Great Big Bertha Driver - Anyone hit it yet?

[KnoxvilleReb]

As a slower swing speed player - with a pocket full of Callaway gift cards from a lucky shot on a closest to the pin hole during a charity event - it's taking everything in me to not order this today. Seems every review (albeit only a few so far) is showing meaningful gains in club head speed, ball speed, and distance. The main question seems to be if, as a lightweight driver, it has enough control/forgiveness to be dependable at the top of the bag. Has anyone hit it yet? Any thoughts?

[Davidv]

I am also waiting to see some actual testing of the new Big Bertha. There has to be more to it besides the light weight for $700.00. As you know Cleveland and Cobra both offer light weight drivers for way less money. So it will be interesting to see if the swing speed increases, distance increases and other claims come to fruition. 

 

[gsrjc]

$700. Crazy these days how much drivers are. 

[erock9174]

Did any of the YouTubers review it ?  Have you seen a review yet if so. 

[CBearse]

Depends on how old your current driver is or if it is the right fit for you.

 

I've been looking to upgrade my driver as well (Callaway Rogue Draw). Today I hit the new Rogue ST LS on my current shaft on an about golf simulator and ball flight was 7' lower, 500 rpm less backspin, carried 4 yards less for equal total distance to my current driver (I have played around with different shafts and I have yet to hit anything better than my current setup).

 

With slower swing speeds you may be better served upgrading your irons, maybe trying some graphite shafts or hybrids? Not trying to talk you out of the driver, I really want one as well but in my situation i was better served spending my money on a set of irons and a 3 Wood.

Edited November 14, 2022 by CBearse

[Sub_Roc]

Tested the 10.5 GBB and it set up noticeably closed at address and went left more than expected.  There's no sliding weights to make it less draw biased.  If you wanted an easy swinging club with a predominantly one sided miss, then this is it.  

 

I prefer the Epic Max Star 10.5 that's one of my fun drivers in rotation.  Also added another sliding weight to the rear track to bring the swingweight up to D5.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Sub_Roc

[JungleJimbo]

IMHO... Given the target market, Callaway should've considered adding another higher-loft option (i think 12* = highest loft available... albeit can adjust +2*(?) with the loft-sleeve adaptor). 

@JohnnyCallaway is 12* = the highest-loft option for this GBB driver?  If so... then i might stick with my Bertha Fusion 13.5* driver (that i can loft-down, to slightly open the face angle ...

@Sub_Roc mentioned the face angle looks noticeably closed at address?)

 

https://www.golfwrx.com/698662/callaway-introduces-new-great-big-bertha-lineup/ 

 

 

On 11/12/2022 at 1:54 AM, KnoxvilleReb said:

As a slower swing speed player - with a pocket full of Callaway gift cards from a lucky shot on a closest to the pin hole during a charity event - it's taking everything in me to not order this today. Seems every review (albeit only a few so far) is showing meaningful gains in club head speed, ball speed, and distance. The main question seems to be if, as a lightweight driver, it has enough control/forgiveness to be dependable at the top of the bag. Has anyone hit it yet? Any thoughts?

 

2 hours ago, Sub_Roc said:

Tested the 10.5 GBB and it set up noticeably closed at address and went left more than expected.  There's no sliding weights to make it less draw biased.  If you wanted an easy swinging club with a predominantly one sided miss, then this is it.  

 

I prefer the Epic Max Star 10.5 that's one of my fun drivers in rotation.  Also added another sliding weight to the rear track to bring the swingweight up to D5.

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by JungleJimbo

[KnoxvilleReb]

8 hours ago, Sub_Roc said:

Tested the 10.5 GBB and it set up noticeably closed at address and went left more than expected.  There's no sliding weights to make it less draw biased.  If you wanted an easy swinging club with a predominantly one sided miss, then this is it.  

 

I prefer the Epic Max Star 10.5 that's one of my fun drivers in rotation.  Also added another sliding weight to the rear track to bring the swingweight up to D5.

Yeah the "semi-draw bias" on it is the one thing really holding me back right now. My gamer is neutral (maybe slight fade bias) and I love the straight to slight-draw ball flight I have with it currently. Worried that the draw bias would bring snap hooks into play.

[4bees]

On 11/13/2022 at 10:19 PM, CBearse said:

Depends on how old your current driver is or if it is the right fit for you.

 

I've been looking to upgrade my driver as well (Callaway Rogue Draw). Today I hit the new Rogue ST LS on my current shaft on an about golf simulator and ball flight was 7' lower, 500 rpm less backspin, carried 4 yards less for equal total distance to my current driver (I have played around with different shafts and I have yet to hit anything better than my current setup).

 

With slower swing speeds you may be better served upgrading your irons, maybe trying some graphite shafts or hybrids? Not trying to talk you out of the driver, I really want one as well but in my situation i was better served spending my money on a set of irons and a 3 Wood.

why in the world would you use a LS model if your swing speed is below 100?  Seems a little counterproductive unless you are fighting a huge negative attack angle or steep swing.  

[CBearse]

31 minutes ago, 4bees said:

why in the world would you use a LS model if your swing speed is below 100?  Seems a little counterproductive unless you are fighting a huge negative attack angle or steep swing.  

Because they had it laying there for me to hit lol. I don’t really think my swing speed is sub 100 mph. Personally, I think the guy used a few of my warm up swings because I also noticed the three shots he selected for my base line on my 6 iron were much shorter than I usually hit my 6 iron. But that’s a conversation for another thread.

[4bees]

1 minute ago, CBearse said:

Because they had it laying there for me to hit lol. I don’t really think my swing speed is sub 100 mph. Personally, I think the guy used a few of my warm up swings because I also noticed the three shots he selected for my base line on my 6 iron were much shorter than I usually hit my 6 iron. But that’s a conversation for another thread.

then how can you sit here an compare your gamer to the new LS?  i mean why even give numbers when you were not properly fit.  no use even commenting really tbh.  not even a fair/legit comparison.  

[sittingbull]

I was like sweet some reviews on the new BB then i seen the 700 price tag and was like 

 

 

[Tiptx1122]

Also the price tag on the irons....NFW!

[mpm1960]

On 11/13/2022 at 8:27 PM, erock9174 said:

Did any of the YouTubers review it ?  Have you seen a review yet if so. 

Here's one: 

 

[iNeedMoreGolf]

Extremely light its shocking. Feels like you will snap the shaft or something lol the head is amazing looking. Shape and all. Its just truly crazy how they got this whole setup soo light weight. Ive never felt a club that light in my life and that being said it feels almost wacky. When you connect feel and sound are just fine but the ball just wants to pop straight up in the standard shaft. It would be very intriguing in the right shaft but then i dont know how they would balance out the rest of the club for swing weights and stuff. Its truly truly just ment for seniors or maybe teens or someone with an injury that cant swing hard or lift heavy. Id say im even more confused by the price tag now.

[Tiptx1122]

Did he just say it's the worse performing driver he's ever hit, if this is strictly meant for seniors, or teens or someone with an injury what in the heck is Callaway charging so much money for a club...Seriously you can do better than this Callaway. 

[bcflyguy1]

6 minutes ago, Tiptx1122 said:

Did he just say it's the worse performing driver he's ever hit, if this is strictly meant for seniors, or teens or someone with an injury what in the heck is Callaway charging so much money for a club...Seriously you can do better than this Callaway. 

90 seconds into that video it's quite obvious that this dude has absolutely no business putting out club reviews of any kind. His club path is so far in to out it's nauseating. That part where he says he's hitting fades? No, those are blocks. His path is so far in to out that he can't hit any functional golf shots at all. Notice that he doesn't show you his delivery numbers and his strike locations. That tells you everything you need to know.

That doofus kept hitting it so far off the high toe it's ridiculous; all while wheezing so badly he sounded like Fatty McGhee. Look how high he has the thing teed up; only way he can get the club on the ball is to be severely in to out on path and way up on attack angle. Only way to get the ball flight he saw with 400 RPM is to hit it off the Flash Face logo repeatedly. It's not the club that sucks in that video.

 

All that said, this driver is only going to suit a very small demographic of players. It's not a mainstream release, and shouldn't be treated as such.

[golfheaven69]

At some point the “customer” has to stand up and refuse to pay. 

[Tiptx1122]

8 hours ago, bcflyguy1 said:

90 seconds into that video it's quite obvious that this dude has absolutely no business putting out club reviews of any kind. His club path is so far in to out it's nauseating. That part where he says he's hitting fades? No, those are blocks. His path is so far in to out that he can't hit any functional golf shots at all. Notice that he doesn't show you his delivery numbers and his strike locations. That tells you everything you need to know.

That doofus kept hitting it so far off the high toe it's ridiculous; all while wheezing so badly he sounded like Fatty McGhee. Look how high he has the thing teed up; only way he can get the club on the ball is to be severely in to out on path and way up on attack angle. Only way to get the ball flight he saw with 400 RPM is to hit it off the Flash Face logo repeatedly. It's not the club that sucks in that video.

 

All that said, this driver is only going to suit a very small demographic of players. It's not a mainstream release, and shouldn't be treated as such.

Right as not all of us can be professionals, low handicappers, or 110+ swing speed but it shouldn't matter for a club being that expensive should perform better than what we saw, even for a doofus. For something not mainstreamed and that expensive shouldn't be just for senior's, teens or the injured as someone else quoted as it's just giving the name GBB a bad rap. It may not have been a very good video for a test but it's now out there. 

[MrCook]

17 hours ago, Tiptx1122 said:

Did he just say it's the worse performing driver he's ever hit, if this is strictly meant for seniors, or teens or someone with an injury what in the heck is Callaway charging so much money for a club...Seriously you can do better than this Callaway. 

 

Not sure where you're based and if it's a different story there, but if I take a look at the stereotypical golfer at my club (and any other club I've ever been to for that matter) seniors in checkered pants with bad backs, 75 mph swings and too much money make a significant chunk of the golfing population.

 

Callaway has as much of a market for this as XXIO does with their lightweight, techy drivers or Honma with their Beres line. Hell even my dad plays one of those and looks exactly like what I just described.

[Tiptx1122]

3 hours ago, MrCook said:

 

Not sure where you're based and if it's a different story there, but if I take a look at the stereotypical golfer at my club (and any other club I've ever been to for that matter) seniors in checkered pants with bad backs, 75 mph swings and too much money make a significant chunk of the golfing population.

 

Callaway has as much of a market for this as XXIO does with their lightweight, techy drivers or Honma with their Beres line. Hell even my dad plays one of those and looks exactly like what I just described.

Then they Callaway should sell millions of these irons and drivers but for someone who name called someone else who they don't even know just because he gave a bad review was wrong. Maybe people who love Callaway are just upset because so many people complain about how expensive they are, well they should know what to expect look what PXG went thru. Maybe we will see some positive video's soon but until then I bet that the Big Bertha B21 driver and irons and others Bertha models of the past perform just as nice and at more than half the price less. I like Callaway products but to use the GBB name was not in favor of gaining a majority of Callaway users or any recreational golfers wanting to  jump onto something so expensive when it's the Indian not the Arrow. Maybe PING can come up with some new EYE2 irons for $500 an iron as that would be a BLACK EYE Lol for PING.  Oh just to make myself clear I don't care how people spend their money as people will do all sort of things just for that status of hey look what I have or can afford. 

 

I actually thought this person who was called a doofus gave an honest reviews he didn't go into it thinking he would try to slam Callaway or the GBB line 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Tiptx1122

[third-times-a-charm]

13 hours ago, golfheaven69 said:

At some point the “customer” has to stand up and refuse to pay. 

This line of products has nothing to do with this. It's literally MEANT TO BE EXPENSIVE. That's the purpose of it.

 

When the new Corvette came out - all the people with Corollas didnt go "we need to stop this!".

Edited November 17, 2022 by third-times-a-charm

[bcflyguy1]

1 hour ago, Tiptx1122 said:

Then they Callaway should sell millions of these irons and drivers but for someone who name called someone else who they don't even know just because he gave a bad review was wrong. Maybe people who love Callaway are just upset because so many people complain about how expensive they are, well they should know what to expect look what PXG went thru. Maybe we will see some positive video's soon but until then I bet that the Big Bertha B21 driver and irons and others Bertha models of the past perform just as nice and at more than half the price less. I like Callaway products but to use the GBB name was not in favor of gaining a majority of Callaway users or any recreational golfers wanting to  jump onto something so expensive when it's the Indian not the Arrow. Maybe PING can come up with some new EYE2 irons for $500 an iron as that would be a BLACK EYE Lol for PING.  Oh just to make myself clear I don't care how people spend their money as people will do all sort of things just for that status of hey look what I have or can afford. 

 

I actually thought this person who was called a doofus gave an honest reviews he didn't go into it thinking he would try to slam Callaway or the GBB line 

He accidently gave an honest review of his own ball striking, not the club itself. Any driver will look like a piece of garbage under the circumstances he put the GBB in. When he said, "I'm going to hit a fade to see if I can get it to spin more" and he proceeded to hit the block slice from the pit of hell and called it a fade I paused the video, laughed, and walked away.

 

He blamed his own shortcomings on the club, which is a tale as old as golf itself.

 

Passing that off as a competent review (which he does) of the club's performance is where the problem starts. It is simply negligence, and it's been ID'd as such. Don't hear "you have to be a tour pro to review golf clubs" because that's not at all what I'm saying. We can all make bad golf swings. What I am saying is that the wonky numbers produced in the video have NOTHING to do with the club and everything to do with the way it's being delivered to the ball. Reviews like this are worse than worthless without the context of delivery conditions and strike locations.

 

Feel free to argue with that fact if you must. Lending any credibility to that guy's opinions of golf equipment is hazardous for your playing and financial health.

[Tiptx1122]

Not trying to argue but you say he accidentally gave an honest review of his own ball striking, so what, it still was a review and all it did was hurt the GBB line. Being an OEM Certified MASTER fitter you know.  Ok yes  I agree at some point the “customer” has to stand up and refuse to pay and they have and will. Someone needs to take the video off as I have put blame on some of my own poor ball striking at times but still the club made me look better than the swing I made, but not in this guy's case. It's a shame the 1st review came from this guy. I never base my decisions on YOUTUBE video's or how many professionals play what brand as I just think its funny how poorly it performed as maybe this guy was trying to bash that driver we just don't know but good luck to all who lend any credibility to his opinion or any other hype and to think that this equipment will lower their handicap because of the price they are willing to pay.  

 

I will only say I wish Callaway would have came up with some other name other than GBB as everyone knows it's overpriced and meant to be expensive but couldn't they have came up with some other name instead of an iconic name.  Look how everyone bashed PXG because of the price when they 1st came out as how everyone tried to justify their purchase and now how do they feel that their price has came down so much. Based on sales PXG are selling more products than they ever did because of the price drop.  

 

Probably won't see this from Callaway so people need to run out and make their purchases now as there will probably be a limited supply and 6 months - 1 year we will see them on Callaway Pre owned site as they won't be worth half the price when selling them or trading them in. I know people don't buy clubs to do this but this is GOLFWRX. Hopefully there will be some positive video reviews soon to follow

Edited November 17, 2022 by Tiptx1122

[me05501]

On 11/15/2022 at 9:52 AM, 4bees said:

why in the world would you use a LS model if your swing speed is below 100?  Seems a little counterproductive unless you are fighting a huge negative attack angle or steep swing.  

 

I have the same speed and use the Max LS too. I get pretty much ideal numbers with it for my speed and that was confirmed in a shaft fitting. 

 

The low spin heads aren't just helpful to the fastest swingers. 

[4bees]

9 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

I have the same speed and use the Max LS too. I get pretty much ideal numbers with it for my speed and that was confirmed in a shaft fitting. 

 

The low spin heads aren't just helpful to the fastest swingers. 

whats your angle of attack, whats your clubpath.  that is my question.  forget about headspeed at this point.  if you create a lot of spin then yes you will need a LS model.  you def missed my point here.

[me05501]

23 minutes ago, 4bees said:

whats your angle of attack, whats your clubpath.  that is my question.  forget about headspeed at this point.  if you create a lot of spin then yes you will need a LS model.  you def missed my point here.

 

You wrote "why in the world would you use a LS model if your swing speed is below 100?  Seems a little counterproductive unless you are fighting a huge negative attack angle or steep swing." It's kind of hard to misread that.

 

I'm not trying to beef with you but if you think the low speed heads are only for guys who swing 110MPH you're just incorrect. 

 

I was on Trackman yesterday, so I can give you my stats using my Rogue Max LS 9*. 

 

Club speed 90.2

Ball speed 135

Launch angle 17.2 

Spin Rate 2263

Attack angle +6.7

Club path 1.9

Carry 225

Total 248

(normalized)

 

I've used lots of different Callaway heads over the last several years. The Max versions launch way too high for me and I hit a draw so I don't need the "D" heads. The Epic Speed LS last season and the Rogue Max LS this season have worked really well for me. 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by me05501

[4bees]

13 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

You wrote "why in the world would you use a LS model if your swing speed is below 100?  Seems a little counterproductive unless you are fighting a huge negative attack angle or steep swing." It's kind of hard to misread that.

 

I'm not trying to beef with you but if you think the low speed heads are only for guys who swing 110MPH you're just incorrect. 

 

I was on Trackman yesterday, so I can give you my stats using my Rogue Max LS 9*. 

 

Club speed 90.2

Ball speed 135

Launch angle 17.2 

Spin Rate 2263

Attack angle +6.7

Club path 1.9

Carry 225

Total 248

 

I've used lots of different Callaway heads over the last several years. The Max versions launch way too high for me and I hit a draw so I don't need the "D" heads. The Epic Speed LS last season and the Rogue Max LS this season have worked really well for me. 

 

 

kudos to you

[bcflyguy1]

39 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

You wrote "why in the world would you use a LS model if your swing speed is below 100?  Seems a little counterproductive unless you are fighting a huge negative attack angle or steep swing." It's kind of hard to misread that.

 

I'm not trying to beef with you but if you think the low speed heads are only for guys who swing 110MPH you're just incorrect. 

 

I was on Trackman yesterday, so I can give you my stats using my Rogue Max LS 9*. 

 

Club speed 90.2

Ball speed 135

Launch angle 17.2 

Spin Rate 2263

Attack angle +6.7

Club path 1.9

Carry 225

Total 248

(normalized)

 

I've used lots of different Callaway heads over the last several years. The Max versions launch way too high for me and I hit a draw so I don't need the "D" heads. The Epic Speed LS last season and the Rogue Max LS this season have worked really well for me. 

 

 

Pretty much perfectly optimized.

[mpm1960]