Callaway ERC Soft Triple-Track

The ERC name has been used in Callaway Golf brand/model. It is actually short for Ely Reeves Callaway, the founder of Callaway. It was first used in their longest driver - the ERC and later also the irons. 

Callaway have been very much into golf balls and are now the second largest by a mile. The Callaway Chrome Soft was a huge success. Now they have introduced the ERC Soft which like the Chrome Soft were infused with Graphene. Graphene sells for $100 to $200 per gram and is super strong, even stronger than diamond. The inventors of graphene were Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov. They are also present in golf's graphite shaft such as the Aldila Synergy. This is one of the world's strongest and yet a very flexible material known to mankind. 

It is here to help the 3-piece ERC Soft to be of soft feel and yet strong and rigid to retain energy and deliver ball speed with a high launch and low spin. The added speciality of this ball is the "Triple Track Technology" so let's just called it the TTT which is basically three lines with a thicker red line in the middle and two thinner blue lines on either side. 

This technology was researched and was based on VVA or Vernier Visual Acuity or simply to mean that it has been proven to offer the best visual alignment pattern you could find anywhere as they were originally used for landing strips on aircraft carriers. Wow! This is the closest I got to an aircraft carrier. 

Some of us may not be a fan of line or lines but quite often I see golfers drawing a line in the middle of the ball by using a plastic device to put the ball in and using a marker to draw a line from the centre slot of that device.

Do note that the lines are only halfway around the ball and if you do not wish to see them during tee off then just rotate to the other side.

For those golfers who likes to draw their own lines, this is a dream come through, their prayers answered. I personally found the alignment to be excellent as you can see. 

It is a no brainer for visual aid. Just place it, align it and then roll it. I feel that my putting has improved and is more consistent now. My main problem with putting to me was often about the visual alignment. It may even be the main bug bear for many others unknown to them. Just a mm or a degree off and you are in big trouble.

As the lines are not right across the entire ball and while you could adjust them by rotating to the other side before tee off, you are not allowed do the same when on the fairways. You have to play as it lies. Will this affect you?

I guess is it up to the individual and a kind of trade off. ERC Soft has lower compression and spin than the Chrome Soft so it can be a great ball with most social golfers especially those with lower swing speed for that reason but Chrome Soft will have more stopping power on greens with more spin due to the the urethane cover. Friends who have switched to ERC Soft were very happy with the distance and performance they are gaining and achieving. If your swing speed is anything from 75-95 this is a good ball for you especially at the lower end of seeing speed and you will see greater benefit. So take note that low spin and soft ball can compress the ball too much if you have a very high swing speed of say 100mph or more that is where those balls with X come in such as Titleist Pro V1 X and Callaway Chrome Soft X. 

This ball has 322 hex dimples. Callaway has a good ball here. It has soft feel, launches high and has good ball speed. It is also easier on the wallet which to some of us is like an onion - whenever we open it we cry.

Most golfers should be happy playing this ball actually. Phil Mickelson used the Chrome Soft X Triple Track and shot 60 at Palm Spring when he won his fifth Pebble Beach Pro-AM with a score of 65. He was said to have helped developed the Triple Track ball. 

I can't wait for the arrival of the Chrome Soft Triple Track to arrive at our shores. Now I must golf with the attitude of a Ronin. No Lords, no Masters. I don't know how I'm going to win. I just know I'm not going to lose...with this ball, for the distance, the sharp alignment and the price point. 

Golf as in life, play as it lies.