Is this the "Best" golf ball Callaway has ever made? Director of Gear Johnny Wunder thinks so.
Johnny Wunder/GOLF
Welcome to Fully Fit 2026, GOLF’s new platform for providing you with real-golfer insights into what 2026 gear might be best suited for your game. To this end, we assembled six GOLF content creators of varying abilities and ran them through the gauntlet of six full-bag fittings (driver to putter!) at six major club manufacturers in Phoenix and Carlsbad, Calif. Our hope: that you might see shades of your own game in one of our panelists’ and take some learnings and inspiration from their fitting experiences. In this installment (below), Johnny Wunder details the one golf ball that transformed his game this year, the Callaway Chrome Tour X. You may browse each of our panelists’ full 2026 dream bags here:
If you’ve been following along via my IG, the Fully Equipped Podcast or any other Fully Fit content, you would know by now that the overall equipment market is so competitive that it’s almost impossible to make a bad decision.
In any category.
Every company not only has “their best” but that “best” goes all the way through the bag. YES, there are some parts where the volume isn’t cranked up to a ten (some hybrids, a few iron sets, etc.), but overall it’s probably the most competitive year in recent memory.
However, for me, there was one piece of equipment that was substantially better than the rest: the Callaway Chrome Tour X golf ball.
Of everything I tested, put in play, loved, touted and evangelized, this ball has gotten the most smoke. Why? It was the only piece of equipment that, when introduced at a fitting, improved my performance numbers in a unique way. That’s not just me, either; see for yourself in this video with Charles Howell III. The results were laughable.
I ran a test for myself off camera in most of my fittings, where at the end I would swap in the Chrome Tour X, and almost like Thanos snapping his fingers, the atmosphere would shift. Ball speed UP 2-4MPH, launch down 1-2 degrees, spin retention was better, dispersion tightened and gapping all of a sudden organized.
Look, I’m 49 years old, a 2-handicap, and in a line of work where I don’t get blown away very often. This ball was the first time (in a long time) that a piece of equipment eliminated any need for more testing on anything else. In fittings, if a driver was close numbers-wise, I’d pop in a CTX at the end, and the numbers went from good to “My God.”
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Callaway Chrome Tour X 2026 White Golf Balls
Chrome Tour X is engineered for outstanding tour performance with new speed technology for players who want maximum speed and ultimate control, outstanding distance, workability, spin and tee-to-green performance. FAST: New Tour Fast Mantle The revolutionary new Tour Fast Mantle uses a material that increases distance through an optimized core/layer system. CONSISTENT: Advanced Seamless Tour Aero Uniquely designed aerodynamic package is built for incredible distance and flight consistency on every shot. Precision Technology also ensures each technology is meticulously measured through industry-leading manufacturing, over 150 million proof points, to provide the ultimate in consistency. CONTROL: Tour Level Urethane Cover This high performance cover is developed for incredible feel and wedge control.
This was just one recent example, and honestly, it was like this EVERYWHERE I went. What’s even cooler is I can now start to look at iron sets that may be on the less forgiving side because CTX actually raised my ceiling and my floor at the same time. That just doesn’t happen. Is it good off the range? On the course? Well, I’ve played six rounds of golf this year, both in tournaments (yes, that’s the truth). All rounds were in very windy conditions on hard, fast greens, and not once did I make a bogey or worse because of a lack of control in the wind: No floaters, no knuckle balls, nothing.
Some may think I’m biased because of my employment history… not the case. The moment I stepped away from Callaway in 2025, I went right into their No. 1 competitor’s ball and had a good summer with it. The moment I put the new CTX back in the mix, I literally went from a 49-year-old trying for dear life to keep my ball speed in the low to mid-160s to now thinking that 170 MPH is literally at my fingertips.
Give this a test. If you don’t, you’re not doing this right.
Johnny currently serves as the Director of Equipment at Golf.com, contributing to platforms like Fully Equipped Golf. Prior to this role, he was the Content Marketing Manager at Callaway Golf, where he led “Callaway Golf’s World of Wunder,” a platform dedicated to in-depth golf equipment content. Before joining Callaway, he was the Director of Original Content and host of “The Gear Dive” podcast at GolfWRX.com. Beyond his professional endeavors, Johnny is an avid golfer with a deep passion for the game, having played since his youth in Seattle, Washington.
