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5 things you didn’t know about Callaway golf balls

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Not to downplay the science and engineering behind making golf clubs, but there’s an extra-impressive complexity in the chemistry and precision necessary to make golf balls, especially when you’re making them by the millions.

There’s also an impressively off-putting, rotten-egg-like smell that emits from a golf ball factory that awakens the nostrils.

Recently, I headed to Callaway’s golf ball manufacturing facility in Chicopee, Massachusetts, as part of a GolfWRX member experience — check out the thread here for photos and info from the event — to learn more about Callaway golf balls and tour the plant.

Get the full, step-by-step process of how Chrome Soft golf balls are made here.

Below, I highlight 5 things you may not know about Callaway golf balls, the golf ball facility and the company’s history.

1) Chico-what? Chico-who?

The front entrance to Callaway's Chicopee facility

The front entrance to Callaway’s Chicopee facility

How does one of the largest golf ball manufacturers in the world end up in a place called Chicopee?

During the Revolutionary War, George Washington fancied the area as a National Armory because of its location on the Connecticut River, according to Vince Simonds, who is the Senior Director Global Golf Ball Operations who has spent more than 30 years working at the facility. At that time, and still to this day, metal and gunmakers thrived in the area, making it a place for manufacturing business to thrive.

The building, which we know today as Callaway’s golf ball facility, was built in 1915 for car manufacturing, but Ford’s monopoly put the brakes on that business. Spalding later purchased the facility, where it made the world’s first dimpled golf ball, and Top Flight golf balls for years. The company also made other products including basketballs, volleyballs and more equipment for a variety of sports. In fact, the halls of fame for basketball (Springfield) and volleyball (Holyoake) are each located nearby. As the story goes, James Naismith invented basketball at a YMCA in Springfield in 1891… while volleyball surprised everyone in the world, including me, by having an entire Hall of Fame dedicated to the sport.

In 2003, Callaway beat out TaylorMade in an auction for Top Flight’s assets, which included patents and the Chicopee golf ball plant. And there you have it.

2) The secret’s in… the secrets

CS16 Chicopee-4-3

“The key to this business is the tooling,” Simonds said.

Since Callaway makes all of its tooling in house, including the cavities used to formulate the dimples — which is a trade secret with which I’m sworn to secrecy — it’s a safe bet you’d never be able to replicate a Callaway golf ball.

To make its 2016 Chrome Soft golf balls, which generate big ball speeds from a low-compression design, Callaway makes its core, mantle and outer layers from a unique type of rubber and a special mixture of Surlyn.

3) Is Truvis the truth?

Callaway’s new Chrome Soft Truvis golf balls currently represent 30 percent of sales in the Chrome Soft golf ball umbrella. THIRTY PERCENT!

We should have seen this coming, since soccer is the world’s most popular sport (about 115 million people watched the 2015 Super Bowl, while more than 1 billion tuned into the 2015 FIFA World Cup final, according to multiple sources). A golf ball designed with soccer-ball like pentagons is certainly a shift from the norm — a shift that is apparently working.

GolfWRXTruvisCallaway

The labeling on a Truvis golf ball requires a special machine and process. When the company decided on bringing the concept to production, it planted one of the “Truvis machines” in its Chicopee plant.

“We forecasted the machine would be collecting dust by now,” Simonds said.

On the contrary, there now sits three machines in the Chicopee plant, and there’s no dust in the forecast.

Fun fact: The Truvis design is treated as a logo on a golf ball, meaning you can play a Chrome Soft regular ball (all white or all yellow) and switch in a Truvis Chrome Soft ball mid-round without violating the USGA’s one-ball rule.

*Congrats to forum user Lavaone who made his first hole-in-one using a GolfWRX Truvis golf ball!!

4) 45 degrees

ChromeSoft45degrees

Callaway has a machine that orients the logos on each Callaway golf ball the same way every time. The “seam” on each golf ball runs at a 45-degree angle to the lettering on the side of each ball. According to Simonds, aligning that seam a certain way to the target will have no effect on its flight.

5) Dimple patterns used to be designed and tested on bowling balls

BowlingBallCallaway

Golf ball manufacturing wasn’t always the super advanced and highly technological process it is now. Callaway used to layout different dimple designs on bowling balls, as pictured above. And instead of files of feedback compiled on a computer, feedback was compiled on handwritten sheets of paper, and stashed in actual files. Remember those?

It wasn’t until later the now-famous HEX dimple was developed, but it is possible the idea was conceived on a bowling ball.

And no, the bowling balls were not made by Spalding.

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

38 Comments

38 Comments

  1. Dave r

    Oct 23, 2016 at 7:57 pm

    So how do they make a ball with interior balls and a cover without seams ? Are they one piece injected into a mould ? Who knows the answer ? Please

  2. Golfer

    Oct 22, 2016 at 4:12 pm

    All their balls as good as not to be used at the tour. Most of the guys play special made callaway balls made for them. Forget and buy prov1 or x and have the real best ball.

    Callaway is no real ball. Period.

    • John

      Oct 25, 2016 at 9:40 am

      Sorry to burst your bubble of hatred, but I know for fact that balls used by the tour players are the very same ones used by the likes of you and I. I know this as I used to be involved in the manual printing of their personal logos on the balls in the UK.

  3. BIG STU

    Oct 22, 2016 at 8:09 am

    Pretty informative well written article. I gave it a like
    Now not wanting to burst any one’s bubble but Callaway was not the first to come out with the hex dimples. US Royal did it in the early 70s with the Royal Plus 6 ball. Some of us old timers were hashing it over the other night in the Classic Golf Forum of WRX. At the time it was the distance leader hands down for Balata balls but it would balloon bad into the wind and do some funky stuff it the wind was behind you. It would also do some funky stuff out of a flyer rough lie. Normal play it would fly and spin on a approach shot as good as any other Balata ball at the time and it putted decent too. They only made them a couple of years until the US Royal golf division went belly up

    • Joe Golfer

      Oct 22, 2016 at 11:43 pm

      I remember those Royal golf balls, with the hexagonal dimples.
      Back then, I was in middle school, so I played pretty much whatever golf balls I could get my hands on, regardless of brand name or type. Thus, I never really knew the difference between different brands or models of golf balls.

      • John O'Neill

        Oct 26, 2016 at 10:35 am

        Thanks for the input, I too was thinking about the Royal ball when reading the hex claim in the article! Just for fun I remember another ball that came out around the time of the Royal remember Polaris the ball that supposedly would not hook or slice? At least I think that was the claim.

  4. Kenny

    Oct 21, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    I have never seen a Truvis ball on the course. Amazing that many are being sold. Is that mostly overseas?

    • Hack

      Oct 21, 2016 at 6:14 pm

      I have been playing them for over a year now and just recently had to mark my ball for the first time as another in my foursome was playing them. I can’t find them in any brick and mortar retailer and in fact have trouble finding them online except for Callaway’s site. I have a buddy that is good friends with a rep and he wanted to get me a dozen, rep told him he can’t get his hand on any.

      • Big Diesel

        Oct 21, 2016 at 8:33 pm

        Interesting, the shop at my club sells them and Dick’s has them in the shelf next to the plain white and plain yellow. I’ve been trying the truvis and I like the optics although my normal playing partners can’t stand seeing this “ugly” thing on the green.

      • Diesel425

        Oct 21, 2016 at 8:37 pm

        That’s interesting, the shop at my club sells these and I just saw a bunch of boxes at Dick’s. Wonder why your area is running low?

      • jim

        Oct 27, 2016 at 2:55 pm

        my buddy plays them, i can’t help but yell GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL when he sinks a long one

    • Ben

      Oct 21, 2016 at 10:39 pm

      Golf Galaxy carries ball in White/Red and Yellow/Black.

  5. Troy Sheaffer

    Oct 21, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    Nice article and informative.
    Have been playing the Chrome Soft’s since they were introduced and love them.
    They have great feel on and around the greens, very good distance and are priced well.

    I have found a few differences in the 2015 and 2016 models.
    At least for me I found the 2015 version seemed to be longer on every shot, but only average spin around the green. I am one half club longer with my irons with this ball.

    the 2016 doesn’t appear to be quite as long but has more spin/bite on approach shots and especially pitches and chips around the green.
    Both versions are great to putt.

    For the money, I don’t feel you can find or play a better ball.

    • Ben

      Oct 21, 2016 at 10:40 pm

      The 2015 ball is 3-piece. The 2016 is 4-piece.

  6. Pingback: 5 Things You Didn’t Know about Callaway golf balls | Swing Update

  7. Ob

    Oct 20, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    These balls have seams? No wonder they play like cr@p. The most overrated ball that changed overrated balls

    • Ignorant

      Oct 20, 2016 at 9:44 pm

      A ProV1x and pretty much any other golf ball out there has seams…

      • SI

        Oct 21, 2016 at 3:38 am

        Except for Srixons. Z Stars have none

        • Scott

          Oct 21, 2016 at 5:26 pm

          nope, srixon has seems

          • ACGolfwrx

            Oct 21, 2016 at 5:59 pm

            Bridgestone don’t have seems, that’s it.

            • mhendon

              Oct 22, 2016 at 10:13 pm

              All balls have seams they just learned how to hide it by following the dimple pattern instead of going straight

  8. Matt

    Oct 20, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    Seriously want a Golfwrx dozen!!!!!!!

  9. alexdub

    Oct 20, 2016 at 2:55 pm

    Sorry to be negative— but for such a cool experience, the photos accompanying this article are absolutely terrible. Doesn’t seem like much work to bring a DSLR and get something worth posting. A great opportunity shouldn’t be held back by bad content.

    • ooffa

      Oct 20, 2016 at 3:04 pm

      1 up

    • Boobsy McKiss

      Oct 20, 2016 at 5:20 pm

      You don’t think Callaway had all kinds of restrictions on what he could take photos of? Wake up. It’s called protecting your business. An engineer familiar with the business could possibly dissect important information from detailed photos. They have proprietary manufacturing processes and the writer was apt to point that out in the article. Obviously the writer incorrectly assumed readers such as yourself would be smart enough to figure out why there are so few photos to accompany the article.

    • Regis

      Oct 21, 2016 at 12:04 pm

      I’ve visited a lot of plants and facilities for all sorts of product manufacturers, shipping and routing facilities etc. I represented them in litigation. You’re not bringing a Film crew or even a DSLR into any of them. You want pictures-ask and they’ll send them to you. Matter of fact you usually are only given access when the workers aren’t present.

  10. Luis Carrion

    Oct 20, 2016 at 2:21 pm

    How can we get a hold of the CS Truvis with the GolfWRX logo?

  11. Luis Carrion

    Oct 20, 2016 at 2:20 pm

    How can we get some of the GolfWRX Truvis Golf Balls???

  12. Sl

    Oct 20, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    Srixon: Seamless = Better balls.

    • Scott

      Oct 21, 2016 at 5:25 pm

      From Golf Digest “According to Rae, the aerodynamic properties of a ball are different in a dimpled area than they are across a seam. To help maintain ball speed in the air, Srixon developed a system that fuses the two halves of the ball together without creating a straight seam. Instead, the seam is created between, over and around dimples. By eliminating the straight seam, the ball should simply fly better, and more predictably, through the air.”

      Therefore: Srixon = seem

    • ACGolfwrx

      Oct 21, 2016 at 6:04 pm

      Srixon has a staggered seam. Bridgestone is the only company that make seamless golf balls.

  13. the bishop

    Oct 20, 2016 at 12:22 pm

    5 things you didn’t know about Callaway golf balls. #4 is pretty unnerving.

    • es

      Oct 20, 2016 at 4:40 pm

      i use the yellow / black truvis chrome soft balls and love it.

      That said – can we have more clarification on #4, “According to Simonds, aligning that seam a certain way to the target will have no effect on its flight.” what does that mean? does that mean we should be using the lettering to line up drives? I never pay attention to how my ball sits on the tee, are you telling me I should?

    • rymail00

      Oct 20, 2016 at 7:20 pm

      Anyone which way to line the ball for limited effect?

      Just curious.

  14. Greg V

    Oct 20, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    So if Top-Flite sold their assets to Callaway, who is making the Top-Flite Gamer and Gamer Soft?

    • cgasucks

      Oct 20, 2016 at 12:50 pm

      Callaway…

      • RVA USMC

        Oct 20, 2016 at 4:13 pm

        Actually Top Flite is owned by Dicks and they make Top Flite and Slazenger balls.

    • tzed

      Oct 25, 2016 at 1:22 pm

      Top Flite are made overseas, I believe in Taiwan or Chine. I’ve played the Top Flite Gamer Tour, a 3-piece urethane ball. You can get 2-dozen for $35 at Dick’s (and only at Dick’s). They’re not as good as Chrome Soft or Pro V1s around the green, but better than mid-priced balls like the e6, NXT Tour Project(a).

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Equipment

Spotted: Tony Finau’s driver shaft change at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open

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Tony Finau has always been known as one of the longest players on the PGA Tour, but he has recently been working on adding a little more distance. Last year, Finau averaged 118.3 mph club head speed and 178.08 mph ball speed, all while playing a Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX driver shaft. This year, he has increased his club head speed to 123.93 mph and his ball speed to 183.32 mph.

However, Finau’s overall distance has decreased by two yards in that time. From a fitting perspective, something was amiss. We asked Tony about the shaft change at the Texas Children’s Hospital Open.

“[I’m seeing] better numbers with the spin. My driver’s been a little high spin for me over the last month or so, and so I just figured it was time to probably check out the equipment,” Finau said. “And it definitely showed me that I was using a shaft that’s maybe a little too tip-stiff for me, the way I load the club now. [I’m seeing] better numbers with the spin.”

Finau switched from the Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX into the Diamana GT 70 TX. The newer Diamana GT has a slightly different profile than the D+ Limited with the stiffest handle section in the Diamana lineup. The mid sections between the two are similar stiffness but the tip is just slightly stiffer in the Diamana GT. Both shafts are within one gram of each other in the 70 TX. The torque rating on the GT is 0.1 higher than the D+Limited’s 2.7 measurement.

Mitsubishi lists the Diamana GT as a shaft between the mid-launching Diamana TB and the new low-launch Diamana WB shafts. For most players, it would be considered a mid/low launch and low-spin shaft option. Mitsubishi’s Xlink Tech Resin System makes sure the maximum carbon fiber content is there for smooth feel without reducing the strength of the shaft. MR70 carbon fiber is used for reinforcing the shaft and boron is used in the tip for its high strength and compression properties.

Finau is still using his trusty Ping G430 LST driver in 9 degrees and has the adjustable hosel set to -1 degree of loft (standard lie angle). Finau’s long-time favorite Lamkin UTX Green grip is installed. He definitely has a few extra wraps of tape under that grip as you can see the bulge down where the grip meets the shaft.

One final note: Per Ping’s PGA Tour rep Kenton Oates, Finau’s driver is also adjusted to play one degree upright to help dial in his desired launch.

We’ll see how he fares with the new setup this week in Houston!

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Whats in the Bag

Zac Blair WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade M5 Rocket 3 (14 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Speeder 757 Evolution V1 X

Utility: Titleist U510 (3)
Shaft: Aldila Tour Blue 85 X

Irons: Ping i210 (4-6), Miura MB-001 (7-9)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 58-08M @57, 60 @61), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (52-M)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 105 X

Putter: Scotty Cameron prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

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Whats in the Bag

Martin Trainer WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Wilson Staff Staff Model (6.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kai’li Blue 70 TX

3-wood: Wilson Staff WLabs Prototype (13 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Orange 80 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Staff Model (2, 4-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Wilson Staff Staff Model (52, 56, 60)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Putter: Bobby Grace Greg Chalmers Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

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