Callaway HEX Chrome+ Golf Ball Review Thread

[RoundersRob]

I plan to do a 'formal' writeup on this ball in the near future, once I get some more time with it. I did not play it Saturday in Texas but did play it on Sunday. Played one ball for about 14 and a half holes.

I originally played the first Hex Chrome a year or so ago before switching to the Hex Black, which is my main golf ball. After playing the Chrome+ for most of Sunday, my first impression is that I think I've found my new golf ball. I love the way this ball feels off the clubface. Not quite as mushy as the original Chrome but not as hard as the Hex Black. This same feel carries over to the short game as well as the putter. I get a good amount of spin off this ball with the short irons and wedges but not so much that it becomes uncontrollable. Durability is not an issue. The ball still looked like new before I pulled it into the swamp on the 15th hole on Sunday.

An extra bonus.... it's cheaper than the Hex Black.

When will it be available for retail purchase? (as of today it's not yet on the Callaway website)

 

[WestTex]

Did they have the Yellow available and if so is it the same yellow currently on the Chrome Yellow?

Does this ball feel/sound simlar to the current Chrome or more like the Black (I hate the firm clicky feel of the Black)

So based on construction and performance would it be safe to say that this could be a ball that would perform as if the Srixon QStar Married the Star XV?

Everyone received white balls, Yellow never came up in the conversations I heard with the Callaway guys. But I would not say we will only see white.

Of those two I'd say it "feels" like the Chrome more but it is different at the same time.

I haven't played those balls for quite a while but: Is it durable? Seems to be. Bunch of Greenside Spin? O ya. Low spin off the tee? It would seem that way.

 

[TheDoctor]

Just got another question re the Chrome range - looking on a website for over here and I am seeing the Chrome advertised as a new 2013 model? So have they got 2 new Chrome balls for this year - the Chrome and Chrome+?

 

[TripleBogieTim]

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me to keep a ball named Chrome in the current line if you're also going to have a ball named Chrome+, but I'm not in marketing. I'm also guessing that if a new Hex Black ball comes out, it will be lower spinning than this ball.

What about a ball named ProV1 and one named ProV1x??

 

[Damaikis]

Very cool, I'd like to give these a try!

 

[WestTex]

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me to keep a ball named Chrome in the current line if you're also going to have a ball named Chrome+, but I'm not in marketing. I'm also guessing that if a new Hex Black ball comes out, it will be lower spinning than this ball.

Well in their cheaper line they do have an hx hot and a hx hot pro which is kinda the same thing. Guess we just have to wait and see lol


I tap, therefore I am

 

[RonInThornton]

I'll be playing these this afternoon and will be able to give a more complete review after that, right now all I can really say, based on the three balls I hit while in Tx. is that they don't float very well

 

[Matthew]

I'll be playing these this afternoon and will be able to give a more complete review after that, right now all I can really say, based on the three balls I hit while in Tx. is that they don't float very well

I'm with ya there. If somebody would make a golf ball that would float all the way to the other edge, I'd buy them by the truckload.

 

[PiratePenguin]

I'll be playing these this afternoon and will be able to give a more complete review after that, right now all I can really say, based on the three balls I hit while in Tx. is that they don't float very well

Clearly the folks at Callaway are missing a key component of ball design here.

 

[SharkHat]

I'll be playing these this afternoon and will be able to give a more complete review after that, right now all I can really say, based on the three balls I hit while in Tx. is that they don't float very well

They also make Red R's look like Black G's

 

[J4U]

I'll be playing these this afternoon and will be able to give a more complete review after that, right now all I can really say, based on the three balls I hit while in Tx. is that they don't float very well

I forgot about that simple fact...better be nice to you today.

 

[DufferToo]

I'll be playing these this afternoon and will be able to give a more complete review after that, right now all I can really say, based on the three balls I hit while in Tx. is that they don't float very well

Clearly the folks at Callaway are missing a key component of ball design here.

Actually if they just designed them to avoid water in the first place....

I have been very happy with my current gamer. However with the various ball testing threads, including this one, I will be out testing several brands/models including the Chrome+.

Man, I didn't realize how much money this site was going to cost me when I joined.

 

[Goob3r]

Thanks Callaway for letting us use these at the invitational! I love this ball! Longer and straighter than my NXT Tour's and still feel great around the greens!

 

[bhilln]

I was a fan of last years hex line, will be sure to pick these up as soon as they are available to the rest of us.

 

[arydolphin]

More details about this ball from Golfweek and where it fits into Callaway's current line of balls: http://golfweek.com/news/2013/mar/20/callaway-introduces-hex-chrome-golf-ball/

ORLANDO, Fla. – Callaway Golf has announced that it plans to have the new, four-piece Hex Chrome+ golf ball in pro shops on April 19. It will be positioned as a tour-quality ball for mid- to fast-swinging golfers who want to maximize distance. Gary Woodland, one of the PGA Tour's longest hitters, will start using the ball in play Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The original Hex Chrome ball, a three-piece, urethane-covered model designed to maximize distance for players with lower swing speeds, will remain in Callaway's line.

"The disadvantage of the softer core is that when you get to higher-swing-speed players, the ball speed suffers quite a bit, even though you still have relatively low spin," says Dave Bartels, the senior director of golf ball research at Callaway Golf. "That's why the original Hex Chrome wasn’t played on Tour. So with the Chrome+, we decided to make a ball that performs as well for higher-clubhead-speed players at that price point."

Chrome and Chrome+ will cost $35.99 per dozen.

The core of the Hex Chrome+ is slightly smaller than the Hex Chrome's, to accommodate the second mantle layer, and also is slightly firmer.

"When you make the core firmer, generally what happens is that your spin off the driver goes up," Bartels says. “But we were able to add that second mantle layer to tweak that and keep the spin down.”

According to Bartels, Callaway studied several combinations of mantle constructions and decided that a softer inner mantle and a firmer outer mantle provided the best spin reduction and performance enhancement.

A hexagonal-tiled cover, which was a recent update for the Hex Black Tour ball, has been used in the construction of the Chrome+. Bartels says that it features better aerodynamics and makes the ball hold its line more effectively in the wind because it decreases drag and creates more lift on tee shots.

Callaway says that the urethane cover itself is especially soft, to help golfers spin the ball and get more control on wedge shots, chips and pitches.

Though the Hex Chrome+ and the five-piece Hex Black Tour balls are designed for fast swingers, the Black Tour reduces spin even more than Chrome+, making it a better choice for golfers who naturally create a lot of spin.

Woodland, who signed an endorsement deal with Callaway before the 2013 PGA Tour season, said of the Chrome+: "It’s consistent, durable, and it’s good in the wind.”

As hard as the former University of Kansas star swings, Woodland doesn’t generate a lot of spin off the tee, so neither the spin-zapping Hex Black Tour nor the soft Hex Chrome perfectly fits his game. For that reason, Woodland had been playing a prototype of the Hex Chrome+ since the start of the season.

“Out of everything that I have changed this year, there was never any question about the ball,” Woodland said Tuesday after smacking a 3-wood about 290 yards down the fairway on the 10th hole during his practice round at Bay Hill. “Once I tested it, I knew that was the ball.”

 

[Hotled]

After 1 full round. That is just grass stain no washing nada, she is a keeper!

 

[StanTheCaddy]

I'm 99% sure these will be my gamers this summer. I loved the Hex Black and the Chrome was a solid ball but I always wished there was something in between. Well this looks like my answer. I will be buying a dozen of these for sure.

 

[pga09]

As it's still winter weather here in the Northeast, I have had a dozen of these sitting in my bag since February and all I have been able to do is hit some drives with it against the original Chrome and the HBT on my Foresight so I can only speak to the driver numbers and not much about feel or green side performance since I used my indoor teaching space to test them.

I saw a two mile per hour ball speed increase versus the original Chrome and one mile per hour against the HBT. It spun on average 150 RPM more than the HBT, and marginally less than the original Chrome. The result was a three yard increase over the HBT and six over the Chrome. I am eager to try them on the course, it seems like it will react well with the wedges around the green.

 

[RadRob]

Here's a nice shot from the Callaway Golf website. The yellow looks the same to me as the regular Chrome ball.
The Chrome might fit my swing speed better, but I'll certainly buy a sleeve of the Plusses and give them a try.

 

[JLit]

Excited to game these this Friday. Callaway rep was in today and dropped of a couple dozen for the store to try out. According to him, they told R&D to "make longest ball on the market and make it soft". A tall order, but early signs look to be pointing to that. Rep said they'd be out "next month", so I can't help there.

They'll be three of us so I should get some good range of feedback and multiple perspectives to report with. I'm gonna try and spend a little time on a
LM tomorrow at work with them to compare to our Q Stars we use in the fitting studios

 

[TripleBogieTim]

I'm traveling right now but I'll have a full review tomorrow night...but here's a spoiler ....take the best of the Hex Black and the best of the Hex Chrome and mix them in a blender and you will get this ball!! It's awesome!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RadRob]

I'm traveling right now but I'll have a full review tomorrow night...but here's a spoiler ....take the best of the Hex Black and the best of the Hex Chrome and mix them in a blender and you will get this ball!! It's awesome!

High praise right there. I can't wait to read your review.

 

[sparksjr]

High praise right there. I can't wait to read your review.

+1

:good:

 

[capt.dru]

I have not had time to write a full review, but this will proly be my new gamer. Awesome ball! Cant wait for them to come out to get a couple of dozen.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0

 

[J4U]

Thanks Ron for the sleeve of balls, much appreciated man! Will give them a go tomorrow for sure!