• An above average junior golfer would benefit the most the Chrome Tour golf ball (most expensive).

1. What’s in a golf ball?

 

 

“Factora – How Golf Balls are Made – Youtube”

Club Champion - Does Ball Compression Matter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4Zaub7clf8

Today’s Golfer – Robot Golf Balls Test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4hgq3XZLvQ

 

 

Wilson Golf - Golf Ball Compression & Distance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdRh-rd-Mq0

 

2. Expert in Field

 

Tory Nilson, Southern AB Callaway Golf Canada Representative, e-mail reply:

 

From: Tory Nilson <Tory.Nilson@callawaygolf.com>
Date: March 10, 2025 at 8:05:57 PM MDT
To: sam spy2022 <shw92020@gmail.com>
Cc: Chris Wu <wu_christopher@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE:  Re: Callaway Balls – Grade 8 Calgary Youth Science Fair



Hi Samuel,

 

Thank you for this, looks like you kept very detailed notes during your testing.     It’s pretty interesting isn’t it?  I think once you start to understand the dynamics of each shot type you will be able to explain even more to your judges.

 

Looking at your shot information below I would agree that the Chrome Soft would probably be the leading ball for you based on your current conditions.    I do know that as you get bigger and swing faster these will change, and your ball will need to change with it.    Our engineers are the best in the world, as they have a very difficult job to do.   If you think about it, you are telling a Golf ball to think and do 2 different things (1) Fly long and straight, (2) Spin and stop on the green!!  Telling a rubber ball to think takes a lot of engineering and testing.  

 

When we are fitting, we look at a few additional measurements to help determine the best fit for a player.    I have listed a couple of those below with some descriptions. 

 

Swing Speed (MPH) – How fast the club comes through impact. 

Ball Speed (MPH) – How fast the ball comes off the face, we usually say that 1mph of ball speed equals 2.5yards.

• Cool fact, when Xander Schauffele switched to the Chrome Tour he gained 3mph on his driver just by changing the ball!!  And then won 2 Major Championships with it. 

Launch – The angle that the ball comes off the face of the club

Backspin – The ball has dimples to grab the air and stay in flight.  A ball with No dimples will not fly and kind looks like a topped tee shot.  Sometimes you can have “not enough” spin, or you can have “too much” spin so that is why we use the launch monitors to help optimize this area.  This unit of measurement is Revolutions per Minute or RPM

 

Understanding a few of the above measurements will also help clarify why you were having some balls react so differently for each shot you were hitting.  Being you are testing golf balls only I would encourage you to maybe research what spin does on a Driver and on a PW shot.  It will help you explain why some balls go further and others spin more.   We usually say this…”Soft Balls Fly, Firm Balls Spin”

 

What we say for driver is you usually want a shot that has “High Launch & Low Spin”.  If your interested in some more understanding of Launch conditions you can research at https://www.foresightsports.com/blogs/golf-tips/how-to-optimize-driver-distance-based-on-swing-speed. 

 

For some additional product information on the full family you can check out the information below, this chart explains the Chrome family in a little more detail.  The Supersoft golf ball is a 2-piece ball, so because of that players who are best to play that model are recreational players who love a soft feel and want great performance at a very approachable price. 

 

The links below are also some great spots that have much more product information and videos too that you can reference. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PewADQ7zpSw – Chrome Tour

https://callawaymedia.com/portfolio/chrome-family-product-training/ - This is a product training site that use to help train golf pros and fitters.

https://www.callawaygolf.ca/en/custom-fitting/online-ball-selector/ - Online Ball Selector Tool

 

 

2 critical golf clubs in determining best ball to use:

(Research by companies regarding types of golf balls typically test the driver and wedge clubs.  The putter has not shown to make a significant difference with different types of balls.) 

           

Location On Each Hole	Golf Club Used	Purpose	Variable
Start	Driver	Hit golf ball as far as possible	Distance
Approach to the Green	Iron – Pitching         Wedge	Hit golf ball to green as close to hole as possible	Carry distance Roll Backspin   (Above determines proper spin to hit green by the hole and stay on green)

1. Go to Golf Tech
2. Use golf simulator and hit a ball with the driver club (Ping G812 - 15 degree loft).
3. Quickly take photo of results screen before it disappears.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3, nine more times (do not use data from any poor shots).
5. Use golf simulator and hit a ball with the wedge club (Ping Prodigy wedge -50 degree loft).
6. Quickly take photo of results screen before it disappears.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6, nine more times (do not use data from any poor shots).
8. When finished, enter results into Excel and make graphs of data.

 

1. General

• Some golf balls had better results than other because of the different number of pieces (layers), design of core, and shell material.  This information is usually not shared in detail by companies because it’s classified information.

 

 

2. With Driver Club:

• Chrome Tour X had longer carry distance than all the other balls
• Super Soft was lacking total distance

 

3. With Wedge Club:

• Chrome Tour had least amount of roll, a desired outcome for golfers.
• Super Soft had too much roll

 

4. With both clubs:

• The Chrome Soft (3-piece/layers) performed the best because it had best total distance for driver and least roll for wedge.  It wasn’t too hard (like the 4-piece: Chrome Tour and Chrome Tour X) or too soft (the 2-piece: Super Soft).
• The feel of Chrome Tour and Chrome Tour X had harder feel than the Super Soft and Chrome Soft.

See attachment for plots and bar charts

Conclusion

For an above average junior golfer (mid 20s handicap), the Chrome Soft is the champion. 

 

It has the longest total distance using the driver club and performs well when using the wedge club due to limited roll (total distance minus carry distance).

The worst option is the Super Soft ball because with the driver club it didn’t have a lot of total distance and with the wedge it rolled too much.

Application

• This information can help golfers pick the best ball for their skill level to yield the best results for their golf game, particularly an above average junior golfer (mid 20s handicap).

Sources of Error

• Yardage measurement is not the most accurate with a simulator

• https://www.snellgolf.com/pages/key-technologies?srsltid=AfmBOoq_UvUfHWSs7DCcOym0pBjCYyJSSrhiZViB63Fc-Z79jssp_RLB

Key Golf Ball Technologies - Snell Golf The golf ball can be constructed many ways, but the ball is primarily structured out of 4 elements that can be changed to affect performance. They consist of the core, mantle, cover, and dimple pattern. Here is a an explanation of the key technology elements of the golf ball: CORE: The core is the engine of the golf ba www.snellgolf.com

• https://golfweek.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2024/01/03/callaway-chrome-tour-chrome-tour-x-chrome-soft-balls-2024/76364644007/

• 	Scottie Scheffler recaps round 1 at the 2025 Genesis Invitational Gear: Callaway Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour X, Chrome Soft balls (2024) Price: $54.99 pe golfweek.usatoday.com

Acknowledgements

• Dad (Professional Engineer, M.Eng, B.APSC) for supporting in project (e.g. teaching how to enter data in Excel and graph)
• Expert in Field (Tory Nilson, Southern Alberta Callaway Golf Representative)
• Ryan Fitzpatrick (Assistant Golf Professional – Junior Coordinator)
• Dale Pliva (Callaway Staff Golfer – Co-Junior Coordinator)