Equipment

Review: Callaway XR 16 Sub Zero driver

Published

8 years ago

May 5, 2016

Pros: Like other ultra low-spin drivers, Callaway’s XR 16 Sub Zero has huge distance potential for high-spin, high-speed golfers. Adjustable weights allow golfers to fine tune CG location. No upcharge for premium shafts.

Cons: Compared to Callaway’s other XR 16 drivers, the Sub Zero lacks forgiveness. Bad mishits can produce head-scratching trajectories. Available in only one loft (9.5 degrees), and for righties only.

Who it’s for: This a niche product for better golfers. If you miss the center of the club face with any consistency, give one of the other XR 16 drivers, or Callaway’s Great Big Bertha a try.

The Review

Callaway extended its line of XR 16 drivers with the new XR 16 Sub Zero, which was designed for high-spin players, from Phil Mickelson to gifted amateurs. It measures 440 cubic centimeters, and uses a new Carbon Triax Crown to lower center of gravity (CG), ultimately placing it below the neutral axis line, or “Sub Zero,” according to the company. Here’s what that looks like as a graphic:

As you probably know by now — whether it’s from our stories or the TV commercials — Callaway and Boeing teamed up to create a line of aerodynamic drivers, coming to fruition in the XR 16 and XR 16 Pro drivers. On those drivers, there are “Speed Steps” on the crown, which allow air to flow tighter against the club head to help golfers swing faster.

Although Callaway’s new XR 16 Sub Zero driver was given the “XR 16” name, it wasn’t given the Speed Steps, which weren’t able to be added because of the Sub Zero’s lightweight Carbon Triax crown, according to a Callaway representative. The XR 16 platform still makes branding sense for the Sub Zero, though. While it has two adjustable weights, it’s much more similar to Callaway’s XR 16 and XR 16 Pro than it is the company’s Great Big Bertha and Big Bertha Alpha 816 drivers, which use complex adjustability systems.

Callaway’s XR 16 Sub Zero (right) and XR Pro drivers.

Think of the three different XR drivers this way:

XR 16 (460 cc): Maximum forgiveness, highest ball flight.
XR 16 Pro (450 cc): Medium forgiveness, medium ball flight
XR 16 Sub Zero (440 cc): Least forgiveness, lowest ball flight.

In terms of looks and feel, the Sub Zero is also noticeably different than its XR 16 brethren. Its crown is glossy rather than matte, and it has no graphics or sight lines on its crown. At impact, the sound is also much more dense; it makes a crunch, rather than a higher-pitched ting like the XR 16 and XR 16 Pro. The Sub Zero does have a similar head shape to the XR 16 Pro, albeit 10cc smaller. To my eye, the Sub Zero looks clean and compact at address, more so than the XR 16 Pro and much more so than the XR 16.

Callaway XR 16 Sub Zero (right) and XR 16 Pro drivers.

The Sub Zero ($449.99) will create a disproportionate interest in the golf equipment world because of its use by tour players. In reality, though, it’s a highly limited release that targets the top echelon of better golfers. It’s only offered in one loft (9.5 degrees) and available for right-handed golfers only.

The Sub Zero does have an adjustable hosel that allows golfers to switch the loft to 8.5, 10.5 or 11.5 degrees, however, and each loft can be paired with a neutral or upright lie angle setting, which expands the target audience. It should also be noted that the Sub Zero has a slightly flatter lie angle at address than the other XR 16 drivers, which many better players prefer, as it creates more fade bias.

The Sub Zero has two interchangeable weights (2 and 10 grams) to help golfers fine-tune trajectory and spin.

For those who fit the “high-speed, high-spin, right-handed” mold, the Sub Zero lowers spin as well as any club on the market, and has a nice fade bias that may greatly benefit those whose miss is a hook. If you hit the center of the club face consistently and you’re fighting a hook, this may be the driver for you. An added perk is that Callaway is offering golfers their choice of 20 different premium shafts with purchase, which you can view here.

The Test

The Sub Zero has what is called a “deep,” or tall club face, which is preferred by many better players. Its club head measures 440cc.

I tested the Sub Zero against the only other club on the market hovering at the neutral axis line, Cobra’s King LTD, which is said to boast a “Zero CG.” And I hit it against the XR 16 and XR 16 Pro drivers, too. Each of the drivers were set to 9.5 degrees with the same shaft; a Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 7X.

The test was performed at The Launch Pad at Carl’s Golfland in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., with Trackman. After deleting outliers, I averaged the results of three drives with each club. The data was normalized, and premium golf balls were used. For those of you curious, I am a 1-handicap, former college golfer coming off a winter of not hitting many range balls.

Observations

Callaway XR 16’s draw-bias was noticeable and effective. As someone who fights a hook, however, this was not ideal.
XR 16 and XR 16 Pro felt very light compared to the other drivers, which may explain the boost in club head speed. Or maybe the Speed Steps did have a positive effect on club speed?
Callaway’s XR 16 Sub Zero, with the weight in the forward position, was the second-lowest spinning driver in the test just behind Cobra’s King LTD.
XR 16 Pro was nearly as low-spinning as the Sub Zero, but provided more forgiveness and more launch and height.
The forward setting in the Sub Zero was noticeably fade-biased, and produced the most fade spin of any driver in the test.
The highest balls speeds were produced by the XR 16 (168.7 mph) and the Sub Zero in the forward setting (164.7 mph).

It must be noted that these numbers do not tell the entire story. For example, with the XR 16 Pro, I had zero outliers. The club was extremely easy to hit, despite it having nearly the same profile as the Sub Zero.

Want another opinion? Here’s what Rick Shiels has to say

With the Sub Zero, on the other hand, I had numerous outliers, and my mishits were squirrelly at best: low hooks, low slices, high pushes, etc. It was ugly at times, but when I hit it on the screws, the Sub Zero was possibly the best performing driver of the bunch. Cobra’s King LTD didn’t seem to offer any more forgiveness than the Sub Zero, and had just as many outliers. Zero, or below zero CG is not for the weak-hearted, apparently.

I’ll admit, I’m probably not consistent enough to play the Callaway XR 16 Sub Zero. I certainly can see why there’s a need and demand for it, as it does a phenomenal job knocking down spin, but it’s definitely demanding from a ball-striking standpoint. Maybe it would be a better fit after a summer of hitting tour-sized buckets of balls. If I were playing in a tournament tomorrow, I would take the XR 16 Pro driver to the first tee.

The Takeaway

The Sub Zero is available in one loft (9.5 degrees) and for right-handed golfers only. It is adjustable to 8.5, 10.5 or 11.5 degrees.

If you tried the XR 16, XR 16 Pro or Great Big Bertha drivers from Callaway, and just can’t seem to lower your spin rates, the XR 16 Sub Zero could be an answer. When you catch one on the screws, it’s one of the lowest spinning drivers you’ll ever hit. Its lack of forgiveness makes me cautious to suggest this club to anyone that plays to higher than a scratch handicap, however. That being said, the Sub Zero plays the role it’s meant to play quite nicely. And it looks fantastic, and feels like most better golfers want their driver to feel: muted and solid.

Tour players, accomplished amateurs and big hitters will fall in love with this club. Weekend golfers, this one just probably isn’t for us.

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

Published

2 days ago

May 10, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.

Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Tway’s clubs here.

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Tway’s clubs here.

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Equipment

Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

Published

2 days ago

May 10, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Equipment

Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

Published

2 days ago

May 10, 2024

Andrew Tursky

With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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