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2018 Callaway Chrome Soft and Chrome Soft X Golf Balls

SuperStroke
McLovin said:
or now you're down in a bunker haha

from what i saw from a couple shots, i think the cs would be a really good ball for me. i think i'm going to play 9 holes this afternoon, and will put another sleeve in play.
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Oh man I just remembered that one. That was so stupid. Hit top of bunker, you'll be fii....oh. And on the downslope for your next. Adorable.
 
although yesterday was a rough round, it was mostly tee and short-game induced. i actually hit irons ok, so was able to do some side-by-side testing of the regular cs and erc. distances with erc are spot on, with cs about 1/2 to 3/4 club less. i love the feel off the face with the cs, but the distance loss was real. short game i just couldn't get a handle on either, because the ball was checking up so quickly. that's good, but with my short game challenges, i need as small a movement as possible, so needing to fly something farther is not good for me at this time.

i'm still really interested to see what the fitters at ecpc say. i'll go with whatever they tell me. on the course, erc is still king for me.
 
McLovin said:
although yesterday was a rough round, it was mostly tee and short-game induced. i actually hit irons ok, so was able to do some side-by-side testing of the regular cs and erc. distances with erc are spot on, with cs about 1/2 to 3/4 club less. i love the feel off the face with the cs, but the distance loss was real. short game i just couldn't get a handle on either, because the ball was checking up so quickly. that's good, but with my short game challenges, i need as small a movement as possible, so needing to fly something farther is not good for me at this time.

i'm still really interested to see what the fitters at ecpc say. i'll go with whatever they tell me. on the course, erc is still king for me.
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Curious, when you say ERC is king for you what percentage of it is actually Alignment/Actual Ball. IMO I would go with the ball you are comfortable with.
 
SlightDraw said:
Curious, when you say ERC is king for you what percentage of it is actually Alignment/Actual Ball. IMO I would go with the ball you are comfortable with.
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sorry, i don't understand what you're asking here. are you asking if i'm just more comfortable with triple track, and that's why i pick erc?

for me, if i can hit both balls straight, and one goes farther than the other with more predictability, i'm going with that ball. that's what erc is for me. my approach shots all stop within inches from their pitch marks with erc, so i'm not giving up anything there. and with erc, i've gotten comfortable playing a short game shot that releases more. i'd rather bump an aw than fly a lw for a 25y shot if that makes sense. with cs, it checks so quickly i have to make a bigger move, and my short game issues aren't conducive to making a bigger move.
 
McLovin said:
sorry, i don't understand what you're asking here. are you asking if i'm just more comfortable with triple track, and that's why i pick erc?

for me, if i can hit both balls straight, and one goes farther than the other with more predictability, i'm going with that ball. that's what erc is for me. my approach shots all stop within inches from their pitch marks with erc, so i'm not giving up anything there. and with erc, i've gotten comfortable playing a short game shot that releases more. i'd rather bump an aw than fly a lw for a 25y shot if that makes sense. with cs, it checks so quickly i have to make a bigger move, and my short game issues aren't conducive to making a bigger move.
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Yeah I was curious if the addition of TT was the selling point or if it was indeed the ball itself (which seems like it is indeed the ball). Good to know. Now I don't exactly remember hitting new unreleased balls on the range there at ECPC so be aware that you could be going into competition aspect with a ball you are completely unfamiliar with. I don't know if this will be the case but i'll say for a lot of us it was a difficult thing to figure out while in the actual competition. Definitely bring some balls you can have the most confidence in. My 2 cents.
 
SlightDraw said:
Yeah I was curious if the addition of TT was the selling point or if it was indeed the ball itself (which seems like it is indeed the ball). Good to know. Now I don't exactly remember hitting new unreleased balls on the range there at ECPC so be aware that you could be going into competition aspect with a ball you are completely unfamiliar with. I don't know if this will be the case but i'll say for a lot of us it was a difficult thing to figure out while in the actual competition. Definitely bring some balls you can have the most confidence in. My 2 cents.
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I agree on this - The clubs could be new to you and then you add a new ball.......
If I was sold on the ERC, I'd bring a Dozen or two - you can always bring the new ones home to work with.
I know I brought some 2016 Chrome Softs with me.
 
Played the Chrome Soft last year and really liked it. Then I got a batch which sort of dived out of the air and had faulty cover (cover split). My research found others had experienced the same issues and MyGolfSpy had exposed a quality control issue at the Callaway plant. A friend who works in the industry joked that Mickelson had been caught with a faulty ball during a tournament, so the chances are that other playing staff have had similar experiences.
I have a trust issue with Callaway and the golf industry in general.
 
So I've been playing here and there since the middle of August, but nothing consistent due to my coaching commitments. Over the last few months I've been alternating the CS and CSX trying to figure out which one I liked. I know I am late to the party, but I wanted to nail one down so it's a no brainer next time I go grab some golf balls.

Admittedly I discounted the CSX based on experience with the previous version. I am not sure if it was the higher compression or make up of the ball, but I didn't like it. It felt harsh off of every club.

I started out with the Chrome Soft and it performed as expected. Great ball flight and overall performed well. The only thing I didnt like was the roll out of lack of spin with shots into the greens with scoring clubs or wedges. Again not a deal breaker but I prefer a little more spin into the greens.

The CSX surprised me. Immediately I noticed it felt better at impact with every club. My only guess is that the new Graphene core is the difference. I was consistently seeing longer drives with the CSX and while it does spin more than the CS, I didn't find it hurt my less than accurate iron game. Where I did like it was into the greens. It produced better stopping power for me and in the end won out.

Real world examples help drive the story home. I'm a 10 hcap who is prob playing close to a 13. When things are clicking I can sniff low 80's or high 70's. This past weekend I had an annual ryder cup style competition to play in and I put the CSX in play. My alt shot partner plays Srixon ZStars and he didn't have any issues when it cam to hitting the CSX. It shined for me in my 9 hole singles match. I was consistently hitting some long drives i've ever hit. Like i've said before irons are a weakness, but the CSX didn't spin crazy to hurt me with off center strikes. Overall i shot a 39 for my 9 hole match and I know the ball contributed to a lot of that. I get that I have to swing the club, but it helps knowing I am playing the right ball.

I am not sure if there is a refresh for the CSX coming or not (I suspect I'll learn more in a couple of weeks), but if they do I hope they dont change too much from how this ball is currently constructed.
 
am i the only one who has seen a lower flight with the chrome soft, particularly off irons? it really robs me of distance. when @JB and i played last week, i had like 160ish to the pin, into some wind. i hit what i thought was a pure strike with a club that should have easily covered 170 unadjusted, only to see it fly very low and come up well short into a hazard.

and that’s been consistently what i see with cs. low flight, tons of spin, but loss of distance. or at least loss of distance relative to erc soft. i’m not sure what it would do next to csxtt. maybe i should do that in my next round.
 
I have been going back and forth between ERC and CSXTT and don’t see any difference in flight height. I have never played a standard Chromesoft.
 
McLovin said:
am i the only one who has seen a lower flight with the chrome soft, particularly off irons? it really robs me of distance. when @JB and i played last week, i had like 160ish to the pin, into some wind. i hit what i thought was a pure strike with a club that should have easily covered 170 unadjusted, only to see it fly very low and come up well short into a hazard.

and that’s been consistently what i see with cs. low flight, tons of spin, but loss of distance. or at least loss of distance relative to erc soft. i’m not sure what it would do next to csxtt. maybe i should do that in my next round.
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I've always struggled with the regular Chrome Soft for some reason. I just can never seem to hit my number with it and while I know my general lack of talent plays a role here I just know there's something else going on. I have none of those issues with the CSX and the CSX TT has been as good as anything for me.
I will say that the CS and the ERC Soft seem to be 2 of the straightest balls I've ever played with. Again, not smart enough to say why.
 
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