Callaway Big Bertha Review

Technology: Callaway’s revamped Bertha driver features Adjustable Perimeter Weighting (APW) to raise MOI and change the draw/fade bias. It also has a Hyper Speed face, composite crown and OptiFit hosel.

Looks: The more mass-market Bertha driver is larger from front-to-back with a shallower face and has a classic shape and look to it. The contrast between the dark blue crown and silver face does help to align the face.

Feel/sound: At 45.5 inches, the stock shaft instantly feels long, which could limit control of the face for some. The head feels light during the swing and explosive off the face. The flight is pretty stable, even when you don’t strike the sweetspot.

Forgiveness: While the Hyper Speed Face plays a part, the adjustability plays a big role in the forgiveness of this club. The APW at the rear is easy to move around and does influence the flight. Golfers wishing to fight a slice can either close the face, make the lie angle more upright or slide the weight into “draw”.

Performance: There are a huge number of settings, some of which can cancel each other out, so it may take a while to find your optimum. A lot of thought has gone into every area of construction and the result is a long, forgiving driver that will blow you away. I love being able to slide the weight into hard draw and not worry about my miss (a block right) and watch the ball draw back to the target.

>> Click here to find out how the Callaway Big Bertha scored in The Drivers Test 2014.

The Big Bertha is being touted as a “Total Performance Driver” by Callaway – so it should suit a broader range of players than the Alpha (right). What does Total Performance mean? It has a high moment of inertia and a hot face to maximise distance on off-centre hits, plus “Adjustable Perimeter Weighting” which lets you promote a certain shot shape (draw/fade bias) and bring down dispersion by up to 15 yards. “It has all the forgiveness that we think amateurs need, with the adjustability that gives advanced players the option to dial it in”, said Dr Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s R&D chief. Why is this rail at the back and not the front?
“I think people understand perimeter weighting from irons,” added Hocknell. “So wherever the weight is on this head, it stays at the edges. That increases MOI and keeps the head stable.”

Adjustable Perimeter Weighting

Allows golfers to precisely locate an 8g sliding weight at any location on an approximately 5-inch track to help optimise shot shape and control dispersion. The placement of the APW along the perimeter of the head is critical in giving Big Bertha its high MOI, which helps retain ball speed and accuracy on off-centre impacts, an essential element of a Total Performance Driver.

Hyper Speed Face

Hyper Speed Face technology is predicated on a deep understanding of the probability of where players’ impact locations will be across a driver face, and uses an optimisation code based on huge amounts of impact data to help determine the thickness profile of the face. The result is an extremely lightweight and robust face that helps deliver more ball speed where players need it most.

Advanced Adjustable Hosel

Big Bertha enables golfers to independently adjust loft and lie angle to help translate the added ball speed into more distance. Golfers can chose from four different lofts (from -1 to +2) to optimise launch angle and backspin and two different lies, denoted by 'D' for Draw and 'N' for Neutral, to optimise the directional bias. Together, these provide eight unique combinations that help golfers optimise their distance and dispersion. Callaway’s proprietary hosel technology is also the only adjustable hosel to achieve changes in loft and/or lie without having to rotate the shaft (and graphics) on its axis between settings.

Forged Composite

A critical competitive advantage for Callaway, Big Bertha Alpha’s crown is made of this high strength, lightweight composite material. This enables Callaway to offer multiple forms of adjustability while keeping the head weight under 200g and the swing weight at D2, which makes the Big Bertha driver extremely easy to swing.

What is a Total Performance Driver?

A Total Performance Driver provides a balance of speed and control and is designed for the broadest segment of the player population, including highly skilled amateurs as well as golfers that are new to the game. Callaway drivers designed for this segment put a great emphasis on forgiveness and performance on off centre impacts while also providing advanced adjustability to help optimise trajectory and shot shape for a wide range of abilities.

Contact: www.callawaygolf.com