Callaway MAVRIK FW Woods and Hybrids

JB

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Alright, I am going to just lead this review off with this...

3 wood shot.PNG

Just look at that smash factor. We're talking driver speed from a steel headed fairway wood!

I am finding myself having to pivot a bit on what I was initially planning on doing for the fairway wood write up. I didn’t get a chance to hit it during the fitting. I basically just picked the same version I had played in the past. During the event, I hit it once off the deck in crappy weather and a few times at the range. I knew it looked great just like every SZ 3 wood I have hit in the past. But, wasn’t really blown away at the time. When we got home from the trip and I could nothing more than just sit and stare at my new gear, I decided to pull the weights out. Never thought of checking before, but the heavy weight was forward. A position I rarely used in my SZ 3 woods in the past. So, I set the heavy weight in the back and just didn’t think of it much after that.

Fast forward a few weeks and I had some sim time booked to get my fix. Scratch the new club itch. Going through the bag hitting shots, loving what I was seeing from each club. Get to the 3 wood just out of the natural progression of things. Thinking nothing of it, I just take a swing. Crack. Wait a minute, what the hell was that? Take another swing. Crack. Holy crap, look at that thing go. Rinse and repeat over and over again. Watch the ball carry forever. Hmm. Maybe I underestimated this club at the time.

I know that they were able to further optimize the face of the fairway woods just like the rest of the Mavrik line. I know they said that they were able to raise the CT and achieve driver like speed off the face. But, I mean, it’s just a 3 wood and they have been maxed out for a while now right?

I hit the club on a few more occasions and saw the same results each time. This warranted a little further investigation on what numbers I am actually achieving with this club.

This past weekend, I was able to spend some time on Trackman with the new bag. By the time I got to the 3 wood I was absolutely wiped out. I had hit an insane amount of shots in a very short amount of time. Not expecting much out of myself, I set the ball down, take a mighty lash at it, and Crack! The ball is off. Same amazing performance.

Just looking at what I have been feeling validated on a legit device like Trackman tells me that this club is special. Looking at the data, vs. my old Epic Flash SZ 3 wood. A 3 wood that I felt was better than any 3 wood I had owned prior. I was seeing 3 mph more ball speed and 12 yards more carry. Not only that. But, the Mavrik is easier to hit for me. Don’t get me wrong, the EFSZ is no slouch. But, the numbers weren’t lying. The Mavrik SZ 3 wood is king of the hill for now. And, I don’t know when I will see another fairway outperform what I already had by such a margin.

Mavrik SZ 3 Wood
Mavrik SZ Stats.PNG

Epic Flash SZ 3 Wood
EFSZ Stats.PNG


Fairway woods can be finicky business. It seems some players, myself included, often times have a hard time finding one that works well. And, when they do, they hang on to it for dear life. I can’t promise you that the Mavrik will be your unicorn 3 wood. Heck, I don’t know for 100% certainty that it’s mine yet. But, the signs are strong. I can’t wait to get this outside and hit it off of some real grass, try to bend it through some tight spots, try to play for position off the tee.

This could quite possibly be the super star of the Mavrik line. Once I got home with my new clubs, the fairway wood was honestly probably the last thing on my mind. Now, it’s almost all I can think about.

I will leave you with these. Such a good looking fairway wood.

Mav 3w Sole Tight Crop.jpg

Mav 3w heel shot.jpg

Mav 3w face shot.jpg
 

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THOSE HYBRIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
Nice shapes here! And... Riptide!
 
Four years ago I got hooked on this game and, as we all do as we’re learning, wanted to find a club that would offer forgiveness as well as be easy to hit. I was gifted a set of 2015 Big Bertha clubs by a fellow THPer that included two hybrids. As my game improved ever so slightly, I would pull them on occasion when I needed a little more yardage. At the time, I really didn’t care much for my older Steelhead 3+, so I had large gaps between driver and my hybrids. Despite multiple attempts to use them, a combo of my inconsistent swing and lack of confidence, I usually just went with a 5i or 6i and just dealt with the lack of distance I was getting. Over the past two years I added a 3w that was better for me, and so my hybrids stayed in the proverbial back seat.

Leading up to the Grandaddy, when I began looking and thinking about possible bag set-ups, I knew that hybrids were something that I wanted to try again. Not only because the technology had made leaps since 2015 and that if I really wanted to have a complete game, I wanted to have hybrids in the bag that gave me options.

Enter Mavrik. As you’ve heard multiple times by now, Callaway’s use of AI on this line has created an extremely fine tuned product that can potentially help every golfer. Each club (Pro, Standard, and Max) has a fully optimized flash face, that’s unique to that line alone. They’ve also continued the trend of using Jailbreak to increase ball speed off the face.

While at ECPC, I was fit into the Max line of drivers and irons. We didn’t have time for FW and hybrid fitting for me, so we naturally stayed with the Max line for those clubs.
As my game hasn’t utilized the hybrid much prior to the event, I looked for opportunities to use it while in California, as well as since I’ve returned home. Over the few rounds and sim sessions that I’ve been able to use my hybrids, I’ve found them to be very easy to hit, and thanks to my slowly improving swing, I’m finding the center of the club face more often.

The feel off the club face is nice and crisp. I don’t notice a twisting in my hands when hitting off center, nor does it seem harsh, which is a nice thing.
I went with the 4h, 5h, and 6h, in the Max line. The stock shaft is the Project X Even Flow Riptide. My fitter recommended the 65g 5.5 shaft, and so far, it has been a perfect addition to the bag.

I’m looking forward to updating this over the next few months as I continue to test these out.

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I know I’m not the only one that’s been waiting for this thread to drop!
 
Will this be the year that I finally find a 3 wood that I can launch......? :unsure:
 
In the fairway woods department, this was an area that I was very excited to dig into both in Cali and once I got home. Having only previously played a 3w, the thought of getting a 5w and a 7w that could open up more options throughout the course, made me happy.

As I mentioned in my initial hybrid review, I didn’t have time to hit fairways at ECPC, but quickly hit them once on the course. As you’ve likely read and heard the past month, the 5w is the champion here, in my opinion. Having not played a 5w before, I don’t have direct comparisons, but it has been such an easy club to hit, and hit consistently.

I spent some time on the monitor last week with it, and here’s some averages:
Max 5w: carry 175 / total 187 / back spin 3700 / club speed 89 / ball speed 120

The beauty of this club (besides the color scheme) is that thanks to the low leading edge, there’s rarely an issue of getting under the ball cleanly. Super easy one to hit.

The Max 3w is another great club in this family. Most of the time I’m either hitting driver (par 4 or 5) or an iron on shorter holes, my 3w hasn’t been utilized as much as it would have in the past. I aim to continue to look for opportunities to use this one, but so far, it has been good. My previous 3w was the Cobra F7 and I’ve found the Max to be as stable, if not more, on off center hits. Which is the goal with the AI optimized face.

Due to inventory shortages, I was fit for a Max 7w, but have an Epic Flash 7w in hand. The Max will be shipped out as soon as possible, so I can compare numbers. I’ve included the EF 7w in the pics.

C741A1A3-A026-4B2B-B576-0E29BE9C0255.jpeg

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(L to R: Max 5w, Max 3w, Max driver)
F9C544F4-0206-4617-9F0F-0DE3E18377D6.jpeg
 
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Alright, I am going to just lead this review off with this...

View attachment 8922454

Just look at that smash factor. We're talking driver speed from a steel headed fairway wood!

I am finding myself having to pivot a bit on what I was initially planning on doing for the fairway wood write up. I didn’t get a chance to hit it during the fitting. I basically just picked the same version I had played in the past. During the event, I hit it once off the deck in crappy weather and a few times at the range. I knew it looked great just like every SZ 3 wood I have hit in the past. But, wasn’t really blown away at the time. When we got home from the trip and I could nothing more than just sit and stare at my new gear, I decided to pull the weights out. Never thought of checking before, but the heavy weight was forward. A position I rarely used in my SZ 3 woods in the past. So, I set the heavy weight in the back and just didn’t think of it much after that.

Fast forward a few weeks and I had some sim time booked to get my fix. Scratch the new club itch. Going through the bag hitting shots, loving what I was seeing from each club. Get to the 3 wood just out of the natural progression of things. Thinking nothing of it, I just take a swing. Crack. Wait a minute, what the hell was that? Take another swing. Crack. Holy crap, look at that thing go. Rinse and repeat over and over again. Watch the ball carry forever. Hmm. Maybe I underestimated this club at the time.

I know that they were able to further optimize the face of the fairway woods just like the rest of the Mavrik line. I know they said that they were able to raise the CT and achieve driver like speed off the face. But, I mean, it’s just a 3 wood and they have been maxed out for a while now right?

I hit the club on a few more occasions and saw the same results each time. This warranted a little further investigation on what numbers I am actually achieving with this club.

This past weekend, I was able to spend some time on Trackman with the new bag. By the time I got to the 3 wood I was absolutely wiped out. I had hit an insane amount of shots in a very short amount of time. Not expecting much out of myself, I set the ball down, take a mighty lash at it, and Crack! The ball is off. Same amazing performance.

Just looking at what I have been feeling validated on a legit device like Trackman tells me that this club is special. Looking at the data, vs. my old Epic Flash SZ 3 wood. A 3 wood that I felt was better than any 3 wood I had owned prior. I was seeing 3 mph more ball speed and 12 yards more carry. Not only that. But, the Mavrik is easier to hit for me. Don’t get me wrong, the EFSZ is no slouch. But, the numbers weren’t lying. The Mavrik SZ 3 wood is king of the hill for now. And, I don’t know when I will see another fairway outperform what I already had by such a margin.

Mavrik SZ 3 Wood
View attachment 8922455

Epic Flash SZ 3 Wood
View attachment 8922457


Fairway woods can be finicky business. It seems some players, myself included, often times have a hard time finding one that works well. And, when they do, they hang on to it for dear life. I can’t promise you that the Mavrik will be your unicorn 3 wood. Heck, I don’t know for 100% certainty that it’s mine yet. But, the signs are strong. I can’t wait to get this outside and hit it off of some real grass, try to bend it through some tight spots, try to play for position off the tee.

This could quite possibly be the super star of the Mavrik line. Once I got home with my new clubs, the fairway wood was honestly probably the last thing on my mind. Now, it’s almost all I can think about.

I will leave you with these. Such a good looking fairway wood.

View attachment 8922458

View attachment 8922459

View attachment 8922460
That's crazy ballspeed pickup in 1 generation. Thanks for this write up. Looks like these might be the star of the show.
 
Damn, @radiman putting up some serious gains with the new clubs

I picked up a lot of distance with my Epic Flash SZ 3W over my old 3W, but if I could pick up even more with this it could be hard to ignore

Hybrids would have to be hit as I didn't get on with any of them during my fitting recently and I went with a utility iron, but if I get a chance I will give the hybrids a hit and see what happens
 


 
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I'm going to let some of my teammates run with the initial reviews of the fairway woods, updating my thoughts throughout the year, but as @radiman said, these very well may be the stars of the show. I witnessed some absolutely filthy fairway wood shots by @Snickerdoodle, Radi, @j_sizzle9, @badolds, among others, including the Zoo Crew.

But I will share this one story from our Q&A session. I can't remember who asked, but basically the question to the Callaway guys was, over the years, what was the one club that was hardest to move on from into the newer lines. As the Callaway team went around the room, we quickly learned that the Rogue fairway wood lines were VERY popular internally. And, I'm not surprised: those fairway woods were fantastic. But when the Mavrik line was ready, none of those Callaway guys hesitated. The Mavrik fairway woods are just that good.
 
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Great start guys!

anyone like a bouquet of woods?

1579003325487.jpeg
 
Good stuff so far guys! Loving all the feedback so far. Sounds like Callaway has another really solid release year ahead of them!
 
I am not a big hybrid guy. I just don't seem to get along with them very well--lots of low, left hooks. But I did get along really well with the Rogue hybrids, and as some of the 2017 team has attested (for example, @CobraX51), the Rogue hybrids were LONG. Well, the Mavrik hybrids--with addition of unique, Flash Face SS20 faces for each head--are like the Rogue hybrids on steroids.

I was fit into the standard Mavrik head, which to me looks a lot like the standard Rogue at address. But, consistent with the rest of my fitting, my fitter wanted to give me a little extra loft, so he put me into a 5H head with a 4H shaft to keep up the club head speed. At this point, I've probably put around half a dozen swings on that club, but the few times I hit it in play, I was impressed. While I was not launching it like @zbeekner4, due to my technique, everything I hit was nearly dead straight. I'll keep updating this thread with my performance throughout the year.

But I will leave you with with some side-by-side photos with the Epic Flash 4H, which I was playing before The Grandaddy:

fullsizeoutput_3ec.jpegfullsizeoutput_3e6.jpegfullsizeoutput_3e0.jpeg

In the last photo, the Epic Flash 4H is on the left, and the Mavrik is on the right.
 
OMG--There are soo many great options coming out and i'm going to definitely need a loooong fitting session to determine which way to go with my bag set up. Either way, these are some amazing results coming out--and this is about to get expensive!

Thanks for the reviews guys, keep em coming...
 
Great reviews, thoughts, and pictures so far from all the Grandaddy guys!
 
Alright, I am going to just lead this review off with this...

View attachment 8922454

Just look at that smash factor. We're talking driver speed from a steel headed fairway wood!

I am finding myself having to pivot a bit on what I was initially planning on doing for the fairway wood write up. I didn’t get a chance to hit it during the fitting. I basically just picked the same version I had played in the past. During the event, I hit it once off the deck in crappy weather and a few times at the range. I knew it looked great just like every SZ 3 wood I have hit in the past. But, wasn’t really blown away at the time. When we got home from the trip and I could nothing more than just sit and stare at my new gear, I decided to pull the weights out. Never thought of checking before, but the heavy weight was forward. A position I rarely used in my SZ 3 woods in the past. So, I set the heavy weight in the back and just didn’t think of it much after that.

Fast forward a few weeks and I had some sim time booked to get my fix. Scratch the new club itch. Going through the bag hitting shots, loving what I was seeing from each club. Get to the 3 wood just out of the natural progression of things. Thinking nothing of it, I just take a swing. Crack. Wait a minute, what the hell was that? Take another swing. Crack. Holy crap, look at that thing go. Rinse and repeat over and over again. Watch the ball carry forever. Hmm. Maybe I underestimated this club at the time.

I know that they were able to further optimize the face of the fairway woods just like the rest of the Mavrik line. I know they said that they were able to raise the CT and achieve driver like speed off the face. But, I mean, it’s just a 3 wood and they have been maxed out for a while now right?

I hit the club on a few more occasions and saw the same results each time. This warranted a little further investigation on what numbers I am actually achieving with this club.

This past weekend, I was able to spend some time on Trackman with the new bag. By the time I got to the 3 wood I was absolutely wiped out. I had hit an insane amount of shots in a very short amount of time. Not expecting much out of myself, I set the ball down, take a mighty lash at it, and Crack! The ball is off. Same amazing performance.

Just looking at what I have been feeling validated on a legit device like Trackman tells me that this club is special. Looking at the data, vs. my old Epic Flash SZ 3 wood. A 3 wood that I felt was better than any 3 wood I had owned prior. I was seeing 3 mph more ball speed and 12 yards more carry. Not only that. But, the Mavrik is easier to hit for me. Don’t get me wrong, the EFSZ is no slouch. But, the numbers weren’t lying. The Mavrik SZ 3 wood is king of the hill for now. And, I don’t know when I will see another fairway outperform what I already had by such a margin.

Mavrik SZ 3 Wood
View attachment 8922455

Epic Flash SZ 3 Wood
View attachment 8922457


Fairway woods can be finicky business. It seems some players, myself included, often times have a hard time finding one that works well. And, when they do, they hang on to it for dear life. I can’t promise you that the Mavrik will be your unicorn 3 wood. Heck, I don’t know for 100% certainty that it’s mine yet. But, the signs are strong. I can’t wait to get this outside and hit it off of some real grass, try to bend it through some tight spots, try to play for position off the tee.

This could quite possibly be the super star of the Mavrik line. Once I got home with my new clubs, the fairway wood was honestly probably the last thing on my mind. Now, it’s almost all I can think about.

I will leave you with these. Such a good looking fairway wood.

View attachment 8922458

View attachment 8922459

View attachment 8922460
Almost no reason for a driver with that 3W. Impressive numbers.
 
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