Callaway has gained a lot of traction in the ball market in recent years with its Chrome Soft franchise, and now - in 2024 - it has released the new Chrome Tour and Chrome Tour X golf balls and I was keen to find out if the Chrome Tour ball could establish itself as one of the best premium golf balls out there.
Firstly, to clarify the new landscape and hierarchy of Callaway golf balls, the Chrome Soft is still with us, it now sits just below the Chrome Tour and Chrome Tour X which are taking its place as the premium ‘tour’ balls. While one or two staff players may stay with their familiar Chrome Soft ball for a while as they transition into Chrome Tour, it will likely be a previous iteration, Callaway isn't expecting much tour use of the new 2024 Chrome Soft.
Of the two brand new tour balls, the Chrome Tour is designed to be the softer feeling ball but slightly lower spinning through the bag. The player in mind here is someone with a high swing speed who doesn’t want to have to throttle back too much to avoid excessive spin. I was quite excited by that notion when I heard it because it pretty accurately describes my game!
In terms of the tech, a new Hyperfast Soft core has been designed to give as much speed as possible to the new Chrome Tour. Callaway says it has achieved this by using a new rubber system where a new base polymer has been combined with a mixture of other ingredients to create optimal compressions for speed.
The Chrome Tour will also feature a cross-over dimple pattern of both hexagonal and spherical dimples to create an innovative new dimple design which maximizes the stability of the ball flight.
I decided I wanted to test the Chrome Tour alongside the ball I have been gaming for some time - the Titleist Pro V1x - and also the other two new premium Callaway balls, the Chrome Tour X and the Chrome Soft. The data was collated indoors, using the Trackman 4 launch monitor.
In terms of the unquantifiable stuff, the Chrome Tour definitely does feel a touch softer than both it’s sibling the Chrome Tour X and also the Pro V1x. Audibly, it is also a little duller which is something that appeals to me and is more noticeable on the mid and short irons.
When it comes to the measurables, I found it to be a touch slower off the face than Chrome Tour X and Pro V1x when hitting driver, but we are talking 0.5mph lower than the Titleist and 0.7mph than the Chrome Tour X. Driver spin was basically identical to the Titleist ball and around 100rpm lower than Chrome Tour X. This manifested itself as two yards less average carry than the Titleist Pro V1x and four yards less than its stable mate the Chrome Tour X.
Into the mid and short irons, the data remained much the same comparatively to the other balls, producing marginally less spin than both and - again - a fraction less ball speed. Although, the spin gap between the Tour and Tour X did seem to grow as I progressed down the bag, with the X generating over 200rpm more spin with pitching wedge.
These numbers are neither a good or bad thing, however, they are just characteristics that will suit some players better than others and even conditions. For a player such as myself, this ball might be as close to ideal as I could get. I have always preferred the best soft feel golf balls (probably a throwback to my early days as a junior using balata). I generate a lot of spin naturally and play a lot of my golf on windy, seaside links courses, so the lower spin profile is fantastic for me. I have plenty of speed, so a minuscule drop in driver ball-speed is neither here nor there for me. For others it may be a different story, but that is why these companies provide the luxury of choice.
A lot of my testing was done in very blustery conditions and the stability and consistency of flight was genuinely impressive. The ball seemed to pop obediently out of the same flight window time after time and would resolutely hold its line in some stiff cross winds. In comparison to the Chrome Tour X, I would say that this is more of a robot's dream. Someone who wants repetition and reliability will fall in love with this ball, and those Bubba Watson’s out there looking to shape their way around a course should probably lean towards the Chrome Tour X.
Callaway has done a great job with the new Chrome Tour, creating one of the best golf balls in terms of performance, and for the right player type it’s a dream. Don’t be surprised to see this ball creeping into my bag in 2024…
