2019 Callaway Epic Flash and Epic Flash Sub Zero Fairways

dacatalyst41

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This thread will serve for reviews and discussions on the new 2019 Callaway Epic Flash and Epic Flash Sub Zero Fairways.
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Yes finally! Here are some pics and my initial review!

EPIC Flash Fairway Woods Initial Review

3w and 5w (Sub Zero)

Opti-Fit Settings: -1 / D
Shaft: Project X EvenFlow Green
Flex: 6.0
Length: STD
Grip: Lampkin UTX Black

These are long as well! I was gaming the Steelhead XR 3w and 816 Alpha 5w, which were good, but the feel off these are amazing. They also have the Flashface technology. I hit some great shots with these. Didn’t have to use them too much as most of my shots were with my irons, so initial thoughts are great, but can’t wait to get these in play some more. Both clubs off initial play with them and at the range during my fitting are my favorite fairway woods by far.

These things are long. Since being back from the event, I am still hitting these things a long way. One shot that stuck out to me in particular was my round at Bear Trace a couple of weeks ago, I hit the 3w off the deck from 260 and hit it to just off the right side of the green to pin high. That’s a long way for me especially in the 40s for temps. More to come!
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Interesting “target” area on the face.....


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During my fitting at #TheGrandaddy I ended up in an Epic Flash Sub Zero 3 wood. 15* of loft, heavy weight forward, Graphite Design Tour AD-IZ 7x shaft. This is the club that I will be using as the basis for my reviews.
Tech!:
This fairway wood is one that I've been absolutely ITCHING to get my hands on and get into my bag. Jailbreak tech in a FW head is amazing and it makes an appearance here in the Epic Flash FWs, but in addition to the Jailbreak these FWs are also packing the Flash face tech. Basically these two technologies combine to deliver the most stable ball launcher I've ever used. The Jailbreak tech maximises the stability, efficiency, and forgiveness of the head while the Flash Face just ensures that no ball speed is left on the table.
The Flash Face is designed by a super-computer by running thousands upon thousands of different variations in shape/thickness, within the known quantity of the head, until it is satisfied that it has reached the optimum specs. The guys at Callaway were very clear that theoretically taking a Flash face and putting it in any other club head would not yield favorable results at all. Each model's face is designed to specifically max out performance for that head and that head alone.
Callaway's new hosel adapter also makes an appearance here. This one is shorter and lighter, giving the designers more weight to play with in the club head itself.
Looks:
This 3 wood features all the same aesthetics as the driver, most notably being the green & yellow paint scheme, the new grey line and reduced carbon fiber look on the crown. The sole features a familiar 2-weight system with ports located front/back and one weight being heavier than the other. The heavier weight has a darker grey finish on it.
The face of the Sub Zero head has some simple white scoring lines on a black face, classy and effective. The lines are actually very shallow grooves, but I hesitate to call them that.
The overal head shape of the Flash SZ 3 wood is very nice. It's nice and compact heel to toe with a slight pear shape round the back. The leading edge of the crown looks nice and straight at address despite having a very slight curvature to it. I'm struggling to decipher if the face has a tendency to sit open or neutral at address, but I think it's just a hair open in the "N / S" hosel setting.
Sound & Feel:
This is where this club really starts to endear itself to it's users. WIth the heavy weight forward it feels like smashing a nail with a sledgehammer, a really heavy hit. The feel at impact is dense in the center and then more metallic towards the perimeter or the bottom. The sound of a well struck shot with this club is the kind that makes playing partners comment instantly before even watching the flight.
Performance:
This club has very quickly rocketed to the top spot in my bag. The flight is freaking perfection and the numbers produced are something I've never seen out of a FW before. With each well struck ball I can feel it yanking on my heartstrings more and more. The ball comes off the face fast and climbs for what feels like a long time, without a hint of ballooning...it looks very much like a mid-spin driver flight. I also discovered that by teeing the ball up a little higher and catching it high on the face you end up with the same speed, but a higher launching/lower spinning flight which carries even further.
I've never been one to get compliments on my golf shots from anyone since they are mostly unimpressive looking and sounding, but the 3 rounds back home that I've played have one thing in common. When I hit this 3 wood pure, my playing partners take notice. It's really nice to hear things like "Holy ballzz!" "Wow, was that 3 wood?!" and "What a great flight!" as opposed to my usual "You gonna shout fore? Or should I?"
The other thing that's worth mentioning is the way this 3 wood just seems to want to go straight. I actually have no idea what specific tech in the head might lend itself to this, but on days when the driver just won't be controlled this 3 wood has so far been a life saver and a fairway finder.
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Can't wait to read all the feedback about these.
 
Upon first look, I am not a huge fan of the face design. But, I can't wait to give it a try! Will br tough to knock the Rogue out.
 
The new 2019 Epic Flash fairway is exciting to me! There’s a ridiculous amount of tech that comes together to create a system of speed, distance, launch and forgiveness that I love. Heading into The Grandaddy, I was concerned about launching these as my previous fairways had rails that provided some assistance. All of my concern was put to bed on the driving range and I haven’t looked back.

Jailbreak has been a game changing technology that we first saw in a fairway last year when Rogue launched. This years fairways improve upon that tech by pairing them with the Flash Face and the combination is teling. There is also a new, smaller hosel that was designed to reduce weight at the hosel and work in sync with the new tech. It’s a monster off the tee and I hit my 3W into driver distance several times. Off the deck, I have no issues launching the 3W or the 5W. I’m see more distance and better performance in the wind that we have been dealing with here which I would attribute to ball speed.

Aesthetically, the flash face, the green and yellow, the crown and the clean framing line across it….I love the design. I wasn’t sure I would love the yellow and green, but it has grown on me and now I’m a fan. It looks so much better in person as well. More to come...

Here’s a few pics below:
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I freakin love that Target area design on the face. Such a cool detail.

Not in love with the color scheme but it definitely won’t deter me from trying this release out. Seems like there’s quite a bit of buzz around this one!


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Upon first look, I am not a huge fan of the face design. But, I can't wait to give it a try! Will br tough to knock the Rogue out.

What part of the face design are you referring to?
 
Army, how is this SZ 3 Wood off the deck?
 
Army, how is this SZ 3 Wood off the deck?
Easier to hit and launch than my old Alpha 816 4 wood.
Ive hit some crazy good shots off the deck so far, which actually shocked me since that's never been a strength of my game. Even more surprising considering that I have the weight forward in my Flash SZ, and I had weight back in my old 816.
 
Fairway woods have been my weakness for some time, but not with these! They are easy to hit, especially off the deck and I am getting great ball flight and distance with both the 3w and 5w. Both have the adapter set at +1/N. Again, the ball seems to just jump off the face of these clubs and I am getting a good 10 yards more in distance than the fairway woods I was using before.
 
What part of the face design are you referring to?
The graphics on the face. I'm sure it's hardly noticeable at address and not much different than the X that has been on previous models, but it's a very prominent feature here.
 
The graphics on the face. I'm sure it's hardly noticeable at address and not much different than the X that has been on previous models, but it's a very prominent feature here.
That design is only on the Flash models, the SZ models feature a simpler design with white scoring lines only.
 
So do you guys know how much ball speed you picked up???


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Damn these are looking pretty fresh!

Anyone happen to do like a 4w to have easier launch, or was the 3 really easy to hit off the deck?

I couldn't get the rogue 3 off the deck to save my life so THP suggestion was a 4w and it's been magical

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These look good imo. The colors will have to get used to, but not as loud as i anticipated.

With the distance and ball speed gains, how close are the 3 & 5 woods playing? Do yardages overlap?
 
Easier to hit and launch than my old Alpha 816 4 wood.
Ive hit some crazy good shots off the deck so far, which actually shocked me since that's never been a strength of my game. Even more surprising considering that I have the weight forward in my Flash SZ, and I had weight back in my old 816.
First, I'm happy that you all can start talking about these clubs, I've been looking forward to this.

You definitely have my interest in the Flash SZ! I normally have a fairly low ball flight so I don't usually set the heavy weight forward. However, you having the weight forward and still launching the ball well has me intrigued! I'm assuming it's the combination of jailbreak and the new face contributing to your results. Is there any other tech in this club assisting the launch results?
 
So happy Callaway is keeping these at $300, which means I can justify more purchases. :act-up:

Already building my 2019 Callaway bag...

For sure purchases:
1. Flash Driver
2. Flash 3W
3. Apex or BB hybrid (leaning the latter but will try both)

May buy:
1. 5W/HW -- It'd be hard to take the Rogue HW out of my bag, but I'll give these a shot
2. Stroke lab #1 - I don't need a new putter, I don't need a new putter, I don't need a new putter...
 
First, I'm happy that you all can start talking about these clubs, I've been looking forward to this.

You definitely have my interest in the Flash SZ! I normally have a fairly low ball flight so I don't usually set the heavy weight forward. However, you having the weight forward and still launching the ball well has me intrigued! I'm assuming it's the combination of jailbreak and the new face contributing to your results. Is there any other tech in this club assisting the launch results?
I should maybe backtrack a little bit. I'm launching the 3 wood at around 12 degrees and spinning it near 3000 rpms, so I wouldn't say its launching particularly high, it's just an extremely awesome set of numbers paired with great speed.
 
Damn these are looking pretty fresh!

Anyone happen to do like a 4w to have easier launch, or was the 3 really easy to hit off the deck?

I couldn't get the rogue 3 off the deck to save my life so THP suggestion was a 4w and it's been magical

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

With the adjustability I don't believe a 4w is being offered. Again, fairways have been a weakness for me but with both the three and five set at +1N I have no issues hitting them off the deck with great ball flight and surprising distance.
 
Easier to hit and launch than my old Alpha 816 4 wood.
Ive hit some crazy good shots off the deck so far, which actually shocked me since that's never been a strength of my game. Even more surprising considering that I have the weight forward in my Flash SZ, and I had weight back in my old 816.

Uh oh. I might have to replace my Alpha 816 with this baby.
 
In the beginning of 2018 I upgrade my prior fairway woods to get a pair of Rogue 3W and 5W, had an idea of my shaft flex and just look over the shaft options and made a pick from those. I enjoyed having two of the same kind of FWs for the first time ever and it made going from one club to the next during a round an easier transition. Those clubs gave me more confidence off the deck and tee box, as I took the driver out of my bag in 2018. That will change in 2019, but it will be great to have a driver and fairway wood set that matches all throughout with having all in the Epic Flash.

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My fitter went with the same shaft to keep consistency (HZRDUS Smoke, X-Stiff) so all 3 clubs are the same. Since my hybrid gained me about 15 yards, they went -1/D in both my 15* 3W and 18* 5W to help with pushes to the right. This was the first time the FWs have adjustability and it’ll be cool to try them out on the range to see how each setting changes the ball flight and distance for me.

I used the 3W off the tee early on during The Grandaddy, as I wasn’t fully committed to swinging the driver the entire round just yet. That changed once I got more comfortable with the driver, but the times I did use them I was getting the same feel and a little more distance. Off center hits still felt great and even went farther than I expected they’d go. I used them a few times on the range once I got home as well and feel the distance is very similar, and maybe a few yards longer than my Rogue clubs, but I have no yardages to compare. The sound feels more crisps with the Epic Flash, but that’s not a knock against either club. I actually really liked the sound of the Rogue, when I really connected on them, to me it felt like a loud piece of wood making that “cracking” sound. Best example in my mind but want to hit them side by side to compare sounds.

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Nice reviews guys. Having a hard time with the color, the green is fine, but that yellowish is a no.
 
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