Callaway Razr Hawk Driver Review!!

I want to start this review by saying thanks to GolfWRX and Callway Golf. I received a PM from the mods letting me know that I'd been chosen to test and review the new Callaway Razr Hawk driver and asked I'd be interested. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME! Yes I wan to test and review this club!! So a few weeks go by and a handful of rounds later, here we go!

Since I've never done a club review for GolfWRX before (although I did review a new Bridgestone glove once), I thought I'd start with a little about my game. I'm a position player, and I pride myself on my course management and putting. I'm a decent ball striker and I like to work the ball with my irons an wedges, but I like point and shoot woods. I'm not a long hitter nor do I hit the ball to high.


LOOKS: Drivers, for me, tend to stay in the bag for a long while. Since position off the tee is critical to me. I need as point a shoot as I can get. That being said it's not often that I can find a driver that has a player's club looks with a decent amount of forgiveness. Hence I've got two Ping Rapture V2 drivers, which for me have offered both. The Razr Hawk is certainly no slouch in the looks department. Like a slimmed down version of it's predecessor (the FT-9), the Razr Hawk looks good. It's a little longer front to back than my V2 and not quite as deep, which is nice because I can hit it off the deck easier than the V2. Profile is nearly identical to a Ping G15 or a Titleist 909/910 D2. Also, THANK YOU FOR NOT PUTTING ANY STUPID GRAPHICS ON THE HEAD!! :clapping:

Here's a comparison pic with one of my V2s.



PERFORMANCE AND FEEL: This is where my love/hate or should I say disappointment with past Callaway drivers would start. Take for instance the Diablo Edge Tour. When it came out I thought: "Sweet, a player's looking driver that supposed to be geared toward a mid-low handicapper", only to be let down by a lousy made for shaft that had no feel and transferred that lack of feel to the club head. This left me with a driver that put up "ok" numbers, but had absolutely no pop! Thus I would have had to upgrade a shaft and spend more money.

I'm no R&D expert but the idea that the next distance technology with drivers is going to come from the materials it's made of, makes since. Geometry has been done for the most part, with most companies going back to more traditional shapes and adding aerodynamic curves. Adjustable drivers are nice, but in the end are limited. Color? Well if you couldn't line the face square when it was an opposing chrome face to black top line, an opposing black face to a white top line is NOT going to make a lick of difference.

The people at Callaway have positioned the weight in the head, just so, as to give the best combination of distance and forgiveness. It certainly has that! It was perfection as I could pick a landing area and go. If I needed to work it, no problem. This is a great driver that is happy to do whatever the golfer wants.

Did I get any distance gains. Why yes, as a matter of fact I did. An average of 7 yards by my math (which is pretty good, both my math skills and the driver). I was able to hit two drives per hole over 4 rounds, at 2 different courses that I'm very familiar with so I knew the areas were I would normally end up. I'd hit my V2 first and then the Razr Hawk, alternating that order every other time just to keep it fresh. Then pace off the distance between the two. Sure enough, 4 to 10 yards every time.

My one big gripe though would be the shaft. Again, I'm no R&D expert but I'd love to see a company not just slap a 46" light weight made for shaft and call it a day. I'm only 5'5" and at 27 years old, I won't be getting any taller. 46" is to long for me (I play me driver at 44.5"), and I'd venture to guess that plenty of players wouldn't lose too much if the shat length was dialed back a bit. I know that I didn't. Each round that I tested the Razr Hawk against my V2, I played one side at the full 46" and the other at 44.5". I did this by putting a piece of blue tape around the grip at the 44.5" mark, so I would do it consistently. I also changed up which nine holes would get the choked up/down driver and which would get the full 46". NO loss of distance! NO loss in quality of contact!

Another note on the stock shaft, there's a reason that shaft graphic are on the underside of a shaft. Players don't want to see that. That being said, please stop putting your own little design/etching/paintings on the top of the shaft just below the grip. It's silly!

So, the big question remains, will this knock out my beloved Rapture V2.....??? Yes!! But not before a shaft change! And since I'm a WRXer after all I'm thinking a Graphite Design Tour AD DJ!!;)

Thanks again to Callaway Golf, GolfWRX, and anyone else involved!!

http://www.callawaygolf.com/Global/en-US/Products/Clubs/Drivers/RAZRHawkDriver.html

Great write up! The 46" shaft is a little on the long side. I was thinking about this the other day... Everything is manufactured with newer lighter materials right. For us who prefer the shorter length that really COULD give the manufacture to put extra weight where we need or want it... Maybe a TA line that offers heavier heads in the FADE NEUTRAL DRAW bias. That is potentially a TON of weight put where you need it to find fairways.

Tour AD-DJ is a nice shaft

Nice review. I played with a buddy on Friday who had just got a Razr with a x-stiff whiteboard at 8.5*. I have always played a 9.5* so it was a little difficult to get it up. I hit it a few times OK and then on 18 crushed it. After a beverage in the grill, I proceeded to Golfsmith to get on the monitor with the stock shafted Razr. I could not get any distance at all and it did not feel as good. No doubt the whiteboard made a difference. I also tried the R11 and could not get over the white head.

I am going to head back over this week and pick up the Razr and then go straight to my repair shop for a new shaft.

Thanks for the great review!

Great review. I've considered making the change from my FT9 to this driver. I'll have to demo this club soon.

[quote name='minhjn' timestamp='1300091391' post='3053556']
Tour AD-DJ is a nice shaft
[/quote]

I think so too. Hit it in a 910 D2. Can't wait.


[quote name='Golfingbanker' timestamp='1300113919' post='3053912']
Nice review. I played with a buddy on Friday who had just got a Razr with a x-stiff whiteboard at 8.5*. I have always played a 9.5* so it was a little difficult to get it up. I hit it a few times OK and then on 18 crushed it. After a beverage in the grill, I proceeded to Golfsmith to get on the monitor with the stock shafted Razr. I could not get any distance at all and it did not feel as good. No doubt the whiteboard made a difference. I also tried the R11 and could not get over the white head.

I am going to head back over this week and pick up the Razr and then go straight to my repair shop for a new shaft.
[/quote]

Yup, I think the Razr Hawk will be a completely different animal with a different shaft. It's a beast as is, but with the right shaft will be a T-REX!

[quote name='tarheelrx' timestamp='1300115132' post='3053964']
Thanks for the great review!
[/quote]

Thanks! It was fun to test!

[quote name='MikeMo' timestamp='1300125504' post='3054385']
Great review. I've considered making the change from my FT9 to this driver. I'll have to demo this club soon.
[/quote]

I think this will go up against the Ping G15 and Adams F11 as the hottest drivers of the year.

[quote name='swanry30' timestamp='1300078271' post='3053365']
Great write up! The 46" shaft is a little on the long side. I was thinking about this the other day... Everything is manufactured with newer lighter materials right. For us who prefer the shorter length that really COULD give the manufacture to put extra weight where we need or want it... Maybe a TA line that offers heavier heads in the FADE NEUTRAL DRAW bias. That is potentially a TON of weight put where you need it to find fairways.
[/quote]

Thanks! I'm excited to see where the possibilities of new materials, especially those like the forged composite in the Razr Hawk, will take club design. Hopefully back to a more traditional shape and length, all the while maintaining a nice bend of power, workability, and forgiveness.

Very good review. I'm in the process of doing my review of the RAZR Hawk, too.

[quote name='w8liftr' timestamp='1300150091' post='3055614']
Very good review. I'm in the process of doing my review of the RAZR Hawk, too.
[/quote]

Sweet! Always look forward to your insight.