Callaway ERC Soft Triple Track Ball Review

For this Callaway ERC Soft Triple Track golf ball review, I played 18 holes on a windy Autumn day, spent 30 minutes at the short game area and hit more than 50 shots on a launch monitor with driver, long, mid and short irons.

At the end of all that, I struggled to find too many reasons not to put this ball in play if you’re a decent golfer looking for extra yards off the tee, soft feel around the greens and tech that helps you aim and putt better.

On first look and feel, the Callaway ERC Soft Triple Track is clearly a premium ball and easy on the eye. As with all golf clubs, it’s hard to trust something you don’t completely like the look of. Pegged up, the ERC sits well. 

As a line-putter (someone who marks a line on the ball to align putts and break) I didn’t mind the red white and blue Triple Track markings that are part of Callaway and Odyssey Golf’s drive to innovate in putting.

In fact, I liked it and used it to align both putter head with ball and the ‘spot’ on the green where the ball would break towards the hole. It’s not difficult to see how some golfers may find the markings frustrating, especially if they like to look down on a clean ball or prefer to focus in on a single dimple. Line putting can also slow play down if you insist on doing it with every putt you take.

Outside 10 feet, it’s of limited value, so you could always place the tracks underneath touching the green surface and use them to check how well your ball is rolling end over end on putts.

Callaway drew inspiration from Vernier Visual Acuity, a theory used for landing strips on aircraft carriers, to develop Triple Track as an advanced alignment technology. The tracks were good to line up when hitting driver but distracting on chips shots if the lines happened to fall diagonally or side to side on the top of the ball.

Callaway says the ERC soft is its longest ball thanks to a high energy core that ramps up the ball speed. It also has a unique hybrid cover featuring Paraloid Impact Modifier from Dow*. Exactly how the cover modifies impact for the better isn’t clear but Callaway says it helped them create a multi-material construction that delivers the combination of high launch, low spin, soft feel and responsiveness around the green.

Testing the ball in a 20 mph wind, I found most of Callaway’s feature and benefit claims stood up. The ball launched high off the driver face, holds flight well and compresses nicely. Around the green, the Callaway ERC Soft isn’t as zippy as the best premium golf balls but it feels nice, lands softly and checks up pretty quickly.

Unless you’re a low handicapper, elite amateur or professional, you’ll struggle to tell the difference between this ball and a Callaway Chrome Soft. This ball is a great value option and packed with performance but it’s confusing why it’s priced so closely to Callaway’s premium ball offer in Chrome Soft and Chrome Soft X.

At around £2.85 a ball, it’s an absolute stand out among the best distance golf balls and almost all ability levels would benefit from playing it. 

If you do decide to buy one of these fantastic Callaway golf balls, first look at one of our Callaway coupon codes.