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2026 Callaway Chrome Tour Golf Balls: More Speed, Tighter Consistency

SuperStroke
Tevenor said:
Gamed them and the TD. Switch to the TD for the spin and speed but wanted the CT feel back. Hence why I am excited to.give the new CT a spin. If it gets me closer to TD but with the feel.of CT, it’s a win.
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If that’s the case, I think you’ll like it
 
mson said:
Another outing with the CT and still liking the ball. On the course, hard to truly gauge the ball speed / distance gains by eye without a launch monitor, but I can definitely say the ball plays very consistently shot to shot. Whether it be distance for a specific club, flight, and spin characteristics, there isn’t a lot of deviation and I generally know what to expect out of it.

I’m still not quite sure what to say about the durability. Here’s one CT that looks solid after 10 holes. Blemishes were minor.
View attachment 9404136

On the other hand, had a fresh CT and on the second hole of use, hit two shots out of the bunker and the ball came out with two pretty sizeable gashes. Sand wasn’t bad in the bunkers, but maybe there was something in there that I didn’t see 🤷‍♂️.
View attachment 9404138
View attachment 9404139

How has the durability been for everyone else so far?
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Durability for me has been similar to other premium balls I’ve played, not noticeably better or worse. After 9 holes, there will be various marks on the ball from normal play. I have not seen those gashes you got in the bunkers. That type of damage would make me take the ball out of play.
 
I sadly did not get out today. 36 with 15-20 mph winds and some flurries. I’ll pick a better spot 🤣
 
mson said:
Another outing with the CT and still liking the ball. On the course, hard to truly gauge the ball speed / distance gains by eye without a launch monitor, but I can definitely say the ball plays very consistently shot to shot. Whether it be distance for a specific club, flight, and spin characteristics, there isn’t a lot of deviation and I generally know what to expect out of it.

I’m still not quite sure what to say about the durability. Here’s one CT that looks solid after 10 holes. Blemishes were minor.
View attachment 9404136

On the other hand, had a fresh CT and on the second hole of use, hit two shots out of the bunker and the ball came out with two pretty sizeable gashes. Sand wasn’t bad in the bunkers, but maybe there was something in there that I didn’t see 🤷‍♂️.
View attachment 9404138
View attachment 9404139

How has the durability been for everyone else so far?
Click to expand...
Completely agree as far as the “eye test” on the course. Very consistent flight and distance. It does exactly what I expect with a given strike.

Durability was very good for me out at the Hideaway. I had one get a little chewed up that I hit into some rocks 🤣 but played out of the sand more than once and never saw significant damage. I’d bet there was maybe something there that was under the surface layer of the sand
 
Going to the local 9 this morning to play with the same CTX ball that was previously used. Will update with photos of any wear on the ball afterwards.
 
I am going to just chime in here - people need to not sleep on the Chrome Soft.
 
We only ended up laying 9 yesterday. It was a solid 15 and gusting over 30 mph wind and cold, so we bailed. The wind was tough, and I did not play well at all. I did manage to hit some really nice shots with the CTX and it performed excellent. On hole 2 I was able to put my 5-wood center FW to leave myself 101 into the green straight into the wind. I grabbed my GW as I wanted to make sure, I cleared the front bunkers and try to hit a knockdown shot.

When I hit the CTX it stayed dead straight on target and landed pin high. The roll out was about 5 feet total leaving myself a nice bertie look. You can see the pitch mark just left of the ball in the pic. I hit a few tee shots that were solid and held the line very well leaving me in the FW. I thought I would have seen a bit more side to side movement with the wind coming across a few FW but it tracked straight down range. I lost a few yesterday and was low on my test dozen. I put the last ball away for hole 9 so I had one to play this coming weekend lol.
CTX hole2.jpg
 
JB said:
I’m hitting it a bit further off the tee.
Also on launch monitor on the range, i’m getting 2-3 mph more speed out of driver with still low spin.
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from things you have said in some of the threads I suspect we have some similarities in swing speed, etc....in the Granddaddy thread I think Mr Finley suggested a chrome tour to me but the Callaway ball fitter suggests chrome soft.

Curious if you are comfortable sharing your driver speed and which ball you feel fits you better.

At the same time, I am sure there are some dissimilarities in our games and those might be the bigger question so I might be barking up the wrong tree. Simiarities sometimes mean less than dissimilarities

Also, glad to see someone else with varying spin. Broke out my old Flightscope Mevo+ Saturday and I was having some wide variances that I thought were just misreadings. Some must have been...shot one had 3954, shot 4 had 8540, 5 was 7304...some of these are not like the others.
 
darthweasel said:
from things you have said in some of the threads I suspect we have some similarities in swing speed, etc....in the Granddaddy thread I think Mr Finley suggested a chrome tour to me but the Callaway ball fitter suggests chrome soft.

Curious if you are comfortable sharing your driver speed and which ball you feel fits you better.

At the same time, I am sure there are some dissimilarities in our games and those might be the bigger question so I might be barking up the wrong tree. Simiarities sometimes mean less than dissimilarities

Also, glad to see someone else with varying spin. Broke out my old Flightscope Mevo+ Saturday and I was having some wide variances that I thought were just misreadings. Some must have been...shot one had 3954, shot 4 had 8540, 5 was 7304...some of these are not like the others.
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Driver swing speed ranges between 96-100.
Im a steep player, so high spin, so the Chrome Soft does a good job of eliminating some of that, while still giving me tons of greenside action.
 
blugold said:
I am going to just chime in here - people need to not sleep on the Chrome Soft.
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Absolutely. That ball has been in my bag more than any other ball since early 2023. It’s the perfect compromise of distance, feel, and spin if your speed isn’t consistently up there. I never feel like I’m losing tons going between CS and CT. Nevermind they can take a beating lol.
 
I'm absolutely murdering this thing today. I'm not quite sure I understand why the ball speed is still hovering around the mid 150s. But I'm carrying it longer than I've ever carried a golf ball. A 275 average carry is otherworldly to me.

Add on to that it's one of the best feeling balls I've hit in recent memory. It spins like a demon with wedges. I think this one is a damn good ball. It's going to be hard to beat.

24224.jpg


24212.jpg


I just don't understand why the ball speed isn't translating. I plopped down an MPX for a couple of shots and ended up with the highest ball speeds of the day but still carrying the same distance. 🤔

Anyone have any thoughts on why that is I'm genuinely confused?
 
Hopefully heading to the SIM this afternoon to play in the SIM tournament MEME @MMaynard11 set up.
Of course, will be using the 2026 Chrome Tour.
one of my kids is home sick so hoping grandma is fine watching both while I go hit some golf balls.
 
Curious to try these. CS is usually my go to, but I've dabbled with the CT in the past when my swing was in a good place and saw some really good results. Starting my offseason lessons tomorrow (my swing is a dumpster fire right now), and once I'm in a more reasonable place will grab a couple of sleeves to test on the sim and outdoors once it warms up a bit.
 
#troy said:
Hopefully heading to the SIM this afternoon to play in the SIM tournament MEME @MMaynard11 set up.
Of course, will be using the 2026 Chrome Tour.
one of my kids is home sick so hoping grandma is fine watching both while I go hit some golf balls.
Click to expand...
Looking forward to your feedback.

Good luck in the tourney. You know @MMaynard11 is going to rig it.
 
That post said:
As mentioned earlier I had my simulator session this morning and used a 2026 Chrome Tour X for testing today. The testing protocol I used is:
  • 5 - 50y shots with a Cleveland RTZ 58º wedge
  • 5 - Full shots with a Mizuno 243 Pitching wedge
  • 5 - Full shots with a Mizuno 243 7 iron
  • 15 - Full shots with Cobra Adapt Max K driver (yes I know I hit more driver than planned I like hitting it, sue me haha)
Full disclosure I hit 2 extra shots with each set, so I could take out the best and worst of the set.

(Trackman IO so all spin is real, not estimates btw)

Ok, let's get into it.

Driver:

View attachment 9403653

As mentioned earlier I didn't have an awesome driver swing day today. I cobbled it together. Usually, I don't see those right-side balls. I believe that contributed to the bump in spin. But 2300 is still a pretty good spot to be in. My usual driver spin is low, I'm lucky to hit 2k due to my path and shot shape. I don't mind this extra spin. And I also didn't mind seeing the ball fall right with the swing I had today. That's not necessarily repeatable all the time for me but I enjoy playing a higher spin fade when I have it.

The most impressive thing to me is that I was exploring the face and still getting pretty good ball speeds, near my usual on a bad driver swing day. It's not showing in the data I have displayed but I do have acces to the impact height and offset data and on average I was 3mm toe and 6mm high on the face. Another thing that impresses me is that despite the face exploration comittee meeting today the ball transferred energy really damn well 1.48 efficiency on a day like today shocks me. I can't remember who mentioned that in a reply to me the other day, but they mentioned they saw something similar with efficiency on less than optimal strikes. It was awesome to be able to see that in action.

TBH though I'm a dissapointed I didn't have a better ball striking day with driver, I want to #BeLikeBOV and see my ball speed jump.


7 iron:

View attachment 9403655

Nothing super noteworthy here in the numbers. This is about what I usually see. Launch is right at my average. Spin is up around 200-250 rpms. Smash factor is up some. Balls speed is about the same as it always is for me. Carry consistency was great at 1.6 yards. No complaints with the numbers. The reason I picked my gamer ball is because of numbers like this.

What I will say is it feels very very good off the iron face. Compressing a ball with an iron is my favorite feeling in golf and the CTX ups the ante for me there a bit. I mentioned it in my 'brain dump' thoughts I was having at the time I was hitting it. It's on of the better feeling balls to compress. So so good. It's addictive.

I obviously like it for irons lets move on.

Pitching Wedge:

View attachment 9403656

Again it feels great off the face of the pitching wedge. I REEAAAAALLLY love the consistency numbers here, take a look:
View attachment 9403660
This is very good for me and something I LOVE to see. The size of that dispersion circle is about as good as I can get. I love that the PW is coming in just a little lower at 90ft. I love the spin it's up 250-300 from what I typically see. All of this is very very solid.

50-yard shot:

View attachment 9403662

Ok... this is where the ball is getting truly impressive for me. Don't pay attention to the 16 yard variance in carry and total distance, I don't. A ball with averages like this is going to hit, skip, and stop dead most likely. I'm keeping the launch flighted below 30º (optimal), spin on a quarter swing is near 7k (unfathomable), height in a window I like. I'm trying hard to pick a nit here and can't. I want to get this ball outside near a green ASAP.



Summary:
There is so much to love about what I saw in my first test with the CTX. I'm going to keep testing some other 2026 offerings but here's the quick tldr:

  • Driver Forgiveness: Despite a sub-optimal "face exploration" day (averaging 3mm toe and 6mm high), the ball maintained an impressive 1.48 efficiency and a manageable 2300 RPM spin rate.
  • 7 iron delivered elite carry consistency with only a 1.6-yard variance, combined with a 200–250 RPM spin increase with an incredible feel.
  • Full pitching wedges showed a tighter dispersion circle, a preferred lower flight window (90ft), and a spin increase of 250–300 RPM.
  • The 50-yard shots were the highlight of the test for me 7000 RPM spin on quarter-swings while staying flighted below 30°, YES PLEASE.
  • This is the first 2026 release I've tested and it has immediately set an astronomically high bar for the rest of the 2026 balls I'll test.
Click to expand...
Good Info!!!! I am betting the 7 Iron into a green will stop on a dime. This is a very good ball.
 
esg777 said:
Good Info!!!! I am betting the 7 Iron into a green will stop on a dime. This is a very good ball.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah it definitely will. But to be fair I bring in iron's pretty high and I've never had an issue with any ball holding a green at least around here. Our Green's in Ohio are on the softer side usually.
 
That post said:
As mentioned earlier I had my simulator session this morning and used a 2026 Chrome Tour X for testing today. The testing protocol I used is:
  • 5 - 50y shots with a Cleveland RTZ 58º wedge
  • 5 - Full shots with a Mizuno 243 Pitching wedge
  • 5 - Full shots with a Mizuno 243 7 iron
  • 15 - Full shots with Cobra Adapt Max K driver (yes I know I hit more driver than planned I like hitting it, sue me haha)
Full disclosure I hit 2 extra shots with each set, so I could take out the best and worst of the set.

(Trackman IO so all spin is real, not estimates btw)

Ok, let's get into it.

Driver:

View attachment 9403653

As mentioned earlier I didn't have an awesome driver swing day today. I cobbled it together. Usually, I don't see those right-side balls. I believe that contributed to the bump in spin. But 2300 is still a pretty good spot to be in. My usual driver spin is low, I'm lucky to hit 2k due to my path and shot shape. I don't mind this extra spin. And I also didn't mind seeing the ball fall right with the swing I had today. That's not necessarily repeatable all the time for me but I enjoy playing a higher spin fade when I have it.

The most impressive thing to me is that I was exploring the face and still getting pretty good ball speeds, near my usual on a bad driver swing day. It's not showing in the data I have displayed but I do have acces to the impact height and offset data and on average I was 3mm toe and 6mm high on the face. Another thing that impresses me is that despite the face exploration comittee meeting today the ball transferred energy really damn well 1.48 efficiency on a day like today shocks me. I can't remember who mentioned that in a reply to me the other day, but they mentioned they saw something similar with efficiency on less than optimal strikes. It was awesome to be able to see that in action.

TBH though I'm a dissapointed I didn't have a better ball striking day with driver, I want to #BeLikeBOV and see my ball speed jump.


7 iron:

View attachment 9403655

Nothing super noteworthy here in the numbers. This is about what I usually see. Launch is right at my average. Spin is up around 200-250 rpms. Smash factor is up some. Balls speed is about the same as it always is for me. Carry consistency was great at 1.6 yards. No complaints with the numbers. The reason I picked my gamer ball is because of numbers like this.

What I will say is it feels very very good off the iron face. Compressing a ball with an iron is my favorite feeling in golf and the CTX ups the ante for me there a bit. I mentioned it in my 'brain dump' thoughts I was having at the time I was hitting it. It's on of the better feeling balls to compress. So so good. It's addictive.

I obviously like it for irons lets move on.

Pitching Wedge:

View attachment 9403656

Again it feels great off the face of the pitching wedge. I REEAAAAALLLY love the consistency numbers here, take a look:
View attachment 9403660
This is very good for me and something I LOVE to see. The size of that dispersion circle is about as good as I can get. I love that the PW is coming in just a little lower at 90ft. I love the spin it's up 250-300 from what I typically see. All of this is very very solid.

50-yard shot:

View attachment 9403662

Ok... this is where the ball is getting truly impressive for me. Don't pay attention to the 16 yard variance in carry and total distance, I don't. A ball with averages like this is going to hit, skip, and stop dead most likely. I'm keeping the launch flighted below 30º (optimal), spin on a quarter swing is near 7k (unfathomable), height in a window I like. I'm trying hard to pick a nit here and can't. I want to get this ball outside near a green ASAP.



Summary:
There is so much to love about what I saw in my first test with the CTX. I'm going to keep testing some other 2026 offerings but here's the quick tldr:

  • Driver Forgiveness: Despite a sub-optimal "face exploration" day (averaging 3mm toe and 6mm high), the ball maintained an impressive 1.48 efficiency and a manageable 2300 RPM spin rate.
  • 7 iron delivered elite carry consistency with only a 1.6-yard variance, combined with a 200–250 RPM spin increase with an incredible feel.
  • Full pitching wedges showed a tighter dispersion circle, a preferred lower flight window (90ft), and a spin increase of 250–300 RPM.
  • The 50-yard shots were the highlight of the test for me 7000 RPM spin on quarter-swings while staying flighted below 30°, YES PLEASE.
  • This is the first 2026 release I've tested and it has immediately set an astronomically high bar for the rest of the 2026 balls I'll test.
Click to expand...
Those 7i numbers are fantastic. Based on what I have been seeing, if I can get my launch down to an ideal range I will see the distances I want. Now just gotta get that under control lol
 
blugold said:
I am going to just chime in here - people need to not sleep on the Chrome Soft.
Click to expand...
I wish I would have spent some time with it or atleast brought some home to try. Will have to pick some up once they are on the shelves because everything sounds so good about it.
 
If you aren't playing a ball from this lineup my golf ball is better that yours. Why are you giving up that extra advantage?
 
Did some ball testing today, comparing 2026 CTX to 2024 CTX

Irons: Slightly higher spin (which I need), and about 2 yards total increase in distance.
Driver: Increase in 1-2mph ball speed - Longer carry, similar overall distance. I had one absolutely murdered ball (for me) with the 2024 CTX that brought the averages up for that. Was trying to get one murdered with 2026 CTX but tired out.
 
JB said:
Driver swing speed ranges between 96-100.
Im a steep player, so high spin, so the Chrome Soft does a good job of eliminating some of that, while still giving me tons of greenside action.
Click to expand...
I received a dozen CS to bring home from GD to tryout. I love the CT but your posts in here have me intrigued. Might have to bring both to the office SIM this weekend when we are closed so I can pound away and see what numbers I get.
 
THE BOV said:
I received a dozen CS to bring home from GD to tryout. I love the CT but your posts in here have me intrigued. Might have to bring both to the office SIM this weekend when we are closed so I can pound away and see what numbers I get.
Click to expand...
Do it. It's honestly a bit surprising. I need to run the test with driver soon. But with wedges it was closer than I might have expected.
 
I have beaten the **** out of these balls, and I am flat out and not seeing anything anymore than I would when I hit balls with brand new wedges.
 
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