Callaway HX Hot Bite Ball Review
By admin April 22nd, 2008
There isn’t a sport that’s “greener” than Golf. Not in a save the planet way, but in a “just about every facet of golf has to do with the color green” way. Saving the planet is one of the more important topics of conversation these days, but right now, we’re going to focus on another kind of green…the green box of the new Callaway HX Hot Bite ball.
When reviewing a ball, you need to realize that your milage will very. I’m a 14 handicap that puts a tremendous amount of spin on the ball on drives, and almost none with my wedges. The side of the box touts that I’ll “own the green” with this ball. There’s that word again!
On drives, I felt like this ball was just as long as any other ball I play with. I’m normally hitting a Srixon Tri-Speed or a Wilson 50. These both have a street-price of less than $25 a box, and that’s about all I can stomach spending on balls. At $20 a dozen, this ball is right in my wheel-house.
The HX Hot Bite is a 3-piece ball with 332 of the patented Callaway “Hex” pattern. In the past, I’ve stayed away from the Hex ball because I had a bad experience with the original HX Tour 56 loosing its paint after what seemed to be one shot. Thankfully, this is fixed in this new generation of balls. And how! I played the same ball for 6 holes and didn’t see a scratch on it. (Until I hit a cart-path/tree/trash-can on a rogue drive.) This is an especially durable 3-piece ball.
Is it long? Yes indeed. It’s a modern golf ball. It’ll get ya there. IF you are looking for someone to tell you that it’s X-yards longer than Y-ball, it won’t happen here. I hit my drives as long as I normally do. Is it soft? Yes again. It makes a crisp sound off the driver, but didn’t ever feel like I was hitting a piece of glass. Are there softer balls? Sure. Are there harder balls? Of course. I’d say that the HX Hot Bite is about in the middle between a late 90’s Top-Flight and a Wilson 50.
Now, let’s talk about spin for a few seconds. The HX Hot Bite does just that…it bites. Not just a little bit, it bites like a teething 9-month old. Bite like a rabid dog out back of a butcher shop. Bites like a….do I really need to keep going? Suffice it to say that this ball generates a LOT of spin. My drives generally stuck pretty close to where they landed, which is pretty normal for me. Especially this early in April here in Cleveland, OH. Around the greens, however, I felt like a rock-star pro. Normally, I can hold a full wedge on a green the size of my bedroom from about 100y. With this ball, I felt like I could hold a 5-iron on that same green from 190y. Pretty awesome.
After 18 holes with the HX Hot Bite, I’d say that I definitely have a 3rd ball option in my arsenal.
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