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Callaway Great Big Bertha Driver Preview Thread

SuperStroke
captaincaution said:
If it is anything like the OG Bb was for you at the King, lookout!
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As well as I hit the OG BB, the 815 was better. I'm expecting even better from the GBB.
 
Miller Time said:
As well as I hit the OG BB, the 815 was better. I'm expecting even better from the GBB.
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I'd love to dive in with you on gbb, but I think I would get killed at home haha.
 
Blind buys....u guys are ballers
 
Jman said:
Blind?

What am I, chopped liver? Hahaha
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Lol u know what i mean :)

I am looking forward to seeing some mad updating when these start hitting doorsteps for the masses
 
Jman said:
So, I've been working this out extensively to both discover, but moreover to verify what I initially saw. So, lets get down to it.

I've hit the GBB with 4 different shaft setups (Stock Basarra, PX HC LZ 6.0, PX HC LZ 6.5, Matrix Reign 70T, Elements Chrome) and at lengths of 46", 45.5", 45", and 44.5". Additionally I've spent a lot of time with the different weight adjustments on the head but also hitting it in exactly the same setup as my 10.5 815. I've said it before and will again, traditionally I am NOT a fan of direct comparisons in a review, I want the club that is in hand to stand on its own and be tested for what it is and is claimed to be, here though with what we have seen from the white paper its certainly merited...plus I'm an unabashed 815 fan.

I'm not going to throw up averages for each setup individually, rather what I have seen as a whole. Remember, this is based of of MY swing and YMMV, but I do believe it still paints a nice picture.

Literally hundreds of shots in the GBB in the same completely neutral setup as the 815 has produced an average of 423 RPM's less spin, 0.5 degree of additional launch, 2.1 MPH more ball speed, a jump in clubhead speed, about 6 yards more carry, and dispersion is improved by about 1 yard.

The other part of the picture that all of these different setups showed me, is that this is a head that can definitely be tuned in, and moving around a bit really let me dial in the base numbers. I want it said plainly, and loudly though, while the Bassara while not the best for me personally will fit a TON of people if they give it the chance and don't simply scoff at the weight. Even in R-flex at 43g it was holding up to 107 range swings just fine. But, the nice thing is, with 19 different options there really should be something for everyone.

I also spent a lot of time the last two days messing with the APW. I'm a natural fader of the ball, a draw is not my thing, but I do like to be able to tame the fade a bit. With the 2014 BB the sliding weight showed me in testing that it DID work unlike other sliding weight mechanisms and that had a lot to do with the placement of the APW in the head. Here, they have improved the position and as such the effectiveness has too. For me, I didn't see the potential 18 yards of movement with the weight placement, but I did see around 10 and that IMO is pretty damn impressive. I know some have commented on how draw biased the weight is, well the facts are that WAAAAAY more golfer who pick the club up in stores can benefit from a draw setting than a fade setting, additionally the head itself is weighted very neutrally from what I have seen and the fade setting does in fact effect that to the extent that will surprise many.

As was the story with the 815 for me though, the biggest "wow" for the GBB is coming with my misses. On good days, I'm a high face miss guy and I'm not seeing anything funky out of that at all, a jump in spin sure. On more off days, I can wear out the heel of the driver, and during testing both heel and toe strikes are shocking with how in check their dispersion has been, a terrible swing will yield a bad result no matter what but the general misses are staying pretty dang playable. Heel fade and toe draw is in effect, but not to the extent of the BB or the 815, most telling though is the ball speed drop off is significantly better than in the past, which honestly has hurt my head grasping...I mean that...it really honest to goodness has.

The sound is stellar, it sounds much more like the BB to me than the 815, which sounded a lot better than the 815 and is a great thing. Some tinny-reverberation on extreme misses but when you find the center and general lateral and vertical miss areas its just SUCH a solid sounding head. Callaway has always been good on the acoustics (with the exception of the XR, IMO) and once again the same can be said here.

The matte finish is what it is, I personally am pretty indifferent to it, but it looks sold and is a quality finish that holds up really well. I love the move from the black face, it doesn't show the wear that a black faced club does, but this is still "smoky" enough (for lack of a better term) to show you exactly where your impact is.

Take it for what it is, but I honestly came in expecting this to just be a tweak on the 815 performance through the APW and not having a core, but its more than that, it really is. Say what you will, call me what you will, but numbers don't lie, and neither does what I have seen on course.

Any Q's, fire away. I'm here for you!
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Bumping this because he's so good at what he does. Can't wait to get mine and throw my thoughts in. So much good info right here.
 
Tagged for more reading.


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That was an insanely good post Jman. Thank you.


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Miller Time said:
Bumping this because he's so good at what he does. Can't wait to get mine and throw my thoughts in. So much good info right here.
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Trevor68 said:
That was an insanely good post Jman. Thank you.


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Thanks gents! I'm really looking forward to this review going up.
 
I had a chance to hit the Great Big Bertha 10.5 Deg head using my Fujikara 757 Evolution TS shaft and I must say I was not impressed compared to my Big Bertha Alpha 815 head. First, the sound didn't have the same nice pop the 815 has and second and most important the distance was not there. Dispersion was nearly identical to the 815 but the Great Big Bertha was consistently 10+ shorter. In fact, my carry on my best 815 shot was further than anything with rollout using the GBB head. This was all on a GC2 launch monitor.

The bad news is that the GBB left me underwhelmed but the good news is that I just saved myself $450!
 
Why not try some of the 19 options? FWIW, a shaft won't perform the same in every head, many assume it will, but it really isn't the case the vast majority of the time.

Play what works though, for sure.
 
Jman said:
Why not try some of the 19 options? FWIW, a shaft won't perform the same in every head, many assume it will, but it really isn't the case the vast majority of the time.

Play what works though, for sure.
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Best local fitter... GO!


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Cdpkook132 said:
Best local fitter... GO!


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EDIT

Bakers Custom golf.

Apparently Tee Town closed, that makes me sad.
 
If possible , i would love so much to have direct contact with Callaway to make me a custom fit head of this driver and shaft. If JB or anyone follows this who can make this happen please let me know. This sounds like a keeper

looking for 4 degrees flat... 10 degree with a high e swing weight. Heavy and very flat if possible. Can anyone put me in contact with the Callaway company directly?

im not interested in off the shelf or online. I want a custom of this driver . Who can I contact ???
 
Mystery Meat said:
If possible , i would love so much to have direct contact with Callaway to make me a custom fit head of this driver and shaft. If JB or anyone follows this who can make this happen please let me know. This sounds like a keeper

looking for 4 degrees flat... 10 degree with a high e swing weight. Heavy and very flat if possible. Can anyone put me in contact with the Callaway company directly?

im not interested in off the shelf or online. I want a custom of this driver . Who can I contact ???
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How about going to Callawaygolf.com and calling the phone number?
 
Mystery Meat said:
If possible , i would love so much to have direct contact with Callaway to make me a custom fit head of this driver and shaft. If JB or anyone follows this who can make this happen please let me know. This sounds like a keeper

looking for 4 degrees flat... 10 degree with a high e swing weight. Heavy and very flat if possible. Can anyone put me in contact with the Callaway company directly?

im not interested in off the shelf or online. I want a custom of this driver . Who can I contact ???
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Have you hit the standard version with the different shaft options? Not all drivers are the same, and specs won't necessary carry over from your current old gamer to this
 
I hit the 815 the other day but it looked so upright . Would love to keep the specs of my current driver and irons. I had a custom old 975 titleist 6 degree flat with a steel e weighted shaft and I loved it. Had to get it from over seas as no one here in the states could bend it like that . Really helped me slot it real low . This is something i always wondered if they can do with the new current equipment

I will call , but not expecting a lot

thanks though. Looks like a cool cool driver
 
Callaway Great Big Bertha Driver Preview Thread

Jman said:
EDIT

Bakers Custom golf.

Apparently Tee Town closed, that makes me sad.
Click to expand...

They are literally 3 minutes away from me! Stopped in the other day and checked it out. Guess it's time to head back

Tee Town Golf, what a great name.

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Hoping to go into PGASS this weekend to try a few different shafts to see which is the best fit. I'm sure I can change before it ships out if the one I picked isn't the one for me.
 
Mystery Meat said:
I hit the 815 the other day but it looked so upright . Would love to keep the specs of my current driver and irons. I had a custom old 975 titleist 6 degree flat with a steel e weighted shaft and I loved it. Had to get it from over seas as no one here in the states could bend it like that . Really helped me slot it real low . This is something i always wondered if they can do with the new current equipment

I will call , but not expecting a lot

thanks though. Looks like a cool cool driver
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Not expecting a lot of what? They handle custom orders as well as any club company out there. Ordering a driver on release I am sure they can accommodate.
 
Mystery Meat said:
I hit the 815 the other day but it looked so upright . Would love to keep the specs of my current driver and irons. I had a custom old 975 titleist 6 degree flat with a steel e weighted shaft and I loved it. Had to get it from over seas as no one here in the states could bend it like that . Really helped me slot it real low . This is something i always wondered if they can do with the new current equipment

I will call , but not expecting a lot

thanks though. Looks like a cool cool driver
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4° flat from what? There isn't a standard. What lie angle specifically? At the sometime, why not get a proper fitting and not rely on self fitting (admittedly I fail at this as well).
 
DDEC, isn't it crazy how fast the ball comes off the face? When I first hit it I thought I was catching it on the screws every time. Then I looked and I stood corrected. That technology is something else.
 
T2GRN18 said:
DDEC, isn't it crazy how fast the ball comes off the face? When I first hit it I thought I was catching it on the screws every time. Then I looked and I stood corrected. That technology is something else.
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That's Rmoto.
 
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