Although I’ve played yellow golf balls for three years, I’ve switched to a matte red Bridgestone the past few rounds. That said, being color blind kind of hampers me when I hit it into brown rough. So I’ve started taking notice of balls showcasing printed patterns, such as Callaway’s Chrome Soft Truvis and TaylorMade’s TP5 Pix. My playing partner used the Truvis last week. I initially found it dizzying, but did like being able to see the ball spin on chip shots and putts. Somehow — pattern aside — the ball looked different to me. But I couldn’t pinpoint how, until talking with Dave Bartels, Callaway’s senior director of golf ball research and development. “The pattern makes the ball look bigger than a plain white ball,” he says. “Having straight edges on the pentagon in the pattern gives your eyes something to focus on, while you’re standing over the ball. Truvis wasn’t about creating a functional mark, it made the ball more interesting and appealing.” Callaway’s also debuted Triple Track technology on two of its ball models, bearing three red and blue alignment lines wrapped mostly around the ball. “It improves putting consistency by 12 percent,” claims Bartels. Now that’s an eye-opener.
