What’s New: 2020 Callaway Chrome Soft Hits Retail

[BuckNasty]

I didn't say they knew they had a defective product. Again I am not defending and will never defend blatant actions just to get consumer dollars.

As we were told it was an old facility and they were doing all the could to maintain quality control given what they were working with. Upgrades to the facility were already in the works prior to #BallGate being preached as gospel on the internet. Did some slip through the cracks? Yes they did, but not at the rate that the internet led you to believe. In the end it's up to you what to believe, but we got the information directly from the source so I will believe them over some internet hack looking for clicks.

I have no doubt they started the investment prior to all the s*** that went down last year. I also couldn’t care less about what any other site is saying.

As a consumer of a premium product, from an optics perspective it’s an easier story to digest as a consumer that they recently found out about the quality issues and made investments to correct those errors as quickly as possible, as opposed to knowing about it for awhile and still selling balls at a premium price while the capital investment was taking place, with no way of truly knowing (as a consumer) how many fell through the cracks and made it into the box of balls they bought.

I enjoyed the times I played the Chrome Soft and CSX in the past, but I would be lying if I said the off-center cores didn’t give me reason for pause when it came to making that kind of purchase price investment in a product.

 

[Golf Ghost]

Great write up James.

With that release date, I just hope I can get my yearly custom order before heading to Florida in April

 

[Templet0n]

i’m glad we have our staff writers because this stuff is way too technical for me to understand and communicate. i can come in and say “ball go far” and “ball spin” but that’s pretty much it haha

Are you playing the new standard Chrome soft or the X?

 

[Jman]

Is there Graphene in the CSx also?

Also when can we expect the new manufacturing improvements to take place?
Are they into effect for the balls dropping in March or will it be down the road once everything is online?

Already in effect.

 

[oumagic]

Different ball with some different characteristics but I suppose if we paint in very broad strokes, yes it’s the competitor for the ProV1.

Thanks. I love Callaway and their marketing in general. I just don’t know if they can take down the #1 ball in golf without a clear message on why someone would switch from that ball. I prefer Callaway over Titleist because I have a long history with Callaway clubs and because I like Triple Track. But I wonder why would someone that is playing a ProV1 that they love would switch to Callaway? If there is no clear cut case like our ball is longer/softer/cheaper than ProV1, how do they replace them as #1?

I don’t think the message “try our ball because it is different” is going to get people that like the prov1. That might not be their strategy to overtake them, though. Maybe by being different, they just want to get all of the golfers not playing ProV1?

I am not quoting you because I expect you to answer for them. Just my thoughts on the message I am getting from them. I personally tried them because they had something different with TT and I ended up liking different.

btw, I asked this same question of another ball manufacturer. What should I use if I love ProV1? I just don’t really get clear answers as “buy this if you like prov1”

 

[Templet0n]

Already in effect.

No graphene in the X is what I was told. Just the standard chrome soft. The X is really a completely different ball. The new CSX has a compression rating of 100. That is way firmer than the previous ball that is in the 80s I believe, I could be wrong. I don't remember for sure.

 

[JDax]

Great article can't wait to try "The Ball that Changed the Ball, Again"....
I'll ask in the PGA Show thread, but I think that not offering the Triple Track in the CS Yellow is disappointing.

 

[erock9174]

No graphene in the X is what I was told. Just the standard chrome soft. The X is really a completely different ball. The new CSX has a compression rating of 100. That is way firmer than the previous ball that is in the 80s I believe, I could be wrong. I don't remember for sure.

Hmm... ... . that is interesting on the graphene part since it was all the rage with the last iteration (hyped as having material gains).

 

[McLovin]

This is the part that is kind of frustrating as a consumer. So they knew they had plant issues prior to $50 million investment, and knowingly sold an inferior product from a quality-control perspective at $45 a dozen this whole time?

Also smart on them to price at $48 now, they will make that $50 million investment back very quickly.

if cs was a sh1t ball because of the off-center cores, people would try it then move on because it didn't perform. but Callaway's gains in market share are extremely impressive, to the point that the number 1 ball in golf had to release an entire campaign (fraught with red herrings and flawed logic) to attack the chrome soft. you don't pay jim nance to spew irrational statements unless you're nervous about a competitors' gains. and I can't think of many instances in which a competitor made such impressive gains with a product that did not perform.

so I will ALWAYS disagree with the sentiment that the off-center cores mean the product was inferior. is it a breakdown in quality control? absolutely. Callaway is not shying away from that. ballgate had absolutely no impact on whether and to what extent Callaway made investments and improvements to processes. but Callaway has done its testing on off-center cores DECADES ago, and found that only at the most extreme manufacturing errors - errors so far outside the scope of probability as to have no real world implications - were even marginal performance issues seen.

and now here's my honest opinion: regardless of performance issues or lack thereof, if Callaway knew some cores were off center, they should have waited to release the balls until they improved their process. Callaway had seen some issues, though not to the percentage failure that anecdote suggests. however, even knowing there were some issues, I think they should have improved on the process before coming to market. the potential for brand and perception erosion is too great.

while I disagree with anyone who labels Callaway's golf balls as inferior because of this, I can't fault anyone for looking to another manufacturer because of this. as @Jman and others accurately say, the market is full of too many good options to compromise. so even if there are no performance comprises to be made in using Callaway golf balls, perception can be reality, and consumers should feel confident when spending almost $4 per golf ball in a game that is already very expensive.

 

[mikeg_74]

I have no doubt they started the investment prior to all the s*** that went down last year. I also couldn’t care less about what any other site is saying.

As a consumer of a premium product, from an optics perspective it’s an easier story to digest as a consumer that they recently found out about the quality issues and made investments to correct those errors as quickly as possible, as opposed to knowing about it for awhile and still selling balls at a premium price while the capital investment was taking place, with no way of truly knowing (as a consumer) how many fell through the cracks and made it into the box of balls they bought.

I enjoyed the times I played the Chrome Soft and CSX in the past, but I would be lying if I said the off-center cores didn’t give me reason for pause when it came to making that kind of purchase price investment in a product.

I get what you are saying and completely understand. I'm going off of what I was told, presented and believe based on the individuals who we discussed this with. That being said, there is a thread to discuss this matter and I really don't want to take away from this release or the subsequent reviews that will follow. Hopefully some of the reviews will change your mind and you try these in the future. If not, lucky for everyone there are plenty of options out there where golf balls are concerned.

 

[Sox_Fan]

Outstanding wrtie-up James. Tons of details so I will probably need to read it another time or two to digest it all. I have to think that bringing Triple Track to the regular Chrome Soft ball is a great move.

 

[Thrillbilly Jim]

Can’t wait to see the THP Championship guys go to the Callaway ball factory in Massachusetts!

 

[radiman]

The last time I was able to play real golf was a month and a half ago. I was lucky enough to play the new CS ball. While there was a healthy amount of winter rust so I cannot give specific performance differences. I also did not have the prior CS to hit side by side. So, my initial thoughts will be just that. How I think the ball performed from what I can remember the previous gen playing.

I have always liked the feel of the Chrome Soft. I enjoy the muted feel off the putter, the soft feel off the driver and irons. Have I noticed it being a game changer for me? Not really. Just being honest here. I, personally, have never really noticed any big differences between Tour Grade golf balls for my game. I have my preferences in how a ball should feel. But, I didn't feel it was any worse than anything else out there and I enjoyed the feel, so I played them almost exclusively for the entire season. The only time I really ventured off was when I got free balls from tournaments, or found a deal on Srixons.

Well, in both of those instances, I noticed two things. I found that the ProV1 from last year as well as the Srixon Z Star XV both appeared to be longer off the tee for me. With no hard data to back it up other than hitting them side by side, I would say by a good 5-10 yards. I don't know what to attribute that to. Could be the compression? I don't know. So, in my quest to see what the best ball for me may be, I decided to try the CSX. When I heard that those balls were almost identical aside from the X feeling firmer, it all made sense. I saw pretty much identical performance between the two except I didn't much care for the firmer feel of the X. I tried the CSX TT which was a different ball than the non TT X. I found that it seemed to spin more on almost all shots. I was seeing my drives getting hung up in the high winds and was coming up short on a lot of approaches.

This new release is right up my alley. It should be a touch firmer than the previous iteration. The X sounds very interesting as it will actually be a different ball all together. And, I am not opposed to gaining some extra yards. We had the option to pick the standard 2020 Chrome Soft, 2020 Chrome Soft TT, or previous gen CSX TT. In my quest to play all things new and shiny, I opted for the 2020 Chrome Soft. Without having the previous gen with me to compare directly, I can only base this on memory. I felt like these balls indeed felt a bit firmer. Not hard by any means, but just a touch firmer overall. Distance is kind of a crap shoot as we were all playing clubs that were new to us. So, it's hard to differentiate where any potential gains came from.

With that being said, one thing I noticed on day two was that these things spin like a damn top. I am used to having the ball check and come back a few feet. But, this was on another level. I had some shots with my gap wedge come back 15+ feet. Granted, these were full on 100% swings with a wedge. So, I would expect some excess spin. I tried to credit that level of spin to the wedges, when @JasonFinleyCG corrected me with a, "**** that, it's the ball." Lol.

I realize that this is a pretty vague "review". Discerning the subtleties between golf balls can only really be done on the course in my eyes. Seeing how the ball reacts on the chips and pitches, watching its flight off the irons, seeing how it reacts into the wind, etc. In short, I feel like there is a noticeable difference between the new and the old Chrome Softs. My initial thoughts are that these differences are a positive for my game. I can't wait to get these on some green grass and hit some real shots.

 

[radiman]

Is there Graphene in the CSx also?

Don't know if this question was answered or not. From my memory (and I am 90% certain), there is no graphene in the new CSX.

 

[Templet0n]

Hmm... ... . that is interesting on the graphene part since it was all the rage with the last iteration (hyped as having material gains).

It is still present in the current chrome soft. The X is very new and has a lot going on, so they decided that graphene was not needed.

 

[BuckNasty]

I get what you are saying and completely understand. I'm going off of what I was told, presented and believe based on the individuals who we discussed this with. That being said, there is a thread to discuss this matter and I really don't want to take away from this release or the subsequent reviews that will follow. Hopefully some of the reviews will change your mind and you try these in the future. If not, lucky for everyone there are plenty of options out there where golf balls are concerned.

This release looks fantastic and I’m glad they made a strong effort in differentiating the
CS and CSX. Also love that the quality control capital investments are in place for this release.

I may wait until 2021 to try though haha as ~$50 a dozen is outside of my range, but I have no doubts the ball performs as expected and is an improvement over their prior release.

 

[radiman]

Are you playing the new standard Chrome soft or the X?

They didn't have the new CSX available at the event. So, up to this point, we have all been playing the standard Chrome Soft.

 

[radiman]

Hmm... ... . that is interesting on the graphene part since it was all the rage with the last iteration (hyped as having material gains).

They only plan on using it where it can be of benefit to the design of the ball. Adding it to the X would have been nothing more than a marketing move to be able to market it as including graphene. With the new design, it was unnecessary.

 

[HarryPotter]

@JDax saw your post in the show thread but wanted to respond here -
@Snickerdoodle ia having really good luck with the new CS in the wind - as good or better than 19 ProV1X.

David, want to flesh that out a bit ?

 

[mikeg_74]

The last time I was able to play real golf was a month and a half ago. I was lucky enough to play the new CS ball. While there was a healthy amount of winter rust so I cannot give specific performance differences. I also did not have the prior CS to hit side by side. So, my initial thoughts will be just that. How I think the ball performed from what I can remember the previous gen playing.

I have always liked the feel of the Chrome Soft. I enjoy the muted feel off the putter, the soft feel off the driver and irons. Have I noticed it being a game changer for me? Not really. Just being honest here. I, personally, have never really noticed any big differences between Tour Grade golf balls for my game. I have my preferences in how a ball should feel. But, I didn't feel it was any worse than anything else out there and I enjoyed the feel, so I played them almost exclusively for the entire season. The only time I really ventured off was when I got free balls from tournaments, or found a deal on Srixons.

Well, in both of those instances, I noticed two things. I found that the ProV1 from last year as well as the Srixon Z Star XV both appeared to be longer off the tee for me. With no hard data to back it up other than hitting them side by side, I would say by a good 5-10 yards. I don't know what to attribute that to. Could be the compression? I don't know. So, in my quest to see what the best ball for me may be, I decided to try the CSX. When I heard that those balls were almost identical aside from the X feeling firmer, it all made sense. I saw pretty much identical performance between the two except I didn't much care for the firmer feel of the X. I tried the CSX TT which was a different ball than the non TT X. I found that it seemed to spin more on almost all shots. I was seeing my drives getting hung up in the high winds and was coming up short on a lot of approaches.

This new release is right up my alley. It should be a touch firmer than the previous iteration. The X sounds very interesting as it will actually be a different ball all together. And, I am not opposed to gaining some extra yards. We had the option to pick the standard 2020 Chrome Soft, 2020 Chrome Soft TT, or previous gen CSX TT. In my quest to play all things new and shiny, I opted for the 2020 Chrome Soft. Without having the previous gen with me to compare directly, I can only base this on memory. I felt like these balls indeed felt a bit firmer. Not hard by any means, but just a touch firmer overall. Distance is kind of a crap shoot as we were all playing clubs that were new to us. So, it's hard to differentiate where any potential gains came from.

With that being said, one thing I noticed on day two was that these things spin like a damn top. I am used to having the ball check and come back a few feet. But, this was on another level. I had some shots with my gap wedge come back 15+ feet. Granted, these were full on 100% swings with a wedge. So, I would expect some excess spin. I tried to credit that level of spin to the wedges, when @JasonFinleyCG corrected me with a, "**** that, it's the ball." Lol.

I realize that this is a pretty vague "review". Discerning the subtleties between golf balls can only really be done on the course in my eyes. Seeing how the ball reacts on the chips and pitches, watching its flight off the irons, seeing how it reacts into the wind, etc. In short, I feel like there is a noticeable difference between the new and the old Chrome Softs. My initial thoughts are that these differences are a positive for my game. I can't wait to get these on some green grass and hit some real shots.

I think your takeaway on the spin is spot on. I played the CS last year and while I liked a lot about, the lack of spin had me playing the CSX to get that extra spin with the wedges. After several rounds with the new 2020 CS, I no longer feel like i'm sacrificing spin with scoring clubs.

 

[Templet0n]

They didn't have the new CSX available at the event. So, up to this point, we have all been playing the standard Chrome Soft.

Unfortunately they still don't. Or at least didn't about a week ago. The new ball plant is running behind on the production of the X. The rep was not too happy about it, but said it was a good thing. That is why there is a March release date. They are not going to risk the new quality controls just to get the ball out.

I am wondering though, with the higher price how these will fair in retail. What do you guys think?

 

[Scorp]

I like that they differentiate the ball lines... but it's too $$ for this poor hacker. Awesome technology use though

 

[radiman]

Unfortunately they still don't. Or at least didn't about a week ago. The new ball plant is running behind on the production of the X. The rep was not too happy about it, but said it was a good thing. That is why there is a March release date. They are not going to risk the new quality controls just to get the ball out.

I am wondering though, with the higher price how these will fair in retail. What do you guys think?

I think the fact that they are still cheaper than the ProV1 will fair well for them. I am not a retail analyst, so it's just my best guess here. But, I think with their marketing strategy, they will continue to pick up market share. Plus, I feel like the product is better than what they have had in the past. People should be pleased with the performance.

 

[Snickerdog]

I have always liked the regular CS, it was a ball that just worked for me. My one and only complaint about the previous ball was that is was not very good in heavy winds, I play in a lot of heavy winds here in Kansas in the Spring time. What I would do is switch over to the CSX, it was firmer and would handle and cut the wind better, much better.

This is not an issue at all with the new CS. Since returning from Cali I already have close to 20 rounds in with the new ball, half of them in higher winds, (winds 15mph or more)
the new CS performs so 100% better in high winds compared to the older version of the CS. I have not at all had the desire to switch back to the old CSX for the wind.
The other uptick to this is that we have been playing in temps that are in the upper 40's low 50's. I have been seeing summer distances with this ball already, even when playing into the wind.
Comparing to the ProV1X, I won't be buying my usual 4 dozen of those, no need at all now. The CS is better in every way for me.
Durability wise this ball is so much better, I have taken a couple off cart paths and trees with no ill effects to the cover. Only issue is they still don't float.

From @JasonFinleyCG , If you liked the CS, you will like this ball even more and no reason to switch, it's better in every way. I do find this true for myself. Just need the order date to come sooner.

@JDax hope this helps.

 

[slimjim32]

I am stoked that they are releasing the CSX in plain white. I like the TT, but sometimes I just don’t like seeing it