87 replies to this topic

[Fairways to Heaven]

The Callaway XR16. Great club, long and very forgiving. I am sure you can pick them up quite cheap too.

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[sfdoddsy]

Titleist-Golfer, on 30 May 2017 - 10:55 PM, said:

Do yourself a favor and buy a 2016 M2 - you will feel like you won the lottery!

Do yourself a favor and buy a 2016 M2 - you will feel like you won the lottery!

I've tried the M2 and find it's popularity as mystifying as that of the Epic.

For me, the Callaway Fusion, Cobra LTD and even the ancient Callaway GBB all produced numbers about the same as the Epic (and M2) and have the advantage of being much cheaper.

I've done Trackman fittings at my towns 'best' fitter for all of them. The absolute best numbers were with the  original GBB. In a different session the Epic was slightly better side by side with the LTD.

On a different monitor testing on my own the LTD produced slightly better numbers.

i use Arccos 360 and on course there is no difference in distance that couldn't be ascribed to wind or slope or that day's swing. I hit my longest drive with the Epic, but that was with a tailwind. My dispersion has also been much worse with the Epic, but I'm currently blaming three bad swing days for that.

Given I don't like the looks or the sound either, it obviously is not the club for me.

It gets one more chance when the shaft the fitter recommended arrives, then off to BST.

[Boydr12]

In my opinion, this is the straightest driver out there, in really have to put an awful swing on the ball with the epic sub zero to hit one out of play, all my misses are just pulls and pushes, no curvature really

[kmac3]

If you want consistent and forgiving but still plenty of distance give the ping g a try.

[TaylorGreen]

lordemsworth, on 23 May 2017 - 06:09 PM, said:

M2 is a pretty awesome driver regardless of year.

I agree.  Sold of the Epic SZ and bought last year's M2.  Feel is not quite as "smooth" but the results (for me) have been eye-opening.  Haven't tried the 2017 M2 but have no need as this is staying put in the bag.   To boot, I'm sticking with the stock Fuji shaft even though I have a Red Tie, Kuro Kage and Tensei Blue that are just sitting in my workshop gathering dust.

[daniel gibson]

The SZ sits open, have had no issues with it going left. And am extremely happy that I have a club only missing one way. Honestly I love mine. Plus the sounds wins over the Tm 100%!

[creecool]

Head weight of Epic is very light, so I trimmed my Subzero to 44.5 with 2 12 gram weights. Swingweight D6, never have driven the ball better.

[JDCON]

I'm going to my first demo days today. I'll be comparing the Epic SZ (possibly Epic, too) and the M1. I've tested these in swing monitors and have had mixed results depending on the store. Super excited to see real ball flights and hopefully be closer to making a decision.

[Oknows]

Hit the SZ at a fitting yesterday. Loved the sound and  feel and had my highest ball speeds and longest carry with it, but was inconsistent. Went through quite a few shafts and ended up back with my KK tini. I have spin issues so the fitter said we weren't even going to try the Titleist heads, but right before we were done, he handed me the 917 D3. Very similar numbers to the SZ but straighter. Much prefer the look of the SZ though.

[Dr. Bombay]

odshot68, on 22 May 2017 - 02:09 PM, said:

I jumped on the bandwagon and bought the epic driver this year.  I have hit some crazy long balls but am SO inconsistent with this head.  I have tried numerous shafts on the course and I feel I have no control with the head.  I miss left and right, I don't know if the head is too light but its not working.  I even pulled my Epic three wood shaft and put it in driver and couldn't control it either; I am very consistent with it in the three wood head.  

I am looking for driver suggestions.  I am looking for consistency and feel with some forgiveness.  I don't know if others have had similar results and what they changed to.

Sell it and get the Fusion in both heads......soooooo much better!!

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[swizbeatz]

Updates?

[kgeorge78]

OD I tried the epic for a weekend - it was terrible for me. very inconsistent.  

Ive played a M1 all of last year and M2 this year and they are excellent.  In fact this years M2 is challenging my Ping G15 for the best driver I've ever played.

[jrr]

jrr, on 30 May 2017 - 06:49 AM, said:

jrr, on 23 May 2017 - 09:19 AM, said:

Just in the process of this situation with an Epic. Demo on range and two rounds was awesome. Ordered and received a duplicate,...or so I thought. Inconsistent getting on the face, frankly I as 12 hdc, I don't expect consistency but a couple out on 18 should statistically happen you would think. Tried the demo and it was fine, tried to swap clubs but that is not allowed.

Had my Epic  swing weighted and it was D.3, that is "point" 3. Demo club was D3, that is without "point" and to exact spec.

Called Callaway and they couldn't have been nicer. Told them I wasn't covering a $500 driver with lead tape. They agreed and we are going officially "animal" at 45.5", dual sliding weights. Will see how it works out. By the way they offered to have a new one built to correct spec, the extra weight seemed just to obvious. Again first class effort from Callaway.

Follow on to my prior post. Stumbled on a great deal for a UST Elements Chrome 7F4. Threw it in this weekend. Yes the profile fits me a bit better than stock Hazrdus T800 6.0. But without adding the new sliding weight from Cally, the results were stunning. dispersion and consistency was radically improved. Sure had a few "holy crp" but immediately fixed.  I am now a believer in static weight impact.
Will probably leave well enough alone and not add the add'l weight.

As an update, replacement Epic coming and this one has a cracked face. I am close to giving up at this point

[jecarnl]

I have tried both Epic heads, still gaming the SZ, and I have struggled with both. I wish I would have kept my Ping G LST....

[phil75070]

Fairways to Heaven, on 31 May 2017 - 03:31 AM, said:

The Callaway XR16. Great club, long and very forgiving. I am sure you can pick them up quite cheap too.

I'll second that! I have two XR16's, a 10.5° and a 9°. Same shaft, supposedly, in the same flex ®, the stock 565 but they feel different to me and I am hitting the 9° more consistently and farther.

Based on my success with theXR16, one of my golfing buddies picked one up and his driving has improved tremendously, coming from the GBB. He subsequently picked up the standard Epic but doesn't like it and it wassitting at home in his golf closet. I got him to bring it out on Friday so I could try it and I hit it a few times on the front 9 with the stock HZRDUS 55g shaft and didn't like it at all. On the back, I swapped in the 565 from my 9° XR16 and hit some bombs and it even felt better. Seems he would consider a trade for the Epic which I am sorely tempted to do.

[JDCON]

Well, I persisted and after my 3rd attempt at a Demo Day, I finally got to one that wasn't canceled or cut short. I was able to test out the SZ and Epic and the Epic was the winner. I have now tested:

Epic
SZ
M1
M2
F7
G30
917D3

The Epic was the star among all of these drivers. The SZ was a close second and in third place was the Cobra F7. My numbers with the Epic were 12* launch, 2500 rpm, and 270 yards with a 100mph club head speed. I put my order in and it should be here this week. One club down, 13 to go. It feels good to be playing golf again.

[Andrew Bond of Glencoe]

Mixed results thus far. My biggest issue is that I spin the ball too low. That makes it difficult to keep the ball airborne. When the spin is good the driver is 10 yards longer than anything I have hit before. Went through a Trackman fitting but I think I need to do it again.

[SwingMan]

Just took delivery of the big box with the Epic 10.5 Diamana Green 50, and took off at 6:30 pm to the range - great sound, attractive head, and I did not step on the shaft, which is R flex, and I was testing its limits when I stepped on the gas. Installed the Grand Bassara 39 R flex and it was winnah, winnah, chicken dinner - straight and mid-high even when stepped on - stable shaft for being so light.

And forgiving? Like a saint.

Before dusk, and after 100 or so range balls, I walked from the range to Hole #1 and hit 3 balls with the CS Truvis. Point and Shoot straight -- and I took 3 less clubs for my second shots. I also had bagged a Fusion, and the best hit Fusion ball was 10-12 yards behind the furthest hit Epic ball.

Pretty freakin' Epic.

Edited by SwingMan, 20 June 2017 - 05:19 AM.

[Warrick]

I have had mine in the bag a while now, can't believe more don't talk about how great this thing is when missed slightly.  This thing lets you get by with a little high/low on the face like nothing else I have played.

I thought it was way too light stock.  I play mine at 46" and added a second 8g sliding weight to the stock 17g one..

As much as I love it, not sure I don't like the SZ 3+ even more, hybrids just got thrown in the bag also.

[hardten]

LoveSick666, on 22 May 2017 - 04:17 PM, said:

If you can find a shop with them, try the Mizuno JPX 900. Just as long for me as Epic's but way more accurate/forgiving.

Agree with you on the JPX 900. Have the stock Speeder in reg. Everything I have seen or read is emphatic that the shaft is the real deal which was $350 at Golfworks when I checked awhile back. Has sensible adjustments that work. I have bad driving days and what to change sticks like most of us but resist , knowing it's me and not stick. Owned many drivers and the feel of this one is up with the best. Long and where on earth I found this high draw I seem to hit semi often is a bonus.

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[6thFairway]

I tried an Epic earlier in the spring and I struggled with dispersion, not knowing proper configuration, not sure I had the right shaft.  I returned it.   I hadn't been fit properly due to coming off a knee replacement in December- I just guessed at my settings.

Decided to bite the bullet and get a real fitting (outdoor, trackman) a couple of weeks ago- and I got fit into the Epic 10.5 with HZRDUS R flex.  I was consistently hitting the center of the face on almost every swing, and gained about 6 yards over my 816 DBD.  I'm very happy with the Epic now and plan for it to be in the bag quite a while.

Edited by 6thFairway, 20 June 2017 - 09:05 AM.

[JDMRN81]

I've been very inconsistent with my SZ for past 5 rounds. More slicing then ever before. Of course this is all me, but have not (intentionally) changed anything on my swing.  I just picked up a Z565 from here to test out.

[odshot68]

OP here, I blame my epic failure on the swing weight of it.  I have since switched to an M1 for past three weeks or so.  The results have been much improved.  I'm not trying to sell a specific driver, rather I feel the D0 swing weight doesn't allow me to feel the head during the swing.

[SwingMan]

odshot68, on 21 June 2017 - 02:40 PM, said:

OP here, I blame my epic failure on the swing weight of it.  I have since switched to an M1 for past three weeks or so.  The results have been much improved.  I'm not trying to sell a specific driver, rather I feel the D0 swing weight doesn't allow me to feel the head during the swing.

They will animalize it for you - two weights which may be of different weight to meet your SW requirements.

[wwohl]

Are you getting consistent contact on the face?

I don't have the epic and I won't be jumping on the bandwagon for jailbreak 🙄  I still play last model XR 16. If the epic is anything less me it, its extremely light. My XR16 head barely weighs 180 grams. In addition, callaway stock length is near 46".

If you're getting consistent contact on the middle of the face and still spraying the ball everywhere it's gotta be shaft. Check the head weight of yours because a shaft you typically like with another driver might not feel the same with a head that weighs 20g less.

If you're not getting good center contact I'd start over with length and lie.

PS my stock stiff shaft felt like spaghetti especially once we tried butt trimming an inch and adding 15 grams and I still always suspected it's flex was more in the R range . Oban devotion in it now

[wwohl]

Sorry just read the latest post. The M1 head is a solid 20-25 grams heavier than the epic likely. Get the SW and length right

[CHE KJARRVERA]

Couldn't get the 2017 M1 to feel right but the GBB Epic for me is a great club. I typically use a driver 1/2 doz times per round and have never had more consistency than with the Epic. This is saying something as I'm Joe average at golf. Just shortened the Epic today (Fuji pro 62 shaft) to 44", the same length as my previous driver, a reliable 910D2. Waiting on some lead tape in the mail to fine tune my ideal swing weight now, but after hitting a few balls it's already more consistent than it was at 45.5". Rapt.

[Valtiel]

odshot68, on 21 June 2017 - 02:40 PM, said:

OP here, I blame my epic failure on the swing weight of it.  I have since switched to an M1 for past three weeks or so.  The results have been much improved.  I'm not trying to sell a specific driver, rather I feel the D0 swing weight doesn't allow me to feel the head during the swing.

This was the very first thing I thought after your OP. Thinking that a 3 wood shaft in there would = more control said that you weren't considering swingweight since that would actually make your problem worse. How you perceive the weight of the head can have a huge impact on consistency, especially for a handsy player. I have taken drivers that I hated and cranked the swingweight up on them and I couldn't argue with the results. Same is true for the inverse, a driver that I love everything about does not perform if the swingweight is too light. D0-D3 is a no go for me. D4-D5 is borderline and D6-D8 is where I prefer to be. Grip and shaft will factor into these numbers obviously, but the point is to experiment with all kinds of weight all over the place until you find more consistency. Without knowing weights you're just graba**ing in the dark.