TESTING: Callaway Chrome Soft Ball Member Reviews

[venturagolfer87]

[quote name='FLGOLFJUNKIE' timestamp='1424737819' post='11014145']
Played a round at Disney Magnolia with these on Saturday. It was a looooong day. 5 1/2 hour rounds really really make me anxious, but what are you gonna do, it's Disney. I love the game ofgolf, I'm happy hitting the ball straight, 260ish yards, and can say I can hit a pretty straight ball. The weakest part of my game is probably my long iron game and my 3 wood control. I consider myself to be a great green reader and love playing the bump and run around the greens. I play an XX-Stiff Axivcore tour red shaft in my driver which keeps my ballflight right where I like it, a mid launch, not low at all and I usually play a Prov1x as I love the way the ball plays off the tee and around the greens. My best round is a 78 and can shoot in the low 90's (rare these days) when I start inconsistently from the 1st hole. Can't tell you how many times I've shot 46 front 9 and 37-38 in the back. It's mental for me, I KNOW I need to start well and put so much pressure on myself right from the 1st tee, that sometimes by the time I get to the 7th hole, I'm fighting to finish the 9 around 44-45. What I look for in a ball is consistency. This ball, in summary, was consistently good all day for me. Feel was, umm...how do I put this. Soft? It felt great off the driver, irons, wedges, and putter. I'll break down what I was looking for in depth.

Off the driver, it was consistently straight. Ballflight was comparable to the Prov1X and spin was a bit higher, lost some yardage with these. I'm playing for fun though, 255-260 is good enough for me all day. If the ball is going straight and feels good in the other aspects of my game, I'm not erasing it from the competition just because I lost a few yards. The ball against the wind was awesome, still got a nice piercing ballflight and eased my concerns about the spin off the ball. The prov1x feels "clicky" off the face when you're comparing it to the CS, but that's not a bad thing considering the performance of the V1x. I give the edge to the Prov1x off the driver, for me. I'm working to fix an issue with my driver/3 wood that's causing everything to go left, but this ball feels absolutely beautiful off my R9 3 wood as well.

7iron-PW....WOW. The feeling I get from this ball is irreplaceable. Hard to describe the sound, but it just feels, right. Ballflight was a mid ballflight again, and was very very straight for me. Same distances for me in my irons, which is great, nothing to worry about distance wise here. Edge to the CS here.

Wedges. Not too impressed in this category, but the ball was still consistent. When playing 80-100 yard shots, the ball hopped, stopped and rolled forward about a foot. This was consistent in my gap wedge through my 60* wedge, which spins the Prov1x plenty. When I played the ball to go over the flag and come back, it didn't and it kind of screwed me up in some holes, left me with some nasty downhill putts, which I missed ALL day long. Greens were rolling at about a 11-12 at Disney on Saturday, firm and true. I give the edge to the Prov1x here.

Off the putter the ball felt great, didn't really have an issue with the ball "exploding" off the face, but was able to control it well. Overall here it's a tie with the Prov1x.

The edge still goes to the Prov1x in the most important areas of the game for me. However, this is just after 1 round. I like the ball, and do look forward to playing it again and comparing it to the Lethal, as I have those in my bag as well.
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I think as you play more to it and get accustomed to the feel and how it reacts into and around the greens, this ball just grows on you. I'm loving it the more and more I play with it.

[sirparalot]

I was able to get out on the short course at OCN once again and used the CS (I was also testing the new XR woods so go check out my post in that thread). Today was very windy so it was a good opportunity to test the ball in some tough conditions. This ball continues to impress me from tee to green. In the wind today it really went to the next level for me. The ball really held its line well both into the wind and down breeze. Several holes were really get hammered with 20mph plus crosswinds and the ball flight was very predictable. I was able to account for the wind in these situations and felt the ball was pretty consistent in its ability to fight the wind. I typically try to ride the wind vs. hold the ball against it and in these instances the ball moved with the wind but it was a predictable movement. Spin into the greens continues to be impressive. The true highlight for me is that I think I have finally figured this ball out on the greens. Today I did not have a single ball rocket off the face in an unpredictable manner. I think much of it had to do with the fact that I backweighted my putter with a 70g tour lock and it really smoothed out my stroke. If this putting trend holds over the next few rounds then I may be making the CS my gamer this year. I can't thank the folks here at WRX and Callaway enough for the great opportunities that I have been given. I hope my reviews have been worthy of their generosity.

[sirparalot]

[quote name='sirparalot' timestamp='1424986037' post='11034881']
I was able to get out on the short course at OCN once again and used the CS (I was also testing the new XR woods so go check out my post in that thread). Today was very windy so it was a good opportunity to test the ball in some tough conditions. This ball continues to impress me from tee to green. In the wind today it really went to the next level for me. The ball really held its line well both into the wind and down breeze. Several holes were really getting hammered with 20mph plus crosswinds and the ball flight was very predictable. I was able to account for the wind in these situations and felt the ball was pretty consistent in its ability to fight the wind. I typically try to ride the wind vs. hold the ball against it and in these instances the ball moved with the wind but it was a predictable movement. Spin into the greens continues to be impressive. The true highlight for me is that I think I have finally figured this ball out on the greens. Today I did not have a single ball rocket off the face in an unpredictable manner. I think much of it had to do with the fact that I backweighted my putter with a 70g tour lock and it really smoothed out my stroke. If this putting trend holds over the next few rounds then I may be making the CS my gamer this year. I can't thank the folks here at WRX and Callaway enough for the great opportunities that I have been given. I hope my reviews have been worthy of their generosity.
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[3 putt Charlie]

Weather was finally in the 40s and not raining and got out on the course again. Not much new to add. The CS is growing on me because I'm using it exclusively for putting and chipping. Someone asked about the Project A. The CS feels softer off the putter. The Project A is much easier to draw off the driver. I am still not liking the soft feel and performance off the driver, but every other aspect of the Chrome Soft is good. It's supposed to warm up next week and maybe the mud will dry up a little.