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Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816 Fairway Wood Review

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Great review Dean! Adjustability in a fairway wood is something I have never experienced but am certainly interested in giving a try one day.
 
Enjoyed that Dean. Interesting to read though that you still had a boring trajectory with the weight back, I would have thought otherwise.
 
Great first review Dean. Was not aware this beast packed the highest MOI faireay wood wise on the market...good stuff
 
Great job on the first review. Enjoy reading the info and this has me pondering another wood for the bag
 
Nice work Dean! Good to read your thoughts in an official capacity!
I tested these recently at a demo day and I can attest to these fitting a wide variety of golfers. Your thought with the deepest ion from and extension of a companies Driver line is spot on. Technology has something to do with it. But, I also think that OEM’s saw this as an untapped resource for market share and revenue. Which IMO is a huge win for golfers everywhere.
 
Excellent review Dean. Excellent and honest findings. Love that the video of Finley was thrown in as well. I will be sure to test out the claim of the 16* with weight back being the most forgiving fairway in the lineup when mine arrives.
 
ddec - great job on the inaugural review.

I'm really interested in this fairway to slot in with the Heavenwood in the bag. I liked the 815, but found myself wanting something with a larger profile. It looks like the 816 might be the answer.
 
mikedean441 said:
Great first review Dean. Was not aware this beast packed the highest MOI faireay wood wise on the market...good stuff
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I think it said highest MOI fairway wood in Callaway's lineup. Still pretty cool.

That was a good read Dean. It looks like, from the photo, you tested the 14°? Just curious if you had it set to 14° when you hit it with the weights in the two different configurations? Wonder if you would have seen a better ball flight if the loft was higher.
 
Great job, Dean. Lots of good info here. I really want to pick one of these up and move the weight back and see if I’m able to finally find a consistent FW for my game. FWs are probably my least comfortable club in the bag.
 
drp3434 said:
I think it said highest MOI fairway wood in Callaway's lineup. Still pretty cool.

That was a good read Dean. It looks like, from the photo, you tested the 14°? Just curious if you had it set to 14° when you hit it with the weights in the two different configurations? Wonder if you would have seen a better ball flight if the loft was higher.
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I tested all settings and mentioned in the review that the best flight for me was 16 draw. That gave me the highest flight and most consistency. The only thing I didn't try was throwing in the shaft from my 2014 BB fairway wood. That club in the same settings was noticeably higher in flight.
 
Thank you for the review!

I was wondering whether purchasing a 16 and playing it like a 3 wood at 15 will give you a higher launch than the 14 played at 15. I would think they would make the tweener head ( 4 wd or 16) to have higher launch characteristics. I could see the 16, played at 15, and the 18 played at 19-20 as a possible combo for a golfer who makes good contact but has just under 100 SS. Now the shaft...
 
ddec said:
I tested all settings and mentioned in the review that the best flight for me was 16 draw. That gave me the highest flight and most consistency.
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I may be just completely missing it, because I've done it before, but I've read it a couple times and I don't see this in there. Either way, thanks for the info. Having it at 16° makes sense, and I'm sure this has plenty of distance to be a great option at a 4W loft.
 
thanks to all who took the time to read and comment on my first review. I apologize for not being around much yesterday to discuss since I spent most of the day fighting off an illness.
 
Nice review, Dean. Looks like I might have to put this one up against the GBB Heavenwood and see who wants to be in the bag more.
 
Good work, Dean! I absolutely want one of these. Weight back and let 'er fly!
 
Philly Golf Guy said:
Nice review, Dean. Looks like I might have to put this one up against the GBB Heavenwood and see who wants to be in the bag more.
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The heavenwood is a great club, so easy to hit. Like you, I have a J40 4 wood. I found this a little easier to hit off the deck than that.
 
Great review Dean. That club is gorgeous. I really like the loft options there. 14* seems perfect since it can go up 2*/down 1*. Would probably replace mine well.
 
Great write up. Video was very good, too. Finding out that it's a bit bigger than the 815 and most forgiving FW in their lineup with the screws heaving in the back is interesting. It sure is a beautiful looking club, that's for sure.
 
So I'd be absolutely lying if I told you this wasn't the club I wanted to hit most out of ddec's bag today on the course. This fairway, in matte black, with the updated shaft that I was fitted into for my driver at the Grandaddy…here was me thinking this would literally be my "mini driver."

I got the chance to borrow it three times, and I'd consider all three shots to be…decent. My first attempt was from the left side of the fairway and around 230 out. I hit one on the low side and a tiny bit left of the green. I ended up just short of pin high left of the green and ok (kind of a best miss scenario).

The second time I hit this club was from the tee. The hole is a rinky-dink short (296) but narrow par 4. There is the cart path and trees to the right and left is dead with a tree line/cliff combination. I hit what felt like a better struck ball from a tee'd up position, and it launched a tad higher (but not much) and worked itself right to left. The ball landed soft on the left side of the fairway and just trickled into the first cut of rough safe (yes!). I had around 50 yards in and after a decent SW, I had my first legit chance at birdie (missed it).

The final shot I hit with it was from the middle of the 18th fairway. It was uphill (a tad) and the flag was around 230 out. Again, I thought I made good contact, and again it launched low, but this time leaked out to the right. Just out of curiosity, I measured it with my GPS watch:

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We'll call that pin high. I'm curious if squaring the face (HA) would squeeze a few more yards out of that? Or even a bit higher launch?

According to Dean, the weight was in the back position, which is supposed to help with launch, but he also told me it was set at 16° when in fact it was set at 15° so who knows? :laughing:
 
I should finish that thought. So in summary, out of my 3 swings, I felt I made good contact on each of them. I felt that I swung the club better each time I borrowed it. While I prefer the gloss look of the Alpha 815 driver to the matte look of the Great Big Bertha, I MUCH prefer the matte look with fairway woods. I don't know why, maybe size has something to do with it. I tend to hit a low ball anyway, so the low launch of this one (for now) doesn't bother me like it might for others. Paired with the Heavenwood, which I hit quite high, I think I would have the best of both worlds with that. I look forward to swinging this one again.
 
Solid review dean!
 
played yesterday with the Fubuki shaft that came in the '14 Big Bertha. Ball flight seemed to get up quicker. Only hit it twice though so hard to really judge by that. Oh and Pete can hammer this club.
 
I have a 14 degree on the way with OBAN ISAWA Red. Should be a beast.
 
This is my only ponder at the moment. Kind of a hawk ponder as I destroy my xr 4w but I want to see if this 4w can out it
 
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