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Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 Driver Review Thread

SuperStroke
Sox Fan said:
Hit Miller Time's DBD 3 times yesterday with the Rogue. Two of them were absolutely nailed and the third was a drive I would not be disappointed with even on my best day.
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Is there a trade on the horizon?


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Ole Gray said:
Is there a trade on the horizon?


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No. He already has an Alpha 815 on order and I hit mine just as well as the DBD. Plus, I am to broke to ponder!
 
Mward said:
Well that's certainly a bummer. Kinda surprised both heads were spinning that much more for you to be honest, that seems odd based on the head's design. The regular 815, possibly. The DBD? That's odd. That head is pretty darn low spin, lower than the Alpha.

Was the carry the 15yds shorter or was the total distance shorter?
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The DBD spun the exact same as my alpha and launch was similar. However, distance lacked for some reason. Like the ball speed just wasn't there. I'll post those numbers in that specific thread if I can get them
 
ATLGolfer said:
In my experience, the right shaft really matters.

If I didn't hit the 815 with the Rogue shaft, I wouldn't have purchased it. The Speeder and Mitsubishi shafts were not a good fit for me with the 815. The 815/Rogue is fantastic (for me).
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Yeah, I've never gotten a chance to hit it with anything other than stock and it just didn't perform for me at all.
 
Phenomenal driver. A legit improvement on last year's releases in every way IMO.
 
ATLGolfer said:
In my experience, the right shaft really matters.

If I didn't hit the 815 with the Rogue shaft, I wouldn't have purchased it. The Speeder and Mitsubishi shafts were not a good fit for me with the 815. The 815/Rogue is fantastic (for me).
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I agree. I've tried three shafts, none of which were magic. I'd like to find it with the Rogue.
 
Had a random old timer on the range ask me if I was on the college golf team after seeing two bombs from the 815. Callaway Alpha 815...making people talk crazy since 2014.

I haven't bothered with the Speeder I was fit for in months. The performance with the LZ is just leaps and bounds better. With so many shaft options and club adjustments, this is a club that one is doing a disservice to not be custom fit for.
 
ATLGolfer said:
In my experience, the right shaft really matters.

If I didn't hit the 815 with the Rogue shaft, I wouldn't have purchased it. The Speeder and Mitsubishi shafts were not a good fit for me with the 815. The 815/Rogue is fantastic (for me).
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I second that. It was awful for me with the Speeder 565, but amazing w. Fubuki ZT60.
 
What I dont get is Callaway states that they used the 565 shaft because they felt it fits the vast majority of golfers. At $449 per driver, I would assume they really meant it and did not choose it because it is cheaper. However, if I used this thread as a guide, it would look like that shaft fits no one. Maybe those that love the stock shaft simply dont post as much??
 
Trevor68 said:
What I dont get is Callaway states that they used the 565 shaft because they felt it fits the vast majority of golfers. At $449 per driver, I would assume they really meant it and did not choose it because it is cheaper. However, if I used this thread as a guide, it would look like that shaft fits no one. Maybe those that love the stock shaft simply dont post as much??
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The vast majority of golfers though aren't on golf forums. Every use I've had with the stock shaft hasn't been the best, but that doesn't mean it's not a good shaft for the majority of all golfers.

When I eventually break down and buy one, the first thing I'm doing is putting a PX LZ in it. For me, that combo works incredibly well.
 
Trevor68 said:
What I dont get is Callaway states that they used the 565 shaft because they felt it fits the vast majority of golfers. At $449 per driver, I would assume they really meant it and did not choose it because it is cheaper. However, if I used this thread as a guide, it would look like that shaft fits no one. Maybe those that love the stock shaft simply dont post as much??
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The Speeder 565 imo is a soft shaft - even when it's stiff. For me, despite it being stiff it felt lige a regular shaft. For a lower speed swing I would however thing it would add "zip" to the swing, which might create more spin and ball speed (where the GC would then take some of the spin off).

For me it didn't work though.

To Callaway's defense they offer a sh*t load of no-upcharge shaft options, so not sure they're saying the Speeder 565 is for all.
 
I have a swing in the high 90s, low 100s. When I hit this club with the 565 shaft in stiff well, i get between 2600 and 3100 spin. If I hit it badly, then around 3800. The problem that I have with other shafts that have lower torque is that I cannot seem to load them as well.
 
Trevor68 said:
I have a swing in the high 90s, low 100s. When I hit this club with the 565 shaft in stiff well, i get between 2600 and 3100 spin. If I hit it badly, then around 3800. The problem that I have with other shafts that have lower torque is that I cannot seem to load them as well.
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My swing speed is right at 101-102 and the stiff 565 had lower spin numbers when my AoA was ideal. Besides, 2600 isn't too far off from optimal for that swing speed. With the multitude of no up charge shafts available I'm confident you can find something that you hit well.
 
Trevor68 said:
What I dont get is Callaway states that they used the 565 shaft because they felt it fits the vast majority of golfers. At $449 per driver, I would assume they really meant it and did not choose it because it is cheaper. However, if I used this thread as a guide, it would look like that shaft fits no one. Maybe those that love the stock shaft simply dont post as much??
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I think the bigger statement by Callaway was having so many shaft options without an up charge. That impressed me a lot.
 
Mward said:
The vast majority of golfers though aren't on golf forums. Every use I've had with the stock shaft hasn't been the best, but that doesn't mean it's not a good shaft for the majority of all golfers.

When I eventually break down and buy one, the first thing I'm doing is putting a PX LZ in it. For me, that combo works incredibly well.
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BINGO. Wardy nailed it here.

And Seth, I agree with you completely.
 
Well after fantastic honeymoon I had a cooling off period with this one unfortunately.

Heading to the range right now to see if I can get back into a comfort zone with this one.

Proper course management has me not needing to hit driver as much as I like to but I know there are times when I need that extra 20 yards off the tee so I gotta get back into a good groove with this one. More to come...
 
#Cookie said:
Well after fantastic honeymoon I had a cooling off period with this one unfortunately.

Heading to the range right now to see if I can get back into a comfort zone with this one.

Proper course management has me not needing to hit driver as much as I like to but I know there are times when I need that extra 20 yards off the tee so I gotta get back into a good groove with this one. More to come...
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Think happy thoughts with it dude, it'll come back around.
 
I went to try the xr today and was spinning the heck out of that thing so the guy handed me the 815 with the speeder 565 stiff flex. I was seeing around 2500 rpm spin with a 97mph swing and launch angle was right around 15. The distance was 250 carry with total of 270 or something like that. I was hitting the 10.5 set to -1 but it felt way better than the xr for my swing. They didn't have any other shafts to try but I was pretty impressed with the speeder.
 
Yes. This thing is excellent. Forgiving, long, and a great sound. I think I get along with the rogue better than the stock speeder in this, but I was still consistently getting a couple more yards than my current setup and unquestionably more forgiveness. And holy crap does this thing just want to launch into the air. I put one nasty out on the toe, with a capital NAST, and I was greeted with a slight push that worked it's way back to the left and only lost 7 yards off my average. Unreal how much improvement they managed with this iteration.
 
Glad I didn't give up on this driver too soon. I have a 9 gram weight in the heel (actually weighs almost 12 grams) and a 7 gram in the toe (weighs right at 7). Finally seeing some distance with it now. Ball flight is good and dispersion as well. I guess I just needed to get the SW up on it. Shafted with Rogue Silver 60 stiff and 9 degrees standard/neutral, core down.
 
Tee1Up said:
Glad I didn't give up on this driver too soon. I have a 9 gram weight in the heel (actually weighs almost 12 grams) and a 7 gram in the toe (weighs right at 7). Finally seeing some distance with it now. Ball flight is good and dispersion as well. I guess I just needed to get the SW up on it. Shafted with Rogue Silver 60 stiff and 9 degrees standard/neutral, core down.
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You are swinging a sledge hammer now...haha! If it is getting you results, that is all that matters! Glad you found your comfort zone with this driver.
 
Sox Fan said:
You are swinging a sledge hammer now...haha! If it is getting you results, that is all that matters! Glad you found your comfort zone with this driver.
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I would like to find a true 9 and then put a 3 in it to see how it would perform. Its a little heavy but not too bad.
 
So when I got fit on the monitor I ended up with a 10.5 dialed down 1 degree with the core down and weights set neutral. The callaway rep said I could either go with a 9 degree head or the 10.5 based on hitting it at 9.5 degrees. Any advantage anyone can offer for either of the head choices since I fit right in the middle??
 
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