Callaway Releases B21 Irons, Hybrid and Fairway Woods

Honestly, these are the most super game improvement focused clubs I’ve seen in some time.
How so ? Just curious. T400’s, Trails, Turbos, G710’s pretty much benchmark SGI irons these days.
 
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Have a set of PP-9003 in the garage, needing new shafts. Screwed the PW by swinging it inside and the edge hit a kettle bell. Kettle bell won.

Back to thread - I like the shallow face of the fairways - reminds me of the Ping G410.
I was thinking Fmax Airspeed
 
How so ? Just curious. T400’s, Trails, Turbos, G710’s pretty much benchmark SGI irons these days.
They don’t have the tech these do, and that’s bias free, just reality. 70g of tungsten, urethane microspheres, and AI Flash Face (which is the most under talked about thing in here, and was with Mavrik as well, a UNIQUE face for EACH loft) these things are present nowhere else, and are proven.

Not to mention, the thing that needs to stand out the most again is Callaway isn’t trying to massage or camouflage them into something they’re not, just straight up super game improvement.
 
The fairways would be great other than what appears to be offset. Yikes. The driver looks really really good and the head cover looks much much much better than mavrik.
They wouldn’t be accomplishing their design goal without that offset :ROFLMAO:
 
How so ? Just curious. T400’s, Trails, Turbos, G710’s pretty much benchmark SGI irons these days.
Those were some of the irons that I was contemplating... as well as the HL4's, Launchpads, and UHX's. Now, those aren't really in consideration any longer... I think I still want to hit the T400's and the B21's now since they're in the same price range. Especially if I try graphite in the B21's because my swing speed is slow..

If the B21's are going to be made in black like a previous set I've seen, those would be drool worthy in my opinion.
 
Those were some of the irons that I was contemplating... as well as the HL4's, Launchpads, and UHX's. Now, those aren't really in consideration any longer... I think I still want to hit the T400's and the B21's now since they're in the same price range. Especially if I try graphite in the B21's because my swing speed is slow..

If the B21's are going to be made in black like a previous set I've seen, those would be drool worthy in my opinion.
Cleveland just dropped the price of the UHX irons by $100... just saying
 
I saw that... and I'm pondering that... UHX... B21's... save $$$ with the UHX...:eek:
 
They don’t have the tech these do, and that’s bias free, just reality. 70g of tungsten, urethane microspheres, and AI Flash Face (which is the most under talked about thing in here, and was with Mavrik as well, a UNIQUE face for EACH loft) these things are present nowhere else, and are proven.

Not to mention, the thing that needs to stand out the most again is Callaway isn’t trying to massage or camouflage them into something they’re not, just straight up super game improvement.
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I saw that... and I'm pondering that... UHX... B21's... save $$$ with the UHX...:eek:

uHX are going to be more demanding than the berthas for sure. The Turbos would be a better compare there
 
After really struggling to hit my F9 One Length 3H today, I am absolutely going to try out the Big Bertha B-21 hybrids - something easy to hit that is just a bit longer then my Cleveland HB Turbo 4i would really put me in a great spot on some of these longer par 5's and par 3's on my main course.
 
First of all a HUGE thanks to @JB and @GolferGal for giving me the shoulder tap to test out one of these hybrids! I have really enjoyed reading the great user reviews on this forum and am pumped to help contribute. This club is perfect for my game and I'm very grateful for the chance to review it and put it in the bag. Hopefully my experience helps some of the other high-handicappers out there thinking about these clubs.

A little about my game for context. I picked up golf about 5 years ago but have only played consistently for the last year or two. I'm a 20 handicap so definitely in the right category for this club. I'm not your typical high handicap as I have a lot of club head speed and have no trouble with distance. My big issue is that I spray the ball over the course and don't discriminate when it comes to how I miss. I push, pull, slice, hook, chunk it, and top it. I have struggled with a massive slice since the first time I picked up a club and although I have improved a lot I still have a lot of trouble slicing hybrids OB and tend to push them right a lot as well. Reading about the forgiveness of this club I was stoked to get out there and see if it could help me keep the ball straight. I got out for my first session on the range last night to put this club to the test. I'm testing out a 3 hybrid at 19' with the RCH stiff shaft.

Looks:
I was expecting the club to have a really big club head as its geared towards high handicappers but I was surprised to see it's much more compact then I was expecting. I was happy to see this as I feel awkward with bigger club heads which is one of the reasons I struggle with fairway woods. The most noticeable thing about the look of the club is the large offset. The hosel is way out in front of the clubface to help get the clubface square and prevent a slice. This is a huge benefit for me as I like to play with my hands way out front at address. Having this added offset keeps me from delofting the club too much at impact and just feels much more comfortable when standing over the ball.

Feel:
Nearly every shot I hit with this club felt like a pure strike on the sweet spot. My GBB Epic driver has a bit of a clicky hollow feel and I was expecting something similar here but every shot with this club feels and sounds great. As I mentioned I'm pretty wild and rarely hit the center of the club face but it was impossible to tell with this club. Everything felt like it was smashed even when it wasn't great contact. If you're looking for feedback on where you missed you won't find it with this club as everything feels like a center strike but if you're looking for something that feels pure every time this club is great. The sound and feel are very solid and everything feels well-struck.

Ball Flight:
The first shot I hit with the B21 drifted left a bit and I thought I hooked or pushed it. After a few more swings with everything going left I realized these weren't misses, rather I was hitting the unicorn shot that I have always dreamed of but never achieved, a draw! Nearly every single shot I hit with this club had a draw flight on it. As I mentioned my miss is a slice and my natural ball flight is a high fade so I have never been able to consistently hit a draw like this. The draw is pretty pronounced with the ball frequently going 10-30 feet left of my target. I only had one shot out of about 40 go right of target at all and that was only about 10 ft offline. I am pretty inconsistent with ball flight due to my variety of misses but every one of these was a consistent draw. This is a huge confidence booster as anything past a mid iron for me has a strong chance of going OB right and the fear of slicing is frequently in my head. I honestly don't think you could slice this club if you tried. There were a few times where the ball had too much of a draw and drifted quite a bit left but for the most part everything was staying pretty online considering the distance.

The ball flight was a low penetrating shot which surprised me as I tend to hit the ball high. I hit towering shots with my current hybrids and these were noticeably lower. I switched to my old hybrid for a few shots to make sure it wasn't just my swing being off. A few shots with my current hybrid had a much higher apex. I was still getting really good height with the B21, just lower than I expected. It was hard to tell how the ball was stopping as I was on the range but I would assume it probably has quite a bit of roll out after landing which could be a problem holding greens. I'm playing a round this weekend so will be able to give a better update on this soon.

Forgiveness:
This club is designed for forgiveness and man did it deliver. As I have mentioned I tend to spray the ball with my hybrids but every single shot I hit was playable with good distance. I probably push or slice 20-30% of my hybrid shots but I did not do it once in 40+ swings with the B21. This club is a slice killer. I mentioned the draw bias above and it is there even on mishits. I had a couple of really bad mishits where I caught it thin but they still elevated and carried about 160-170 yards online with a slight draw. Every mishit I had would have been playable if not in the fairway.

As far as off center strikes (high, low, toe, or heel) I honestly think they go just as far as off center shots. Nearly every shot I hit carried the same distance range with the same ball flight. Every shot feels like it's on the sweetspot so it's hard to tell when you mishit the ball. Given my history I surely mishit at least half my shots but this club is so forgiving that everything felt like a great shot and the results were awesome. This club is a high handicappers dream. After 10 or so shots I went from worrying about keeping it in play to feeling like I couldn't miss.

Distance:
The distance on this club was unbelievable. I usually hit a 3 hybrid about 240 on a well struck shot. Well struck shots with this B21 were all in the 255-275 carry range. I had to shoot the flag twice with my range finder as I didn't believe how far this was travelling. The few shots I hit with my current gamer were back to the 240 range so the distance pickup was real. I couldn't tell what the total distance was as I didn't have a launch monitor and I couldn't see the roll after they landed on the range. The craziest thing about the distance is every shot had a huge carry which means my off center strikes were losing very little distance. I can't hit a fairway wood and try to cover those distances with hybrids and the B21 certainly makes that possible. For anyone who struggles with distance these clubs will be a life saver as they are seriously rocket launchers. It may be partly due to the lower ball flight I was getting but the ball just explodes off the club face. I was really struck by how fast the ball seemed to be travelling to the target.

(Early) Verdict:
This club is a rocket launcher that seriously delivers on the distance and forgiveness front. As a high handicap this club is exactly what I need to be able to consistently hit greens and fairways from long distances and most importantly minimize damage on mishits. Players who struggle with accuracy will find this club incredibly forgiving. The biggest benefit will be for slicers like myself, I still can't believe how this club eliminates the slice and promotes a draw. If you struggle with club head speed and need some extra distance the B21 will cover that and then some.

There aren't any negatives to this club but it may not be for everyone. If you want to be able to work the ball right with your hybrids then pass on the B21. It is very difficult to hit anything but a draw. Likewise if you're looking for feedback on off center hits you will not be able to feel where you missed with this club. It could also cause some gapping issues for longer hitters as it is a seriously long club.

This club seems to be a perfect fit for me with no real downside. The only thing I will need to adjust to is the ball flight. I'm used to high shots with hybrids that stop dead and I have a feeling these are going to have some roll after the carry. I will also have to adjust my aim for the draw bias as I tend to always aim a bit left anticipating my slice. It may take some time to get used to aiming right to accommodate the large draw movement as sometimes it travelled as much as 30 ft to the left.

I'm planning to put this club in play this weekend on the course and will continue to give updates as I get more real swings in with it. In the meantime if anyone has any questions feel free to ask away!
 
Fantastic initial impressions. I’m really looking forward to following along
 
Fantastic initial impressions. I’m really looking forward to following along
Thanks man! Playing a new course on Saturday and already scoped out the scorecard for where I can put this into play.
 
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well done @jvbart ! looking forward to reading more feedback.
 
Thanks for the amazing write-up @jvbart! I am very interested in this club so your thoughts and feedback are greatly appreciated.

Question for you - would you recommend this for someone who struggles to hit hybrids straight generally, or more for those who mostly miss right? I have about the same handicap as you and I’m looking for a SGI 3 hybrid to really help with long par 3’s and longer shots on par 5’s. This has all the modern tech which I think would help me a lot but I don’t typically miss right...I just miss lol. I’m finding it hard to locate good information on SGI hybrids at all, but maybe I’m just not looking in the right place.
 
If you have questions, do not miss the THP Live Stream today with Callaway talking B21 and giving some away.
 
Thanks for the amazing write-up @jvbart! I am very interested in this club so your thoughts and feedback are greatly appreciated.

Question for you - would you recommend this for someone who struggles to hit hybrids straight generally, or more for those who mostly miss right? I have about the same handicap as you and I’m looking for a SGI 3 hybrid to really help with long par 3’s and longer shots on par 5’s. This has all the modern tech which I think would help me a lot but I don’t typically miss right...I just miss lol. I’m finding it hard to locate good information on SGI hybrids at all, but maybe I’m just not looking in the right place.
I’ll keep updating as I get more shots in but for the first time out I can say that is the straightest I have consistently hit a Hybrid and I spray the ball left and right. My most common miss is a slice but I have a nasty hook sometimes too which developed from trying to fix my slice and I didn’t see it once with this club. I definitely hit a few that drifted too far left but I think what really stood out is that you can hit it anywhere on the face and expect a decent result. That alone eliminates a lot of misses for me.

The consistent draw bias is nice because I know I can aim a little right of target every time knowing the ball will always be traveling left. That way any left misses stay decent. Eliminating an entire side of the course should really help getting dialed in to hitting fairways. I’ll update this weekend with how well this strategy works out.
 
Great reading your thoughts on the hybrid @jvbart - I think, of the release, the hybrid is one of the clubs I'm most intrigued by. I've got the Apex hybrids in the bag and I really like them. But especially in that 3h spot - something with a bit more forgiveness/launch would be great. The strong draw bias raises some questions, but I had the King OS hybrid in a similar spot and didn't have an issue.

I'm looking forward to seeing the irons in person too. Honestly, I don't mind irons with some junk in the trunk. I played some of my best golf with a set of G15 irons.
 
First day out on the course with the Hybrid and although the results were different from my range session the club didn’t disappoint.

I hit 5-8 shots on the range in my warm up and they were all great shots but I wasn’t getting much draw bias, the shots were flying dead straight. I think I was mostly in the 250 range with a higher ball flight and dead on target. One ball had some draw to it.

My first shot on the course was a slice lie with the ball below my feet on some rough. I thought the draw bias on the club would be stronger than the slice lie so I aimed dead straight and the ball actually had a fade on it by about 10 ft to the right. I made great contact and flew it about 230 out of some thick rough but stayed right of the green.

Second shot was from the fairway about 255 to the pin. Absolutely smashed one dead straight about 260. Unfortunately I was aimed right side of the green thinking it would draw but it stayed dead straight and got an unlucky roll off the back right of the green.

My next shot with the Hybrid was off the tee on a dog leg left. I missed bad and hit it chunky but was able to still get almost 200 yards off it relatively straight. It was pretty impressive to pick up that yardage considering how much grass I hit before the ball.

The last time I put it in play was another 90’ dog leg left. The tee shot was a disaster, club straight into the ground and barely made contact with the ball and rolled it about 100 yards. Luckily this left me the same dog leg and one more shot with the Hybrid.

From the fairway i crushed one with the big 30-40 ft draw I was hoping for with a great penetrating flight. The green was out of sight around the corner so I couldn’t see the result. When I pulled up I saw that it was a perfect shot, 280 yards and sitting on the front of the green. I would say I probably carried it 260 with a 20 yard roll out continuing the draw path to the green. My best shot of the day with any club.

Overall I was swinging a bit different today but the club performed even better. I was getting the higher ball flight that I like with mostly dead straight shots or a slight 5-10 ft draw. The higher ball flight maybe cost me 10 yards but I was still carrying 250-260 yards. The off center hits were still pure solid shots and my bad miss picked up decent distance.

As a high handicapper it’s common for me to bring a different swing to the course every time. What struck me with this club is it performed great on both days where I was swinging pretty differently. I think I prefer the high straight ball flight I got today. I will continue to update as I get more swings but 2 times out now and not a single slice!!
 
Great reading your thoughts on the hybrid @jvbart - I think, of the release, the hybrid is one of the clubs I'm most intrigued by. I've got the Apex hybrids in the bag and I really like them. But especially in that 3h spot - something with a bit more forgiveness/launch would be great. The strong draw bias raises some questions, but I had the King OS hybrid in a similar spot and didn't have an issue.

I'm looking forward to seeing the irons in person too. Honestly, I don't mind irons with some junk in the trunk. I played some of my best golf with a set of G15 irons.
I was swinging a bit different today and everything was flying dead straight with a higher ball flight. A slight draw bias but much straighter than the last time out. Haven’t had an issue with anything going too far left yet but I will definitely keep updating on the ball flight as I get more comfortable with it.
 
Had another round out with the Hybrid and a bunch more swings on the range. At this point I can comfortably say it is almost impossible to slice this club. My slice shows up from time to time with every other club in the bag but I have not had one bad one yet with this club, really only one shot that went more than 10 ft offline right.

The forgiveness of this club really is great as everything that catches somewhere on the face is a good or great shot. The inconsistent ball flight is the only negative I have found with this club and I suspect that the odd ball flights are actually bad shots that the club helped turn into something positive. I’m about 50/50 between a low piercing draw and a high straight shot. Most shots from both ball flights pick up really good distance. The draws can get a bit hooky sometimes but almost always stay in play even if they are more left than I would like.

I played a shorter course this weekend and was only able to get 3 swings in on the course. Two were tee shots near the end of the round and I chunked both. Drove the club into the ground well before the ball. On one I picked up 120 yards straight on a low flight and the other carried 160 with decent height. I was pretty amazed I was able to pick that up with how bad I chunked those shots.

The third was a great shot from the fairway on a long par 5 after a ripped drive. I picked up around 255 with a lower draw. The draw was pretty controlled going about 15 ft left of target and left me a great approach and helped me salvage the hole.

I’m really starting to love this club and am gaining confidence that every shot I hit with it will be somewhere between decent and great. It’s a nice change as I’m usually standing over the ball with no idea where it will end up.
 
Couldn’t help myself and got one of the 3 hybrids today, regular flex. Played a round of 18 with it today, playing another round tomorrow, and will add more thoughts after that... but overall my impressions of this club are great. Hits far and straight - exactly what I want!
 
Couldn’t help myself and got one of the 3 hybrids today, regular flex. Played a round of 18 with it today, playing another round tomorrow, and will add more thoughts after that... but overall my impressions of this club are great. Hits far and straight - exactly what I want!
I still get surprised by the distance on these sometimes, the ball just explodes off the club!

Have you found you get much of a draw bias on well struck shots? I have really straightened out but still get a controlled draw flight about half the time.
 
The irons are very interesting and should appeal to many. I received a 6-AW set with regular Recoil ZT9 shafts.

Looks:

The brushed finish looks of quality and appears that it will be durable. While the soles are wide, the overall impression of the head is not overly large for the purpose intended. The look is somewhat clean.

Feel:

These fell better than the Mavrik Max irons, which didn't feel bad at all. Light years ahead of the Taylormade Sim Max OS irons that I just traded in. I can tell when I hit a bad shot but there isn't a lot of negative vibration.

Forgiveness:

Similar to the Titleist T400 irons. That means forgiving all over the face with easy up trajectory. More forgiving than the Sim Max OS irons when you move into the mid irons. Probably the most forgiving iron that Callaway as ever produced. I play 4 and 5 Taylormade Sim Max hybrids. I could easily bag the 4 and 5 irons in this set.

Distance:

Not overly strong lofts, but these are long. It might be attributable to the larger face and thus better ball speed. I know that I was hitting the 6 iron on 175 yd shots easily. That is actually the same distance that I hit a TM Sim Max 6 hybrid; I couldn't believe that! By the way, the the 6 hybrid is already traded in.

Accuracy:

Pretty much point and shoot. If you are a wristy player, you may hit these left. Normal shots were with a slight draw with killer accuracy. Easy to draw if I wanted to. A reliable fade was less predictable.

Trajectory:

Normal trajectory was high, but aggressive. Since the 6 iron was so easy to hit, I started to adjust the fight of the ball. It was easy to hit lower sting-like shots.


Overall:

Great irons for high cappers. Easy to hit, good feel, good distance. Very, very consistent at what they are meant to do.
 
I still get surprised by the distance on these sometimes, the ball just explodes off the club!

Have you found you get much of a draw bias on well struck shots? I have really straightened out but still get a controlled draw flight about half the time.

Yes, the distance is pretty remarkable. I hit what I thought was a punch shot out of a bunker yesterday and it went 170 yards or so:eek:. Im currently revamping my swing and I’m struggling to hit much of anything consistently, but when I make solid contact with this thing, it goes very far.

I didn’t experience the draw bias during yesterday’s round but definitely did today - struck a few balls well that definitely went left.
 
I'm a bit late to the party but great write-up @Jman

Once (if?) the smoke clears out I want to give the fairways a try. A 3W that launches high enough to hold a green would be a perfect addition. Currently, my "V" sole Heavenwood is the longest club that can do that.
 
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