There's a general consensus that more layers = better ball. The idea can easily devolve gimmicks, which golf is especially good at. See below.
But while four-layer balls tend to be superior to two-layer balls, there's an obvious limit to this game. The whole point of additional layers is that each layer is fine-tuned to fit a specific purpose. TaylorMade says that the five layers of the TP5 allow the ball to adapt to a universal swing speed (65+ mph), where both a slow swing and a fast swing will "get the most out of the ball." I don't quite know what that means, and the data fails to show that the TP5 is particularly special. This is how TaylorMade advertised the first ever 5-piece ball, the Penta TP5.
We seemed to reach the limit of layers with the TP5, and I don't expect any of the major ball brands to release a six+ layer ball any time soon. But apparently two companies already have.
In 2013, Maxfli released the first ever six-piece ball, the U/6. Here's a commercial. And below is Maxfli's graphic to explain what the heck is going on in there.
Dick's Sporting Goods owns Maxfli, and Dick's doesn't make nor sell the U/6 anymore. You can find them on ebay, and I might buy a sleeve just for the novelty.
In 2017, Forte Golf released the Apex. Beyond the press releases and blog reviews, I can't find a thing about it. Neither have I heard of the company. Google doesn't have a site indexed for them and the ball is a ghost.
But in 2019, Honma also released a six piece ball called the Future XX. Here it is. You'll rarely stumble across a Honma ball. I think I've seen less than ten... ever. Maybe it's a great ball, but I emailed them asking if it's still for sale and was told it's only available in Asia. Ebay doesn't show them either. Too bad, I might have given them a shot. I'd be interested to see how these balls would perform in a robot test, but that seems unlikely to ever happen. Hopefully I'll have to update this article when Snell or some other underdog tries a 6 piece (or 7?) ball to turn some heads.
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