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Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 Driver Review Thread

SuperStroke
Thank goodness we have different drivers to choose from. If the R15 was my only option, I would have to consider playing others sports. The 815 is the most forgiving driver i have tried. I do not doubt for a second that the R15 is longer when hit in the screws, but i enjoy my rounds the most when i get to play from the fairway.


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GolfFest said:
I have not seen the article you are referring to. In my own experience though I don't necessarily think they would be crazy for coming to that conclusion. I spent a long time on the range comparing the 2 and the r15 was much longer for me, miss-hits or not. It wasn't close. The only shots that were longer from the 815 was if I hooked the ball, and it was a much worse result as it was a lot further offline. In a way less forgiving was more forgiving.

I really wanted to love the 815 Alpha after all the great things I have heard here, but just wasn't for me.
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I'm with you on the R15, this is not the SLDR at all. I've hit it several times on the range now and I find it very consistent with the weights set to stable. Hits high in 9.5 with a predictable cut and above average mileage. The 815 is a good club as well, I just prefer the XR for forgiveness and dispersion.
 
At the Demo Day yesterday I spent more time comparing the 815 and the R15 than any other clubs. I'm someone who has always played TM drivers. The R15 is a bomber when hit on the sweet spot and I prefer the look of the white matte crown to any other color. However, on bad shots the R15 had way more side spin while the 815 just wanted to go straight. This resulted in some distance lost but even more concerning was the directional dispersion. My miss is a push fade and my big miss is a push power fade that goes OB or into another fairway. I hit about twice as many shots with the 815 and had 1 drive during that time that would of probably been OB and that was when I experimented with the club at 8*. The R15 had 4 that would of probably been OB and many more push fades that would of left me in bad spots. Seeing this difference in dispersion with the R15 getting only half the amount of swings made it clear to me which driver was better for my swing. Honestly, going in I wanted the R15 to come out on top but results don't lie. For me, the 815 was just better.
 
Playing my home course and hitting the ball father than normal in low 30's temps is fun. Loving this driver and can't wait until it warms up a little.
 
The Project X LZ shaft has been a great pairing for me with the 815. Still can't get over how easy it was to launch the ball yesterday. I was hitting driver on holes I'd normally lay up on in fear of missing the fairway. Driver was getting scary, but now I'm running to the next tee.
 
Miller Time said:
The Project X LZ shaft has been a great pairing for me with the 815. Still can't get over how easy it was to launch the ball yesterday. I was hitting driver on holes I'd normally lay up on in fear of missing the fairway. Driver was getting scary, but now I'm running to the next tee.
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Agreed. This combo is just beastly for me.

At 46" too. :alien:
 
JB said:
This is my exact combination.
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The XR has potential for me with it, but the 815 is just so silly forgiving on my miss. And just carry for daaaaaaaaays.
 
Put this in play for the first time today, but only had a few minutes on the range beforehand. So no adjustments. I'd say, for me, I'm happy with the driver. I was gaming the bio cell prior to this, and I was consistently 5-10 yards longer today with the 815. The accuracy wasn't quite there for me, but it was the first time out and already more accurate than my bio cell. My big miss was a push fade, which went just as far as my good hits. The best part for me was the ability to hit a fairly consistent baby draw, something I've never been able to do before. I'm confident with a little fine tuning I'll get the accuracy I need, and the extra distance is always a plus. I just played it all standard today (9 degrees, core down, and neutral) due to lack of practice time beforehand. FYI my swing speed hovers just a touch above 100, and the stock speeder 565 shaft worked just fine for me (although stock everything seems to work well for me).
 
I have tried them all this year, and so far this is my favorite driver of the bunch. It has the memories of #TheGrandaddy and the distance and forgiveness to stay put. Love it.
 
JB said:
I have tried them all this year, and so far this is my favorite driver of the bunch. It has the memories of #TheGrandaddy and the distance and forgiveness to stay put. Love it.
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JB I went for an XR fitting and we also tired the Alpha (at my request). I found it noticeably heavier feeling. The fitter said its not, the shaft weight was pretty close I believe.

Would you say it's heavier or could it be the differences in the shaft loading.
 
CAA_Beat said:
JB I went for an XR fitting and we also tired the Alpha (at my request). I found it noticeably heavier feeling. The fitter said its not, the shaft weight was pretty close I believe.

Would you say it's heavier or could it be the differences in the shaft loading.
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Not sure I can help you here. Check the swing weight on what you were hitting. I can weigh the two heads for you if you would like. I liked both drivers quite a bit.
 
JB said:
I have tried them all this year, and so far this is my favorite driver of the bunch. It has the memories of #TheGrandaddy and the distance and forgiveness to stay put. Love it.
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Gotta agree with you. Had several toe/heel misses yesterday and still finding respectable distance and the FW or a near miss has me to the point where I'm not afraid to hit driver....at all.

10/14 FW and one of those misses was with a 4i.

Best driver I've hit hands down without question.
 
JB said:
Not sure I can help you here. Check the swing weight on what you were hitting. I can weigh the two heads for you if you would like. I liked both drivers quite a bit.
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Not necessary. I appreciate the offer. It was just my perception. I'll check the listed SW's as both were stock options.

I felt like I really had to work hard to swing the Alpha but the XR was nice and smooth.
 
Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 Driver Review Thread

The tee game has been giving me fits lately so I went to the range to figure out what the heck is going on.

I have my driver set at N|+2 on a 9* head. I noticed a couple things with my stance and swing that were easy to correct. Then I concentrated on tempo. This is my issue, I just want to kill the ball and had to slow down. Once I had my tempo dialed in I was hitting some of the best drives I've hit in a while. Now I don't know if my ball speed is where it's supposed to be based on my swing speed, but I've always just worried about carry & spin. These are the numbers towards the end of my range session.

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Found something today with the Driver, it might not work again tomorrow but today it was great.

I put the core down +1 D setting and teed the ball very low about even or just below the Center line of the face and hit the ball fantastic. Gained some distance and much more accurate, not sure why this worked but it just seemed I was finding the center or closer to the center of the face more consistently.

Teeing it high and trying to hit up on it I was mostly off the toe or low off the toe and really losing a lot on the drives. (still playable most of the time but real short) It is a swing flaw of course but for now teeing it low helped a lot.
 
After about 5 simulator rounds and 10 range sessions I finally got to take this beast on the course!

Conditions were damp being early in the season with slight wind.

Gamed a Callaway chrome soft as well.

This is hands down the most forgiving and accurate driver I have gamed. I hit a few out on the toe and it definitely felt different from a sweet spot hit but distance loss was minimal.

It took me a few hits to figure out where to tee it for my swing but with the gravity core up I catch it in the upper part of the club fave and it just goes and goes. Wind doesn't really mess with the flight all that much from what I experienced....

Ball seems to stay in the air on a nice boring flight doesn't balloon all that much.

On the hits where I didn't hit the fairway (hit 7/13 fws) when I checked my alignment the ball went dead straight to where I was aimed... So user error.

All in all Callaway made a great club....

Tap tap taparoo
 
May have found the key to my driving success today. Fire up the lawnmower for about a 3 hour session, take a shower then head to the course. Straight to the first tee and stretch a little. Tee the ball up and whack it out there 278 with a slight draw. I have never hit a ball that far on #1 at my course and there was a little wind in my face. Left me 136 to the pin. Usually thrilled to get to, or close to, the 150 marker. Pounded several more drives on the day. Only hit one very poorly and it was all operator error for releasing my right arm too early and drilling a low pull hook into a densely populated section of the woods.
 
How does this driver compare to the regular bio cell?
 
Karl said:
How does this driver compare to the regular bio cell?
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Completely different. Lower spin. More forgiveness top to bottom of the head. A bit more adjustability with the core.
 
What are the major differences in this head and the DBD?
 
Karl said:
How does this driver compare to the regular bio cell?
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If you like the Bio Cell you should have no problem with this driver. I just switched, and with the core down they have the same feel and swing weight in my opinion. I can honestly say I saw more distance with the 815 in the ballpark of 5-10 yards. My bad swings were push fades with the Bio Cell, and that's no different with the 815 for me. I had trouble hitting draws with the Bio Cell (as with every previous driver I've owned) and that now seems to be my natural shot with the 815 (only about 30 drives with this on the course). Lastly, I need about 1 degree less loft with the 815 to get the same launch I had with my bio cell and I played stock shafts in both.

Bottom line: mis-hits go farther, as do well struck balls.... At least for me. Lateral forgiveness seems about the same for me as well, but I swing hard every drive so no club can fix my bad miss.
 
JB said:
Completely different. Lower spin. More forgiveness top to bottom of the head. A bit more adjustability with the core.
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Sounds good because my miss is high on the face. And sounds like the 815 launches slightly higher?
 
Karl said:
Sounds good because my miss is high on the face. And sounds like the 815 launches slightly higher?
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I would say yes, I have my 815 set to 9 degrees (core down) and I'm getting about the same height on my drives as I was with the Bio Cell. With the core up I hit much lower shots. I varied the Bio Cell between 9.5 and 10.5... couldn't seem to find that happy medium with any consistency. I found it (I think) with the 815 set to 9 degrees, but take that with a grain of salt as I've only hit 30 drives or so on the course with this thing.
 
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