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Three Callaway GBB Epic drivers appear on USGA Conforming Club List

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Three new Callaway drivers have appeared on the USGA’s Conforming Club List: the GBB Epic, the GBB Epic Star and the GBB Epic Sub Zero.

Callaway isn’t commenting on the new Great Big Bertha (GBB) drivers at this time, so we can’t officially confirm or deny any details about the new drivers. We do anticipate that one or more of the driver models could be in play this week at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, however, where they will be permitted for us. We also can point out a few things based on the USGA’s black-and-white photos.

GBB Epic

Callaway_GBB-Epic

GBB Epic Star

8_Nov_mono02

Based on the photos, it appears the GBB Epic and GBB Epic Star are virtually identical, with the exception being the lack of an adjustable hosel on the GBB Epic Star.

Both drivers appear to use a technology called “Jailbreak,” which is highlighted on the front of the driver’s sole. The technology is rumored to connect the sole and crown of the drivers, adding reinforcement that improves energy transfer.

On the other end of the sole is a sliding weight that enables golfers to select a draw, fade or neutral trajectory bias. There are also what seem to be carbon fiber inserts on the soles of all three driver models. Carbon fiber is lighter than titanium, and its use presumably enhanced the ability of Callaway engineers to optimize the weighting of the driver heads for improved performance.

GBB Epic Sub Zero

Callaway_GBB_Epic_Sub_Zero

Instead of a sliding weight track, the GBB Epic Sub Zero has two adjustable weights — one on the front of the sole, and one on the back. That reminds us of Callaway’s XR ’16 Sub Zero driver, which is the company’s current ultra-low-spin driver. It design targets better golfers, and was used in 2016 by Phil Mickelson.

The Sub Zero got its name from its center of gravity position (CG), which Callaway says is below the neutral axis line, or “sub zero.” The XR ’16 Sub Zero uses a what Callaway called a Carbon Triax Crown, an extremely thin, lightweight composite material on the top of the driver that the company said enabled its sub zero CG location.

What are GolfWRX Members saying about the new drivers? Join the discussion in our forum. 

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18 Comments

18 Comments

  1. westphi

    Dec 4, 2016 at 12:56 pm

    When is this going to be released in stores?

  2. Red Regal

    Nov 29, 2016 at 6:42 am

    Callaway the new Taylor Made with so many releases.

  3. PapaBear

    Nov 29, 2016 at 2:46 am

    Haven’t been this excited since the Cobra 370U was released!

  4. KJ

    Nov 28, 2016 at 9:02 pm

    A lot of the comments, so true. I buy a new driver amount every 3 years. I typically buy a model that’s one year old and half the price of the original in very good shape.

  5. erlybrd

    Nov 28, 2016 at 6:27 pm

    What? Looks just like 915 D4 head!!

  6. Blade Junkie

    Nov 28, 2016 at 3:31 pm

    Another bottle of Snake Oil please Bartender !

  7. B. Parsons

    Nov 28, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    The Korean YouTube video showed these in detail. I’m sure cally will try their best to have it pulled, but it’s still out there. Search for it on naver or another Korean search engine.

  8. Dave R

    Nov 28, 2016 at 12:21 pm

    What I can’t believe it more new drivers, what will they think of next

  9. Jordan

    Nov 28, 2016 at 11:14 am

    Wait, they’re coming out with an adjustable 915 driver? Color me intrigued…

  10. Clay

    Nov 28, 2016 at 10:30 am

    I can’t believe no one has speculated that the bonded hosel design was made for Tiger. Are the “Tiger is buying TM” rumors so strong that no one wants to start a new rumor about Tiger signing with Callaway? Fine, I will start the rumor. The GBB Star is made specifically for Tiger and will not go to market. I have zero evidence but I know some people that know some people that robbed some people and they said it is true.

  11. Michael

    Nov 28, 2016 at 9:33 am

    The Epic Star has my attention. Will this be a non-adjustable model that is in the $399 range? Would they want to compete with possible Fusion sales?

  12. cgasucks

    Nov 28, 2016 at 9:04 am

    Jailbreak technology!??! What is that?? Does it mean if you pay someone to “unlock” it you remove the USGA COR restriction!??!

    • Desmond

      Nov 28, 2016 at 9:23 am

      You need to read the EPIC thread

      • Desmond

        Nov 28, 2016 at 9:24 am

        … or just the descriptions above. Works wonders.

  13. Fozzie Bear

    Nov 28, 2016 at 8:50 am

    Oh, Mizuno Fast Track is back. 🙂

    • DB

      Dec 2, 2016 at 12:49 am

      Man, I just saw a Mizzy Fast Track at GolfMart for like $30.
      If Callaway says this technology is a game changer then I’m going back to get that Mizuno tonight!

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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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

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)

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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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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

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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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