Callaway XR Driver Review Thread

[bigskyirish]

I got my XR out to the range for the first time today. My practice was a little short lived because it was really windy and I was swinging horribly, but I think the XR is going to be a legit club for me.

Unlike others, I did not see a particularly high launch with this head and shaft combo. Instead, I saw a nice, boring trajectory which is good for me because I usually hit it pretty high.

It was difficult to gauge distance at the range I was at, but the XR appeared to be every bit as long - maybe even a touch longer - than my X2Hot Pro. The ball really seemed to spring off the face. If that's really the case, I'll be giddy. The X2Hot Pro has been a phenomenal driver for me and very very long.

Dispersion was too tough to judge with the wind, so I'll leave this for another day. I will say that I had better results choking down slightly.

I echo what others have said about forgiveness across the face. I hit one off the toe a little bit that flew almost exactly as far as much better strikes with great trajectory.

I don't pay a ton of attention to sound, but I know some care about it a lot, so I really tried to listen. Compared to the X2Hot Pro, the XR is noticeably louder with what I'd describe as more of a pinging sound.

Hoping to get out to play on Sunday, so I should be able to give some more accurate feedback then.

 

[vFLASHv]

I'm going BANANAS here lol. I keep looking outside my door waiting for a package . Hopefully mine will get here tomorrow so I can have some range time before I play Saturday.

 

[ASN21]

Second day on the XR's maiden voyage and man has it been a struggle. The general rule of thumb for me is the longer the club the more I struggle to hit it. The XR has been no exception so far. I am struggling with a slice (swing fault) and I did not hit the XR well today. I was also not gripping down on the club. I hope to get some more range time in this weekend and I intend to start gripping down atleast 3/4" or 1". Looks wise the speed step crown is more subtle than the turbulators on the G30 that I'm used to. I setup the shaft sleeve to "+1 D", I am still playing around with the settings to see the best fit. Look for more thoughts on this driver soon. Thanks again to Callaway and THP!

 

[dhartmann34]

I'm going BANANAS here lol. I keep looking outside my door waiting for a package . Hopefully mine will get here tomorrow so I can have some range time before I play Saturday.

Me too sir!!

 

[Schanker]

Had my first session with the XR today. I haven't really swung a club since the beginning of Feb due to a broken finger so don't put a lot of stock in my initial performance thoughts. Hopefully, I'll have the swing dial back in with in the next few weeks if the finger holds up.

A little background about me and my game. I've played golf most of my life, but really started to take it more seriously when I move to California in 2007. I usually logged 30-40 rounds per year, although that has tapered off as we now have to little ones under 2. My handicap has fluctuated from 16 down to 12 and has been consistently right around 13 the last 3 years. I did a driver fitting at golf tech a few years ago and found a combo that work best for me and have been gaming it ever since. It is an R9 SuperTri with a RIP phenom 70g shaft playing at about 43.5". My swing speed hovers around 95 mph and I hit my driver (with roll) about 240, carry is about 225. My typical ball flight is a slight draw and my miss is a hook. My spin is probably too high last time I was on a monitor it was around 3000 rpm.

This year my plan was to purchase a new driver to help reduce the spin. I did that a few days before I got into the #TheKing. It is a 12 degree SLDR 430. I had demo'd this club a handful of times and it definitely was an improvement over my current club as far as distance goes. Of course before the SLDR even arrived at my house I found out I was in #TheKing and would soon have another driver on the way. Because of the timing I will be comparing the XR to my R9. I know this is not a great comparison because the R9 is pretty outdated by drivers standards, but I don't have enough experience or enough time before the #TheKing to give the SLDR comparison. Ok, so if your still reading here are my thoughts on the XR.

The XR is gorgeous. I love the flat black crown and like others have said you don't notice the speed steps. The RMoto face is great and the sole of the club screams speed. BMW enthusiasts will immediately see a resemblance to the ///M3. The looks don't stop there though. The shaft is the best looking shaft I've ever seen. I love the way the put the specs in almost a graffiti type writing up near the grip and then down near the tip in a font color you don't even notice at address. The shaft I got was the LZ 50 6.0. The writing includes 6.0, LZ16 (not sure what that stands for) 4.8* and 56g. Compared to the hand crafted it is just slightly different I believe the HC is 54g and 4.4* of torque. It measures in at a 46" length.

Onto the performance and again I'll re-iterate I haven't swung a club in 6 weeks. After getting warmed up I recorded the next 15 shots by strike location, shape and performance. My club is 10.5* and I set it 9.5 N. 6 of my first 8 strikes were on the heel. Heel shots produced a fade to a slice for me. I would categorize the ball flight as high, but not ballooning, although the wind was definitely behind me today.

As I progressively came closer to the center of the face (which I did thru set up, ball centered on the toe) it started to really come alive. It produced a nice straight and high ball flight. of the next 7 recorded shots 4 were center strikes 2 high on the face and 1 on the toe. All of these shots were definitely in the fairway and seemed to be farther than my R9 that I warmed up with. I still couldn't produce a draw with the club, but ran out of time and balls to really try and turn one over.

Overall, my initial impression of this club is it could be a very nice performer. I'm slight concerned that I might be launching it too high, but its still too early to tell.

 

[JB]

Spent much of the morning with this one at the range. Still a bit louder than I am used to, but coming from the Alpha 815, everything is pretty loud. Using the launch monitor again, I noticed something that is pretty similar to a driver I was very fond of a few years back. The SuperTri. Similar ball flight. Better ball speed retention both laterally and up and down. The one area where this really excelled was when I struck it high on the face. There was literally zero ball speed loss from ball to ball, which is something I am not sure I have seen in the past.

Coming with the PX LZ, is one of the best standard pairings I have seen to date. The loading zone technology works and in conjunction with this driver head, is a true marriage.

 

[Canadan]

Spent much of the morning with this one at the range. Still a bit louder than I am used to, but coming from the Alpha 815, everything is pretty loud. Using the launch monitor again, I noticed something that is pretty similar to a driver I was very fond of a few years back. The SuperTri. Similar ball flight. Better ball speed retention both laterally and up and down. The one area where this really excelled was when I struck it high on the face. There was literally zero ball speed loss from ball to ball, which is something I am not sure I have seen in the past.

Coming with the PX LZ, is one of the best standard pairings I have seen to date. The loading zone technology works and in conjunction with this driver head, is a true marriage.

I think the LZ is going to accommodate a LOT of people. It's such a unique design, and the transition will probably please and/or impress a lot of demo'ers. Surprised at the comparison to SuperTri - Mostly because when I think about SuperTri I think about too much spin. For me, the XR is a bit more spin active than I personally prefer, but not at the same level of some of the former offerings with equitable forgiveness across the face.

I do enjoy the forgiveness aspect of XR. I'm not finding huge variations around the face, and the dispersion is quite good. Definitely getting some mid/high launch, but that's to be expected. I don't think it's out of control and I could probably game the stock setup in most conditions. MAYBE slide into the X but not because the profile is weaker than other stock offerings - Just how my preferences go.

Sound surprised me a bit. When I think about Callaway I tend to think about the Razr-Bertha line, offering that slightly muted contact sound. This is a sound unique to my preconceived notions about how a Callaway should sound. It gives me that idea that they 'unlocked' the potential and just let it rip. My favourite moments with the XR have been when I get the face neutral on impact with the ball in the center of the face. It almost sounds like the driver is mashing/spanking the golf ball - It's super super addictive to hear, and I don't know too many other drivers that offer that 'on the screws' feedback.

To the length, I've always been a firm believer of 'to each their own' but I see why XR would play at 46 inches. Longer distance to travel = bigger speeds = bigger distance. Combine the loading properties of LZ, more efficient energy transfer on R-MOTO, and speed built from length + weighting and yeah, I think they are looking at outrageous speed for a lot of golfer types.

 

[JB]

I think the LZ is going to accommodate a LOT of people. It's such a unique design, and the transition will probably please and/or impress a lot of demo'ers. Surprised at the comparison to SuperTri - Mostly because when I think about SuperTri I think about too much spin. For me, the XR is a bit more spin active than I personally prefer, but not at the same level of some of the former offerings with equitable forgiveness across the face.

I do enjoy the forgiveness aspect of XR. I'm not finding huge variations around the face, and the dispersion is quite good. Definitely getting some mid/high launch, but that's to be expected. I don't think it's out of control and I could probably game the stock setup in most conditions. MAYBE slide into the X but not because the profile is weaker than other stock offerings - Just how my preferences go.

Sound surprised me a bit. When I think about Callaway I tend to think about the Razr-Bertha line, offering that slightly muted contact sound. This is a sound unique to my preconceived notions about how a Callaway should sound. It gives me that idea that they 'unlocked' the potential and just let it rip. My favourite moments with the XR have been when I get the face neutral on impact with the ball in the center of the face. It almost sounds like the driver is mashing/spanking the golf ball - It's super super addictive to hear, and I don't know too many other drivers that offer that 'on the screws' feedback.

To the length, I've always been a firm believer of 'to each their own' but I see why XR would play at 46 inches. Longer distance to travel = bigger speeds = bigger distance. Combine the loading properties of LZ, more efficient energy transfer on R-MOTO, and speed built from length + weighting and yeah, I think they are looking at outrageous speed for a lot of golfer types.

Really good post and thoughts. SuperTri despite all of its knocks was a mid spin head. On the internet it got the label of high spin, but based on robot testing was just not that. This one definitely spins less than that. I think most drivers do on the market now, but ball flight I found similar.

Agree with everything you outlined. The shaft pairing reminds me just how good at fitting the masses these companies are getting.

 

[Canadan]

Really good post and thoughts. SuperTri despite all of its knocks was a mid spin head. On the internet it got the label of high spin, but based on robot testing was just not that. This one definitely spins less than that. I think most drivers do on the market now, but ball flight I found similar.

Agree with everything you outlined. The shaft pairing reminds me just how good at fitting the masses these companies are getting.

Started with PXv and expanded into LZ, for the better IMO. Was a ton of fun hearing about both shafts during the PGA Show this year. Great story on LZ design.

I hear you on SuperTri. Was very limited in my personal experiences and generally paired with a less than ideal shaft (for my profile). Not surprised the internet presumptions got me on that one. I see what your reference is now.

 

[Miller Time]

Really good stuff there, Dan. And I agree with you both on the sound. Louder than I was expecting coming from the 815, but definitely sounded like it spanked the golf ball, which isn't a bad thing at all.

 

[fupresti]

Really good stuff there, Dan. And I agree with you both on the sound. Louder than I was expecting coming from the 815, but definitely sounded like it spanked the golf ball, which isn't a bad thing at all.

I loved the sound of the G30 so give me all of what the XR brings.

 

[Schanker]

Lots of SuperTri, talk going on in this thread. For the me the supertri was too high spinning with the stock shaft motroe F1, if I remember correctly. The first shaft change I did to that driver was the Pro-force v2, which was good but the RIP Phenom was better for dispersion and gave me a little higher ball flight. It was also about 2" shorter. I've consider going back and tipping my V2 an 1" and butt trimming it an 1", but RIP worked well and the V2 I always thought was ugly.

As for XR flight vs Supertri. XR was definitely higher yesterday. I had both clubs set at 9.5 degrees.

JB, will the launch monitor be appearing in Carlsbad for #theking? I would love to see real numbers outdoors.

 

[JB]

Started with PXv and expanded into LZ, for the better IMO. Was a ton of fun hearing about both shafts during the PGA Show this year. Great story on LZ design.

I hear you on SuperTri. Was very limited in my personal experiences and generally paired with a less than ideal shaft (for my profile). Not surprised the internet presumptions got me on that one. I see what your reference is now.

Good call and yes it was great to see them one up themselves with this pairing.

Lots of SuperTri, talk going on in this thread. For the me the supertri was too high spinning with the stock shaft motroe F1, if I remember correctly. The first shaft change I did to that driver was the Pro-force v2, which was good but the RIP Phenom was better for dispersion and gave me a little higher ball flight. It was also about 2" shorter. I've consider going back and tipping my V2 an 1" and butt trimming it an 1", but RIP worked well and the V2 I always thought was ugly.

As for XR flight vs Supertri. XR was definitely higher yesterday. I had both clubs set at 9.5 degrees.

JB, will the launch monitor be appearing in Carlsbad for #theking? I would love to see real numbers outdoors.

No sir. No real fitting being done, but the good news is that there is a sweet event where fitting will be at the forefront in SoCal.

 

[CAA_Beat]

Callaway XR Driver Review Thread

Hope it is ok to post some thoughts on a quick demo of this club today at GG. I know it's not a review.

But I was so impressed I thought I'd share. Initially this was not on my list to try in my 2015 driver demo. But GG had them sitting out for demo.

First I tried a 9.0 loft with a 6.0 LZ PX. I knew this wasn't ideal for me. But I wanted to hit it.

Overall decent numbers for me. Averaged around 91 SS and 218 carry and 228 Total. Forgiveness was very good. Those numbers included some very low heal shots and a couple off the toe.

Then I saw a 12* with an A shaft. Have never hit one of those but thought why not.

Overall same forgiveness, as I had some of the same misses. But speed was a bit higher 92 to 93 and carry was averaging 228 with total 241.

So I seemed to have picked up about 10 yards of carry with the higher loft.

Considering today was the first time I have actually hit a ball since last September at PGA I didn't expect much from my swing.

But I was very impressed with the forgiveness across the face of the club.

This will now get a full demo in two weeks along with the others on my list.

 

[JB]

Good stuff CAA. After playing with you, that combination might be perfect for what you like in ball flight. Once you get back in the swing of things, and at that full demo, you will see more.

 

[CAA_Beat]

Good stuff CAA. After playing with you, that combination might be perfect for what you like in ball flight. Once you get back in the swing of things, and at that full demo, you will see more.

Thanks. It definitely has me interested in wanting more time with it.

 

[C-Mac13]

On the range right now hitting the XR for the first time. First few shots flew a little higher than I like. current setting is stock 10.5. after a little adjustment Im starting to see a better ball flight and man is this thing long. Shots are hitting the back fence on the fly which is about 240 out.

The sound is a bit louder that my SLDR S. I also really need a mid size grip.

 

[kc720]

Another round today and xr performed pretty well. Two duck hooks but that's all me. Poked a few quite a ways out there. Very forgiving driver. Playing at 8 degrees right now and I'm seeing a good mid flight

 

[Nebgolfer]

Got out today after work for my first experience with the XR driver outside. I've hit the XR two other times indoors with the stock shaft, and didn't get along with it very well. I'm told I was over analyzing things and all in my head (which I probably was), but I committed to giving the stock combo a fair shake and I was rewarded for doing so. Got a small bucket to warm up on the range and had my SC100 giving me some figures. First off, I don't think I hit the center of the face all day, but with this club it didn't seem to matter that much. Heel shots and shots high on the face were seeing between a 1.38 and 1.42 smash factor, and still seeing carry that I'd take any day of the week. They weren't really off line much either. I will say, as others have said, this driver/shaft launch HIGH for me. Time will tell whether that's good or not, but much higher than I'm used to seeing.

For the round, I was all alone on the course so put the XR head to head against a Bio Cell with the stock shaft, as this is one of the few other drivers I have, and also known to be a pretty forgiving combo. First drive with the XR was dead straight right down the fairway. Lasered from the tee and from the ball to see a nice 260 yard drive; first thoughts were that I could get used to that. Throughout the round, I would say the XR never really punished me for bad swings; there was one swing where I pulled it a little but still ended up with a nice high flight and good distance. There were 2 times the Bio Cell outperformed the XR, but it was close, and there were a handful of times where the XR outperformed the Bio Cell, but by a much larger margin. As far as the height I was talking about from the XR, I have it set to stock 10.5 neutral, and it was flying as high if not higher than the Bio Cell set to 11.5. The ultimate comparison was on the last hole where I hit both the XR and Bio cell as well as I did all day, and the XR had the Bio Cell by about 10-15 yards. (Picture below, XR drive just right of me pointing)

As for the XR itself; I can't really find anything bad to say about it. The speed step crown didn't stand out at all. The sound really didn't bother me in the least; possibly because I was admiring the long high ball flight too much to care. I thought the length would bother me, but it really didn't once I stopped worrying about it. I think the next time out I might drop the loft just a little and see how that impacts overall distance, but other than that I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[kc720]

Got out today after work for my first experience with the XR driver outside. I've hit the XR two other times indoors with the stock shaft, and didn't get along with it very well. I'm told I was over analyzing things and all in my head (which I probably was), but I committed to giving the stock combo a fair shake and I was rewarded for doing so. Got a small bucket to warm up on the range and had my SC100 giving me some figures. First off, I don't think I hit the center of the face all day, but with this club it didn't seem to matter that much. Heel shots and shots high on the face were seeing between a 1.38 and 1.42 smash factor, and still seeing carry that I'd take any day of the week. They weren't really off line much either. I will say, as others have said, this driver/shaft launch HIGH for me. Time will tell whether that's good or not, but much higher than I'm used to seeing.

For the round, I was all alone on the course so put the XR head to head against a Bio Cell with the stock shaft, as this is one of the few other drivers I have, and also known to be a pretty forgiving combo. First drive with the XR was dead straight right down the fairway. Lasered from the tee and from the ball to see a nice 260 yard drive; first thoughts were that I could get used to that. Throughout the round, I would say the XR never really punished me for bad swings; there was one swing where I pulled it a little but still ended up with a nice high flight and good distance. There were 2 times the Bio Cell outperformed the XR, but it was close, and there were a handful of times where the XR outperformed the Bio Cell, but by a much larger margin. As far as the height I was talking about from the XR, I have it set to stock 10.5 neutral, and it was flying as high if not higher than the Bio Cell set to 11.5. The ultimate comparison was on the last hole where I hit both the XR and Bio cell as well as I did all day, and the XR had the Bio Cell by about 10-15 yards. (Picture below, XR drive just right of me pointing)

As for the XR itself; I can't really find anything bad to say about it. The speed step crown didn't stand out at all. The sound really didn't bother me in the least; possibly because I was admiring the long high ball flight too much to care. I thought the length would bother me, but it really didn't once I stopped worrying about it. I think the next time out I might drop the loft just a little and see how that impacts overall distance, but other than that I wouldn't change a thing.

I saw a high flight too. I'm down to 8 degrees, and I've never gamed that low a loft. I've always been always 10.5 type guy but recent changes to swing and this driver has me happy at 8

 

[vFLASHv]

finally got mine today! Mine came with a 6.5 X-stiff so a big thanks to Callaway and THP for that.

It rained a bit last night so the range was kind of a mess but I managed to get an hour in with about 15 minutes for the driver. I couldn't take any pics today but I think most of the other guys had that covered.

First impressions: the driver looks nice and simple. Even with the speed step crown, it was very subtle and not distracting in any way. If anything it helped with alignment in the same way I feel like the Odyssey Versa helps (which is why I bought the new versa works). What got me off guard was the ribbed shaft (yes yes, that's what she said :bye. I don't think i've ever seen a shaft quite like it. I'm sure there is some tech to it but for me, I just thought it was cool and looked very appealing, plain and simple.

The XR driver felt lighter than my current driver, but after a few swings, I was able to find a good tempo and got some good pops out of it. The sound was very metallic and loud. Not as loud as the G30, but just as loud as my Titleist 915 D3, but a different pitch (almost like aluminum). It wasn't bad, just odd. The only other Callaway wood I've hit prior to this was the X2 hot pro and x2hot hybrid pro, so not sure if that's Callaways "sound" lol. Being that it was a new driver (and i didn't have any foot spray) I could see my ball marks and was making nice contact with an occasional heel shot. But other than a bit of cut spin, you wouldn't know it.

Warning! The following will be all kinds of wishy washy, feely subjective stuff :
What was very noticeable was the feedback through the shaft. I noticed a very different vibration through my hands. Nothing unpleasant, but I've never felt that sort of feedback and it was only when the hit was off center. With other drivers, I know where the mis-hit was, but the feedback (almost tingly) was something new. It was very smooth throughout the swing. As I got more aggressive with it, 2 out of 5 times I kind of felt it get whippy and thought the head, shaft and swing were in 3 different places lol.

I plan on playing with it tomorrow to see how it performs in play and put it on a launch monitor soon. It was solid so far and seemed to go just as far as my current driver (hard to judge on the range) the only thing I was not a fan of was the grip. It wasn't terrible, sort of felt like rubber from a bike tire. Before #TheKing comes around I plan on gripping it with what I currently use (new decade multi-compound). Though I have been putting a beating on my hands lately and something softer like this might be welcomed....we shall see . Also anything less than mid-size or 4 wraps of tape feels like a pencil lol.

More to come.

 

[Jman]

I made a trade recently and will be getting a little time with this one very soon. I'm excited and will be adding to the feedback very very soon.

The SuperTri comparisons earlier have me giddy.

 

[DevRickus]

Got mine today. Best looking driver I have ever seen. The flat black looks so mean. Can't wait to get this out.. Once the snow stops.

 

[kc720]

finally got mine today! Mine came with a 6.5 X-stiff so a big thanks to Callaway and THP for that.

It rained a bit last night so the range was kind of a mess but I managed to get an hour in with about 15 minutes for the driver. I couldn't take any pics today but I think most of the other guys had that covered.

First impressions: the driver looks nice and simple. Even with the speed step crown, it was very subtle and not distracting in any way. If anything it helped with alignment in the same way I feel like the Odyssey Versa helps (which is why I bought the new versa works). What got me off guard was the ribbed shaft (yes yes, that's what she said :bye. I don't think i've ever seen a shaft quite like it. I'm sure there is some tech to it but for me, I just thought it was cool and looked very appealing, plain and simple.

The XR driver felt lighter than my current driver, but after a few swings, I was able to find a good tempo and got some good pops out of it. The sound was very metallic and loud. Not as loud as the G30, but just as loud as my Titleist 915 D3, but a different pitch (almost like aluminum). It wasn't bad, just odd. The only other Callaway wood I've hit prior to this was the X2 hot pro and x2hot hybrid pro, so not sure if that's Callaways "sound" lol. Being that it was a new driver (and i didn't have any foot spray) I could see my ball marks and was making nice contact with an occasional heel shot. But other than a bit of cut spin, you wouldn't know it.

Warning! The following will be all kinds of wishy washy, feely subjective stuff :
What was very noticeable was the feedback through the shaft. I noticed a very different vibration through my hands. Nothing unpleasant, but I've never felt that sort of feedback and it was only when the hit was off center. With other drivers, I know where the mis-hit was, but the feedback (almost tingly) was something new. It was very smooth throughout the swing. As I got more aggressive with it, 2 out of 5 times I kind of felt it get whippy and thought the head, shaft and swing were in 3 different places lol.

I plan on playing with it tomorrow to see how it performs in play and put it on a launch monitor soon. It was solid so far and seemed to go just as far as my current driver (hard to judge on the range) the only thing I was not a fan of was the grip. It wasn't terrible, sort of felt like rubber from a bike tire. Before #TheKing comes around I plan on gripping it with what I currently use (new decade multi-compound). Though I have been putting a beating on my hands lately and something softer like this might be welcomed....we shall see . Also anything less than mid-size or 4 wraps of tape feels like a pencil lol.

More to come.

Juat a heads up, we are to play the club AS-IS. No regripping is what I was told when I asked

 

[Nebgolfer]

Before #TheKing comes around I plan on gripping it with what I currently use (new decade multi-compound). Though I have been putting a beating on my hands lately and something softer like this might be welcomed....we shall see . Also anything less than mid-size or 4 wraps of tape feels like a pencil lol.

Just an FYI, for the king these have to be setup completely stock, including grip style, and grip size. At least that is my understanding.