» CHOOSING A BALL was once a straightforward exercise: Skilled players trended toward high-spin Tour-caliber models, and weekend warriors went the two-piece distance route.
The times they have a-changed.
Better materials and boatloads of R&D—which includes mixing and matching covers and layers of varying hardness with cores in a dizzying array of sizes—have accelerated golf ball design at Ferrari-like speed. Selecting the best one for your game, as a result, isn’t as black and white as it once was. One example: choosing between Callaway’s flagship Tour model, the Chrome Soft ($45/doz.) and its low-compression, distance-oriented cousin, the Supersoft ($22/doz.).
“Manufacturers now have the ability to make a ball very soft without compromising its speed,” says Jason Finley, Callaway Global Director, Brand Management, Golf Balls. “A ball like Supersoft—with its soft…