In the same boat with my EF 3W and struggle with it so far. My 5W that is a PING G410 SFT I can launch like no other and is my go to.
Callaway MAVRIK FW Woods and Hybrids
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2015
- Messages
- 7,872
- Reaction score
- 5,455
The max fairways are really easy to launch. As someone that has struggled with FWs in the past, I’d HIGHLY recommend giving these a look.
Absolutely will.
?
I will do that as well.
bigskyirish
Well-known member
My initial review of the fairways is going to be somewhat limited, just due to lack of time with them so far. But from what I have seen in just a few swings on the course, the new 3-wood may end up being one of the best weapons in my bag this year.
During the fitting at ECPC, fairways were the last thing I tried. I was tired and I was essentially alternating between hitting perfect shots and weak flares because of lazy swings. John fit me into the SZ 3+ with a Ventus Blue 7S shaft. When you see 3+, your immediate reaction is probably that I like to use a 3 wood off the tee. That makes sense, but it's wrong. It turns out (news to me) that I'm a pretty high spin player and that decreasing the loft is the most effective way to get my spin into an acceptable range. I hit the ball pretty high, so John wasn't concerned that I wouldn't be able to play it off the deck, which is what I primarily use a 3 wood for.
Due to lack of inventory--we were some of the first people in the world to get these clubs after all--they had to sub in a regular Mavrik 3+ with Ventus Black 7S for me to play on the course. So the vast majority of my experience so far is with the regular 3+, not the SZ. For the SZ, let me just say that throwing a ball down on the extremely tight lies at ECPC and stepping up to hit a 13.5* FW off the deck had me initially thinking that I was going to see some worm burners. That was not the case at all. Immediately, it launched high and went long (when I wasn't flaring it to the right). I had no trouble at all getting it off the ground. Beyond that, I'll have to weigh in on the SZ version more later once I have it in hand and the weather clears up some.
On course, I think I have taken 4 shots with the regular 3+ and, while I know it seems super cheesy, my reaction has been, "wow." In CA, I used it twice to just bomb it down the fairway as far as I could in situations where I had hit bad drives on Par 5s and couldn't get home. Both times, I ended up getting WAY closer to the green than I thought I would. I also used it once off the tee. I hit a very solid shot, but I didn't really have any way to gauge how good on a hole I'd never played before.
That changed when I got home though. Due to a pretty mild start to the winter, I was able to get out and play 9 holes on January 4. It was windy, but it was about 50*, so I was able to get a reasonable comparison to how I normally hit shots at my home course. I used it off the tee on a Par 4 playing a little downwind and it was an absolute rocked. Perfect ball flight, and really, really long. I didn't hit the Mavrik driver to compare against it, but let's just say that with my old clubs, I would have thought it was a very long DRIVE under similar conditions. If that performance off the tee holds up, there are at least 3 holes at my course where I will use the 3+ exclusively off the tee this year and I'd be willing to be good money that my scoring average goes down on all of them.
Again, my impressions so far are anecdotal based on a small sample size, but I'm happy to answer any and all questions and I will have more coming ASAP. I hope to at least be able to get some comparison numbers in a simulator while the weather is bad, which won't be Trackman-type accuracy, but will be better than nothing.
During the fitting at ECPC, fairways were the last thing I tried. I was tired and I was essentially alternating between hitting perfect shots and weak flares because of lazy swings. John fit me into the SZ 3+ with a Ventus Blue 7S shaft. When you see 3+, your immediate reaction is probably that I like to use a 3 wood off the tee. That makes sense, but it's wrong. It turns out (news to me) that I'm a pretty high spin player and that decreasing the loft is the most effective way to get my spin into an acceptable range. I hit the ball pretty high, so John wasn't concerned that I wouldn't be able to play it off the deck, which is what I primarily use a 3 wood for.
Due to lack of inventory--we were some of the first people in the world to get these clubs after all--they had to sub in a regular Mavrik 3+ with Ventus Black 7S for me to play on the course. So the vast majority of my experience so far is with the regular 3+, not the SZ. For the SZ, let me just say that throwing a ball down on the extremely tight lies at ECPC and stepping up to hit a 13.5* FW off the deck had me initially thinking that I was going to see some worm burners. That was not the case at all. Immediately, it launched high and went long (when I wasn't flaring it to the right). I had no trouble at all getting it off the ground. Beyond that, I'll have to weigh in on the SZ version more later once I have it in hand and the weather clears up some.
On course, I think I have taken 4 shots with the regular 3+ and, while I know it seems super cheesy, my reaction has been, "wow." In CA, I used it twice to just bomb it down the fairway as far as I could in situations where I had hit bad drives on Par 5s and couldn't get home. Both times, I ended up getting WAY closer to the green than I thought I would. I also used it once off the tee. I hit a very solid shot, but I didn't really have any way to gauge how good on a hole I'd never played before.
That changed when I got home though. Due to a pretty mild start to the winter, I was able to get out and play 9 holes on January 4. It was windy, but it was about 50*, so I was able to get a reasonable comparison to how I normally hit shots at my home course. I used it off the tee on a Par 4 playing a little downwind and it was an absolute rocked. Perfect ball flight, and really, really long. I didn't hit the Mavrik driver to compare against it, but let's just say that with my old clubs, I would have thought it was a very long DRIVE under similar conditions. If that performance off the tee holds up, there are at least 3 holes at my course where I will use the 3+ exclusively off the tee this year and I'd be willing to be good money that my scoring average goes down on all of them.
Again, my impressions so far are anecdotal based on a small sample size, but I'm happy to answer any and all questions and I will have more coming ASAP. I hope to at least be able to get some comparison numbers in a simulator while the weather is bad, which won't be Trackman-type accuracy, but will be better than nothing.
bigskyirish
Well-known member
The stock KBS Tour Proto hybrid shaft. I think that was the only stock shaft I got in any of my clubs, but it was so good that I didn't even try anything else.
- Admin
- #82
I definitely would love to see some in hand pics. The shape is what has me interested. I'm not a hybrid guy but I am a fairway guy and something like this is interesting.
rallo
#FYF
The lines on the face are a nice touch, and I bet they really help frame the ball. Also, the shape of the pro hybrid is very intriguing
rallo
#FYF
Whoa... settle down man!
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2015
- Messages
- 15,650
- Reaction score
- 11,029
- Location
- Arlington Heights, IL
- Handicap
- 17
Me wanting to try the Max Fairway woods after the GD Reviews:
These were designed to do a few things:
1. maxmimize ball speed and forgiveness across all three lines. Which is why you see a different A.I. designed face for each. The computer did it's job really well and a by product is a fairway wood that rivals the driver with some players in terms of overall distance.
2. Callaway knew there was a large part of the consumer base that struggle with launching fairway woods. While they accomplished that in all three, the Max will stand out the most with the lower leading edge (more than anything designed previously). It's a slightly bigger profile, but it is a rocket launcher.
3. Help golfers who fight the fade/slice. The weights allow positioning to help encourage a draw bias.
Hope this helps.
The Super Hybrid and the Pro will be the most fade bias. The standard and max will not be fade bias, & they won't introduce the "lefts" as so many fear with the hybrid. They did a goof job of maintaining a straight ball flight on well struck shots.
****quick edit - these are the lie angles comparing the fairway woods Max 1* from STD and STD is 1* up from SZ*****
bigskyirish
Well-known member
I'll snap some and post them up as soon as I get home tonight.
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2015
- Messages
- 2,453
- Reaction score
- 2,755
- Handicap
- 16
For me the Mavrik Max 5 wood was the star of the show. I will be getting a ton of use out of this club come spring. I have a series of holes on my
home course where I know this is going to come into play and I’ve been replaying it in my head since I got it. 5 wood off the deck while getting driver ball speed? Yes please. More detailed review coming.
home course where I know this is going to come into play and I’ve been replaying it in my head since I got it. 5 wood off the deck while getting driver ball speed? Yes please. More detailed review coming.
Really happy seeing so many options for FWs and hybrids. The MAX version is a great addition that I think many people will be surprised to see working the best for them.
Can't get away from staring at that orange, it's so nice to look at!!
Can't get away from staring at that orange, it's so nice to look at!!
Any Mavrik Pro hybrid pictures? I love the Apex hybrid and was hoping for something closer to that shape/size.
These are great numbers and a great writeup. I'm not the biggest fan of the coloring but that's what Callaway customs is for.
Definitely try to hit the 3w, it is a monster and is plenty easy to launch.
Something else of note here, if you like to be able to move the ball left and right these are some of the easiest fairways I have ever tried to do it with. No issues at all hitting a small draw or fade with the 3 or 5 woods.
I think it's safe to say that with AI being used on everything from the driver to the new AI optimized tees coming out (just kidding) that while distance is always key, the optimization capitalizes on forgiveness. With the supercomputer looking at all of the variables, and it spitting out the best option, I don't think you can just say it's one or the other, which I suppose is great.
In regards to holding greens, I don't know, honestly. I've not hit one of these and had it get on the green. That's an issue with my game, not the club. I'm typically using these as long second / third shot clubs, and while I can get it close, I'm usually on a short iron onto the green. I hope to find out soon.
Great write up @tomcat ?
I have been in same boat with my hybrid, reading your review makes me want to give it another chance. I too have the same gap in distance from driver down to anything else and have also just gotten used to not being able to close it just yet. Still a work in progress, but I am definitely going to give the hybrid another chance. The Max hybrids may be a perfect fit for me as well, will get out to give these a swing at a store soon.
The big gap always loomed over me, and quite frankly, wasn't always sure how to fill it. Many times would just plan on driver - 7i, just knowing that I'd lose strokes, but I just wasn't comfortable with other clubs in between. So glad to have some options now.
bigskyirish
Well-known member
Yep - I think I'm the only with with a pro. I'll post some pictures of the 2H tonight when I get home, probably about 6 p.m. MST, give or take.
Something that should not go under the radar is each of these fairway woods have their own unique A.I. face for each loft across each model. Think about that for a minute.....