Equipment

Callaway Chrome Soft: Building a better golf ball

Published

5 years ago

Jul 14, 2021

“Changing a tire on a bus while it’s moving.” That’s how Callaway’s Norm Smith, Vice President, Global Manufacturing, Engineering, and Quality at Callaway describes the never-ending process of upgrading and improving operations while continuing to produce golf balls and equipment to satisfy current demand — which, for Callaway, like the rest of the golf equipment world, is at record highs.

While Smith oversees operations, including Callaway’s Chicopee, Massachusetts, ball plant, which produces all the company’s Chrome Soft and Truvis golf balls, Jason Finley, Callaway’s Global Director Product Strategy, Golf Ball and his team are locked into the 18-month process of developing the next generation of the company’s flagship ball offerings.

This delicate dance can take the form of identifying opportunities to bring new products to market — such as this year’s Chrome Soft X LS golf ball — researching new technologies — such as graphene, which Callaway uses in the core of Chrome Soft balls — and looking at every element of the previous product to see what can be optimized and enhanced.

In developing the current Chrome Soft line, engineers were faced with the challenge of taking a product that has done well both on tour and at retail and determining what can be improved upon. This process relies on feedback from everyone from tour pros to retail consumers and a look at the Chrome Soft line through the lens of a few questions: What tools do we have at our disposal? How can we make it faster? How can we optimize spin? How do we cater to a range of spin profiles? How do we increase quality?

According to Norm Smith, Callaway’s well-documented Chicopee ball plant upgrades have included night-and-day changes in just the past six months. More broadly, in recent years, from start to finish, the entire process and the machines involved therein have been assessed and upgraded. Indeed, the company has improvements to the packaging operation in its sites next as it is both literally and figuratively the end of the Chrome Soft production process.

In addition to new cover molding equipment, Truvis equipment, and paint lines, as we detailed in this piece, Callaway’s $60 million-plus investment in the Chicopee ball plant includes.

State-of-the-art rubber mixer: This giant mixer is a four-story tall machine built for absolute precision mixing batch after batch. It precisely measures chemical compounds and polymers needed to build each layer. It also regulates multiple parameters during the process to make sure the final product meets strict quality control measures.
New 3D X-Ray system: If for some reason a bad golf ball gets past the first steps of the quality control process without fault, the 3D X-Ray system will prevent it from going any further. As Callaway has stated, “these machines can’t make the ball pieces more centered, but it prevents ones that aren’t from ever leaving the plant.”
New core-molding tools: Balls are built from the core out, and without consistency, the rest of the pieces don’t quite matter as much. Even with automation already a huge part of the process, Callaway is adding more to not only help respond to ever-growing demand but to ensure quality core to core.

Now, a refresher on the Chrome Soft line being produced in western Massachusetts.

Chrome Soft

Callaway’s latest Chrome Soft golf ball features a Dual SoftFast Core with a 34 percent larger volume inner core. It’s also equipped with a thinner, graphene-infused outer core for better wedge spin and faster ball speed.

Beyond the Dual SoftFast Core, inside the Chrome Soft is a new mantle system made of proprietary, high-energy ionomer to promote fast ball speed.

Chrome Soft’s 10 percent thinner urethane cover is designed to promote less spin on full shots and added distance — without sacrificing soft feel and excellent greenside spin and control.

The final element of the new Chrome soft is a new lower drag aerodynamic dimple pattern that promotes higher launch, higher flight, and ultimately, longer distance.

Lower spinning than the Chrome Soft X, the Chrome Soft is the highest launching, softest ball in Callaway’s CS lineup.

Chrome Soft X

Designed to promote faster ball speed, the Chrome Soft X ball contains a significantly larger SoftFast core than its predecessor, and a 15 percent thinner cover to produces lower spin on full shots (and added distance).

Inside the Chrome Soft X is a new mantle system combines a softer inner mantle with a firmer outer mantle. Both elements feature proprietary ionomer blends.

This firm outer mantle works with the a new, thinner cover that yields increased greenside spin and control. A lower drag aerodynamic dimple pattern is also new in the Chrome Soft X. It is designed to produce penetrating flight and longer distance.

Higher spinning than the Chrome Soft with driver and irons, the Chrome Soft X features the highest wedge and greenside spin and is more workable overall, in addition to offering a firmer feel.

Chrome Soft X LS

The most recent addition to the lineup, the Chrome Soft X LS features four-piece, single-core construction engineered to increase speed through a SoftFast Core, a Dual Mantle System, and a refined urethane cover.

According to Callaway, players see a 300-400 rpm decrease in spin from the X with the LS ball on mid-irons.

The LS contains a significantly larger high-speed core design that aims to provide more distance through the bag. It functions in concert with the mantle system to deliver high resilience and speed.

The Chrome Soft X LS is equipped with a thin proprietary urethane cover for high spin, low launch, and excellent feel in a player’s scoring clubs — without sacrificing greenside control.

Higher launching with driver and irons than the Chrome Soft X, the LS is, not surprisingly, lower spinning than the Chrome Soft X across the board while offering similar feel.

The Callaway Chrome Soft family of golf balls are at retail for $47.99 per dozen. All three models are available with Callaway’s Triple Track Technology.

Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

Published

5 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.

Equipment

TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available

Published

5 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.

The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.

One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.

See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:

MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

8 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.