You playing a 9* head now?
Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 Driver Review Thread
You playing a 9* head now?
- Staff
- #1,952
12 degree
I agree on how great the LZ feels on well struck shots. I also have the s+ which actually works better in the X2 hot head for my swing.
Evok
Don't worry, Be happy!
Hit this 4 times to end my range session last night and saw some interesting stuff. I hit two that were dead center and of course they felt incredible and went a long way, but I also hit two that were towards the heel and a wee bit low but I'm still shocked on not only how far they still went but how not harsh the feel is. The og alpha when missed sweet spot felt just nasty and crazy harsh imo. I feel like the sweet spot on the 815 is the size of a ritz cracker haha! I also found it interesting that i always played core up with the og alpha because I usually strike higher on the face and it just felt better to me with core up. With the 815 I've got it core down and it doesn't feel really any different to me than up. I still hit it mainly high on the face but it feels just fine with the core down. Now idk if I'm imagining things but that's how it feels.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #1,955
Last year's Alpha was replaced by the Double Black Diamond. Last year's Bertha, was replaced by this driver.
Anyone try this head with a black tie In stiff? After playing yesterday I notuced I launch the ball very high and I feel I am getting a ton of spin with the 665 shaft. You can almost hear it hiss through the wind.
I have a black tie which I am going to try out at the range thus week.
I have a black tie which I am going to try out at the range thus week.
AceAsmussen
New member
I have bought the driver w. the Rogue Silver 60 shaft (low launch & low/mid spin) and played 20'ish rounds with it.
Now I've bought a Black Tie shaft (low launch & low spin) and played 2-3 rounds with that shaft. Both shafts are very penetrating ball flights and very long. Don't think I'm good enough to feel the difference, but both of them are WAY better for my high speed, high launch and spin swing, than my Fubuki ZT60 shaft (mid launch & low/mid spin).
I tried the Speeder 565 in the store in stiff and it felt like a spaghetti because it was SO light. The 665 it heavier as I understand it, but the Black Tie is just in a different league if you ask me
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I have bought the driver w. the Rogue Silver 60 shaft (low launch & low/mid spin) and played 20'ish rounds with it.
Now I've bought a Black Tie shaft (low launch & low spin) and played 2-3 rounds with that shaft. Both shafts are very penetrating ball flights and very long. Don't think I'm good enough to feel the difference, but both of them are WAY better for my high speed, high launch and spin swing, than my Fubuki ZT60 shaft (mid launch & low/mid spin).
I tried the Speeder 565 in the store in stiff and it felt like a spaghetti because it was SO light. The 665 it heavier as I understand it, but the Black Tie is just in a different league if you ask me
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good to know! I will test it out and report findings.
- Admin
- #1,960
I still love the feel of this club, but I seem to have lost distance lately. I was hitting it around 280 with the Diamana S+ but ever since switching to the Handmade LZ 6.5 Grandaddy edition I'm down to about 260. Ball seems to explode off the face, and feels fantastic. Partners sometimes say wow you crushed it, only to arrive at the ball to see its only gone 260.
I just went to GS and hit a few on their monitor and with some stock setups and my fears were realized. Hitting it about 260-265. While my swing speed and everything seems normal 104-108, launch angle between 11-12, with ball speeds around 152-156, my spin was up to 3500-3800 with the stock Speeder shaft. I also hit the XR with stock 6.0 LZ and still was at about 3500 RPM, while the 815 DBD was at around 2400 with the stock shaft and going 290 according to the LM. From what I recall the fitter at the Grandaddy had me fitted at around 2800 with the Diamana S+ blueboard.
When I tried to hit some balls on the THP FlightScope in Pittsburgh unfortunately I was swinging horribly with the driver so I couldn't get good numbers. I think I'm going to have to try and get both of my shafts in front of a LM again, I had an idea it might be spin related, but to my knowledge the Handmade LZ is a low spin shaft. I'm not sure whats going on.
I just went to GS and hit a few on their monitor and with some stock setups and my fears were realized. Hitting it about 260-265. While my swing speed and everything seems normal 104-108, launch angle between 11-12, with ball speeds around 152-156, my spin was up to 3500-3800 with the stock Speeder shaft. I also hit the XR with stock 6.0 LZ and still was at about 3500 RPM, while the 815 DBD was at around 2400 with the stock shaft and going 290 according to the LM. From what I recall the fitter at the Grandaddy had me fitted at around 2800 with the Diamana S+ blueboard.
When I tried to hit some balls on the THP FlightScope in Pittsburgh unfortunately I was swinging horribly with the driver so I couldn't get good numbers. I think I'm going to have to try and get both of my shafts in front of a LM again, I had an idea it might be spin related, but to my knowledge the Handmade LZ is a low spin shaft. I'm not sure whats going on.
- Staff
- #1,961
Swing plays a role too on the performance of the shaft, its a big ole picture.
Why not just go back to the S+ next go round and see? I know the grandaddy lz is badass (as I have one in the back of my car now) but you got fit at the mother effin grandaddy, I say rock the S+ and see what happens.
Maybe it changes bake to your familiar territory, or maybe something in your swing has changed, one way to find out.
Why not just go back to the S+ next go round and see? I know the grandaddy lz is badass (as I have one in the back of my car now) but you got fit at the mother effin grandaddy, I say rock the S+ and see what happens.
Maybe it changes bake to your familiar territory, or maybe something in your swing has changed, one way to find out.
- Admin
- #1,962
My thoughts exactly, I put the S+ in last night for my round today to see what happens. I have zero numbers on the grandaddy LZ but it was begging to be put in play. Something that sweet doesn't want to sit in a bag or be on display.
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I just last weekend traded for a s+ blueboard, with the intention of keeping it for a back up to my LZ. I took it out on the course to try it out and was surprised at the results. I feel like I hit the LZ really well but the S+ feels more solid and is giving me on average 10-15 more yards on course. I've made a few swing changes in the last week at the suggestion of Freddy so maybe that is why I'm seeing more yards. I do have to say though I like the flight better with the S+, it seems to get up, stay up, float at the apex for a bit, then come back down.
At this point I don't think I can go wrong with either shaft. Hoping to get on a LM this weekend and see if I can get some numbers with both.
I have bought the driver w. the Rogue Silver 60 shaft (low launch & low/mid spin) and played 20'ish rounds with it.
Now I've bought a Black Tie shaft (low launch & low spin) and played 2-3 rounds with that shaft. Both shafts are very penetrating ball flights and very long. Don't think I'm good enough to feel the difference, but both of them are WAY better for my high speed, high launch and spin swing, than my Fubuki ZT60 shaft (mid launch & low/mid spin).
I tried the Speeder 565 in the store in stiff and it felt like a spaghetti because it was SO light. The 665 it heavier as I understand it, but the Black Tie is just in a different league if you ask me
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Went to the range last night and focused primarily on my driver.
-Played the stock Motore Speeder 665 in stiff at +1 and "D" as well as in "N" - Focused on my swing at first and making sure not to pull it inside so quickly (happens when I get "lazy") - wanted to make sure it wasn't a swing issue - kept spinning the ball up high and to the right at times.
When I played it in the "D" setting it was snap-hook city for some reason.
I then went to the Black tie shaft - after pulling out the Motore I noticed it was about an inch shorter, so the Black Tie is playing at 45" compared to the 46" of the Motore
Set the head to +1 and "N" - immediately I felt my swing was more "compact" and felt I could whail away with confidence - which I proceeded to do - with this combination the ball just seemed to stay in the air on a nice penetrating ball flight and only really spinning up and to the right on a bad swing when I caught it high on the face.
Distance-wise I will say that the Motore appears to be a bit longer when struck perfectly but the dispersion with the Black Tie shaft is undeniable.
In conclusion, I will continue to play the Black Tie shaft for now - however, I am pondering if I should cut the Motore speeder down one inch just to see how it performs....
rjb01camaross
Active member
Once you cut down the Motore shaft down you will be able to compare the two equally. It might be hard to see visually but I would be surprised if the Black Tie didn't launch lower and spin less than the Motore on similar strikes.
- Staff
- #1,966
I really think I'm going to try to find and move to the 10.5 head soon.
I freaking adore this driver, but I think I would benefit from playing it at 10.5.
I freaking adore this driver, but I think I would benefit from playing it at 10.5.
AceAsmussen
New member
The D setting means that the ball flight starts left and if you then have a slight draw it's snap-hook o'clock as you say
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The D setting means that the ball flight starts left and if you then have a slight draw it's snap-hook o'clock as you say
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I thought it was the more "upright" setting - makes sense!
- Admin
- #1,969
So I put the Diamana S+ back in for yesterday's round and noticed a difference. Ball flight was visibly higher and probably 15 yards farther on average. I'm thinking the Grandaddy shaft being heavier and lower launching has something to do with that. Though I did like the feel better and that I had less errant shots.
I've played the best 3 rounds of my life the past week and this driver is a huge part of it. I have the 9 degree head set at +1 with the core up and have strictly been concentrating on smooth swings with the speeder 665. I have lost distance since I don't try to bomb it but man this thing is super accurate. I've been averaging 75% fairway finding on holes I use the driver on. This is a major drastic improvement for me and my confidence is definitely at an all time high. I really love this club and there's no feeling like stepping up on the tee and being confident the ball will go where you point it. Being a higher capper this and the xr pro irons have really helped me improve my game big time.
I was just fit to a BB 815 10.5* with Bassara GG shaft. I hit it a lot like my Xhot with Fubuki Alpha 60, but increased distance and better dispersion. I was previously fit to a Titleist 913D2 with Diamana D+ 72. That shaft was way too much of a beast for me. I must have had a completely different swing when I was fit to that because I just do not hit it well anymore. In addition, I really needed to go back to a lightweight shaft for my body. The Bassara was quite the investment, but oh well. Looking forward to it being built and sent out.
I just got my new BB 815 12 degree driver in on Friday from Callaway Pre-Owned in Like new with the Speeder 565 Stiff. I hit about a 100 balls with it Friday evening at the range and played a round of golf yesterday at one of the mountain courses we have nearby (trees and more trees). Here are my thoughts and I have some questions for you guys also.
I did not get fitted for this driver. I got fitted last year into a regular BB set at 11.5 with a Black Tie 6X3 shaft (Regular flex). Out of the gate, I didn't pay the $200 upcharge for the Black Tie because I just couldn't bring myself to spend $500 for a driver so I went with the stock shaft. I played with that driver for a few months but was constantly wishing I had the other shaft because I was hitting shots that were definitely launching too high. My average drive distance was between 220 and 235 (almost all carry, no roll) but very accurate. Once the BB's landed on Pre-Owned I started looking to see if any of them had a Black Tie. I found one (like new) but it was the Alpha. This also happened to be when they had a 25% off one item sale so I bought it even though I really didn't want or need the driver itself but I wanted the shaft and it was cheaper than what I was finding on the Bay. So, for the last year I've had two drivers, the BB Alpha and normal BB. My original intention was to simply take out the Black Tie shaft from the Alpha and put it in my regular BB but I found that I could hit the Alpha really well. I was absolutely crushing drives with it and it was what I played with almost the entire year. My normal drive distance was between 240 and 260 (my swing speed is 95) with the occasional driver going 270+ (something that I've never been able to do before). The problem was that misses with it were penalized harshly so I'd normally have 1 to 4 holes a round where I was getting double and triple bogeys simply because of my drive. When I was driving well it was great, when I wasn't it could be bad. Every once in a while I'd break out the regular BB and be in the fairway all day long with my boring 225 yard drives but my scoring would improve.
So, when the 815 was released I was intrigued because I hoped that I could get a driver with the length of the 2014 Alpha with the forgiveness of the 2014 BB. I read this thread and thought that I really need this driver. I was waiting for them to pop up on Pre-Owned but after calling them I was told they have them, just not on the site yet. I figured that since I played both my 2014 BB's at 11.5 degrees that I'd be better off getting the 12 degree 815 so that I could play it in standard position but I had no idea how high this thing launches. To start with, the options in shafts Pre-Owned had in the 12 degree would much more limited than in the 10.5, so I just went with the stock speeder in Stiff instead of Regular (I'm at that in between swing speed where my fitters tell me I can go either way). Anyway, here's my thoughts. With the Speeder shaft the ball launches insanely high. I'm not talking standard moon ball hits where the height is the result of a spinny mishit where the ball climbs, climbs and drops straight down. I'm talking about a high launching shot on well hit balls where arc of the ball is nice and steady and then comes down on a similar arc. I noticed on the range that the Black Tie shaft brought down the launch a bit, but not as much as I'd hoped. The distance on the ranged didn't seem bad with either shaft but I couldn't really measure distance especially with range balls. In my round yesterday, I hit 8 drives with the Black Tie and 6 with the Speeder all at 11 degrees with the core up (I hit towards the top). My drives with the Speeder were all between 215 and 220 yards. Very short. I was actually a bit surprised because I thought I crushed some of those shots which tells me I got absolutely no roll. My drives with the Black Tie got more distance but not what I had hoped. My shortest was 220 and longest was 245. I noticed that I was pulling the Speeder a bit more (most drives were left of my aiming point) but that was probably do to the lighter shaft. I'm thinking that I may return this driver for a 10.5 head. I'd like to get a shaft that is a bit heavier with lower launch. What do you guys think? Am I going to notice a difference with the 10.5? Will I be giving up any forgiveness with the 10.5 head versus the 12 or are they identical in that respect? I'm not sure what shafts Pre-Owned has but I believe that had a Rogue Silver. Any other shafts I should be on the looking to see if they have? How about the Speeder 665? It's a bit heavier, but probably launches the same.
I did not get fitted for this driver. I got fitted last year into a regular BB set at 11.5 with a Black Tie 6X3 shaft (Regular flex). Out of the gate, I didn't pay the $200 upcharge for the Black Tie because I just couldn't bring myself to spend $500 for a driver so I went with the stock shaft. I played with that driver for a few months but was constantly wishing I had the other shaft because I was hitting shots that were definitely launching too high. My average drive distance was between 220 and 235 (almost all carry, no roll) but very accurate. Once the BB's landed on Pre-Owned I started looking to see if any of them had a Black Tie. I found one (like new) but it was the Alpha. This also happened to be when they had a 25% off one item sale so I bought it even though I really didn't want or need the driver itself but I wanted the shaft and it was cheaper than what I was finding on the Bay. So, for the last year I've had two drivers, the BB Alpha and normal BB. My original intention was to simply take out the Black Tie shaft from the Alpha and put it in my regular BB but I found that I could hit the Alpha really well. I was absolutely crushing drives with it and it was what I played with almost the entire year. My normal drive distance was between 240 and 260 (my swing speed is 95) with the occasional driver going 270+ (something that I've never been able to do before). The problem was that misses with it were penalized harshly so I'd normally have 1 to 4 holes a round where I was getting double and triple bogeys simply because of my drive. When I was driving well it was great, when I wasn't it could be bad. Every once in a while I'd break out the regular BB and be in the fairway all day long with my boring 225 yard drives but my scoring would improve.
So, when the 815 was released I was intrigued because I hoped that I could get a driver with the length of the 2014 Alpha with the forgiveness of the 2014 BB. I read this thread and thought that I really need this driver. I was waiting for them to pop up on Pre-Owned but after calling them I was told they have them, just not on the site yet. I figured that since I played both my 2014 BB's at 11.5 degrees that I'd be better off getting the 12 degree 815 so that I could play it in standard position but I had no idea how high this thing launches. To start with, the options in shafts Pre-Owned had in the 12 degree would much more limited than in the 10.5, so I just went with the stock speeder in Stiff instead of Regular (I'm at that in between swing speed where my fitters tell me I can go either way). Anyway, here's my thoughts. With the Speeder shaft the ball launches insanely high. I'm not talking standard moon ball hits where the height is the result of a spinny mishit where the ball climbs, climbs and drops straight down. I'm talking about a high launching shot on well hit balls where arc of the ball is nice and steady and then comes down on a similar arc. I noticed on the range that the Black Tie shaft brought down the launch a bit, but not as much as I'd hoped. The distance on the ranged didn't seem bad with either shaft but I couldn't really measure distance especially with range balls. In my round yesterday, I hit 8 drives with the Black Tie and 6 with the Speeder all at 11 degrees with the core up (I hit towards the top). My drives with the Speeder were all between 215 and 220 yards. Very short. I was actually a bit surprised because I thought I crushed some of those shots which tells me I got absolutely no roll. My drives with the Black Tie got more distance but not what I had hoped. My shortest was 220 and longest was 245. I noticed that I was pulling the Speeder a bit more (most drives were left of my aiming point) but that was probably do to the lighter shaft. I'm thinking that I may return this driver for a 10.5 head. I'd like to get a shaft that is a bit heavier with lower launch. What do you guys think? Am I going to notice a difference with the 10.5? Will I be giving up any forgiveness with the 10.5 head versus the 12 or are they identical in that respect? I'm not sure what shafts Pre-Owned has but I believe that had a Rogue Silver. Any other shafts I should be on the looking to see if they have? How about the Speeder 665? It's a bit heavier, but probably launches the same.
- Staff
- #1,973
You won't be giving any noticeable forgiveness up going from the 12 to the 10.5 IMO. Its a move I'm looking to make soon myself actually as the 12 is a LAUNCHER.
Also, the 665 is lower launching than the 565, or it definitely was for me.
Also, the 665 is lower launching than the 565, or it definitely was for me.
Evok
Don't worry, Be happy!
Was ON with this today. Only missed 1 fw with an ugly swing but the rest were bombed. Played with some family for father's day and someone said "oooo I like the sound of that driver" haha it does have a very pleasant crack to it
Saw a driving exhibition this morning from playing partners. One was striping them deep and the other was catching them solid and keeping the in the short stuff. It was great.
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