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Callaway Epic Speed and Epic Max Drivers and Fairway Woods

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SuperStroke
JMB3 said:
Soooo... two weeks ago when I sat down to order a Custom Max, I chickened out for two reasons: (1) I love my Mavrik, and (2) the Speed looks SO good to my eye.

Today, I was finally able to test the Epic Max. Despite my preference for a smaller shape and deeper face, the Max looks really good. I plugged it into my Ventus Red, which has sat headless since last summer. I was pretty sore after a massage yesterday afternoon, so my swing wasn’t great, but I did get to fully test the forgiveness. I was pretty wowed by some drives that were struck on the far toe—better than expected carry. More centered strikes felt amazing and produced some nice high bombs (10.5 head played at -1/N).

Perhaps due to comfort level, I struck the Mav/Ventus Blue much better, so it wasn’t exactly a fair fight today. For whatever reason, I just feel like the Mavrik is easier to swing than the more elongated heads. So I am happy with my decision to wait, because now I HAVE to test the Speed next weekend.
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I really liked how the Max setup at address turned down a degree. I was not worried about the lefts, but I still put the weight out in the toe to start. I actually left a few early swings out right, and put it back into neutral and noticed a difference. I'm not sure I can say that about sliding weights I've tried before.

Next weekend I'll test the Epic Max and Speed in the Ventus Blue, because I'm wondering if my differing strike patterns were shaft related.
 
DNice26 said:
Anyone else notice they dropped some “LD Spec” drivers on the site....

www.callawaygolf.com

Epic Max LD Driver 9° Mens/Right

The Epic MAX “LD Spec” Driver is a new spec package to promote maximum distance off the tee. This configuration combines the Advanced Jailbreak A.I. Speed Frame technology from the Epic MAX Driver with a 47” shaft, lighter sliding weight, and a strong OptiFit Cog. This spec offering is designed...
www.callawaygolf.com
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Wow. This is interesting. I remember it briefly coming up during The Showcase or maybe during a Callaway podcast. . Cant wait to see some feedback and to demo one of these. These sound great. Lol i love distance.
 
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So this last weekend I went to the simulator to get a first impression on my Epic Speed and my goodness, was I impressed!

Towards the end of last season and this whole winter sim season, I've lost all confidence with my driver and my driver swing. I had a two way miss, I was almost missing the ball on contact and everything was going wrong. Currently, I’m just working on getting a swing back but I’d be lying if I didn’t say the Epic Speed is greatly helping with that.

I’ve also recently slowed my swing down to a more controllable 100 mph to try to get a solid foundation and then speed back up once I’ve worked through my newfound struggle with the big stick. So everything that follows is related to how I feel with this club with a slowed down swing.

First thing is the sound. Man I love it! This may skew some of y’alls views on my opinion for this, but I didn’t mind the Epic Flash in regards to sound. However, this is just far and away in a different class. It has the most satisfying “CRACK” when you center one and even on mishits, the Speed still sounds great and like you came relatively close to the center. So you'll still get playing partners saying "it sounded good" even if you hook or slice one OB :ROFLMAO:. This is all done indoors. I know sound is different when compared to outside but man if this is how good it sounds indoors, I can’t wait to get it out on the course.

Next thing I neeeeeeeed to touch on because of my struggles with the driver recently, is the forgiveness on this thing. It's through the freaking roof! They weren’t all going perfectly straight because like I said, swing=trash right now, but the consistency on distance is honestly something I haven’t seen in other drivers I've hit. My distance, when I was done with my swings, was essentially the same across the board (unless it was a real thin one or an almost hosel shot. Putting that in here since it may have happened once each) and they would still absolutely be in play most of the time dispersion wise. Especially on my home course. The accuracy is something I will be working on myself, but the consistency with distance I’m getting, is already getting my confidence up! My swing has a lot to do with confidence and it was pretty much shot at the end of last season and through the winter. Granted it could be because the Speed is "new and shiny" but I have a feeling that this driver is on its way to helping me get over that.

For the shot shape I was seeing, I will have to go outside to truly test. Our simulator (even last year) has consistently told me I have a draw which couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve never had a draw shot shape in my life and that is proven whenever I’m outside. So while the simulator showed a draw shape, I’m skeptical of that right now until I’m able to be out on a real range or the course. I’m bringing that up because the last two drivers I’ve had both had sliding weights that I set to draw to help me out with my fade. With the lighter toe patch in the Speed making up for no additional heel weighting and no sliding weight, this driver was made with a draw bias in mind. The jury will continue to be out on that one.

Number wise, I was seeing increased spin up to around 2500-2600 while also increasing my launch to around 11-13. Off the top of my head, I know my launch was regularly 8-10 with my SIM and sitting at 2300. Sim was a 9* set to one click up at 9.75*. Speed is a 10.5* head dropped to 9.5*. I was trying to at least get relatively comparable specs since I didn't actually do a head to head like I was planning on. I brought it, but was just too enthralled with hitting the Speed. I will get some comparison numbers later. I just wanted to get my first impressions out there since I’ve been sitting on this driver for two weeks now.

All I can say is I couldn’t be more excited to have this in the bag for the season and see what kind of damage I can do with it!
 
Hit the Epic MAX LS last night at GG and it was tremendous. Spotted a Aldila Rogue White 130 MSI 60 S in a bin and this combo killed the Ping G425 MAX.

Spin and club head speed/ball speed were all better than the Ping. Employee there was worthless. I had to tell him how to change the settings on the Trackman so I could compare drivers after 10 or so shots each. I haven't liked a Callaway driver since my beloved XR16 but this is different. I'm still waiting on CC to get all the LH heads in so I can do a proper driver fitting, waiting patiently. The guy there keeps me updated by email so it's going to happen. But this Epic Max LS is something else. My clubhead speed was 102 with the Epic LS vs 98 with Ping.

They only had a 9* Epic MAX LS in LH, I think I would have to loft it up to 10* or go to a 10.5 head. I wasn't getting a lot height at 9*.
 
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Kenomikes said:
Hit the Epic MAX LS last night at GG and it was tremendous. Spotted a Aldila Rogue White 130 MSI 60 S in a bin and this combo killed the Ping G425 MAX.

Spin and club head speed/ball speed were all better than the Ping. Employee there was worthless. I had to tell him how to change the settings on the Trackman so I could compare drivers after 10 or so shots each. I haven't liked a Callaway driver since my beloved XR16 but this is different. I'm still waiting on CC to get all the LH heads in so I can do a proper driver fitting, waiting patiently. The guy there keeps me updated by email so it's going to happen. But this Epic Max LS is something else. My clubhead speed was 102 with the Epic LS vs 98 with Ping.

They only had a 9* Epic MAX LS in LH, I think I would have to loft it up to 10* or go to a 10.5 head. I wasn't get a lot height at 9*.
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Im currently playing the Mavrik Max . 9* but i add one degree and play it at 10*. Did you try the demo at plus one. If i go Max LS im thinking of doing the same and hope the plus one might neutralize the draw bias a little. I thought about going with a higher standard loft but like the idea of plus one if it might help minimize any fade bias.
 
Kenomikes said:
Hit the Epic MAX LS last night at GG and it was tremendous. Spotted a Aldila Rogue White 130 MSI 60 S in a bin and this combo killed the Ping G425 MAX.

Spin and club head speed/ball speed were all better than the Ping. Employee there was worthless. I had to tell him how to change the settings on the Trackman so I could compare drivers after 10 or so shots each. I haven't liked a Callaway driver since my beloved XR16 but this is different. I'm still waiting on CC to get all the LH heads in so I can do a proper driver fitting, waiting patiently. The guy there keeps me updated by email so it's going to happen. But this Epic Max LS is something else. My clubhead speed was 102 with the Epic LS vs 98 with Ping.

They only had a 9* Epic MAX LS in LH, I think I would have to loft it up to 10* or go to a 10.5 head. I wasn't get a lot height at 9*.
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Yeah I'm Lefty also and really wanted to hit LS head in 10.5* .....currently using Epic flash sub zero in 9* (spin too low) and 17 gbb epic that I'm kinda getting dialed in but spin might be too high.....hoping LS will be the hybrid model of these two heads!
 
Elmave said:
Im currently playing the Mavrik Max . 9* but i add one degree and play it at 10*. Did you try the demo at plus one. If i go Max LS im thinking of doing the same and hope the plus one might neutralize the draw bias a little. I thought about going with a higher standard loft but like the idea of plus one if it might help minimize any fade bias.
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I didn't get to change the loft I was kinda short on time but that's OK because I'm going to treat myself to a CC fitting and let them do their magic. No question I need more loft with this head though. The flight is definitely lower with lower spin than my current gamer G400 MAX 9*.

I just want to be able to hit all these heads beforehand to get a good idea of what I like looks wise etc. so I can narrow it down a bit before I go to CC. But the MAX LS sits so nice and feels and sounds great. I was stunned by how much I liked it last nite in 10-15 swings.
 
I swung the EPIC Max LS with the 60 S MMT shaft @ 9* on a GC2
My best strikes were around 14* launch spinning 1800 ish and carrying 240. I was swing petty well for not swinging all winter.
I was 96-101 SS. Smash was 1.36 if I remember that part correctly.
The tee was a pinch to short or way to tall. All of these were on the small tee.
Shot shape was a skin fade to straight.

I'm thinking a slightly taller tee (1/4") and and maybe a 10.5* moved down to 9.5* might work.
Not to mention a striking it better than a 1.36 smash

Sounded/felt good. I can see why the MMT is liked.
 
Got the chance to hit LS head outside......initially tried it with same shaft as I'm using in GBB EPIC 10.5* ......UST ATTAS GOGO 5R.....really high performing in that head but couldn't get the same out of the LS head.....then I had the epiphany.....let's try a heavier but slightly softer tipped shaft I had laying around

Can't wait until tomorrow when I can get on the course but first impressions are we have a leader! 20210224_135558.jpgScreenshot_20210224-162811_Gallery.jpg
 
I just got an email about the LD spec Epic drivers. Ohhh that sounds like a ton of fun. It sounds like a good way to snag a strong adapter as well.

Who else would be willing to game a 47” driver? I forgiving Epic head on a longer shaft to get some more speed potential sounds like it could be a massive bomber.
 
mjkladis said:
I just got an email about the LD spec Epic drivers. Ohhh that sounds like a ton of fun. It sounds like a good way to snag a strong adapter as well.

Who else would be willing to game a 47” driver? I forgiving Epic head on a longer shaft to get some more speed potential sounds like it could be a massive bomber.
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Saw that as well. Looks like the Paderson kinetixx shaft is one of the LD options too which is cool.
 
Does the LS version launch a tad lower than the Speed?
a degree or so?
 
Jiffypop said:
Does the LS version launch a tad lower than the Speed?
a degree or so?
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It definitely did for me, and peak height was much higher with the speed too
 
JB said:
Based on current market share (at retail stores) 6.3% of the golfers are buying UA shirts. .4% behind PUMA and .9% behind Travis. Well behind Nike and adidas and FJ.
As he returns to form (and I think he will), that might go up a tad.

Not really much to do with this thread however, although maybe a driver change would help him hit a damn fairway haha.
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Does that count Kohl’s, Macy’s and Dicks Sporting Goods golf clothing sales for UA ? I know when I buy my UA golf shirts it’s rarely at a golf retailer as they rarely put them on sale. The other retailers outside of the golf industry have much better deals.
 
At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if an Epic Max LS will end up in my bag after my driver fitting next month. Right now, I think the biggest competitor could be TSi2.
 
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