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- #276
That is one thing that is so telling in golf. that which cannot be patented gets applied elsewhere. The next couple years will be interesting for sure, as more companies use AI or tech as a leading component of their builds.
Callaway Epic Flash and Epic Flash Sub Zero Driver
That is one thing that is so telling in golf. that which cannot be patented gets applied elsewhere. The next couple years will be interesting for sure, as more companies use AI or tech as a leading component of their builds.
The implications are staggering, not just in club face tech, looking at stroke lab for instance, how much more granular can the weight placement get in the head or grip, how much effect does 4 grams moved from the grip to the head matter? Maybe none, but maybe a lot.
We’re seeing the first gen here, what does 3/4/5th gen look like? It’s really cool.
Harry said on the live stream that this was something completely new; this will change the golf industry I believe.
That was actually a question I thought of unfortunately too late. One thing that's interesting to think about is the process of patenting tech when we get to this type of approach. You start to get into the world of process patents, where the approach is what's patented rather than the design itself - which is actually hard to explain why it works - which would give them a HUGE leg up on face tech assuming initial impressions hold.
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- #279
Chip Brewer addressed the crowd of creators the other night and without talking about Flash or any specific equipment he said something along the lines of, this product or better yet the creation of the product will stand alone in the future as the first of its kind. This process will eventually be the norm, and despite being expensive, there is no shadow of a doubt it creates something better. When thinking of parallels, the thought of the first use of CAD for design to bring to the table something that offered far superior and more to engineers.
It was pretty crazy to hear. He was not speaking about his product, sales or boasting performance. It was about the process and how he believes that everybody will have to play catch up to this process the same way the wound ball, CAD and others when first introduced (regardless of company) brought to the industry.
It's a complete game changer! It throws away conventional face designs forever.
What was counter-intuitive is now the golden standard!!
Yes! This is exactly that level of improvement. Probably with less complaining from the old guard though.
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I'm really interested to see how long it will be before other brands start utilizing the AI. JB you mentioned it, investing in that kind of AI technology isn't cheap and I'm wondering if it will limit some brands on if or how much they can use it. For those brands that aren't able to how big of a setback will it be for them in the performance realm?
In thinking back to Saturday’s round .... I wasn’t especially good off the tees but for the ones I hit in the fairway the potential of this driver is really enticing. I had several holes where the ball was fourth down the fairway than I expected it to be, and these are shots being played in cold winter weather. That’s becoming a recurring theme with the Flash.
On 16 the 150 marker is where the fairway begins to narrow. It isn’t uncommon for me to be back 10 yards or so from it. I think I’ve been into the narrowed fairway section like once ever. On Saturday I was about 5 yards past the marker. In summer that ball is easily into the narrowed area.
On 5 I didn’t think I really caught it...ball was through the fairway / slight dog leg. On 11 the ball was probably 20 yards further up the fairway than I expected. On 12 I caught it a little low on the face and thought I was short of a little fairway mounding...I was actually beyond the mounding.
Anyway, I definitely need to get dialed in with the Flash and hit more fairways. But the promise of extra distance with the Flash seems to be real, and that’s very exciting. I’m really curious to get the driver on these course in summer and see what distances I’m getting in regular weather.
On 16 the 150 marker is where the fairway begins to narrow. It isn’t uncommon for me to be back 10 yards or so from it. I think I’ve been into the narrowed fairway section like once ever. On Saturday I was about 5 yards past the marker. In summer that ball is easily into the narrowed area.
On 5 I didn’t think I really caught it...ball was through the fairway / slight dog leg. On 11 the ball was probably 20 yards further up the fairway than I expected. On 12 I caught it a little low on the face and thought I was short of a little fairway mounding...I was actually beyond the mounding.
Anyway, I definitely need to get dialed in with the Flash and hit more fairways. But the promise of extra distance with the Flash seems to be real, and that’s very exciting. I’m really curious to get the driver on these course in summer and see what distances I’m getting in regular weather.
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- #286
It might. I honestly can't answer that. I can say that it is a R&D arms race so to speak and companies are definitely not spending the same on innovation? Does that mean a company spending less can't come up with a great product? Of course not. There are one man shops that have created solid products.
This driver even with somewhat breezy conditions is seriously outperforming the OG Epic it now replaces. Conditions were extremely soft with little to no roll and yet I was getting it out there almost to 240 at times downwind, a good 10 yards farther than I would bit that OG Epic under similar conditions. It is also very much a fairway finder for me finding 7 out of 9 fairways and those misses were not by very much. I mentioned in the ERC ball thread that I used that ball sporadically and the launch conditions I was seeing with the Flash driver set at +1/D combines with the ERC ball may be too high launching and I may have to dial the loft down on the driver if I decide to use the ERC ball exclusively.
SlightDraw
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- #289
No. Chip spoke about how he believes others will get there, but according to him it is not just about the super computer, but also the program that is proprietary to assist in learning.
bbuonic81
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Anyone have any feedback on how the EvenFlow Green performs/feels in these heads?
Exactly. The tools are definitely there for other companies to take advantage of this type of process. But, the folks who are good at it are incredibly valuable (like any other type of designer/engineer).
- Staff
- #293
Correct me if I’m wrong...
The Regular Epic Flash will spin less than the Original Epic did, right?
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The Regular Epic Flash will spin less than the Original Epic did, right?
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i hope not. if so, i'm not sure this finds its way into my bag.
I'd be surprised if that's the case.
I'm totally just judging by the photos I've seen online, but the regular Flash head looks a bit more stretched than the regular Epic. It's not Rogue stretched, but slightly elongated. If that's true (which is a big if), I'd expect a bit more spin.
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- #296
That why I’m throwing it out there as a question... I’m interested in seeing what the answer is...
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In my experience that hasn’t been the case. Same ballpark in the fitting.
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I wish I could answer this for you but I don't remember any comments about it being lower spin than the original. I know I was fit for the Sub Zero in the original Epic and I'm in a regular Flash now but that of course was two different fitters.
Just based on my limited experience so far I think the spin profiles between Flash and the original Epic are pretty similar. It may be lower or higher but not by enough to make a huge difference.
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And, at least for me, without about 1000 more swings with each on a monitor I can't say with any certainty which way. Not nearly consistent enough.