• Callaway is introducing three new Chrome Soft models featuring Precision Technology
  • Chrome Soft, Chrome Soft 10 and Chrome Soft X LS have all been refreshed
  • Retail cost is $49.99/dz

Callaway Chrome Soft golf balls with precision technology.

If you're an gorging MyGolfSpy reader, that's peradventure not the first thing yous think of when it comes to the Callaway Chrome Soft family of golf assurance but Callaway is so confident in its increasing ability to produce consistent, defect-free golf balls that it's stamping a "Precision Technology" logo on every box of 2022 Chrome Soft, Chrome Soft Ten and Chrome Soft X LS golf assurance.

Turning the Tables

Under Scrap Brewer'south leadership, Callaway has embraced the idea of the Mongolian reversal. If you're unfamiliar with the phrase, think of information technology every bit flipping the script or turning weakness into force and, in the procedure, 1-upping competitors. With that in mind, it'south fitting that Callaway, the company whose golf balls are basically the reason why off-eye cores are a office of the golf game ball conversation, at present is leading the charge to quantify the bear upon of what it calls "COs" or concentricity offsets.

I'll exist honest. I didn't encounter that coming.

Concentricity Matters

Since our first robot brawl test, we've been telling you lot that not all golf game balls are created, or at least manufactured, equal. Ball Lab has confirmed that inconsistencies are quantifiable and now Callaway is helping united states put some numbers on the existent-globe performance implications.

Allow's first with some of the data Callaway shared.

In robot testing of a ball with a known concentricity offset problem across half dozen different impact points, Callaway found that, with a 7-iron, ball speed can differ by 2.7 mph.

Nosotros're only getting started.

Launch angles differ by equally much every bit 2.1 degrees, backspin by i,200 rpm, side angles past 2.vi degrees and sidespin by 1,204 rpm.

Callaway'south data suggests that when cores are off-middle or layers are get-go and non-concentric, it can be like having six different golf assurance in i.

Wedge guys love versatility. Ball guys, not and so much … at to the lowest degree non similar this.

When all those numbers come together, the result is a most five-thousand increase in behave distance and upwards of 17 yards of left-right dispersion. Callaway says that's the difference between hit or missing a light-green. That's definitely true. I'd also add that, from what we've seen with robots hitting commuter, it'south too the deviation between the middle of the fairway and the wrong side of the white stakes.

Reload.

At least if you love your off-center golf balls, you get to hit them more than oft.

As always, there is some dash here. The actual implication of COs depends on a few factors: how much mass has shifted, how far it shifted and where in the ball did the shift take place (near the heart versus towards the perimeter).

It's Eye of Gravity 101 type stuff only the larger point is that off-center cores, concentricity offsets … any you want to call it …  it absolutely matters and it'south no longer just us saying it.

The information is coming from Callaway.

Callaway too acknowledges the same roadblocks we've hit in trying to convey the message. Given the variability we bring to the table as golfers, you lot may non find the impact of screwed-up layers on a shot-for-shot basis and yous probably aren't likely to blame the ball, either. That doesn't mean it didn't happen nor does it hateful the ball isn't to arraign (sometimes).

Total Throttle

As Callaway moves towards the launch of its 2022 Chrome Soft lineup, the $50 million spent on factory upgrades are fully realized. Not a single slice of core machinery is more than a scattering of years erstwhile and, with the improver of technologies like 3D X-ray, Callaway has ane of the nearly modern (if non the nearly modernistic) golf ball factories on the planet.

At the cadre (sorry) of Callaway'south improvements is the addition of 3D X-ray engineering. The first deployment of the engineering gave Callaway the power to look at the core of every ball it made and presumably pluck the off-center cores (while spinning up new machines to more precisely center cores).

With the new generation of Chrome Soft, Callaway has expanded its X-ray capabilities beyond the core. It tin at present meet (and measure out) concentricity at every layer of the golf ball, all in digital high definition.

In a perfect world, nobody would make a bad ball. The adjacent best thing is to make sure bad balls never cease upwards in our golf bags. Callaway's 10-ray technology helps to snag bad balls earlier they get in out of the mill while tighter tolerances and improvements to its manufacturing capabilities have significantly reduced the number of manufacturing defects.

Information technology remains to be seen the extent to which Callaway has addressed quality control in other areas (weight, diameter and pinch consistency) but Callaway says it is continuing to improve in all areas, so information technology's worth making a couple of additional points.

First, concentricity offsets almost certainly accept more of an impact on functioning—at least on a shot-by-shot basis—than inconsistencies in weight, compression, etc.

Second, the various aspects of golf ball quality don't be in a vacuum. Typically, when one aspect of manufacturing quality improves, others improve as a event. We'll sort that out in Ball Lab early this year but it sure seems like Callaway is doing (certainly saying) the right things to position itself every bit a serious player in quality discussion.

Again, I didn't see that coming.

Making Noise on the PGA Bout

To be sure, Callaway's ball sectionalisation is riding a bit of a hot streak. Xander Schauffele won Olympic gold, Jon Rahm moved to Chrome Soft X from TaylorMade and won the U.South. Open and Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship.

Along the way, the company claimed its highest share ever in the ball category and, while that particular bullet point probably warrants an asterisk given industry-wide supply chain problems, it's not unreasonable to say Callaway's ball segmentation has some momentum rolling into 2022 with a lineup of new assurance that are just different plenty from the prior generation to brand things interesting.

2022 Callaway Chrome Soft

For 2022, the standard Callaway Chrome Soft volition feature three-piece construction (the last two generations were iv-slice models). Callaway is challenge the new ball is faster (and longer) but that it didn't take to boost compression to proceeds speed.

Callaway says the additional speed comes from a new Hyper-Elastic SoftFast Core. I'd be remiss non to point out that while it is possible to get a bit more speed out of softer materials, in the golf brawl world, "soft" and "fast" are diametrically opposed. Soft is … you know the rest. That said, a larger core is typically a faster core and, by eliminating one of the mantle layers in the 2022 Chrome Soft, Callaway was able to make the cadre bigger.

In what you lot'll see is a theme with the new Chrome Soft lineup, Callaway has softened the new model. On our gauges, the 2020 model measured 75 pinch on average. Our preliminary measurement of the 2022 Chrome Soft suggests the new ball is +/- lxx pinch. Those numbers propose Chrome Soft will be just fine (possibly even enjoyable) for moderate swing-speed players. However, faster players chance over-compressing the brawl and losing speed. Information technology'due south why standard Chrome Soft play on the PGA Tour is finer zero.

I digress.

Other changes relative to the 2020 Chrome Soft include lower spin (~150 rpm) on full shots and a new, low-elevate dimple pattern that provides a more penetrating flight.

The upshot here will exist entirely golfer-dependent simply, if penetrating is code for lower flight, paired with lower spin on an already low-spin ball, there's a take a chance that Callaway may be trading away some playability for additional distance.

As part of its performance evaluation, Callaway uses a "par-four metric" which basically puts a number to the distance gained over your driver and approach shots on a typical par-4. With the new Chrome Soft, Callaway says you can wait a little over 5 yards of additional altitude over those 2 shots.

It doesn't sound like a massive number simply, in a world where gains are almost e'er minimal, five yards, even if information technology takes ii shots to realize it, isn't inconsequential.

Information technology'south no secret that I'm not a Chrome Soft guy only if you're already a Chrome Soft fan, chances are you're going to love the new ball.

2022 Chrome Soft X

The Chrome Soft X is Callaway'southward most played ball on Tour. Despite that, it habitually underperforms at retail. With the new brawl, Callaway is hoping that volition change.

On a comparative basis, if nosotros say the changes to Chrome Soft are pregnant, updates to the Chrome Soft X authorize as pocket-size tweaks. That's not unusual when you're working on a production used by Tour players. The standard wish listing typically is something similar "make it better, but don't change anything."

Good luck with that.

With that in mind, Callaway is still leveraging four-piece construction. The company says it was able to leverage its new cadre conception to eke out an extra .vii mph of ball speed while making the ball spin neutral. That's notable given that our preliminary measurements propose the 2022 Chrome Soft X is softer, though by just a few points. Otherwise, it's largely the aforementioned as the previous generation which is almost certainly what the Bout staff wanted.

My disclaimer with the Chrome Soft X is twofold. Kickoff, every bit I've noted a time or few, it's non soft. With compression in the mid-90s, it'south similar to the Titleist Pro V1x. That is to say it's firm.

Branding.

My second point addresses Callaway's suggestion that Chrome Soft X is a mid-spin ball. There are certainly college spinning balls—Kirkland Performance Plus and Mizuno RB Tour series spring to mind—but as far every bit assurance actually played on Tour go, it's on higher-spinning finish. That's not a knock on the ball; it's just what it is.

Golfers looking for a true mid-spin ball may be improve served by the Chrome Soft X LS.

Chrome Soft 10 LS

Speaking of …

The Chrome Soft X LS was added to the Chrome Soft line last twelvemonth. The original will have a less than a one-year run and that's fine every bit it makes sense to bring everything upward to the aforementioned technology and launch fresh at the aforementioned time.

While Callaway bills the four-piece Chrome Soft 10 LS equally a low-spin ball (it's definitively lower-spinning than the standard Chrome Soft X), our examination results suggest the original was more accurately characterized equally a mid-spin ball relative to the market as a whole. Again, that's not bad. I just want you to know what to expect.

With the new version, Callaway has made a few tweaks that may boost the appeal. First, the 2022 Chrome Soft X LS is softer than the previous version. On our gauges, the original hovered around 100 compression. The new model is much closer to the stock Chrome Soft Ten (94-96 on our gauges). As with the other new Chrome Soft balls, the new core design has provided a speed boost. Callaway puts the number at .8 mph.

Chrome Soft 10 LS was already one of the fastest assurance on the market. If Callaway was able to soften information technology a chip and still add some boosted oomph it's going to be an intriguing option for guys who need help shaving spin and don't listen more distance.

Equally with the standard Chrome Soft, Callaway has reduced spin on the Chome Soft X LS by roughly 120-130 rpm depending on the social club. As much as I don't similar a spin reduction on Chrome Soft, I absolutely beloved information technology hither. Information technology should bring Chrome Soft X LS closer to a true low-spin performance spec.

Perchance the almost intriguing upgrade to the 2022 Chrome Soft X LS is a new softer comprehend. That should produce more greenside spin. That's typically the biggest gripe among users of what I call low-spin bomber assurance. Left Dash users volition often say information technology doesn't spin as much around the green every bit they'd like. For its function, TaylorMade softened TP5x in role to add some spin effectually the light-green. Callaway may take washed the same but if it has added greenside spin without trading away speed, information technology could accept something special.

Predictions

My hunch is that the standard Chrome Soft volition continue to perform well at retail and pb the market in the depression-compression urethane space.

I'm less certain about Chrome Soft X and Chrome Soft Ten LS.

To engagement, improve players haven't been drawn to the Chrome Soft X product lines in whatsoever meaningful numbers. Callaway'due south refusal to drib "soft" from the name probably isn't helping. I could get behind a CS Bout but this insistence on explicitly spelling out "soft" on mid-90s compression balls is, at best, airheaded and, at worst, intentionally misleading.

That said, retail fortunes could change if Callaway continues to rack upwards Tour wins. Positioning itself as the leader in precision golf brawl engineering science may resonate equally well though, in my experience, golfers accept long memories and the mistakes of the past are still visible in the rearview mirror.

And while information technology's but ane guy's opinion, given that Callaway fully understands the realities of fitting golfers (for both balls and clubs) and that its ball options are even so somewhat express (Callaway nevertheless doesn't take a true Pro V1 competitor in the lineup), the new Chrome Soft tagline "Better for the Best, Better for Everyone" sits about equally well with me equally a robust dinner at Taco Bell chased with 32 ounces of day-erstwhile gas station coffee.

That said, the improvements to the factory are existent and that should manifest itself by way of steadily improving product.

I think nosotros tin can safely say Callaway isn't going to eclipse Titleist sales this flavor only, with a newfound accent on quality and precision, it may simply capture the attending of golfers and its competitors.

The 2022 Callaway Chrome soft is available in white, white/carmine Truvis, yellowish/black Truvis, white Triple Track and yellow Triple Rails. The Chrome Soft X and Chrome Soft X LS are available in white, white Triple Track and yellow Triple Track.

The retail price for the 2022 Chrome Soft family is $49.99 a dozen. Retail availability begins January. 28.

For more information, visit Callawaygolf.com.

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