We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 Driver Review Thread

SuperStroke
Mward will own one of these soon. He hit mine in comparison to his current driver and said "Its night and day how much better the 815 is". Now of course he is speaking about his personal thoughts, but he hammered the 815 today.
 
Motopilot said:
Finally got mine today! After about an hour of hitting my driver (Xhot) and the new XR and BB I went with the BB815. The big difference for me was the forgiveness of off center hits with the BB815. I ended up with the Aldila shaft from the black diamond BB. Setup is -1 and center with the 10.5 degree head (so really it's at 9.5).

The XR is nice and I actually had a slightly higher swing speed (98avg BB vs 99 XR) with the XR but had a higher spin and less distance with off centered shots. Either club would be great for anyone but was really worth getting fitted as the numbers really helped me.

Compared to my Xhot I am about 5-10yrds longer but almost half the spin (1800 vs 3400) and with the off centered shots with the big beartha I was much farther. Excited to put into play this weekend!

Finally kudos to the EXCELLENT customer service at PGA SUPERSTORE in Orlando. The fitting with Matt was professional and extremely friendly. What happened was I was Mr.mom today and had my 21month old with me. She had a meltdown while I was swinging and if you were in the store today you heard her. Another PGASS professional (Sara) came over and talked to her and played with her while I was getting fitted. Both these people went above and beyond to give me an excellent experience. Just wanted to mention cause I will be back after this experience. Great staff!
Click to expand...

Congrats on the new stick! I'm very curious to hit the XR against the 815. If you remember how much distance loss was there between the two on off center strikes?
 
Not surprising to see Wardy's results. That is a fantastic driver.

I've said this before, but it's still true. I'm surprised how much I've enjoyed gaming this driver. It is a definite improvement over the BB Alpha.
 
JB said:
Mward will own one of these soon. He hit mine in comparison to his current driver and said "Its night and day how much better the 815 is". Now of course he is speaking about his personal thoughts, but he hammered the 815 today.
Click to expand...

I had the order processing by the 15th hole. I like my SLDR and it goes when I catch it like today on 10, but the 815 is so much easier to hit and goes just as far but with a lot more carry.
 
Spring182 said:
Congrats on the new stick! I'm very curious to hit the XR against the 815. If you remember how much distance loss was there between the two on off center strikes?
Click to expand...


Just guessing as there so many number but going to to say anywhere from 10-15 yards. The XR was a nice club. It's light and solid but I just liked the feel of the BB better. And I also tried the XRpro as well. Both in 9.5/10.5
 
True story. I outdrive Mward with my 815 about half the time. Never happened with any other driver in the past. Cant say its because of the driver or because he is hitting a less forgiving option, but it only started happening when I switched to this driver.
 
That won't be lasting long...!
 
JB said:
True story. I outdrive Mward with my 815 about half the time. Never happened with any other driver in the past. Cant say its because of the driver or because he is hitting a less forgiving option, but it only started happening when I switched to this driver.
Click to expand...
The 815 is amazing. I thought you might have out drove him because you are a foot taller than him
 
Okay, back from the range with the launch monitor. Here are the numbers.

This is the average of the best 5 balls.

Ball Speed 152
Launch Angle 14.5
Spin 2487
Carry 252

This is the average of all of the balls

Ball Speed 149
Launch Angle 14.3
Spin 2656
Carry 246

The best part of this whole thing is how close the average is for me to the best. I found that hitting basically anywhere on the face was working rather well. Ball speed reduction happened the most lower on the face as higher on the face kept ball speed virtually identical to dead center. I have the gravity core set to down. Towards the toe and towards the heel offered ball speed in the mid to high 140s for me and still similar carry distance.

This were tested using the 2015 Srixon Z-Star golf ball.
 
Hit this driver again today. I apologize if it reads a bit repetitive with what others have said, but wow!
Last year, I used a Nike Covert 2.0 Driver which is a good driver in itself. My average ss last year was around 95. Good drives went 230 to 240. Bad driver 200 to 220.
Once I started using the 815, the ridiculous forgiveness offered by its face allowed me to swing a bit more freely and my SS started averaging 102. My mishits are now around 240 and my good hits are going 270. If that is not a game changer, I dont know what is.
 
Last edited:
The ball speed comparison is crazy good. 3 MPH difference in avg.
 
I had a blast with this one again today, just so damn solid and every aspect.
 
JB said:
True story. I outdrive Mward with my 815 about half the time. Never happened with any other driver in the past. Cant say its because of the driver or because he is hitting a less forgiving option, but it only started happening when I switched to this driver.
Click to expand...

You must be able to put a house between my 815 drives and Wardy's former driver tee shots.

:alien:
 
I can honestly say that i would not have tried this driver if i had never read JB's or Jman's comments. Thank you very much for your thoughts!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ATLGolfer said:
You must be able to put a house between my 815 drives and Wardy's former driver tee shots.

:alien:
Click to expand...

When he used my driver, he outdrove me by about 10 yards. When he used his, he outdrove me on a couple of holes. The rest...815 was the winner there.
 
ddec said:
The ball speed comparison is crazy good. 3 MPH difference in avg.
Click to expand...

One thing to note is that this is my regular gamer driver. So there is a chance a comfort factor sets in and I am not missing as much as I am with others. No idea really, all I can do is post the numbers and people use them as they seem fit. I will be out there at the Live Driver Testing in about 10 days with a bunch of THPers and they will be able to gather their data as well. Should be a great way for people to get the info they are craving from all of the new lines.
 
Got the chance to hit this at GS today and see some numbers. Hit it with a couple of different shafts, and found the Speeder 665 s to be the best in their demo rack. Saw some really good carry numbers, that I haven't seen in some time. I'm definitely impressed.
 
JB said:
True story. I outdrive Mward with my 815 about half the time. Never happened with any other driver in the past. Cant say its because of the driver or because he is hitting a less forgiving option, but it only started happening when I switched to this driver.
Click to expand...

I have a friend that made the same observation about me. I never really challenged him and now, semi-regularly I sneak a boomer past him. I hadn't noticed it until he pointed it out and said, "dang Callaway, why you gotta make drivers that Steve hits further than me?"
 
Along with my putter, the BB is one club I really can not see me replacing for a good long while. I think once you have a shaft thats suits your swing installed it is extremely forgiving.
 
JB said:
Okay, back from the range with the launch monitor. Here are the numbers.

This is the average of the best 5 balls.

Ball Speed 152
Launch Angle 14.5
Spin 2487
Carry 252

This is the average of all of the balls

Ball Speed 149
Launch Angle 14.3
Spin 2656
Carry 246

The best part of this whole thing is how close the average is for me to the best. I found that hitting basically anywhere on the face was working rather well. Ball speed reduction happened the most lower on the face as higher on the face kept ball speed virtually identical to dead center. I have the gravity core set to down. Towards the toe and towards the heel offered ball speed in the mid to high 140s for me and still similar carry distance.

This were tested using the 2015 Srixon Z-Star golf ball.
Click to expand...
Man, I need to get my spin numbers down.
 
Behold!!!
d18908c026486b437cbef9727518d6d2.jpg
 
Really looking forward to getting the 815 back out on the course this weekend.
 
I FINALLY got a chance to go out and hit my 815 at the range today. Need more swings for sure, but I can certainly understand the buzz now. Not sure I love the Diamana S+ shaft, but certainly don't hate it either. I hit some balls back to back with the same Speeder 661 in both the 815 head and my normal Big Bertha head, and I believe I did see lower spin from the 815 to where it worked better for me moved up to a +1 loft setting (effectively 10 deg). Once I made that change, I hit 6-7 balls in a row that would have all hit fairway (not a small feat on the first range session in two months).

As the swing gets looser, I'll have to try both shafts again, but I already see enough compelling shots to permanently switch from the BB to the 815. It really is a step change in forgiveness, pretty special for a year-over-year change for sure.
 
Had a decent day on the sim today with this club. Launch angle is wayyyyyy too high. Not sure if it's that's me getting flippy or what. What I do know is this driver just wants to go straight. And the forgiveness is second to none. Distance loss is minimal on off center hits.

I'm going to attach some numbers. Why am I launching at 20*!!?
cbda1780b817ba35bea43206abcaa17f.jpg
 
Sully said:
Had a decent day on the sim today with this club. Launch angle is wayyyyyy too high. Not sure if it's that's me getting flippy or what. What I do know is this driver just wants to go straight. And the forgiveness is second to none. Distance loss is minimal on off center hits.

I'm going to attach some numbers. Why am I launching at 20*!!?
Click to expand...

The 815 is a launch monster. If you are playing it at a similar loft to your previous drivers it is very likely that you need to loft down. Its pretty well documented in this thread that its a common feature of the 815. I went from 11.5* in a RAZR Fit to 9.5* in the 815.

Your numbers look pretty good, I bet they get real good if you can get that launch angle down a bit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top