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Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816 Double Black Diamond Driver Preview Thead

SuperStroke
Great stuff so far Dan. Looking at the numbers, the high toe might've added some spin but with that launch angle (and the results show) you netted more yards overall. I'm a recovering "Low-spin"-aholic and this just goes along with what JMan has said in other posts. Here you are putting it in a slightly higher setting and you're getting better results. Of course the higher ball speeds help as well.

I've pre-ordered the 816 DBD because I had some great results, but right now after reading some of the posts Jman has on the GBB, I'm thinking twice about it. It isn't too late so i might make the change...but we will see.
 
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I got out this morning and hit the GBB and Alpha 816.

I had my Project X shaft from my XR in both when swinging.

Since this is the 816 thread I'll just go over my feelings on it. I wasn't so sure about the 816 as I didn't have much success with the 815. I actually planned just to hit the GBB but I grabbed both heads this morning as I headed out to the range. To say it was a great choice is an understatement. After I got warm, I started with the 816 head, thinking I would just get it out of the way and move on to the GBB. I had it set up standard at 9*. My first swing was incredible contact. Perfection. The ball was exploding off the club face, and the feel at impact was just perfect. The ball flight was a tad lower than my XR and seemed to just keep going and going. I was hitting it pretty straight with maybe a little draw. I had a few misses on the heel and toe which didn't seem to penalize me at all. I hit about 20 balls before my dad, who was hitting next to me, let me know he wanted in on the action. He started to hit it pretty well too. He was easily 15 yards longer than he is with his Titleist D2 and was super impressed. I starting hitting the club again and I heard him say sigh pretty loudly. And I was like 'What's wrong?' And he's like ' I came out here to hit balls and now I need to buy a new driver. I continued to hit the driver....totaling about 40-50 balls with it and I had nothing but success. My misses weren't bad and the good contact balls were fantastic. Going to have to give it another whirl after the wedding weekend.
 
dhartmann34 said:
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I got out this morning and hit the GBB and Alpha 816.

I had my Project X shaft from my XR in both when swinging.

Since this is the 816 thread I'll just go over my feelings on it. I wasn't so sure about the 816 as I didn't have much success with the 815. I actually planned just to hit the GBB but I grabbed both heads this morning as I headed out to the range. To say it was a great choice is an understatement. After I got warm, I started with the 816 head, thinking I would just get it out of the way and move on to the GBB. I had it set up standard at 9*. My first swing was incredible contact. Perfection. The ball was exploding off the club face, and the feel at impact was just perfect. The ball flight was a tad lower than my XR and seemed to just keep going and going. I was hitting it pretty straight with maybe a little draw. I had a few misses on the heel and toe which didn't seem to penalize me at all. I hit about 20 balls before my dad, who was hitting next to me, let me know he wanted in on the action. He started to hit it pretty well too. He was easily 15 yards longer than he is with his Titleist D2 and was super impressed. I starting hitting the club again and I heard him say sigh pretty loudly. And I was like 'What's wrong?' And he's like ' I came out here to hit balls and now I need to buy a new driver. I continued to hit the driver....totaling about 40-50 balls with it and I had nothing but success. My misses weren't bad and the good contact balls were fantastic. Going to have to give it another whirl after the wedding weekend.
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Looking forward to what you have to say about both

where do you put the gravity core?
 
vFLASHv said:
Looking forward to what you have to say about both

where do you put the gravity core?
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Everything was standard on the Alpha.
 
ChetSteadman said:
Great review, Dan. What kind of distance gains are you seeing over the 815 DBD (if any)?


Give 'em hell!
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Canadan and I belong to the same course so I can comment on his distance gains in the short time he has reviewed the DBD. Dan has always hit the ball farther than me but the 816 has taken it to another level. Our evening 9s are played from different tees now to help bridge the distance gap and allow for more opportunities to hit driver (ensure enough swings for reviewing). If I had to put a number on it I'd say 10-ish yards more carry on average which very well could be conservative.
 
I was seeing that same type of extra carry distance today at the range. It seemed to energizer bunny it...going and going. I was super surprised as it also seemed to be forgiving when I missed the center. It was fantastic.

AMart said:
Canadan and I belong to the same course so I can comment on his distance gains in the short time he has reviewed the DBD. Dan has always hit the ball farther than me but the 816 has taken it to another level. Our evening 9s are played from different tees now to help bridge the distance gap and allow for more opportunities to hit driver (ensure enough swings for reviewing). If I had to put a number on it I'd say 10-ish yards more carry on average which very well could be conservative.
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Just when I am really liking the 815 DBD, you all go and make me want to upgrade it. My wallet does not thank you, but it sounds like my game will.
 
Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816 Double Black Diamond Driver Preview Thead

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Hello familiar friend on Callaway's webpage
 
AMart said:
Canadan and I belong to the same course so I can comment on his distance gains in the short time he has reviewed the DBD. Dan has always hit the ball farther than me but the 816 has taken it to another level. Our evening 9s are played from different tees now to help bridge the distance gap and allow for more opportunities to hit driver (ensure enough swings for reviewing). If I had to put a number on it I'd say 10-ish yards more carry on average which very well could be conservative.
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Wow...that's a pretty impressive gain over what is already a cannon. Thanks!


Give 'em hell!
 
Mward said:
Dan.png


Hello familiar friend on Callaway's webpage
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That's pretty sweet!

Side note: do you have enough Callaway tabs open?
 
famous Dan!!! love it! i need to see him mash this thing in person!
 
cbaker2882 said:
That's pretty sweet!

Side note: do you have enough Callaway tabs open?
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I was checking lofts on fairway woods between the GBB and 816, as well as reading an article. Multiple tabs open for me is pretty much normal.
 
It's funny just how true the comments are about this driver not being for everyone.

I hit it poorly today (for me). I felt like my contact was inside on the head, and had a hard time really committing to the same swing, even though I was still able to work the ball a couple different ways on command. What is incredibly fascinating to me is that the contact inside the center of the face was EXACTLY the feedback I was getting early in my testing sessions with the core in the heel and down -- Except my contact was on the toe side and high of center.

That pretty much confirms it for me, just how much of an impact the core is having -- And I absolutely love it.
 
^^^^ lots of truth to this. A few times he would make impact and hate it but the ball was still destroyed and in the middle of the fairway. Just goes to show the core is doing what we're told it does
 
Apparently, the 816 DBD will be "more forgiving" than the 815a. The MOI is crazy for a "better player" driver.
 
blugold said:
Apparently, the 816 DBD will be "more forgiving" than the 815a. The MOI is crazy for a "better player" driver.
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I've hit it and I have to disagree. Lower more forward cg, deeper face, definitely attributes to less forgiving. As stated it has similar MOI but I don't think that translates fully into similar forgiveness
 
kc720 said:
I've hit it and I have to disagree. Lower more forward cg, deeper face, definitely attributes to less forgiving. As stated it has similar MOI but I don't think that translates fully into similar forgiveness
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I haven't hit it. I really want to. In a big way.
 
kc720 said:
I've hit it and I have to disagree. Lower more forward cg, deeper face, definitely attributes to less forgiving. As stated it has similar MOI but I don't think that translates fully into similar forgiveness
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I am pretty comfortable with this sentiment, but I think both are just grasping at straws. Forgiving isn't an avenue people should be pursuing with the DOUBLE BLACK DIAMOND.
 
Canadan said:
I am pretty comfortable with this sentiment, but I think both are just grasping at straws. Forgiving isn't an avenue people should be pursuing with the DOUBLE BLACK DIAMOND.
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Again, I'm not looking for forgiveness really, I think the 815 DBD isn't overly unforgiving for a "better player" driver. If the 816 adds a little more help and allows for better fine tuning of launch, I would be a happy person.
 
I hurt my hand last week, but I decided to hit the range with the 816 yesterday and see how it was holding up. Again I was getting a really good ball flight and distance from it. My misses just on the inside towards the heel were still flying nicely. My toe shots were mediocre, but had a nice little draw to them. I wasn't swinging hard due to my hand, but from my previous go rounds with this club, I didn't have any issues going after it and getting good results, like I do with my XR. That probably has something to do with the smaller head size I'm guessing. Really enjoy hitting this thing.
 
This is getting ordered today. The difference in performance between my XR, the GBB and the DBD is shocking.
 
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