Forum Member Reviews: Callaway Whitebox Testing

[JeremyD]

I got to play 9 holes with each of them Saturday. I'm still happy with everything, except my ability to putt with them. I'm starting to realize (or have known for a while) that my putting stinks. I putt better one handed, and have for years. I spent some time blasting into some trees, and when I connect on one, they still feel great.

[TG8]

49 minutes ago, JeremyD said:

I got to play 9 holes with each of them Saturday. I'm still happy with everything, except my ability to putt with them. I'm starting to realize (or have known for a while) that my putting stinks. I putt better one handed, and have for years. I spent some time blasting into some trees, and when I connect on one, they still feel great.

I stink at putting too. Wish there was a magic ball to fix that! Lol

[yungkory]

Ok a bit overdue sorry, just wanted to make sure I could get enough rounds in to have enough of an opinion on these balls

The Review 4/7/24

Callaway Chrome Tour/X White Box – Official MGS Forum Review by Yungkory

First Impressions (10 out of 10)

I haven't played a Callaway ball for years, but it's what I expected and have seen from them in the past, though this time it had Triple Track which I've never played. 

The name has changed this year and it seems the characteristics are marketed different from previous years.

Both balls are marketed to be firmer than the previous-generation "chrome soft" -- which was the tour ball. Now, the Chrome Soft no longer carries a "tour" designation so it seems to me like it would be less performance-based.

Aesthetics (10 out of 10) 

The balls look everything like a premium golf ball should, and every bit like your standard Callaway ball. Shiny cover, chevron marking, and in the version we were sent -- Triple Track (TT). I've never gamed a ball with TT before, and in practice it seems to help. I don't have any data to back it up, but you would want to do something like that for a whole season and not a couple of months like this forum review.

Initially, I thought the durability was subpar, after my first 2 rounds with them. What I thought was an inferior cover, I now believe to just be that the paint rubs off. Maybe I just notice it more since I was seeing the Triple Track rub off, and the ball I game obviously doesn't have that? Anyways, I thought the covers were junk at first but they actually hold up well when you're not hitting stuff you shouldn't. I wanted to take a picture of my most-recently used ball, but on its 34th hole it met a watery demise:

 

The sound for me is pretty similar across both balls, but the feel is easier to notice. The Chrome Tour feels great off of every club, the X is a bit more harsh feeling. Drive is unsurprisingly the easiest one to tell the difference between. The regular Tour almost feels borderline marshmallow-y and those who don't like that, will probably hate the ball -- it really reminds me of the Chrome Soft of yesteryear, ProV1, Z-Star, (insert your favorite soft-feeling urethane tour ball). Personally, I love that feeling because it makes me think I'm compressing the ball more and getting more out of it.

The Numbers (15 out of 20)

I really thought the X was going to "fit" me and I would like it, based on the marketing. In real life, it couldn't be further from the truth. I don't know if it's because the ball is designed to spin more, or if it's something between my ears, but it seems like this will accentuate any side-spin imparted by your face angle. I've struggled in multiple rounds to keep the X in play. Could just be me, even though I hardly ever move the ball left to right (I've been up to 8* in to out on QC4). Maybe that's a good thing, I got to see the right sides of the courses I play vs. normally being on the left .

I've had much more success with the non-X in my rounds. I believe others found more ball speed with the X, but I was hitting the regular CT the furthest in all of the 6 rounds I played with these. It reminds me very much of the ProV1: feels great, goes far, flatter flight on longer clubs. The only difference is it seems to have more spin coming into greens, especially on full shots. Typically, I get more one-hop-stop from my gamer, and the ProV1s that I have played, but I've found that I can get some sauce on the CT. This was a 7i from 165 that spun back on me a few feet (yea, I missed the bird):

The CT definitely performed better and the score would've been higher if the X wasn't involved in the test.

On The Course (15 out of 20)

If you don't want to read the details, here's a TL;DR: The CT was a really good ball for me, the CTX wasn't.

Off the tee the balls perform well. The CT launched a little higher for me but never climbed much higher after that. The CTX launched a little lower for me but would spin up. Since Hawaii generally has sun every day, the fairways I play are often dry and get tons of roll if you don't have a high angle of decent. I believe this is why I saw longer drives with the CT than the CTX, but both balls seemed to be longer than my Z-Star Diamond. I hit some absolute BANGERS with the CT.

Strangely, I got more spin from the CT than the X though the marketing would suggest the opposite should've happened. I don't normally pull the ball back or "have it on a string" but found the CT was very capable of doing so. Again, hop-and-stop performance from the X, from any distance into the green.

Missing greens is my forte, so I got a lot of chipping in with these balls. Neither of them were difficult to execute shots with, they kinda just do what you ask of them. Bump and runs, check-y pitches, etc. as long as you execute the shot, the balls will react accordingly. 

Off of my Link.1 the CT and CTX feel very similar and I don't think the characteristics of either would cause me to miss or make a putt.

The Good, the bad, the inbetween (15 out of 20)

I enjoy testing golf balls. Thankful that we have the forum to be able to have a chance to do it without having to fork over the cash. Testing the CT really made me happy. I can't exactly tell you why, maybe just because I hit some really nice shots with it, or because it feels the way I want the ball to feel off the face of each club? It's a really good ball and I intend on re-visiting it after I work through these 3 dozen Z-star Diamonds.

Play it or Trade it? (15 out of 20)

I would game the CT. The X just isn't it for me. It's the Indian and not the arrow, but the arrow makes the Indian more crooked. I think when the next 4-for-3 box comes around, I'll scoop some up. Though by that time, the next CT will likely drop.

Conclusion

I'm pretty low spin in the long game, thought the CTX would be the ball for me. It wasn't. The CT spins just enough for me to be able to game it, the X spins so much I can't tame it.
 

Final Score (80 out of 100)

[climberboy2000]

On 4/1/2024 at 11:18 AM, JeremyD said:

I got to play 9 holes with each of them Saturday. I'm still happy with everything, except my ability to putt with them. I'm starting to realize (or have known for a while) that my putting stinks. I putt better one handed, and have for years. I spent some time blasting into some trees, and when I connect on one, they still feel great.

I'm right there with you on one handed putting.  I can definitely lag putt long putts better one handed.  I have yet to play an entire round one-handed (putting), but for some reason it seems my stroke is straighter.

[MuniGolfer]

Well, I lost my first ball, a CTx. I was finishing up my bunker durability test (i.e. 10 shots out of the bucket with a new ball of each) and bladed one over the short game practice area into a pond. As such, I don’t have a picture of the CTx for durability, other than my previous ones from simulator use, but I will say at 8 shots it looked very similar to the regular tour. The pic of that after 10 shots is below.

There are definitely some marks, but nothing that renders it unplayable yet. I wish I had pics of my TP5 gamer when I did this, as I think it did a little better last year, but it wasn’t significant. I am still leaning towards switching my gamer. I am hoping to play some 9-hole rounds with each this week, maybe into next.

I did do some more short game comparison and am leaning towards the regular Tour still. It seems to just be a little more predictable, spin wise, on shots around the green and on approach. Putting is the only place I prefer the CTx. It’s only because the little extra firmness provides a little better feedback. They are very close overall, so far, though. I think on course, off the tee performance will probably settle it. Well, that and overall strokes gained.

[Bohnson]

Let's see if a Chrome Tour ball gets it done this week at the Masters. Rahm, Xander, Burns, Phil? Always fun to see this golf course. 

[TG8]

59 minutes ago, Bohnson said:

Let's see if a Chrome Tour ball gets it done this week at the Masters. Rahm, Xander, Burns, Phil? Always fun to see this golf course. 

Would be cool to see.  I know ill be watching for the chrome tour sightings. Want to know which model they use at augusta. 

[Bohnson]

13 minutes ago, TG8 said:

Would be cool to see.  I know I’ll be watching for the chrome tour sightings. Want to know which model they use at augusta. 

For sure, then we can know which to use when we play Augusta

[yungkory]

On 4/11/2024 at 6:44 AM, Bohnson said:

For sure, then we can know which to use when we play Augusta

I guess the Chrome Tour X is pretty good around Augusta  or maybe it's just Xander? Or maybe it's Maybelline.

 

Played a round at an Executive course today since I got rained out yesterday AND last Friday. Needed some work with my irons and wedges and being a range rat isn't my thing. Figured I would keep playing the Chrome Tour since I have a whole sleeve left and the ball performed really great, yet again. I should probably get a portable LM to check the spin numbers (if portable LMs are good at measuring spin) because as the lower-spinning option from the CTx, it sure does get in the air. At my last fitting, my fitter said I wasn't hitting the ball as high because of spin, so we built my irons to offer me more spin via more loft and a mid launch/spin profile shaft. I was hitting ProV1s so maybe I don't need as much long/midgame spin in a ball as I thought.

[golfinnut]

I'm still liking the CT.  Played it again over the weekend & it performed great.  I played it alongside the AVX.  Distance was about equal for the most part, with a slight edge going to the CT.  Definite discernable difference in sound for sure.  More muted sound of the CT vs the AVX, for obvious reasons.  But spin was where the CT performed admirably.  Stopping on a dime & even backing up on some shots.  One hop forward & spin back past the ball mark.  I'm definitely not a huge spin guy, so this is a huge plus for me.  The triple track does help my concentrate on putting it end over end.  I didn't think it would in the beginning.  I kind of thought it was a gimmick or just a ploy for you to buy their ball but it does work in that aspect.  In terms of the ability to align to the starting line or the hole, that's a different story.   It's not the balls fault I can't see  I see one thing behind the line, align the ball, then get over the putt & see something completely different.  Help .... I need PELZ!  I need to be fit for a putter.   this is where I lose most of my strokes.  

I just received my 4 for 3 deal from Titleist of the Left Dash.  So this will be the next ball I'll comparing it with.  Stay tuned 

[Bohnson]

@golfinnut I am guessing the left dash will feel firmer and launch higher than the CT! Interested in your spin numbers. 

[golfinnut]

4 minutes ago, Bohnson said:

@golfinnut I am guessing the left dash will feel firmer and launch higher than the CT! Interested in your spin numbers. 

That's what I'm interested in looking at as well.  I knew it was going to be firmer, but by how much.  Wondering if it spins similar & how close it is to the ProV1x?  

[Mike10487]

I played a member/guest today at John's Island West course. I collected my 5th Hole-in-one. I was using the Callaway Chrome tour X from the "white box" testing.  It is a really good ball!

[MuniGolfer]

Played our par 3 course, holes from 57-176 yards, with the Chrome Tour in very windy conditions. I was very impressed with the performance. However, one thing that made me a little worried was down wind with the lower spinning ball. I hit a knock down wedge, and it reacted more like a flyer. Ended up about 25 yards longer than I expected. Now, it was blowing in the 10-20mph range, so it’s tough to say it wasn’t just bad wind management on my part, but it felt strange. Like it went a lot longer than the strike and ball flight would have dictated. I have not been able to play regular 9 hole rounds with each ball yet, it’s been a busy couple weeks. Hopefully this week .

[Jim Shaw]

12 hours ago, Mike10487 said:

I played a member/guest today at John's Island West course. I collected my 5th Hole-in-one. I was using the Callaway Chrome tour X from the "white box" testing.  It is a really good ball!

congratulations on your hole in one, way to go...

[Rob Person]

13 hours ago, Mike10487 said:

I played a member/guest today at John's Island West course. I collected my 5th Hole-in-one. I was using the Callaway Chrome tour X from the "white box" testing.  It is a really good ball!

That's awesome! Congrats.... again!!!

[Erin B]

13 hours ago, Mike10487 said:

I played a member/guest today at John's Island West course. I collected my 5th Hole-in-one. I was using the Callaway Chrome tour X from the "white box" testing.  It is a really good ball!

Great job!

[Indy_Oz]

13 hours ago, Mike10487 said:

I played a member/guest today at John's Island West course. I collected my 5th Hole-in-one. I was using the Callaway Chrome tour X from the "white box" testing.  It is a really good ball!

Congrats on the HiO! 5!? Wow. I'm yet to have one. I've had an albatross once, in the 90s.  That was very cool, but on a solo practice round.

[MuniGolfer]

Finally got 9 in with the CT. I am liking this ball more and more. It was LONG, wind performance is amazing, and I am really enjoying the triple track when putting. Here are my stats:

I scored terribly, and lost a full sleeve of CTs, but that had nothing to do with the ball. I picked really poor targets on approach that rewarded me with penalties. The two times I was able to hit driver, very tight course with lots of water, the ball was arrow straight. Just falls to the right, for me, at the end of its flight. 

 One other thing I am loving with this ball, is the sound off of metal woods. It sounds good off the irons too, but the feel and sound from the longer clubs is very smooth and powerful. 

The only problem with it is, if you like to work the ball, don’t expect a lot of movement. This is preferred for me, as I generally prefer a mostly straight flight, just falling right or left, depending on the shot. 

I am hoping to get the CTx out for a 9 hole round and another par 3 trial before I post my final review and decide which is going in my bag for this year.