Equipment
Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 Fairway Woods and Hybrids
We’ve reached the point where one fairway wood isn’t just one fairway wood anymore. Callaway’s Big Bertha Alpha 815 fairway woods have two adjustable weights in their soles that allow them to perform like two completely different clubs.
Position the club’s 30-gram weight in its front weight port and its 3-gram weight in its rear weight port, and it will create a lower-spinning ball flight. Flip the orientation of the weights, and the ball flight will have more spin — and the club will have more forgiveness.
Think of the heavy-weight-forward configuration as the fairway wood equivalent of Callaway’s Big Bertha Alpha 815 Double Black Diamond driver — its more forward center of gravity sacrifices some forgiveness for less spin, which can create more distance for some players.
The 815 fairway woods have a compact shape that was inspired by Callaway’s 2014 Big Bertha Pro fairway wood, a tour-only product that was used by several Callaway Staff players including Patrick Reed and Gary Woodland. You don’t have to be a tour player to use the 815 fairway woods, but better players will see the most benefit from their smaller, tour-inspired head design — particularly in the lower lofts.
The 815 fairway woods use Callaway’s Forged Hyper Speed Face Cup that improves ball speed on shots struck across the clubface. They also have Callaway’s OptiFit Hosel, which allows golfers to choose one of eight loft and lie settings.
Does the technology work? In my testing, the heavy-weight-forward configuration created a very impressive 800 rpm less spin than the more forgiving configuration. Not all golfers will see that big of a difference, but the combination of the 815’s adjustable weights, adjustable hosel and three different loft options makes custom fitting (and tinkering) a breeze.
The Big Bertha Alpha 815 Fairway Woods ($299 — in stores Jan. 16, 2015) are available in lofts of 14, 16 and 18 degrees. They come stock with either Fujikura’s Motore Speeder 665 shaft (L, R, S and X flexes) and Aldila’s Rogue Silver 70 (R, S and X flexes).
Testing Tips: Golfers with very fast swing speeds (105+ mph) will want to try the 16-degree model with the heavy weight forward. For me, it launched extremely high because of its 4-wood loft, but had a spin rate that was similar to a 12-or-13-degree fairway wood.
Lower-swing-speed golfers, or those who use two fairway woods, will want to try the 14- and 18-degree models with the heavy weights back.
Big Bertha Alpha 815 Hybrids
Callaway’s X2 Hot hybrids woods swept our 2014 Gear Trials: Best Hybrids list, earning awards in our Distance-First, Forgiveness-First and Balanced Performance categories. One of our few complaints? They weren’t adjustable.
Callaway’s new Big Bertha Alpha 815 Hybrids are adjustable, and like the X2 Hot hybrids include a Forged Hyper Speed Face Cup for top-notch ball speeds. They’re most similar in design to Callaway’s X2 Hot Pro, with a compact shape, minimal offset and a low, forward center of gravity for a penetrating trajectory.
The Big Bertha Alpha 815 hybrids ($249 — in stores Jan. 16, 2015) are available in three lofts: 18 (2H), 20 (3H) and 23 (4H). They come stock with Fujikura’s Speeder 865 shaft (R, S and X flexes).
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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (5/21/24): New Ping i210 4-UW irons
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a set of New Ping I210 4-UW irons.
From the seller: (@jblough99): “New Ping I210 4-UW with AWT 2.0 stiff shafts. Standard length, standard loft, black dot lie. Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips standard size. All matching serial numbers. There is a rub in the finish on the back of the 6 iron and a few spots in the hydropearl finish on the other iron faces (see pics) unfortunately the shop I got them from didn’t wrap each head individually for shipping. These clubs are new unhit, most still have the protective stickers on the numbers on the soles. $1025 OBRO full clubs. $975 OBRO heads only.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: New Ping I210 4-UW irons
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Whats in the Bag
Dustin Johnson WITB 2024 (May)
- Dustin Johnson what’s in the bag accurate as of PGA Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (10.5 degrees @12.5)
Shaft: Fujikura Speeder 661 Evolution 2.0 Tour Spec X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 HL (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: LA Golf Prototype
Check out more in-hand photos of Dustin Johnson’s clubs here.
7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (21 degrees)
Shaft: LA Golf Prototype
9-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (24 degrees)
Shaft: LA Golf Prototype
Check out more in-hand photos of Dustin Johnson’s clubs here.
Irons: TaylorMade P730 DJ Proto (4-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: TaylorMade MG (52 @54, 60)
Shafts: KBS Tour Custom Black 120 S
Check out more in-hand photos of Dustin Johnson’s clubs here.
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour T3.0
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol 1.0
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Check out more in-hand photos of Dustin Johnson’s clubs here.
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Whats in the Bag
Phil Mickelson WITB 2024 (May)
- Phil Mickelson what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai-Smoke Triple Diamond Prototype (9 degrees @8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
3-wood: Ping G430 Max (15 degrees @13.5)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X
4-wood: Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: KBS TD 80 Category 5
Hybrid: Ping Anser (17 degrees)
Shafts: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage Prototype 90 X
Irons: Callaway Rogue ST Pro (5), Callaway X Forged 2013 (6-9)
Shafts: KBS Tour-V 125 (5), Mitsubishi MMT 115 TX (6-9)
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10J) Callaway Mack Daddy PM Grind 19 (60, 64)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 115 TX
Putter: L.A.B. Golf DF3
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Phil Mickelson’s clubs here.
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Rich
Jan 5, 2015 at 5:10 am
These have been in stores in Oz for a few weeks now and they are EXPENSIVE! They are dearer than Titleist and Ping at the moment. Can’t imagine paying more for a Callaway than a Titleist or Ping. If they are THAT good then I guess it’s worth it but it seems like top dollar for these guys.
Large chris
Jan 2, 2015 at 10:14 am
Blimey those necks are big….
Fred
Jan 2, 2015 at 12:12 am
Why aren’t the weights on the Alpha FW straight instead of slanted? Functionality? Or did Callaway not want to reposition the name of their product?
spazo
Jan 2, 2015 at 2:05 am
Because doing so would infringe patents
Fred
Jan 2, 2015 at 9:04 am
Whose patents?
Teaj
Jan 2, 2015 at 10:31 am
could be that better players draw the ball more so when they place the heavy weight forward and more towards the toe that it slows the release of the club?
The dude
Jan 3, 2015 at 11:10 am
Makes sense