Callaway XHot Hybrid - Forum Testing Review

[Cooker]

Sunday I played in 38* temps and 22mph wind with gust into the 30mph range.

First hole with a right to left cross wind I pulled out my Xhot 5 hybrid from 210 yards out.
Aimed at the right bunker, exptecting wind to bring it back in. Nothing. Held the line and hardly wavered,
and landed 10 yards short of the sand. Dropped another ball and the second one landed within 10 feet of the first.
Several additional shots throughout the round and found the ball to stay pretty much on course with the cross wind.
Never used the club down wind. Had one shot into the wind with some right to left, did balloon on me and I lost it 15 yards left.
However, my lie was fairly uphill, so I'm sure that affected the heigth of the shot.

Only played the one round and a couple of trips to the driving range, but so far I'm loving it.

 

[jlukes]

I completely understand that. I need to work more in heavy wind because my game lacks in it. The wind in the Antelope Valley, CA is totally unforgiving from morning to night. Trust me it's not little baby sustained or gust winds.

I think some windy conditions are great for testing. Any ball flight will look good on a perfect day

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD

 

[DevRickus]

Has anyone gotten any feedback from the rough? One thing I liked about the Mashie was that I could hit it from any lie, easily. I am planning to hit a bunch of shots from tough lies next time I get out on the course. Hopefully my ankle will cooperate soon.

 

[Canadan]

Has anyone gotten any feedback from the rough? One thing I liked about the Mashie was that I could hit it from any lie, easily. I am planning to hit a bunch of shots from tough lies next time I get out on the course. Hopefully my ankle will cooperate soon.

This is a game breaker right here... Being that hybrids as basically iron replacements, they absolutely have to be good out of mid-deep rough.

 

[DevRickus]

This is a game breaker right here... Being that hybrids as basically iron replacements, they absolutely have to be good out of mid-deep rough.

No doubt. Thats all I plan on doing next time out. Course is empty during the week after work so I should be able to get good feedback.

 

[War Eagle]

Has anyone gotten any feedback from the rough? One thing I liked about the Mashie was that I could hit it from any lie, easily. I am planning to hit a bunch of shots from tough lies next time I get out on the course. Hopefully my ankle will cooperate soon.

I have Ricky. Did some work on the range with it from different lies. Found a few things, actually, and the key thing being that with the smaller profile of the face, cutting through a slightly thicker rough was no problem at all. The one area that I did not like was hitting from a fluffed lie in the rough, as I found that I hit a bit too high on the face and was greeted with a popup.

The fluffed lie in the rough vs the small face of the Xhot has me thinking moving to a long iron with a larger club face would probably be the play.

 

[DevRickus]

I have Ricky. Did some work on the range with it from different lies. Found a few things, actually, and the key thing being that with the smaller profile of the face, cutting through a slightly thicker rough was no problem at all. The one area that I did not like was hitting from a fluffed lie in the rough, as I found that I hit a bit too high on the face and was greeted with a popup.

The fluffed lie in the rough vs the small face of the Xhot has me thinking moving to a long iron with a larger club face would probably be the play.

Not many fluffed lies around here for me to give that a try. Alot of hard pan and things like that. I cant imagine it will be an issue but I really want to see how it reacts.

 

[Hawk]

Trout Bum gave me a good tip for those lies - choke down a bit. That was after he saw me fail miserably on a shot at Caledonia lol.

 

[DevRickus]

Trout Bum gave me a good tip for those lies - choke down a bit. That was after he saw me fail miserably on a shot at Caledonia lol.

I have traditionally really struggled from fluffed and thick lies with irons. I think I A) grip the club too tight and B) push down on the club and the club gets sorta stuck in the ground on the back swing and screws up the rhythm of my swing. I know that sounds weird but it happens to me alot. Thats why I tend to rely on hybrids from long distances in the rough.

 

[jlukes]

Trout Bum gave me a good tip for those lies - choke down a bit. That was after he saw me fail miserably on a shot at Caledonia lol.

Quick point of clarification needed - choking down = making the club shorter? Because in baseball choking up = making the bat shorter.

 

[Canadan]

No doubt. Thats all I plan on doing next time out. Course is empty during the week after work so I should be able to get good feedback.

This is a great time of year to get that feedback too... Especially around here, the rough gets crazy thick. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

I have Ricky. Did some work on the range with it from different lies. Found a few things, actually, and the key thing being that with the smaller profile of the face, cutting through a slightly thicker rough was no problem at all. The one area that I did not like was hitting from a fluffed lie in the rough, as I found that I hit a bit too high on the face and was greeted with a popup.

The fluffed lie in the rough vs the small face of the Xhot has me thinking moving to a long iron with a larger club face would probably be the play.

What's the rough like down there right now? I know the 'rough' in the Carolinas is hardly rough right now. Different in FL?

 

[Hawk]

Quick point of clarification needed - choking down = making the club shorter? Because in baseball choking up = making the bat shorter.

Yea, I try to think of as choking down closer to the ground. I've been confused by the same thing.

 

[War Eagle]

This is a great time of year to get that feedback too... Especially around here, the rough gets crazy thick. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts.



What's the rough like down there right now? I know the 'rough' in the Carolinas is hardly rough right now. Different in FL?

The rough is quite thick bud, seeing as how the grass never really died this year.

Here's a pic from the course from last week, you can get a general idea from there...

 

[DevRickus]

Consider me jealous. I wish anything around here looked like that. There is a links course around here that has extremely thick rough. Kind of expensive but I have been looking for a reason to play there. Maybe I will give it a try. Want to get as many different experiences with this club as can to offer as much insight to as many different people as possible.

 

[DevRickus]

I was doing some reading on this club and saw this :

Heel and toe relief on the sole helps the club work out of a variety of lies.

Can someone explain what they mean by that?

 

[Canadan]

The rough is quite thick bud, seeing as how the grass never really died this year.

Here's a pic from the course from last week, you can get a general idea from there...

Good stuff. I've only ever played golf once in Florida so it's great to get a visual. Being that a traditional iron can cut through any height of rough relatively well, do you see that as a major disadvantage that this hybrid struggles a bit on fluffed lies, or does the ability to get the ball airborne with the hybrid outweigh that?

 

[War Eagle]

Good stuff. I've only ever played golf once in Florida so it's great to get a visual. Being that a traditional iron can cut through any height of rough relatively well, do you see that as a major disadvantage that this hybrid struggles a bit on fluffed lies, or does the ability to get the ball airborne with the hybrid outweigh that?

Well, with my miss tending to be high on the face with this one, a fluffed lie would cause me concern, and probably not have me pulling it from the bag for that shot. I think it's all dependent on your miss and your consistency on that kind of shot. Since it's not a shot I spend time working on (hybrid/fluffed lie from the rough), it's not one that I would feel that I capable of pulling off well on a consistent basis.

 

[Canadan]

Well, with my miss tending to be high on the face with this one, a fluffed lie would cause me concern, and probably not have me pulling it from the bag for that shot. I think it's all dependent on your miss and your consistency on that kind of shot. Since it's not a shot I spend time working on (hybrid/fluffed lie from the rough), it's not one that I would feel that I capable of pulling off well on a consistent basis.

Does that suggest that you'd be all over a 3hdeep? hah, seriously though, it does seem like the profile is quite narrow (which I assume is a design to help in the rough)... I wonder if that is an adjustment in itself.

 

[War Eagle]

Does that suggest that you'd be all over a 3hdeep? hah, seriously though, it does seem like the profile is quite narrow (which I assume is a design to help in the rough)... I wonder if that is an adjustment in itself.

Coming from playing a Mashie Hybo to the XHot has been interesting, especially since the face on the Mashies is roughly twice the size of the Xhot.

And yes, if you give me a 3Deep, I would be all over it. :act-up:

 

[MWard]

I was doing some reading on this club and saw this : Heel and toe relief on the sole helps the club work out of a variety of lies. Can someone explain what they mean by that?

Keeps the club from digging into the ground based on if you're in the rough or a sidehill lie. Helps it glide more than just dig.

 

[DevRickus]

Coming from playing a Mashie Hybo to the XHot has been interesting, especially since the face on the Mashies is roughly twice the size of the Xhot.

And yes, if you give me a 3Deep, I would be all over it. :act-up:

 

[Canadan]

Coming from playing a Mashie Hybo to the XHot has been interesting, especially since the face on the Mashies is roughly twice the size of the Xhot.

And yes, if you give me a 3Deep, I would be all over it. :act-up:

I personally play hybrids predominately from the tee or from the fairways of par 5s. Just me thinking outloud, but it seems like a design to favour that type of lie would be nearly as beneficial as producing a product that cuts through the uber rough.

Time to find a demo day! I wonder how many strange looks I'd get walking to the side of the range and hitting out of the rough hahaha

 

[DevRickus]

Hey JB, have you had a chance to hit these? Curious to hear your thoughts as well if you have had any experience with them.

 

[SharkHat]

I really feel that this club handles turf interaction like a true hybrid. If you hit down on the ball like with an iron, it will take a divot with no problem. If you sweep like with a fairway wood, it will pick the ball up clean and launch it.

I played in really soggy conditions on Tuesday night, which led to me hitting more fat messy shots than I'd care to admit. These were leading to me losing about 3 clubs worth of distance with just about everything. The Xhot still got the ball moving though.

 

[Fourwiggle]

Has anyone gotten any feedback from the rough? One thing I liked about the Mashie was that I could hit it from any lie, easily. I am planning to hit a bunch of shots from tough lies next time I get out on the course. Hopefully my ankle will cooperate soon.

Rough is no issue. Way easier than any equivalent iron you would hit...

This is a game breaker right here... Being that hybrids as basically iron replacements, they absolutely have to be good out of mid-deep rough.

This WILL NOT deter you, they are good from tough mid-grass lies in rough.