As we inch closer to a decision based on the Distance Insights Study, just about any decision will lead to from Carlsbad even as they stare at record profits, give little back to the charitable side of the game and account for maybe 10% over the overall golf “business”.
So with that inevitable sobbing to come, perhaps as soon as May, the January 4th launches by Taylormade and Callaway—with their partners at the independent media operations hoping they’ll buy ads—will be good to file away for safe keeping.
Traditionally when any form of rulemaking is discussed to keep certain skills and courses relevant, the manufacturers claim they’ve maxed out the technology. When they want your $600, the technology is breakthrough, stealth, AI infused and almost guaranteed to add distance and lower spin.
The various golf publications peddled it all as usual. There was this from a Taylormade engineer to keep in mind as they phase out Titanium for the next great innovation, speaking to Golf Digest’s Mike Stachura.
THE DEEP DIVE: The titanium face driver, the golf industry’s staple since the mid-1990s, has run its course. So says TaylorMade’s team of engineers who in fits and starts over the past 20 years have been pursuing something they say is not merely entirely different from titanium, but of course, fundamentally better. As Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade’s senior director of product creation, puts it, referencing the famous “S Curve” for innovation, “We knew the S curve for Ti was ending and the S Curve for carbon-composite faces was beginning.”
Kind of like the bubble shaft! Until it wasn’t.
Look, these are good people who have to come up with something to differentiate their product. But the numbers also do not lie: the engineers are very good at what they do and know how to arm today’s elites with equipment they hit longer by just going on a launch monitor and testing.
So this spring when their bosses, only thinking of shareholder value, claim distance has peaked and how there’s nothing to see here, just remember January 4th’s claims and supporting coverage.
Even Tiger chimed in as part of launch day:
And Callaway has introduced a new Chrome Soft that you guessed it, goes longer even though the ball has hit its limit whenever the USGA and R&A are thought to be changing any equipment rules.
From Andrew Tursky at Golf.com, after explaining how Callaway studied its off-core Chrome Softs to make sure that doesn’t happen again. But there was this regarding the new Chrome Soft X:
So, Callaway listened. Without changing the spin profile at all, Callaway was able to increase driver ball speed by 0.7 mph due to the new core in the 2022 version.
And regarding the new and improved Chrome Soft X LS:
According to Callaway, the new Chrome Soft X LS increases driver speed by 0.8 mph, reduces driver spin by 130 rpm, and reduces iron spin by 120 rpm compared to the previous version.