2022 Callaway Chrome Soft Golf Balls

[dacatalyst41]

My understanding is that’s like comparing a car to a pickup truck in that they’re both vehicles. OEM’s have been using x-rays for years, but this is a completely different beast with a different purpose. We were shown a graphic from Callaway demonstrating the impact of the precision technology on shot dispersion and it was a material difference. And that was with a robot hitting the ball!

The impact on shot dispersion and in turn strokes saved was telling!

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

The impact on shot dispersion and in turn strokes saved was telling!

How could I forget about the strokes gained?! That was a really cool part of the discussion hearing what the strokes gained impact is for Tour pros and what they’d give for fractions of a stroke gained.

 

[PKorf]

What is not accurate?

Im just not sure how any company.....callaway or not, can claim to have the most advanced xray machine tech. Im not sure any of these companies talk to each other to let them know what each has or doesnt have. And thats not to say that they dont lol. The very well might. I kind of hope they do because that would mean id have to question other brands processes for that in their quality control dept. Or at the very least get their opinion on the claim.

 

[Muchmore]

How could I forget about the strokes gained?! That was a really cool part of the discussion hearing what the strokes gained impact is for Tour pros and what they’d give for fractions of a stroke gained.

I mentioned it

 

[Scooby45]

The LS ball was my ball of choice for 2021. Coming from the Bridgestone Tour B RX, I knew I wanted Triple Track, but never really got along with the Chrome Soft or Chrome Soft X from 2020.

Can you expand on why you didn't get along with the other two much? I love triple track but a little concerned about how I'll adjust to the Chrome Soft changes. Curious to hear how you ended up in the LS

 

[mikeg_74]

Callaway Chrome Soft X LS First Impressions

As I mentioned in my Driver impressions post. I hardly have any time getting numbers on anything. That will come with time and I’m going to try to get as in-depth as I can in comparisons between the 2021 LS and the 2022 LS. I will work on getting numbers for the following categories

Chipping and pitches
Full wedges and short irons
Long irons and woods

But until that time, all I have for you currently are initial impressions and I want to break down two specific categories.

Feel – This is the unicorn ball that’s been talked about. A complaint about the previous LS was how hard the ball felt. Well Callaway listened. This ball FEELS softer even though it has the same compression as last years. This comes down to their new cover. This is true off of woods, irons, wedges and putter. But here’s the weird thing. I tried to get a video to get the sound of the ball off of the new Tri-Hot putter. There’s no discernable difference in sound (to my ear and indoors) no matter how many times I watch the videos back. But you can FEEL that it’s softer. And that’s why this is a ball that needs to be tried to be believed.

Durability – Another issue that Callaway has tried to address is the durability issue of the line. While I can’t speak directly to it since I lost an entire dozen balls in two days, I never once had an issue with a ball after a hole. I had plenty of sand shots and not once did I see a mark that would cause ME to retire a ball. I know others' thresholds for chucking a ball are a bit tighter than mine. But when I played in Chicago with the LS line last year, I lost three balls specifically to bunker shots. Not once was that an issue during my two rounds at the Hideaway. More testing will be needed but first impressions was it was improved as stated. Now I do want to say, it’s not going to be perfect. There’s only so much you can do while still keeping the cover as thin as they want. Performance or durability. Pick one side of the center line on those. You can’t continue to get super high performance AND super high durability but Callaway believes they’ve found a great compromise on the durability side while keeping performance top notch.

I want to speak briefly on performance as well. The LS stands for Low Spin. The performance of the X but a lower spinning version. Their goal with the ball this year was to lower the spin with the driver while keeping the ball in the same sentence as the X with regards to spin around the green. And this is why they believe this ball is a unicorn. Without numbers, I can’t show it, but I know some teammates will have numbers to back this up. I think they’ve done it. My only claim to this right now is I’ve never been one to spin a ball on the green. I’m a hop and stop kind of player. Three times during my rounds in California, I had balls rip back a couple feet on me. Twice with wedges and once with a 9i. I repeat, a 9i. And all three times were on the Dye course. I can’t wait to get data on this stuff for you guys but I think I have my ball for the year and beyond!

And I haven’t even spoken to their new process on QC! It's mentioned in the write up, but EVERY SINGLE BALL is being 3D x-ray screened to insure centered cores AND centered layers. They tested the technology this last year with their tour staff and the results spoke for themselves. SG improved for EVERY staffer. The tech they are deploying is truly game changing and will be bringing Callaway to the forefront of discussions for best ball produced quicker than some would imagine. It’s mind-blowing stuff. And the fact that it’s being brought to the consumer level, even more so!

If the new LS does all that it did before, but with a softer feel and the stopping power of the 2020 CSX....that is the unicorn ball for me.

 

[hadi05]

Callaway Chrome Soft X LS First Impressions

As I mentioned in my Driver impressions post. I hardly have any time getting numbers on anything. That will come with time and I’m going to try to get as in-depth as I can in comparisons between the 2021 LS and the 2022 LS. I will work on getting numbers for the following categories

Chipping and pitches
Full wedges and short irons
Long irons and woods

But until that time, all I have for you currently are initial impressions and I want to break down two specific categories.

Feel – This is the unicorn ball that’s been talked about. A complaint about the previous LS was how hard the ball felt. Well Callaway listened. This ball FEELS softer even though it has the same compression as last years. This comes down to their new cover. This is true off of woods, irons, wedges and putter. But here’s the weird thing. I tried to get a video to get the sound of the ball off of the new Tri-Hot putter. There’s no discernable difference in sound (to my ear and indoors) no matter how many times I watch the videos back. But you can FEEL that it’s softer. And that’s why this is a ball that needs to be tried to be believed.

Durability – Another issue that Callaway has tried to address is the durability issue of the line. While I can’t speak directly to it since I lost an entire dozen balls in two days, I never once had an issue with a ball after a hole. I had plenty of sand shots and not once did I see a mark that would cause ME to retire a ball. I know others' thresholds for chucking a ball are a bit tighter than mine. But when I played in Chicago with the LS line last year, I lost three balls specifically to bunker shots. Not once was that an issue during my two rounds at the Hideaway. More testing will be needed but first impressions was it was improved as stated. Now I do want to say, it’s not going to be perfect. There’s only so much you can do while still keeping the cover as thin as they want. Performance or durability. Pick one side of the center line on those. You can’t continue to get super high performance AND super high durability but Callaway believes they’ve found a great compromise on the durability side while keeping performance top notch.

I want to speak briefly on performance as well. The LS stands for Low Spin. The performance of the X but a lower spinning version. Their goal with the ball this year was to lower the spin with the driver while keeping the ball in the same sentence as the X with regards to spin around the green. And this is why they believe this ball is a unicorn. Without numbers, I can’t show it, but I know some teammates will have numbers to back this up. I think they’ve done it. My only claim to this right now is I’ve never been one to spin a ball on the green. I’m a hop and stop kind of player. Three times during my rounds in California, I had balls rip back a couple feet on me. Twice with wedges and once with a 9i. I repeat, a 9i. And all three times were on the Dye course. I can’t wait to get data on this stuff for you guys but I think I have my ball for the year and beyond!

And I haven’t even spoken to their new process on QC! It's mentioned in the write up, but EVERY SINGLE BALL is being 3D x-ray screened to insure centered cores AND centered layers. They tested the technology this last year with their tour staff and the results spoke for themselves. SG improved for EVERY staffer. The tech they are deploying is truly game changing and will be bringing Callaway to the forefront of discussions for best ball produced quicker than some would imagine. It’s mind-blowing stuff. And the fact that it’s being brought to the consumer level, even more so!

Thanks for this review @Muchmore18 the biggest "complaints" I had for the X LS in '21 were the feel with the wedge and sometimes it didn't appear to have enough spin on chip shots. On some hard swing pitch shots last year, the cover got scuffed and I was a bit surprised. Seems as if they have fixed much of that. Going to be awesome!

 

[OldandStiff]

Callaway Chrome Soft X LS First Impressions

As I mentioned in my Driver impressions post. I hardly have any time getting numbers on anything. That will come with time and I’m going to try to get as in-depth as I can in comparisons between the 2021 LS and the 2022 LS. I will work on getting numbers for the following categories

Chipping and pitches
Full wedges and short irons
Long irons and woods

But until that time, all I have for you currently are initial impressions and I want to break down two specific categories.

Feel – This is the unicorn ball that’s been talked about. A complaint about the previous LS was how hard the ball felt. Well Callaway listened. This ball FEELS softer even though it has the same compression as last years. This comes down to their new cover. This is true off of woods, irons, wedges and putter. But here’s the weird thing. I tried to get a video to get the sound of the ball off of the new Tri-Hot putter. There’s no discernable difference in sound (to my ear and indoors) no matter how many times I watch the videos back. But you can FEEL that it’s softer. And that’s why this is a ball that needs to be tried to be believed.

Durability – Another issue that Callaway has tried to address is the durability issue of the line. While I can’t speak directly to it since I lost an entire dozen balls in two days, I never once had an issue with a ball after a hole. I had plenty of sand shots and not once did I see a mark that would cause ME to retire a ball. I know others' thresholds for chucking a ball are a bit tighter than mine. But when I played in Chicago with the LS line last year, I lost three balls specifically to bunker shots. Not once was that an issue during my two rounds at the Hideaway. More testing will be needed but first impressions was it was improved as stated. Now I do want to say, it’s not going to be perfect. There’s only so much you can do while still keeping the cover as thin as they want. Performance or durability. Pick one side of the center line on those. You can’t continue to get super high performance AND super high durability but Callaway believes they’ve found a great compromise on the durability side while keeping performance top notch.

I want to speak briefly on performance as well. The LS stands for Low Spin. The performance of the X but a lower spinning version. Their goal with the ball this year was to lower the spin with the driver while keeping the ball in the same sentence as the X with regards to spin around the green. And this is why they believe this ball is a unicorn. Without numbers, I can’t show it, but I know some teammates will have numbers to back this up. I think they’ve done it. My only claim to this right now is I’ve never been one to spin a ball on the green. I’m a hop and stop kind of player. Three times during my rounds in California, I had balls rip back a couple feet on me. Twice with wedges and once with a 9i. I repeat, a 9i. And all three times were on the Dye course. I can’t wait to get data on this stuff for you guys but I think I have my ball for the year and beyond!

And I haven’t even spoken to their new process on QC! It's mentioned in the write up, but EVERY SINGLE BALL is being 3D x-ray screened to insure centered cores AND centered layers. They tested the technology this last year with their tour staff and the results spoke for themselves. SG improved for EVERY staffer. The tech they are deploying is truly game changing and will be bringing Callaway to the forefront of discussions for best ball produced quicker than some would imagine. It’s mind-blowing stuff. And the fact that it’s being brought to the consumer level, even more so!

Good stuff! Awesome how many of you guys got fit into the new LS and are loving it. Really cool.


Sidenote though - you just decoupled sound and feel in your review. Like hands and eyes and ears are actually different things. Dear internet, please



alive for that.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

I mentioned it

I was not selected for the Grandaddy for my eidetic memory or lack thereof, sheesh!

 

[Muchmore]

Good stuff! Awesome how many of you guys got fit into the new LS and are loving it. Really cool.


Sidenote though - you just decoupled sound and feel in your review. Like hands and eyes and ears are actually different things. Dear internet, please



alive for that.

unicorn ball man

 

[Muchmore]

Also I'm sooooo glad we can now say that essentially nothing changed with the X. So many comments saying that they aren't sure how they could make it better or hope they don't change anything. Well they kept the spin the SAME and made it slightly faster. I told you guys it wouldn't be the change you were expecting!

 

[Muchmore]

I was not selected for the Grandaddy for my eidetic memory or lack thereof, sheesh!

don't eye roll me

 

[Muchmore]

Thanks for this review @Muchmore18 the biggest "complaints" I had for the X LS in '21 were the feel with the wedge and sometimes it didn't appear to have enough spin on chip shots. On some hard swing pitch shots last year, the cover got scuffed and I was a bit surprised. Seems as if they have fixed much of that. Going to be awesome!

Like I mentioned, I did lose my fair share while I was there. I lost two balls on back to back swings. And I've already seen a teammate mention they still saw some breakdown of the cover. But I didn't see it when I had opportunities to and I know addressing it was big for Callaway

 

[hadi05]

Like I mentioned, I did lose my fair share while I was there. I lost two balls on back to back swings. And I've already seen a teammate mention they still saw some breakdown of the cover. But I didn't see it when I had opportunities to and I know addressing it was big for Callaway

All I really needed to hear!

 

[JB]

Im just not sure how any company.....callaway or not, can claim to have the most advanced xray machine tech. Im not sure any of these companies talk to each other to let them know what each has or doesnt have. And thats not to say that they dont lol. The very well might. I kind of hope they do because that would mean id have to question other brands processes for that in their quality control dept. Or at the very least get their opinion on the claim.

In this instance of actual x-ray, it is true.
Does that make it the best? Not for me to decide.

 

[Golfever]

It's interesting reading how many people are in the X and LS versions of this ball as opposed to the standard Chrome Soft. Seems like it's around 90%.

I noticed that as well. I only got to try the LS version once last year and I had good results with it. But like others have stated, felt firm.


Will the LS version be available in the Truvis?

 

[Tevenor]

If the new LS does all that it did before, but with a softer feel and the stopping power of the 2020 CSX....that is the unicorn ball for me.

Pretty much my thoughts as well. The softer feel and the durability were concerns for me with last years model. Anything under 50 degrees and I didn't like the feel off irons and around the greens. The new model is definitely softer feel but spins good enough to hold greens at the Hideaway which were fairly firm and sandy which tends to delete spin easily.

 

[PKorf]

In this instance of actual x-ray, it is true.
Does that make it the best? Not for me to decide.

And thats fair. If its true and does make it better, thats good for all golfers. The competitors will never admit its better or that theyve changed theirs to match it though. Thats the tough part. Whatever ball works best for your game is whats most important. It would be awesome to have standards for each company to have at a minimum. Not sure that happens, but it would be cool. lol.

 

[OldandStiff]

Will the LS version be available in the Truvis?

Yeah! Srixon is doing cool colors on their tour balls this year. When are we going to get some X and X LS Truvis??

 

[GraniteRoost]

Wait, so the '22 has those little arrows on either side of the alignment line? I've gotta check when I get home, but I coulda sworn that the CSX LS I was hitting yesterday had those on it. Did those crafty Dream Foursome guys slip me some pre-release balls as a prize?

OK, OK, settle down GR. The CSX LS I have were / are 2020's. So, that means new ball to try .

 

[xThor]

Can you expand on why you didn't get along with the other two much? I love triple track but a little concerned about how I'll adjust to the Chrome Soft changes. Curious to hear how you ended up in the LS

The original Chrome Soft just never did it for me. Felt too soft, and I didn't like the sound off of the putter.
As a high trajectory/high spin player off the tee, the CSX was too much spin for me to handle. The Tour B RX filled that gap nicely until the CSX LS came out and was everything I wanted a Chrome Soft to be, while simultaneously feeling better than the Tour B RX.

 

[GraniteRoost]

Yeah! Srixon is doing cool colors on their tour balls this year. When are we going to get some X and X LS Truvis??

This is the unconfirmed rumor I've been waiting for! I'll see myself to the ZStar thread now.

 

[GolfFest]

CSX has been the ball for me a lot in part because of the greens I play on I need the stopping power.

I could use a touch less spin on full shots with driver and irons but haven’t wanted to give up that spin in closer. Sounds like I need to give the LS a try now. I can certainly see myself playing both CSX and LS depending on conditions.

 

[mikeg_74]

Pretty much my thoughts as well. The softer feel and the durability were concerns for me with last years model. Anything under 50 degrees and I didn't like the feel off irons and around the greens. The new model is definitely softer feel but spins good enough to hold greens at the Hideaway which were fairly firm and sandy which tends to delete spin easily.

Stop playing in sun 50* weather and that solves the feel problem….

 

[Tevenor]

Stop playing in sun 50* weather and that solves the feel problem….

I wish I had that option. For me 50 is the "no brainer, I'm playing" temp. 43 is teh "do I really want to go play?" mark. both of which I can see in March, April, May, September, October and November. And the occasional December.