Jason Finley is Callaway’s global director of brand and product management for golf balls, but even with that lofty title and decades of experience in the golf industry, he has no idea which ball you should play. However, when Finley talks with recreational golfers, which he does often, there are two things he hates to hear, and they might surprise you.
“The worst thing I can hear when I ask someone what golf ball they play is, ‘Oh, whatever I find,’” Finley said recently. “I don’t even care if it’s a Callaway ball or not, the best thing you can do for your game is to find a ball and play it every time.”
The other thing that drives Finley crazy is when golfers don’t pay attention to the ball being used during their club fitting. Even for tour pros, different balls react in different ways, even when you hit them using the same clubs.
“If I go in and you fit me for irons at some place today, and you fit me using a SuperSoft golf ball, and I walk in tomorrow, and you fit me with a Chrome Soft X golf ball, if you fit me into the same golf clubs, you’re a horrible fitter,” Finley said.
His advice is the get fit using the ball you play and do your best to practice with the same ball you play. Pros like Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm and Rose Zhang certainly do.
But what ball should you play? With pro shops and specialty stores loaded with different types of golf balls, how are you supposed to find the ball that can deliver the best performance for your game? In this article, we will take a deep dive into the Callaway offerings, including the new offerings for 2024, and explain what makes every ball a little different and help you better understand Callaway’s golf ball stable.