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Callaway Optiforce Driver Preview

SuperStroke
The other thing to remember about the "testing" session at Top Golf was that a lot of people (myself included) were hitting the Optiforce and the Fister back to back. The Optiforce sounded pretty mute after hitting the Fister. I'd be interested to hear what it's like when I'm not cracking the baseball bat next to it.

The Optiforce actually reminded me a lot of the Cleveland Classic I used to have. It felt light, but it was really solid at impact. I'd like to see what the numbers are with that driver.

I've hit the Cleveland Black a few times, and the Optiforce felt much different to me. Not nearly as light (maybe because of the shaft) and much, much more solid.
 
ATLGolfer said:
The other thing to remember about the "testing" session at Top Golf was that a lot of people (myself included) were hitting the Optiforce and the Fister back to back. The Optiforce sounded pretty mute after hitting the Fister. I'd be interested to hear what it's like when I'm not cracking the baseball bat next to it.

The Optiforce actually reminded me a lot of the Cleveland Classic I used to have. It felt light, but it was really solid at impact. I'd like to see what the numbers are with that driver.

I've hit the Cleveland Black a few times, and the Optiforce felt much different to me. Not nearly as light (maybe because of the shaft) and much, much more solid.
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Thanks, Seth. That information has me even more intrigued.
 
War Eagle said:
You thinking you might like the lighter weight?
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The 65g diamana would be right up my alley. I like everything I have seen and the Diamana plays stiff but light weight sounds like a good mix
 
So it's 12:40 on the east coast and most golf stores have been open for at least 2.5 hours. Has anyone ventured into one yet to demo or at least take a look at this baby?

I have plans to today, but the weather is so nasty, don't know if I want to venture out for lunch.
 
CAA_Beat said:
So it's 12:40 on the east coast and most golf stores have been open for at least 2.5 hours. Has anyone ventured into one yet to demo or at least take a look at this baby?

I have plans to today, but the weather is so nasty, don't know if I want to venture out for lunch.
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I had no plans to(got the RFE a few months ago) but after seeing some of the results on tour, its tempting
 
jhstew1 said:
I had no plans to(got the RFE a few months ago) but after seeing some of the results on tour, its tempting
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I hear ya. My XHot is new well got it in Janaury, so I guess by club ho standards that makes it old :) As I have said in other threads so bear with me for repeating. During my fitting, the RFE was just a bit too low spin for me, the Xhot was on the verge of being too much. So I'm interested to see if the Optiforce is a good inbetween option.

I'm liking the 440 head a lot better than the 460.
 
So I went up to Golf Galaxy today to try out the optiforce. I swung both the 460 and 440. The 460 was a 5.5 and 10.5 dgree and 440 was stiff and 9.5 degree. I did not like the 440 it just did not do well for me. As for the 460 I would have preferred for it to be the 6.0 because that is what I would use but oh well. The club felt good on impact and my swing felt smooth. I could not feel if I was swinging the lighter shaft any faster. Golf Galaxy's better tracking unit was down so all that was working was the simulator, therefor I am not sure how accurate the numbers are. My club head speed was between 109.8-113.6 on avg. I got one swing that said was 115 but not sure if it was true. The ball felt good off the face but according to the simulator I pulled every shot but they were all consistent.

I also swung the Xhot 9.5 in stiff flex and my Razr X Black 9.5 stiff to compare. I swung the Xhot the exact same swing speed and swung my driver 1mph slower on average. As for distance I got the best from the Xhot but only by a few yards. My current X Black was about 5-10 yards less then the Xhot and Optiforce. I liked the feel of the Xhot the best but would like to put all three drivers on the better monitor to compare.
 
Way to go Lynchburg..I knew someone would be on it :)

Interesting results. You bring up a good point about GG and the simulator. I believe they are all the same deal. They have the one nice bay that has a trackman or similar LM for fittings and then one that is just a simulator. The GG in Columbia, MD the simulator usually shows spin over 5,000 rpm, so I put no stock in that.

I most likely will go to Golfsmith, theres seem to be more on point and it's not far from work. I hope that GS has a R in the 440, I'm between an R and S but like the feel of R a bit better. I would ask them to adjust it to 10.5 for me during the demo if possible, as the 440 comes in the stock 9.5 setting.
 
I hit a few balls with the 460 tonight. It was set at 10.5 degrees Neutral and had a project X 5.5 shaft in it. It felt and sounded good to me. I really like the club, but I did seem to hook it more than I did the R1 that I tried which was also set to Neutral and more than I do with my current driver, which is a TM super fast that is old in golf technology terms.
 
I had about ten swings with the 3W tonight at GolfSmith.

By way of reference, I had spent time on the Trackman with the RBZ Stage 2, 3Deep, Super S and Amp Cell this afternoon. In general I was hitting these about 211 to 216 on average with just a few that I really hit getting in the 225 range. This is less than I normally hit a 3w so obviously I didn't bring my A swing. Distances are shown here for comparative purposes. Dispersion with these clubs was reflective of my swing. (Read mediocre)

Fast forward to the Optiforce. This was on a launch monitor, no glove and with loose fitting sandles so it isnt an apples to apples comparison. I was hitting the ball on average about 220. That is kind of in the same range as the others, maybe about 5 yards more on average. But I dont think the numbers quite tell the whole story. I think the big difference was that there was much greater consistency of distance and dispersion was tighter...and again, this was no glove and sandles instead of golf shoes, so I expect real numbers would be even better. The board would intermittently flash the numbers so it was hard to really see and digest them. I remember seeing swing speeds in the 86 mph range and ball speeds in the 124 mph range. That is smash factor of about 1.44. Not bad.

Now for the subjective stuff...the club looks awesome. Black head with highlight graphics on the crown. Black shaft with symmetrical white flame like graphics. Black and white GolfPride grip. It all went together really well. The salesman said "That looks like a golf club."

Speaking of the grip...just uh...it was slick, moreso than other grips even without the glove.

The 6.0 shaft was very interesting to me. It felt somehow more solid than the 6.0s in the 3Deeps I have hit. Maybe the swing weight of the clubs are different and that is changing feel? Maybe the characteristics of the shafts are a little different? I don't know for sure but I liked this one better. In total, the club kind of felt like a more powerful version of my G20 (not to say it is or that is longer, just that is how it felt to me). Subjectively, the shaft seemed long to me.

I need to try again outside and when I am properly outfitted for golf. That said, I like what I saw so far. The club really looked bad arse ... I just want more time to assess performance.
 
tequila4kapp said:
I had about ten swings with the 3W tonight at GolfSmith.

By way of reference, I had spent time on the Trackman with the RBZ Stage 2, 3Deep, Super S and Amp Cell this afternoon. In general I was hitting these about 211 to 216 on average with just a few that I really hit getting in the 225 range. This is less than I normally hit a 3w so obviously I didn't bring my A swing. Distances are shown here for comparative purposes. Dispersion with these clubs was reflective of my swing. (Read mediocre)

Fast forward to the Optiforce. This was on a launch monitor, no glove and with loose fitting sandles so it isnt an apples to apples comparison. I was hitting the ball on average about 220. That is kind of in the same range as the others, maybe about 5 yards more on average. But I dont think the numbers quite tell the whole story. I think the big difference was that there was much greater consistency of distance and dispersion was tighter...and again, this was no glove and sandles instead of golf shoes, so I expect real numbers would be even better. The board would intermittently flash the numbers so it was hard to really see and digest them. I remember seeing swing speeds in the 86 mph range and ball speeds in the 124 mph range. That is smash factor of about 1.44. Not bad.

Now for the subjective stuff...the club looks awesome. Black head with highlight graphics on the crown. Black shaft with symmetrical white flame like graphics. Black and white GolfPride grip. It all went together really well. The salesman said "That looks like a golf club."

Speaking of the grip...just uh...it was slick, moreso than other grips even without the glove.

The 6.0 shaft was very interesting to me. It felt somehow more solid than the 6.0s in the 3Deeps I have hit. Maybe the swing weight of the clubs are different and that is changing feel? Maybe the characteristics of the shafts are a little different? I don't know for sure but I liked this one better. In total, the club kind of felt like a more powerful version of my G20 (not to say it is or that is longer, just that is how it felt to me). Subjectively, the shaft seemed long to me.

I need to try again outside and when I am properly outfitted for golf. That said, I like what I saw so far. The club really looked bad arse ... I just want more time to assess performance.
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Great feedback. I picked up the 3W with the PX 5.5 last night, it performed well for me on the monitor. My favorite feature of the club is the shallow face which I prefer off the deck.
 
I wanted to chime in on the OptiForce driver. I stopped by Golfsmith Xtreme here in Atlanta yesterday to buy some gloves. I decided to take a look at the OptiForce to see what it looked like in person and, although the sole is kind of ugly, the crown is very nice. I decided to hit the 440 driver with the PX 6.0 shaft and, dammit, this thing is a rocket launcher. I had my work clothes on (which aren't very club swinging friendly) and dress shoes (which I took off to get grip with my socks) and after a few practice swings, I was bombing this thing. WHY DID I HIT THIS DRIVER??? I promised myself I would not buy another piece of equipment (other than some new wedges) this year. I thought Callaway was nuts coming out with a new driver at the back-half of the season but this thing could truly stay priced at $399 into next year and still be a hot item if people actually try it. I'm not a fan of Cally drivers but the head is so sleek and traditional looking and the sound is so nice that I just fell in love. I realize launch monitors are jacked up with their numbers but I actually FELT like I was hitting the numbers it said (278 was the longest after roll out and the average was right at 269 with rollout). I average about 245-250 of carry off the tee with a 100-105 SS for comparison's sake. Now I will be dreaming about this damn driver!!!
 
Sole:
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Crown:
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Fairway Wood:
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Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2
 
Just got back from Golfsmith. Not impressed with this driver. Feels awful to me. I grabbed the PX shaft in Reg flex(all they had) and was flailing it out to the right for some reason. Best drive was 210. Found a Diamana 62S and immediately hit one 250. 40 yard difference just by changing shafts lol. I much prefer the X-Hot to this
 
I only got to hit one shaft, but I'd agree that the X-Hot and I get along better. At least from one short session with it. Still want to get my hands on the fwy.
 
XHot is tempting me with the low price right now
 
I've sort of had some issues with mine in the last couple weeks. It's in time out for a short while.
 
It's been a bad boy! I know the Optiforce has been compared to the Cleveland Black but at least for me, it's not comparable at all. The massive difference is that the feel is not there on the Optiforce. When I connected with the Black, it felt like I crushed the ball. The Optiforce feels dead to me. So muted that there is zero feedback which makes it feel like you don't even hit the ball
 
That's almost exactly what I thought man. Super muted and it was a little bit of a bummer coming from the X-Hot imo.
 
I'm not going to lie. Not a huge fan out that crown.
 
I think J4U and JeffReedMO are going to have some thoughts on this one soon. Both of those guys were killing this thing at the range today.
 
I look forward to Jeff's thought's.
 
Curious if the negative feedback was for the 460 head. I thought the 440 head was awesome.
 
Went to the range for a club fitting for my daughter and came home with a bill for her clubs and an Optiforce 440 with Diamana for myself. Loved it on the range. I've been hitting a Razr Fit Extreme with Fubuki Alpha 50 and while I've been very pleased with the results I can see that this new combo is a bit hotter (likely due to increased SS) and a tad bit tighter on the dispersion scale. Will start putting it through the paces on Sunday mornings round.
 
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