Chrome Soft

[Mob]

I went out and bought the Chrome Soft, and the Nike Rzn Black (due to comments on this thread). I will be going out to Monterey to play with my father-in-law and my kids in 3 weeks, so I will compare them both out there. These clearly feel very different off the putter and iron which is expected. I like the muted sound and soft feel of the Soft off the putter, that appeals to me. The Rzn black has a tinny sound in comparison that I don't really care for. The Rzn black felt ok off the irons, but still don't like the sound it makes. The soft is slightly too mushy off the face, but playable for me. It feels like it is hanging on the club face a microsecond longer than the Rzn. Bottom line is that I could play either of these balls, even though they feel and sound completely different. The determining factor will be what these balls do with the driver. Which ever is straighter, and not significantly shorter will likely grab my interest.

[Mahamilto]

The RZN black isn't quiet by any imagination of the word. It feels softer than it is, but it's loud. My i25 turns heads anytime I play RZN black.

It's still the easiest to hit and longest tour ball I've ever driven. It's easily as straight as chrome soft, but if you have enough thump to compress it ideally, it's ungodly long.

[Steven991]

Played the chrome soft for the first time today and was pretty impressed with it. I played the super soft all last year and this back is everything that was missing with the super soft. Great feel awesome distance and the spin around the greens was almost perfect. Callaway has a hit with this ball. Officially going to game this ball this year. I'm a 5 handicap with a swing speed of 105 with my driver.

[Steven991]

[quote name='Steven991' timestamp='1422216733' post='10816001']Played the chrome soft for the first time today and was pretty impressed with it. I played the super soft all last year and this ball is everything that was missing with the super soft. Great feel awesome distance and the spin around the greens was almost perfect. Callaway has a hit with this ball. Officially going to game this ball this year.[/quote]

[simon@RMGC]

Played the Chrome Soft yesterday for the first time. I was very impressed with it, I liked the soft feel, it went as far as anything else I hit and it generated plenty of backspin on 5i through to 3/4 sw shots. It actually jumped back on landing with mid irons a few times, admittedly our greens are fairly soft but that means I am getting spin levels similar to or greater than the Tour Preferred X I usually play.

Very happy with it, and it will be my gamer for this year.

[StarFleetGolfer]

This is currently my favorite ball. For me it's just as long off driver if not longer, haven't found it any longer off irons though.

[klbcec]

Played the Chrome Soft in 50 degree weather this morning. Huge difference in feel on cold days. I was very impressed with the ball's performance. Every bit a tour ball along the lines of the Z star and Pro V1.

[crazygolfnut]

Is this ball for a certain swing speed like over 100 mph or under 100 mph? Thanks.

[Bulldogdoc]

As a follow up, I spent about an hour putting with this ball today. The more I putt with it, the more I like it. Again, was putting with my old 8802 and my Nike Method 001. I like the way it feels off of the 8802 a little better than 8802, but I'm convinced it's just a sound issue. sounds a little too soft off of the Nike with the insert and grooves. No issue with the lines, of course, but it just felt a little mushy with the insert in my opinion. I thought it felt great off of the plain metal face of the 8802. I vasselate between these two putters most of the time with an edge to the the very old 8802.

I spent a lot of time working on the short game today and hitting 100 yard shots and I didn't have any issues working the ball with the short irons. I think the ball spins great.

I plan to play this ball for a while. I really like it and I've ordered several dozen to play for the upcoming season. This is the first time I've been really excited about a new ball in a long time. I'm very impressed with the price and performance. Callaway may have made a tour ball and under priced it versus the market. I suspect they are going to sell a ton of these golf balls.

[yumanike]

I played 18 yesterday with the Chrome Soft after reading all of the hype. We had a frost delay and the temperature eventually got up to 50 towards the end of the round. It had rained the last few days, so conditions were sloppy. I compared it to the Callaway Tour i(z) which is a pretty standard family of ball for me to play (e.g. HEX Black, Tour i(X), SR3, etc.) My driver SS is around 115 mph and my 6 iron is around 95, although that is during the summer when I'm not layered up so take from that what you will. I was very surprised by the Chrome Soft as it hung with the i(z) the entire round. It is a very straight ball and spin levels around the green seem similar. I'm not sure if I can get used to the feel and if I hadn't been comparing it to the i(z), I think I would have thought my round yesterday was not a great ball striking round, but one where I was just getting away with misses. For example on the 6th hole which is a slight dogleg right par 4 where I have to thread the ball between a sand trap on the left and trees on the right, I hit the Chrome Soft and thought I mishit it terribly, but then watched as it took off with a nice baby fade which is the shot shape I was going for. I then hit the i(z) essentially the same way and thought that I pured it. I told my playing partners that the i(z) felt like it went about 20 yards longer than the Chrome Soft. When we got up to where the balls landed, they were dead even. Very strange. It did hold its line very well in the wind. I will reevaluate these when it gets warmer to see if this is a Winter ball or a year round ball. If you are a feel player, you may struggle with this ball as everything felt like a mishit to me. Less so off of irons, but all woods and hybrids had me asking, "where did I catch that one?" I would also prefer this to be around the $32 price point like the original Chromes instead of $38. That would make it a much easier call vs. the $45-47 range balls. I'm not sure if better feel is worth $7-9 a dozen, but the feel is weird enough that it is something I'm thinking about. If these were $13-15 cheaper, it would be a no brainer.

[Hot Rod 71]

[quote name='yumanike' timestamp='1422274596' post='10819401']
I played 18 yesterday with the Chrome Soft after reading all of the hype. We had a frost delay and the temperature eventually got up to 50 towards the end of the round. It had rained the last few days, so conditions were sloppy. I compared it to the Callaway Tour i(z) which is a pretty standard family of ball for me to play (e.g. HEX Black, Tour i(X), SR3, etc.) My driver SS is around 115 mph and my 6 iron is around 95, although that is during the summer when I'm not layered up so take from that what you will. I was very surprised by the Chrome Soft as it hung with the i(z) the entire round. It is a very straight ball and spin levels around the green seem similar. I'm not sure if I can get used to the feel and if I hadn't been comparing it to the i(z), I think I would have thought my round yesterday was not a great ball striking round, but one where I was just getting away with misses. For example on the 6th hole which is a slight dogleg right par 4 where I have to thread the ball between a sand trap on the left and trees on the right, I hit the Chrome Soft and thought I mishit it terribly, but then watched as it took off with a nice baby fade which is the shot shape I was going for. I then hit the i(z) essentially the same way and thought that I pured it. I told my playing partners that the i(z) felt like it went about 20 yards longer than the Chrome Soft. When we got up to where the balls landed, they were dead even. Very strange. It did hold its line very well in the wind. I will reevaluate these when it gets warmer to see if this is a Winter ball or a year round ball.[b] If you are a feel player, you may struggle with this ball as everything felt like a mishit to me. Less so off of irons, but all woods and hybrids had me asking, "where did I catch that one?"[/b] I would also prefer this to be around the $32 price point like the original Chromes instead of $38. That would make it a much easier call vs. the $45-47 range balls. I'm not sure if better feel is worth $7-9 a dozen, but the feel is weird enough that it is something I'm thinking about. If these were $13-15 cheaper, it would be a no brainer.
[/quote]

I had an almost identical experience comparing the Chrome Soft and Z-Star XV.

And I second the emboldened sentences. I'm relieved that someone else feels the same way. I thought maybe I was crazy.

[MrJones]

I finally got my hands on these and played them this weekend. Saturday was windy (around 15mph) but Sunday was nice overall.

I normally play the ProV1X or the B330 and honestly like both. But before I got my game where it is today I really enjoyed the softer compression golf balls. The Bridgestone E6 was a personal favorite for a long time.

I'll start by saying this ball doesn't feel as soft as the E6 but is noticeably softer than the ProV or B330. I feels great off the irons and (my own made up words) less clicky? off the woods. I personally liked the feel and knew I'd hit the ball solid. Distance was right up there with the end end balls. Off the driver I was playing in the same positions, no disappointing short ones at all. It also seemed to really go even when hitting into the wind. It may be just because I've read other reviews that said so, but I felt like I had less side spin off the tee than I normally do. Irons seemed to stay in the air just a tad longer and MIGHT have been slightly longer than normal.

Where it really stood out was around the green. The ball really jumps off the face on short wedge shots. I spent the weekend trying to throttle down on pitches as I was overshooting my target all day Saturday. But even when I did, the spin was right there. Lots of one hop and stops. I personally really liked the feel of the ball on these shots. This is when you really feel the difference between these and the ProV. Spin was right there though. I couldn't tell a difference.

Putting. First let me say they've fallen in love with rolling the greens at my course here lately so.... If I give this ball a "pop" type stroke on my shorter putts, I was going to over shoot the hole by nearly double the putt length. It really goes when given a little pop. I found myself making a lot of downhill putts and missing a lot uphill/into the grain putts. Every putt where my instinct was to give it a little gas, based on my normal ball, was long. It drove me crazy to be honest. I had 5 birdies yesterday but also 4 three putts (which I usually never have). And of the 2 putts I did make, a lot of them were tough coming back the other way. And for reference I'm playing a milled putter, no insert.

I played both days with the same ball and it held up fine till the 17th hole yesterday when I found a cart path. That actually took a pretty big gouge out of the ball. I went ahead and played it anyway on 18 and hit 3 of the best shots of my weekend

I'm extremely happy with these. I'd recommend them for anyone that prefers the feel of a softer ball. For me personally, they perform just like a high end ball when it came to distance and spin. The real difference was around the green where this ball plays hot (but still has ProV1 spin). I bought 2 boxes so that I wouldn't just give up on them after a bad round or so and I'm glad I did. This is going to be my game ball for a while.

[caller]

Follow up report.

Played 36 holes last Sat then 27 holes yesterday.

Calm and mid 50 degree weather. Everything was perfect.

- Putting was the best part with this ball.
- I was hitting a lot of 60~70 yards shots into the green. One hop then stop. Very predictable spin and braking. Love this ball.
- One down hill par5, hit driver (tried to cut the ball but ended up straight shot), had 230 into green, hit 19 degree hybrid to back pin, It bounced and braked to have a good look at eagle put. I was very pleased how CS held the green with low lofted clubs.
- I GAINED FULL CLUB with my irons playing this ball. I flew over the green about 3 times.
- Driver, somewhat same distance or slightly less. It did not bother me. My scoring around green was getting better with this ball.
- Did I say I hit car paths and didn't even scratch this ball? If it was Prov1X, I would have to switch out the ball every other round.

After two weekends of full experiment, I can say this ball really performs for my game and finally found something that is inbetween Prov1 and X that helps my game.
also durability of this ball is one of the best with affordable pricing.
I am going to game this ball this season and see if I can lower my handicap with new swing I have been working on.

[tbowles411]

[quote name='Hot Rod 71' timestamp='1422275074' post='10819417']
[quote name='yumanike' timestamp='1422274596' post='10819401']
I played 18 yesterday with the Chrome Soft after reading all of the hype. We had a frost delay and the temperature eventually got up to 50 towards the end of the round. It had rained the last few days, so conditions were sloppy. I compared it to the Callaway Tour i(z) which is a pretty standard family of ball for me to play (e.g. HEX Black, Tour i(X), SR3, etc.) My driver SS is around 115 mph and my 6 iron is around 95, although that is during the summer when I'm not layered up so take from that what you will. I was very surprised by the Chrome Soft as it hung with the i(z) the entire round. It is a very straight ball and spin levels around the green seem similar. I'm not sure if I can get used to the feel and if I hadn't been comparing it to the i(z), I think I would have thought my round yesterday was not a great ball striking round, but one where I was just getting away with misses. For example on the 6th hole which is a slight dogleg right par 4 where I have to thread the ball between a sand trap on the left and trees on the right, I hit the Chrome Soft and thought I mishit it terribly, but then watched as it took off with a nice baby fade which is the shot shape I was going for. I then hit the i(z) essentially the same way and thought that I pured it. I told my playing partners that the i(z) felt like it went about 20 yards longer than the Chrome Soft. When we got up to where the balls landed, they were dead even. Very strange. It did hold its line very well in the wind. I will reevaluate these when it gets warmer to see if this is a Winter ball or a year round ball.[b] If you are a feel player, you may struggle with this ball as everything felt like a mishit to me. Less so off of irons, but all woods and hybrids had me asking, "where did I catch that one?"[/b] I would also prefer this to be around the $32 price point like the original Chromes instead of $38. That would make it a much easier call vs. the $45-47 range balls. I'm not sure if better feel is worth $7-9 a dozen, but the feel is weird enough that it is something I'm thinking about. If these were $13-15 cheaper, it would be a no brainer.
[/quote]

I had an almost identical experience comparing the Chrome Soft and Z-Star XV.

And I second the emboldened sentences. I'm relieved that someone else feels the same way. I thought maybe I was crazy.
[/quote]
Well, you might be kind of crazy!

[Lefty94]

I think I am going to pick up a sleeve, to compare to the SS. For me the SS was the best ball I have ever used. It was my exclusive ball last year. Prior to that I played the Z Star or the Hex Black Tour. I need to stock up on dozens of last years SS. From a performance standpoint I can't see anything beating the SS.

[Imp]

[quote name='Mahamilto' timestamp='1422057597' post='10806265']
If its not windy, my ego doesnt want to give up my long drive of the day (vs. RZN Black).[/quote]

Seeing that you use driver maybe, at most 14 times (a course that makes you use driver on every non-par 3 seems boring to me), you'd give up... 140 yds. Considering you mention it's 10 yds short, but getting +10 on irons, maybe it's time to put your ego in check? I'd rather find more fairways with a straight ball than even having to *think* of working it.

Eliminate the variables.

--kC

[Atrayn]

I picked up a dozen last week and put them in play yesterday. I normally play ProV1X now that I have finally ran out of my Precept Lady IQ+.
I love this ball! I played it side by side on all shots during the round and didn't notice any difference really except they cost me $10 bucks less.

Many folks won't like the soft feel, however I do. The feel off the irons aren't mushy. Just soft. No clickiness like the ProV. I didn't hit it much less than the ProV and on several occasions out drove it with similar hits.
I do like the fact that in the colder weather of the Scottsdale morning it felt much better off the driver and irons.

Around the greens I could still make it spin. However, neither ball spun like I wanted at McCormick Ranch Pine course because they were like pool tables and really fast as it's setup for the Monday Qualifier for the WM Phoenix Open.
Played really well with the exception of some 3 putts.

Give them a try, you may be pleasantly surprised. The cashier at the PGA store says they are flying off the shelves! I know I'm gaming them...

[tbowles411]

[quote name='Imp' timestamp='1422289557' post='10820651']
[quote name='Mahamilto' timestamp='1422057597' post='10806265']
If its not windy, my ego doesnt want to give up my long drive of the day (vs. RZN Black).[/quote]

Seeing that you use driver maybe, at most 14 times (a course that makes you use driver on every non-par 3 seems boring to me), you'd give up... 140 yds. Considering you mention it's 10 yds short, but getting +10 on irons, maybe it's time to put your ego in check? I'd rather find more fairways with a straight ball than even having to *think* of working it.

Eliminate the variables.

--kC
[/quote]
Not to sound rude or anything, but when I got used to what this ball does, All I did was peg it, and fire. No thought, and also knowing that the sidespin was going to be mitigated. It moved for me only sparingly with a left to right ball flight. Some would call it relatively straight. I call it, findable and setting up for a 6 or 7 iron into a Par 4 or a 4 wood (and wedge) into a Par 5.

[drvrwdge]

Played yesterday. It is definitely a little shorter off of the driver than the ProV1X for me and LM #'s prove this as well. I wouldn't say it moves any more is less from left to right. I was able to work the ball in both directions and feel had I made the same swing on another ball the curvature would have been the same. The thing I did not like about it was that I was having trouble getting that one hop and stop action on some short sided chips. It just tended to run out more for me. And although I did like the feel off of the irons, wedges and putter I really didn't like it off of the driver. A good ball all in all but not enough to make me switch.

[dpb5031]

It would be helpful if those providing feedback on this ball would let us
Know their swing speed/ball speed and handicap. I'm curious if it works better for high, low, or mid swing speed players. Thx

[Golf64]

@50 yrs. old, not a big swinger. 95mph SS. Loved the ball. Bunch of my buddies tried it too that had slower SS and loved the ball. And if Phil can use it, I'm sure amateurs with high SS can use it too?!

[Trane5]

This might have been already mentioned, but if not....doesn't this ball seem like Callaway's version of Taylor Made's Project a ? Both are 3 peace balls, low compression, urethane. Thoughts?

[Imp]

The Project (a) did nothing to reduce the sidespin like any of the Callaway balls. If there was any sidespin, the Project (a) would spin like a top to the left or right. I still have all dozen that I bought early in the year to try. Played them for a round, and never went back (when I also started using Supersofts).

--kC

[MrJones]

[quote name='dpb5031' timestamp='1422297482' post='10821505']
It would be helpful if those providing feedback on this ball would let us
Know their swing speed/ball speed and handicap. I'm curious if it works better for high, low, or mid swing speed players. Thx
[/quote]

I'm between 114 and 118 with driver. Currently an 8.4 handicap.

I've been surprised by the amount of low cappers that have responded not getting this ball to spin.

[MrJones]

[quote name='drvrwdge' timestamp='1422296851' post='10821449']
Played yesterday. It is definitely a little shorter off of the driver than the ProV1X for me and LM #'s prove this as well.
[/quote]

Approximately how much distance were you losing?

[tbowles411]

[quote name='Imp' timestamp='1422299363' post='10821761']
The Project (a) did nothing to reduce the sidespin like any of the Callaway balls. If there was any sidespin, the Project (a) would spin like a top to the left or right. I still have all dozen that I bought early in the year to try. Played them for a round, and never went back (when I also started using Supersofts).

--kC
[/quote]
Same here. I have 3 sleeves left of the Project (a).

[dpb5031]

[quote name='MrJones' timestamp='1422299524' post='10821795']
[quote name='drvrwdge' timestamp='1422296851' post='10821449']
Played yesterday. It is definitely a little shorter off of the driver than the ProV1X for me and LM #'s prove this as well.
[/quote]

Approximately how much distance were you losing?
[/quote]

I'm curious as well. I'm about 110 with the driver. I really don't want to give up on driver distance versus other premium balls, but I love a soft feeling golf ball. If this ball doesn't give up too much distance off the driver at my SS versus the Srixon XV, and is as stable in the wind as most are claiming, it sounds like the ticket for me!

[drvrwdge]

[quote name='MrJones' timestamp='1422299524' post='10821795']
[quote name='drvrwdge' timestamp='1422296851' post='10821449']
Played yesterday. It is definitely a little shorter off of the driver than the ProV1X for me and LM #'s prove this as well.
[/quote]

Approximately how much distance were you losing?
[/quote]

I would have to look at the LM again for distance but I remember ball speeds were about 3-4 mph lower with the chrome soft. It basically equated to around 10-12 yards on average on the course. I hit a few that I know were absolutely nutted and they were quite a bit shorter than expected. I feel like it wasn't spinning enough thus not carrying as far and it was wet so no run out.

My SS with driver is around 118 on average.

[MrJones]

[quote name='drvrwdge' timestamp='1422304341' post='10822395']
[quote name='MrJones' timestamp='1422299524' post='10821795']
[quote name='drvrwdge' timestamp='1422296851' post='10821449']
Played yesterday. It is definitely a little shorter off of the driver than the ProV1X for me and LM #'s prove this as well.
[/quote]

Approximately how much distance were you losing?
[/quote]

I would have to look at the LM again for distance but I remember ball speeds were about 3-4 mph lower with the chrome soft. It basically equated to around 10-12 yards on average on the course. I hit a few that I know were absolutely nutted and they were quite a bit shorter than expected. I feel like it wasn't spinning enough thus not carrying as far and it was wet so no run out.

My SS with driver is around 118 on average.
[/quote]

That's pretty much what happened to me when I tried using the Bridgestone B330-RX balls. Felt great, very similar to the Chrome soft but on drives I lost about 10 yards.

I honestly didn't experience that with the Chrome. This feels like a dumb question with your swing speed but I'll ask anyways: would you consider yourself a high spin player? Do you normally get a lot of run out on your drives?

[drvrwdge]

[quote name='MrJones' timestamp='1422305870' post='10822605']
[quote name='drvrwdge' timestamp='1422304341' post='10822395']
[quote name='MrJones' timestamp='1422299524' post='10821795']
[quote name='drvrwdge' timestamp='1422296851' post='10821449']
Played yesterday. It is definitely a little shorter off of the driver than the ProV1X for me and LM #'s prove this as well.
[/quote]

Approximately how much distance were you losing?
[/quote]

I would have to look at the LM again for distance but I remember ball speeds were about 3-4 mph lower with the chrome soft. It basically equated to around 10-12 yards on average on the course. I hit a few that I know were absolutely nutted and they were quite a bit shorter than expected. I feel like it wasn't spinning enough thus not carrying as far and it was wet so no run out.

My SS with driver is around 118 on average.
[/quote]

That's pretty much what happened to me when I tried using the Bridgestone B330-RX balls. Felt great, very similar to the Chrome soft but on drives I lost about 10 yards.

I honestly didn't experience that with the Chrome. This feels like a dumb question with your swing speed but I'll ask anyways: would you consider yourself a high spin player? Do you normally get a lot of run out on your drives?
[/quote]

Not a dumb question at all. I used to consider myself a high spin player but after some swing changes I would say I am about normal for someone with my ss. Im probably around 2600 with my driver.

I want to say a hit more than a few on the lm where the spin was almost non existent, like 1500 or something like that. What I thought was maybe an anomaly but the results on the course seem to back that up. Launch angle and peak trajectory were also much lower. That was very noticeable on course.

Like I said horses for course, some will like them and some wont. I don't think its a bad ball by any stretch it just doesn't suit my game. I actually think when I bought them at GG it was a deal where if you played the 2 ball pack and didn't like them you could return for a full refund. I will be returning mine. I'll stick with the ProV1X, I feel like I know what I'm getting with those.