomes less decisive.

Long-Game Fit: Vice Pro Is the Better Search if You Hate Excess Spin

This is the part of the matchup that makes Vice Pro more than just “the cheaper one.”

Vice specifically says the Pro is engineered for lower spin rates with woods and long irons and a slightly flatter trajectory. That is a very specific promise, and it gives the ball a more distinct long-game profile.

TaylorMade’s Tour Response is still built around consistency and soft feel, and its official comparison table keeps it in the low-spin driver lane too. But the bigger TaylorMade story here is still accessibility and feel, not “this is the flatter-flight value assassin.”

That is why I think the Vice Pro has the stronger identity in this comparison.

It gives a golfer a sharper reason to choose it.

Short-Game Story: Both Are Legit, Neither Is a Fake-Premium Joke

This is important.

Both of these balls have cast urethane covers, which means this is not a “real premium ball versus distance-ball cosplay” comparison.

Vice talks about the thinnest cast urethane cover for control and short-game spin.

TaylorMade talks about a 100 percent cast urethane cover plus microcoating and overall consistency.

So the short-game story is not “one works and the other does not.”

It is more about what kind of golfer you are:

• If you want the softer, brand-familiar, easier-to-understand greenside feel story, lean Tour Response.
• If you want the cheaper ball that still has a serious cover and a cleaner lower-spin long-game identity, lean Vice Pro.

That is the difference.

Which Ball Fits Which Golfer

Buy the Vice Pro if:

• you want the better value urethane ball
• you buy multiple dozen at a time and want the bulk pricing to matter
• you want a lower-spin driver and long-iron profile
• you do not care whether the box says TaylorMade or not
• you want a serious premium-style ball without the mainstream markup

Buy the TaylorMade Tour Response if:

• soft feel is your first filter
• you want the simpler TaylorMade brand-name answer
• you want a urethane ball but have zero interest in DTC experimentation
• you prefer a product sold more on feel and consistency than on flatter-flight value

The Recommendation Most Golfers Actually Need

Here is the blunt version.

If you are comparing Vice Pro vs Tour Response, you are probably not shopping for a status ball.

You are shopping for a ball that performs like a grown-up product without charging you like a sucker.

In that exact conversation, I think the Vice Pro is the smarter answer.

It is cheaper at single-dozen pricing, much stronger in bulk, explicitly built for lower driver and long-iron spin, and still gives you the cast-urethane short-game credibility you are paying for.

The Tour Response is still the better fit for golfers who prioritize soft feel and want the comfort of the TaylorMade ecosystem.

But if your question is, “Which one should I actually buy if I care about value?” the answer is Vice Pro.

If you want to keep ball-shopping after this, go next to Vice Pro vs Pro V1, TP5 vs Tour Response, TaylorMade Tour Response launch 2026, and Best Golf Balls 2026.

Final Verdict

The TaylorMade Tour Response is the softer, cleaner brand-name urethane buy.

The Vice Pro is the smarter value urethane buy.

My pick for most golfers comparing these two is Vice Pro.

My pick for golfers who care more about soft feel and TaylorMade familiarity is Tour Response.

Check Vice Pro on Amazon
Check TaylorMade Tour Response on Amazon