Tag: best new golf balls 2024

TaylorMade’s Performance Decision Kit could be a great golf ball fitting option, but you can’t buy it

This is exactly what many golfers need.

With its namesake mountain looming in the background, twilight descending, and the empty, emerald-green fairway laid out in front of me, the 18th hole at Superstition Mountain Golf Club in Golf Canyon, Arizona, was the perfect place to have a little fun.

No one else was around that evening, so I dropped five or six three-ball sleeves of the newest golf balls on the ground and started hitting approach shots, pitch shots and chip shots until darkness made it too hard to see. I made little notes on a pad about how each ball felt and flew, how much it appeared to spin (I didn’t have a launch monitor), checked-up on the green and which balls seemed to end up closest to the hole.

It was the first time I’d really tested golf balls, and it has become a yearly ritual that starts my season every year, although, sadly, Central Connecticut is not as pretty as the Arizona desert in late March.

I have encouraged Golfweek readers to buy three-ball packs of newly released balls at the start of every season and test them against the ball they currently play on several occasions, so when I recently received TaylorMade’s Performance Decision Kit, I thought a brand had finally made the job of ball testing a little easier. Inside the box were six two-ball packs of each urethane-covered ball in the 2024 TaylorMade stable: TP5, TP5 Pix, TP5x, TP5x Pix, Tour Response and Tour Response Stripe.

One box, three different balls in both white and in each ball’s visual-technology version.

TaylorMade Performance Decision Kit
The TaylorMade Performance Decision Kit includes six two-ball packs of TaylorMade balls. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

But when I reached out to TaylorMade to find out when the Performance Decision Kit was going on sale to the public, I got the bad news: This unique box will not go on sale to consumers. It was created for select members of the media and influencers to make them aware of TaylorMade’s new offerings for 2024.

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I recently went to TaylorMade’s golf ball manufacturing plant in Liberty, South Carolina. I have also visited Callaway’s facility in Chicopee, Massachusetts, along with Titleist’s golf ball plant in New Bedford, Massachusetts, several times. These state-of-the-art facilities turn out millions of dozen boxes of golf balls every year thanks to lots of proprietary systems, customized machines and other automated processes. The assembly lines are built to make thousands of the same ball at a time, paint them, number them, add them to sleeves and then get those sleeves into dozen-ball boxes.

I assume creating something like the TaylorMade Performance Decision Kit involves a level of small-batch work that would be difficult to do at scale. In fact, it would likely fall to the custom golf ball department that handles corporate orders and other small-batch projects. Still, that doesn’t mean I don’t want TaylorMade and other brands to make dozens of boxes like this available to everyone.

For the last 20 years, the percentage of golfers who buy their clubs after going through a custom fitting season has dramatically increased because while a good-quality custom fitting session can take time, the result is a club that is ideally suited for the player. Once players go through a fitting for a driver or irons, they never buy “off the rack” again. Custom fitting for putters and wedges still lag behind woods and irons, but those numbers are going to climb.

Golf ball fittings? Almost no recreational golfers get fit for the ball they use, which is why a multi-ball pack sold as a fitting tool is something we need. It would make the process easier if you could buy a dozen box and get a sleeve of:

Any time I talk with a brand about helping golfers find the right clubs, they all say custom fitting is the key. If you don’t get custom fit for your woods, irons, wedges or putter, you are almost certainly leaving some performance behind. The same thing holds true with golf balls.

Unfortunately, TaylorMade’s Performance Decision Kit may be an example of a great idea that is not ready to become a reality for most golfers.

TaylorMade TP5 Pix, TP5x Pix (2024)

Updated designs on the cover help golfers clearly see how the ball is rolling on the greens.

Gear: TaylorMade TP5 Pix, TP5x Pix (2024)
Price: $54.99 per dozen
Specs: Five-piece construction with cast urethane cover

Who it’s For: Golfers who want visual cues about the quality of their putting strokes and roll on the greens without sacrificing elite performance.

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The Skinny: The Pix golf balls perform identically to TaylorMade’s 2024 TP5 and TP5x balls, but updated designs added to the cover help golfers clearly see how the ball is rolling on the greens.

The Deep Dive: For decades, non-white golf balls were few and far between, with a handful of players opting to use high-visibility yellow or orange balls while playing partners snickered behind their backs. Tradition ruled, and golf doesn’t break from tradition easily.

Times have changed, and attitudes toward non-white golf balls have shifted dramatically. In 2024, TaylorMade anticipates selling more non-white golf balls than traditional all-white golf balls for the first time. While the MySymbol program allows for freedom of expression and personalization, the Pix balls are going to account for a significant percentage of TaylorMade’s non-white-ball increase.

The original TP5 and TP5x Pix balls were initially designed with the help of researchers at the University of Indiana in 2019. It was revealed at that time that we see a two-colored pattern more effectively and track it more easily than with a single color, so the X-shaped Pix markings were red and yellow. The Pix markings were updated in 2021 with the help of Rickie Fowler, who likes to draw a line on his golf ball. The new design allowed for that and created a clear path of white that made it easy to see if the roll a player created with his putting stroke was ideal.

SHOP: TaylorMade TP5 Pix & TP5X Pix golf balls

TaylorMade TP5 Pix
The TaylorMade TP5x Pix and TP5 Pix for 2024. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

For 2024, the TP5 Pix and TP5x Pix remain identical to their all-white (or all-yellow) counterparts, with each ball having a soft core that is encased in three mantle layers and a cast urethane cover for extra greenside spin. However, the triangular black and orange design has been replaced with a diamond shape that has the orange areas on the inside area and the black pieces on the outside. Now, when you make a high-quality putting stroke, a white path is created in the center, and black stripes are formed on the outside as the ball rolls. If you swing across the ball as you putt or make a non-solid strike, the orange and black diamonds will blur and immediately provide you with visual feedback.

TaylorMade also made the side stamp and the lines that extend off it longer, so if players want to use it as an alignment aid instead of drawing a line on the ball, it will be easier to use.

TaylorMade TP5x Pix, TP5 Pix
The TP5x Pix has orange numbers, while the TP5 Pix has black numbers. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

“Tommy Fleetwood is playing a Pix ball, not just because he likes the performance of the ball,” said Mike Fox, TaylorMade’s senior category director for golf balls. “He’s using it because it makes him a better putter.”

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM TP5 Pix golf balls” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/QyrGBz”]

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM TP5x Pix golf balls” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/rQ30VB”]

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TaylorMade TP5, TP5x balls (2024)

According to TaylorMade, this core additive has never been used in golf balls.

Gear: TaylorMade TP5, TP5x balls (2024)
Price: $54.99 per dozen
Specs: Five-piece, urethane-covered golf balls available in white, yellow and Pix patterns.
Available: February 15

Who It’s For: Golfers who want an elite combination of distance off the tee and with long irons, plus greenside spin and a softer feel.

The Skinny: Adding a new material to the core of the 2024 TP5 and TP5x balls allowed TaylorMade to decouple the relationship between speed and feel, so its most-premium balls could each be made faster but feel softer.

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The Deep Dive: Historically, the two things that golfers want the most from a golf ball — more speed and better feel — have worked against each other. Manufacturers have worked with different materials and different manufacturing techniques to create better golf balls, but to get more speed, they have traditionally increased compression and produced firmer-feeling balls. Softer, better-feeling balls with lower compressions were more satisfying to hit, but that softer feel typically came at the expense of speed.

After taking three years instead of the typical two years to release an update to the 2021 TP5 and TP5x balls, TaylorMade feels that it has decoupled the old relationship between speed and feel and developed a way to give players more of both. 

Working with Dow Chemical, TaylorMade has added a material it calls Speed Wrap to the rubber in the core of the TP5 and TP5x. According to TaylorMade, this core additive has never been used in golf balls before but changes the way the ball sounds when you hit it, producing a softer, deeper sound. 

Golfweek had a chance to tour TaylorMade’s golf ball factory in Liberty, South Carolina, in late 2023, where TP5 and TP5x cores are turned into balls. When a TaylorMade representative dropped an old core and a new core on the ground and bounced them, the difference in sound was immediately apparent. The 2021 core produced a higher-pitched, clicking sound, while the 2024 core with the Speed Wrap additive sounded quieter and almost muffled.

TaylorMade TP5 (2024)
The five-layer TaylorMade TP5 for 2024. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The Speed Wrap additive makes the balls sound and feel softer, but it does not make the new TP5 and TP5x balls faster. However, TaylorMade golf ball designers were able to make the cores in the 2024 TP5 and TP5x balls firmer, which gives them more speed, while the Speed Wrap softens the sound and feel produced at impact. The result, for most golfers, is a faster ball that also feels and sounds better.

Beyond changing the composition of the core in the TP5 and TP5x balls, TaylorMade has also updated the three mantle layers that encase the core. Each of the mantles has a different level of firmness, with the firmness increasing as one layer is added over another. The change in the level of compression, referred to as the delta, in the TP5 is about 53. The compression delta of the TP5x is 71.

On full-swing shots like drivers and 3-woods off the tee, the blunt strike from the club sends energy into the ball, through the mantle layers and into the core, activating it to generate speed and reduce spin. Full-swing shots hit with your short irons and wedges, which have more loft, make the balls behave differently. In those cases, the soft urethane cover can easily be grabbed by the grooves. Along with the added loft, it helps to create more spin for added control. On delicate chips and pitch shots, the core may not be activated at all, but the softness of the urethane cover layer again helps players generate more spin and control.

While both the 2024 TP5 and TP5x have a softer feel than their predecessors, the TP5 should still feel softer than the TP5x because it has a lower overall compression. The TP5x should provide players with more speed with wood and long irons because it is firmer, and it will generate a higher launch angle, too. The TP5, however, is designed to create slightly more spin than the TP5x with wedges.

TaylorMade TP5x (2024)
The five-layer TaylorMade TP5x golf ball. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

TaylorMade’s tour staff has added the new balls to their bag quickly, with Rory McIlroy experimenting with the TP5 early in 2024 before opting to play the standard TP5x and winning his fourth Dubai Desert Classic on January 21. LPGA Tour star Brooke Henderson also added the 2024 TP5x to her bag earlier this season.

Bridgestone Tour B Mindset balls aim to improve your preparation and quiet your inner voice on the course

The system can help develop a routine to turn your brain off when overthinking can get in the way.

It’s incredible how many things you can think about in the time it takes between starting your downswing and making contact with the ball. In reality, it’s only a fraction of a second, but you can notice the stretching of a golf cart’s tires two holes away, see subtle movement of a shadow near your ball and suddenly remember a tip you overhead in the clubhouse about swinging up on drives to get more distance. Before you finish your follow-through and spot the ball, you know it’s gone, sliced into the woods like three other brain-dead shots you’ve hit off the tee that day.

With the release of the Mindset pattern on its new Tour B family of golf balls for 2024, Bridgestone is trying to help golfers — both recreational players and elite competitors — adopt a system that can help them develop a routine to turn their brain off when overthinking can get in the way of hitting good shots.

Developed with the help of Jason Day and his mental-game coach, Jason Goldsmith, the Mindset pattern is comprised of three circles and a series of three small arrows, with each part of the pattern representing a step in the pre-shot process.

The large red circle represents the time before the shot when you consider things like the hole location, hazards, the wind direction and where you want to hit your next shots. Inside that circle is a smaller yellow circle, which represents the time when you want to envision what that shot will look like. If you have ever seen Jason Day on television closing his eyes for a few seconds before hitting, this is what he’s doing, imagining what hitting his desired shot will feel like and how it will look.

Bridgestone Tour B Mindset
The Bridgestone Tour B Mindset ball is designed to help golfers improve their pre-shot process and quiet their thoughts as they play shots. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

After going through those steps, golfers should focus on the green dot in the pattern, the smallest circle, and stop thinking. The idea is you want to consider all of the analytical things that will go into an intelligent shot, allow your body and mind to think about what hitting that shot will be like, and then mentally get out of the way and let it happen.

“What Mindset is actually doing is trying to get the amateur prepared to hit the best possible shot they can hit,” Day said. “You’re setting up these steps for an amateur golfer to be able to perform from tee to green so much better.”

The arrows in the Mindset logo allow players to line up the ball on the greens before putts and use the logo as an alignment aid while also lining up the ball when they tee off.

Aside from the mindset side stamp, the Mindset golf balls are identical to the other just-released Bridgestone Tour B X, Tour B XS, Tour B RX and Tour B RXS balls, and if all of this feels a little too Kumbaya-inner-peace-zen for your taste, consider this: In testing with accomplished golfers, Bridgestone reports that golfers who were told about the Mindset process and used Mindset balls in a study averaged over 4 mph more ball speed and 12 yards more carry distance than when they used all-white golf balls. On the greens, golfers made five percent more putts using a Mindset ball than a black, all-white ball from 10 feet. The improved performance is attributed to golfers trusting the preparation process and then being more relaxed and free when they swing.

Bridgestone Tour B Mindset golf balls should be in stores starting February 16 for $49.99 per dozen.

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Bridgestone Tour B X, Tour B XS, Tour B RX and Tour B RXS golf balls

The 2024 Bridgestone Tou B balls provide distance off tee, spin around the green and come in four versions.

Gear: Bridgestone Tour B X, Tour B XS, Tour B RX and Tour B RXS golf balls
Price: $49.99 per dozen
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered golf balls in white and yellow
Available: February 16 (White and Tour B X TW), March 15 (Yellow X and RX

Who It’s For: Golfers who want more distance off the tee and tour-level greenside spin.

The Skinny: Bridgestone has modified the casing layer of the Tour B balls to help them generate more speed while complementing the unique urethane cover that provides more spin around the greens.

The Deep Dive: For golfers who may not be aware, Bridgestone has been making solid-core, urethane-covered golf balls as long as any brand in the industry, and the Nike golf ball that Tiger Woods used to win four consecutive majors (the Tiger Slam) was manufactured by Bridgestone. Nick Price won the British Open and PGA Championships using a Bridgestone ball, Nick Faldo won at Augusta National with a Bridgestone, and, more recently, Tiger won the 2019 Masters, and Bryson DeChambeau won at Winged Foot in 2020 using a Bridgestone ball.

Since 2020, the Japanese brand has focused on contact science, studying how different combinations of materials can enhance speed and distance off the tee while also providing more greenside spin and control for different types of players. The addition of impact modifiers to create the Reactiv cover of the 2020 Tour B X, Tour B XS, Tour B RX and Tour B RXS four years ago was the first fruit of that labor, followed by the ReactivIQ covers that were uniquely created for each ball in the 2022 Toru B lineup. Now, for 2024, Bridgestone is claiming it has taken another step toward creating the Holy Grail of golf balls by developing the new ReactivX system.

The ReactivX system is comprised of two parts: an Xclrnt mid-layer (pronounced accelerant) and a ReactivIQ urethane cover.

Instead of using multiple cores inside each of the four Tour B balls, Bridgestone has designed a gradational core that is very soft in the center and gradually gets firmer toward the perimeter. A firm mid-layer (mantle) is then applied over the core, but in the 2024 Tour B balls, that casing layer does a better job of transferring energy into ball speed.

The new Xclrnt mid-layer is also more dense, so golfers like Tiger and Jason Day, who started testing and using the ball in 2023, reported it has a lower, deeper sound at impact.

A ReactivIQ urethane cover encases the Xclrnt mid-layer, with the exact cover-material blend for each ball being slightly different. By using different combinations of impact modifiers, Bridgestone designers can make the urethane behave differently under different conditions. The cover behaves and feels firmer when hit with your longer, faster-swinging clubs like your driver and long irons but feels softer when you hit it with wedges.

Here is a breakdown of the four Tour B balls for 2024 and who each has been made for:

Titleist AVX golf balls (2024)

The new AVX provides more greenside spin without sacrificing its low spin and soft feel.

Gear: Titleist AVX golf balls (2024)
Price: $49.99 per dozen
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered golf balls. Available in White and Yellow.
Available: January 24

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Who It’s For: Golfers who want a softer feel, lower flight and less spin than a Pro V1 without sacrificing greenside spin. 

The Skinny: The updated AVX has a new gradational core and a softer, thicker urethane cover to give it enhanced greenside spin, a lower flight and less spin with long irons.

The Deep Dive: With several premium golf balls in its portfolio, including the top-selling Pro V1 and Pro V1x (which do not change for 2024), Titleist designers and engineers were given very clear instructions when it came to developing an update to the AVX ball. The new alternative to the X and V ball needed to be longer from tee to green, but the bigger task was to make it feel softer while giving it more greenside spin. 

To achieve those goals in the new 2024 AVX, Titleist started by making the gradational core – which is extremely soft in the center and gets progressively firmer toward the perimeter – slightly smaller. The 2022 AVX also had a gradational core, but the firmness change in the 2024 ball is more substantial, making it more like a multi-core construction in a single-core ball.

Titleist AVX 2024
The Titleist AVX ball for 2024. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

A firm casing layer (which is the dark ring around the purple core in the photo above) covers the core. That firm material over the soft core is the key to effective energy transfer on wood and long-iron shots. The casing layer also helps to reduce spin when the ball is hit with a less-lofted, more-vertically-faced club like a driver, fairway wood or long iron. The result is more distance with lower spin off the tee and from the fairway with long clubs.

However, on short-iron shots and wedge shots, when the clubhead speed is lower and the impact is made with a more lofted club, the updated AVX’s softer urethane and thicker cover, which is on top of the firm casing layer, can easily be grabbed by the grooves to generate spin. The softer, thicker urethane cover also helps to make the AVX feel softer at impact, even though the ball’s overall compression (80) has not changed.

Knowing that Titleist wanted to keep the AVX’s playing relationship with its other balls about the same, designers knew they needed to give the 2024 AVX a low-spin dimple pattern, but they wanted it to be better than the pattern on the 2022 ball. Ultimately, they chose a quadrilateral dipyramid catenary design (say that five times fast!) that had previously been used in the two-piece, distance-oriented Tour Soft balls. On the 2024 AVX, the cover pattern makes it more stable in the wind. 

So where does AVX fit into the Titleist golf ball stable?

  • AVX spins less off the tee than Pro V1 and Pro V1x
  • AVX should have a lower launch angle than Pro V1 and Pro V1x.
  • AVX will feel softer at impact than Pro V1 and Pro V1x.
  • While the new AVX should generate more greenside spin than its predecessor, the Pro V1 and Pro V1x will spin more around the green and with short irons.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4 category=1364]

Srixon Q-Star Tour, Q-Star Tour Divide golf balls

Srixon modified the core, updated the dimple pattern and softened the cover of its Q-Star Tour balls.

Gear: Srixon Q-Star Tour, Q-Star Tour Divide golf balls
Price: $39.99 per dozen
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered ball with 74 compression. Available in white, yellow and two-color Divide versions in yellow-blue, yellow/red and yellow/orange.
Available: Jan. 11

Who They’re For: Moderate- and slower-swinging golfers who want distance off the tee and extra spin around the green.

The Skinny: By modifying the core, updating the dimple pattern to improve aerodynamics and softening the cover, Srixon’s updated Q-Star Tour ball aims to provide soft feel, solid distance and more spin around the greens for recreational golfers.

The Deep Dive: When a pro golfer like Brooks Koepka or Keegan Bradley hits a shot, it stays hit. These major winners generate elite levels of clubhead speed, and they strike tee shots and iron shots solidly almost every time. When it comes to a golf ball, they demand something that can handle their speed and maximize their skills.

Recreational golfers, however, don’t typically generate a clubhead speed of 120 mph, and the firm balls elite golfers gravitate to often feel too hard for players who shoot in the 80s, 90s, and 100s. Instead, weekend players want a soft-feeling ball that provides distance off the tee and spin around the greens, and with the fifth generation of the Q-Star Tour, that is what Srixon aims to deliver.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Srixon Q-Star Tour golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/3e0OMX”]

Srixon Q-Star Tour
Srixon Q-Star Tour for 2024. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Srixon has made three significant changes to the Q-Star Tour for 2024, starting with the core, which is gradational. The core, which Srixon calls a Fast Layer Core, transitions from soft in the center to firmer around the outside. This design allows the Q-Star Tour to behave like a multi-core ball and transfer energy from a moderate swing to the center more efficiently. 

The core is encased in a firm mantle layer, which in turn is encased by a soft, ultra-thin urethane cover. Srixon used a softer urethane in this generation of the Q-Star Tour, so the grooves in wedges and short irons should be able to grab it more effectively and generate more spin on greenside shots and on shots hit with scoring clubs.

To further enhance spin around the green, Srixon applies a unique coating called Spin Skin to each ball. It gives the Q-Star Tour a slightly rubbery feel and does not affect tee or iron shots. On shortgame and wedge shots, however, the coating amplifies the friction between the grooves and the urethane cover.

Finally, the cover has been designed with a new 338-dimple pattern that is more aerodynamic, produces less drag and encourages lift. That combination of high launch, less drag and more ball speed should result in more overall distance for recreational players. 

Srixon Q-Star Tour Divide
The Srixon Q-Star Tour Divide for 2024. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

In addition to traditional white and yellow, the Q-Star Tour is available in three Divide combinations. The Divide balls have yellow on one half of the ball and another color (red, orange or blue) on the other. The Divide design can be used as an alignment aid while putting and also shows how much spin the ball has on short-game shots. Many golfers also use Divide balls as training aids to hone their putting stroke.

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[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Srixon Q-Star Tour Divide golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/NkyPYv”]

Titleist TruFeel golf balls (2024)

Titleist updated the core and made the cover softer on its TruFeel balls for 2024.

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Gear: Titleist TruFeel golf balls (2024)
Price: $24.99 per dozen
Specs: Two-piece, ionomer-covered golf balls. Available in white, yellow (March) and matte red (May).
Available: Jan. 24

Who They’re For: Golfers who want more distance from a budget-friendly ball.

The Skinny: Titleist updated the core and made the cover softer and thicker on the latest version of the TruFeel to give players more distance off the tee and spin around the green from a ball that won’t break the bank.

The Deep Dive: Around the offices in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, Titleist golf ball engineers and designers have a saying: “A ball has to earn the script.” That script refers to the flowing Titleist logo.

Balls such as the Pro V1 and Pro V1x, which typically cost about $50 per dozen, do that by delivering elite levels of distance off the tee and spin around the green. However, Titleist balls sold at half that price still need to provide performance and be the best ball Titleist can offer in that lower price range.

The Titleist TruFeel made its debut in September 2019 and took the place of the DT TruSoft. It was updated in 2022 and now has been updated for 2024.

Titleist TruFeel golf balls
The Titleist TruFeel golf ball has a massive core. (Titleist)

The latest version of TruFeel has a newly formulated core that Titleist calls TruTouch. While it is slightly smaller than the core in the previous TruFeel ball, it still helps golfers generate more ball speed for good distance off the tee.

The benefit of going with a smaller core is it allowed Titleist to make the TruFlex cover, which is made from a blend of ionomer and softening polymers, slightly thicker. The softer cover can be grabbed by the grooves of wedges and short irons more easily, so the 2024 TruFeel should give players more greenside spin and control.

Finally, Titleist gave TruFeel an aerodynamic dimple pattern and cover design that helps it create a low, penetrating ball flight for people with moderate swing speeds. The cover design should also help golfers who typically generate excessive spin hit straighter, longer shots. 

Callaway Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour X, Chrome Soft balls (2024)

Callaway’s Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour X and Chrome Soft offer tour-level spin around the greens and maximum distance off the tee.

Gear: Callaway Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour X, Chrome Soft balls (2024)
Price: $54.99 per dozen
Specs: Four-piece, urethane-covered balls (Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour X); three-piece, urethane-covered ball (Chrome Soft)
Available: Feb. 2

Who They’re For: Golfers who want tour-level spin around the greens and maximum distance off the tee.

The Skinny: Callaway has updated the core formulation, mantle layers, cover material and aerodynamics of its premium balls. Combined with a broad range of compressions and softness, they provide several options for golfers who want distance off the tee and spin around the greens.

The Deep Dive: For years Callaway, more than any other brand, has associated itself with premium golf balls that feel soft when you hit them. Names such as Chrome Soft, Chrome Soft X and Chrome Soft X LS set expectations in every player’s mind, but in some cases those names didn’t precisely match how the balls performed. For example, the Chrome Soft X LS had a compression in the low 90s, giving it a firm feeling, and labeling it as a low-spin ball may have confused some players into thinking it did not create ample greenside spin. With a thin urethane cover and firm outer-mantle layer, it created enough spin to be Xander Schauffele’s ball of choice in 2022.

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In 2023, Schauffele used a prototype version of the Chrome Tour, one of three updated offerings for 2024. Eric Van Rooyan also won the World Wide Technology Championship in November using the prototype ball.

Here is everything you need to know about the new Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour X and Chrome Soft balls.