No hype, hit Big Bertha Alpha on my home turf for 5 min today :)

[HISPL]

Had a hit for 5 minutes today at my work with the new Big Bertha drivers, one of my colleagues Paul (an ageing PGA Professional) also tried them too.

 

We got to hit them with the stock shafts for each model both were S flex.

 

I play a Razr Fit Xtreme, he plays a Titleist 910 with Ozik TPHD we both picked up at least 10-15 meters with the drivers we got to hit.

 

I loved the look sound and feel of the Alpha, the std Big Bertha performed great but the shape was not my cup of tea I'm sure a lot of players will like it though.

 

We use Srixon solid core range balls at my work, a good drive for me is 230-235m with one of these balls in total distance which is just shy of 260 yards with my Razr Fit Xtreme, I've probably got 10m on Paul but he is much more consistent. (He would be telling everyone here that he has 10m on me though! LOL!)

 

So "average" shots for me were 240m and good ones 250m with the Srixon range rocks, Paul wasn't far behind me he hit the driver 15m to 20m longer than his 910 Titleist which to be fair isn't really optimised any more as I think he has lost about 5mph of club head speed in the last couple of years. With a tour quality ball we generally experience 10% greater distance due to higher ball speed and lower spin rates as compared with the Srixon solid core range balls.

 

Both felt and sounded great, I loved the more traditional shape of the Alpha but I know a lot of guys will love the more rounded shape of the Big Bertha.

 

The stock shafts felt pretty good, I've never really been a Fubuki guy but the new Zeta and Zeta Tour felt pretty good I liked the satin finish of the Zeta Tour paintwork.

The finish/appearance of the drivers is great, the crown is a very deep navy blue almost black and a bunch of guys I work with commented on the appearance favorably.

 

One of the telling signs that this is an epic driver is that another colleague who is a die hard Ping guy has ordered the Alpha and the fairways to use as gamers! (Which for those that know him is HUGE!) He has used Ping for close to 20 years as both an amateur and PGA Pro and up until now nothing else has found its way in the bag.

 

I didn't get time to fire up Trackman (I was too busy hitting the clubs!) but will hopefully get a chance to hit it and test the effect of the gravity core on spin in the next day or two. I'll test with Hex Black Tour balls though for a more "real world" comparison.

 

I built a shaft up with the compatible tip for the Big Bertha drivers, if I get a chance to hit it with my shaft of choice I'll post the feedback up here, I have been using a UST Mamiya Tour SPX Black 4X shaft, tipped an inch playing 45 inches in my Razr Fit Xtreme and have prepared the same shaft for my testing.

 

Yes, I'm a Callaway guy but guys that I know that aren't are drawn to these clubs do a side by side comparison and see how they perform before writing these clubs off or bagging Callaway these are really something for Doc Hock and his team to be proud of.

 

Hopefully I'll add a little more to this thread soon!

 

Adam

[peakposition]

That sounds really fantastic. Friend of mine played it last week and said the same. He is Currently playing a RFX aswell.
Even with the stock shaft (which is a great offering of course) he gained 2-3 metres.
He should be able to hit it with his "Gamer" a Black Tie this week. Curious what he will tell after that testing..

Keep us updated!

[HISPL]

Oh, for the "metric challenged" members of this board the easy way to convert to yards to meters is to take 10% off for the conversion.

So 275 yards is 250 meters or thereabouts.

I heard a guy call inches, feet, yards, miles etc (imperial) the "standard" system of measurement what I found funny about that is there is probably 6 billion people in the world that use metric and yet he called it the "standard" system LOL

[shortgame85]

Well done, HISPL. Thanks.

[SurfinTurf]

Is Paul the aging pro a WRXer?

I'll assume no. LOL

But nice review. Thanks for the write up.

[HISPL]

[quote name='SurfinTurf' timestamp='1387290083' post='8312151']
Is Paul the aging pro a WRXer?

I'll assume no. LOL

But nice review. Thanks for the write up.
[/quote]

No, but we call him an "old fart" and he doesn't mind

Still plays to about a plus 4 handicap, not bad for a 55 year old who plays once a week

[GeorgeL]

Great writeup. Not a Callaway fan (due to the rounded heads), but will definitely give these a try. And I'm pleased to see that the stock shafts are Fubuki - I'm gaming the Fubuki Alpha in my Adams Fast 12 LS and am getting better results than any other combo I've hit so far.

[Froth]

[quote name='HISPL' timestamp='1387284755' post='8311923']
Oh, for the "metric challenged" members of this board the easy way to convert to yards to meters is to take 10% off for the conversion.

So 275 yards is 250 meters or thereabouts.

I heard a guy call inches, feet, yards, miles etc (imperial) the "standard" system of measurement what I found funny about that is there is probably 6 billion people in the world that use metric and yet he called it the "standard" system LOL
[/quote]
The easy way I learned is to simply add the first two numbers to the last two numbers of meters and you get yards within 2-4yds.

Exmaple: 240meters. Add 24 to 40, which is 64. Now put that 64 behind the original 2 and you get 264. The actual conversion of 240m into yds is done using 1.0m to 1.093yds which would be 262.4yds. You can do it with smaller numbers too, ex: 94meters. Add 09 to 94 = 103yds.

[HISPL]

[quote name='GeorgeL' timestamp='1387306650' post='8313615']
Great writeup. Not a Callaway fan (due to the rounded heads), but will definitely give these a try. And I'm pleased to see that the stock shafts are Fubuki - I'm gaming the Fubuki Alpha in my Adams Fast 12 LS and am getting better results than any other combo I've hit so far.
[/quote]

You will need to take a chequebook with you then when you try the Alpha! Pear shape head check, Fubuki shaft check, epic performance check

[HISPL]

[quote name='Froth' timestamp='1387307213' post='8313663']
[quote name='HISPL' timestamp='1387284755' post='8311923']
Oh, for the "metric challenged" members of this board the easy way to convert to yards to meters is to take 10% off for the conversion.

So 275 yards is 250 meters or thereabouts.

I heard a guy call inches, feet, yards, miles etc (imperial) the "standard" system of measurement what I found funny about that is there is probably 6 billion people in the world that use metric and yet he called it the "standard" system LOL
[/quote]
The easy way I learned is to simply add the first two numbers to the last two numbers of meters and you get yards within 2-4yds.

Exmaple: 240meters. Add 24 to 40, which is 64. Now put that 64 behind the original 2 and you get 264. The actual conversion of 240m into yds is done using 1.0m to 1.093yds which would be 262.4yds. You can do it with smaller numbers too, ex: 94meters. Add 09 to 94 = 103yds.
[/quote]

Interesting method! My brain seems to handle the 10% method no problems but I can see how this would work

[OUZO Power]

Great review.

[FairwayGolfUSA.com]

Nice write up. I cant wait for the trackman numbers! I will be waiting.

[kwooten31]

Anyone compare the Alpha to the SLDR yet?

[OUZO Power]

[quote name='kwooten31' timestamp='1387316561' post='8314495']
Anyone compare the Alpha to the SLDR yet?
[/quote]If you read m^9 review in the #CallaWRX2 thread he did.

It was a shootout between G25, SLDR, X2H, BB & BBA

BBA won outrighth in every category for m^9 and his swing.

[kwooten31]

[quote name='OUZO Power' timestamp='1387317183' post='8314523']
[quote name='kwooten31' timestamp='1387316561' post='8314495']
Anyone compare the Alpha to the SLDR yet?
[/quote]If you read m^9 review in the #CallaWRX2 thread he did.

It was a shootout between G25, SLDR, X2H, BB & BBA

BBA won outrighth in every category for m^9 and his swing.
[/quote]
Thanks, I must have missed that one...

[jrodgers0622]

Nice write up, while im not a fan of the looks of the alpha if the performance is there it might find its way into the bag.

[TLUBulldogGolf]

Can't wait for this thing to come out, was pretty set on getting an SLDR but this sounds like it will be right there with it. Gonna have to have a shootout between the two.

[GeorgeL]

[quote name='HISPL' timestamp='1387314593' post='8314319']
[quote name='GeorgeL' timestamp='1387306650' post='8313615']
Great writeup. Not a Callaway fan (due to the rounded heads), but will definitely give these a try. And I'm pleased to see that the stock shafts are Fubuki - I'm gaming the Fubuki Alpha in my Adams Fast 12 LS and am getting better results than any other combo I've hit so far.
[/quote]

You will need to take a chequebook with you then when you try the Alpha! Pear shape head check, Fubuki shaft check, epic performance check
[/quote]

Haha. Can't wait to try it out.

[HISPL]

[quote name='kwooten31' timestamp='1387316561' post='8314495']
Anyone compare the Alpha to the SLDR yet?
[/quote]

Whilst I didn't hit them at the same time we do have SLDR available to compare in fittings and I have hit it.

For me SLDR was no better than my Razr Fit Xtreme in terms of distance (only about 5m shorter than Razr Fit Xtreme so no biggie) but I don't like the silver bit on the back of the crown, I don't like the shape of the head and it sounds terrible, oh and it costs $150 more than Callaway with the same shaft I got with my RFX originally.

So Alpha eats SLDR, distance by about 15m for me the Alpha carry distance is as far as the total distance of SLDR and then I get 15m of runout with Alpha.

Subjective difference, well Alpha just plain looks nicer, shape and colour of the head, it sounds nicer a more "solid whack" than "tinny plink" and the stock grip (which I wouldn't use anyway but a lot of people would) is a no contest, Multicompound on the Alpha and a cheap rubber POS on the SLDR.

The Alpha is going to cost the consumer a little more than the SLDR BUT the TP SLDR is about the same money and the Alpha comes with basically whatever shaft you want so the cost is comparable when you look at apples V apples (I couldn't help myself!)

So we have the ability to test X Hot, Razr Fit Xtreme, 913 D2/3, G25, Anser, SLDR, AMP Cell/Pro and for me the Anser and Razr Fit Xtreme had the best performance for me and a large number of my customers.
The advantage that the RFX over the Ping is a wider range of face angle adjustability, weight adjustment at the turn of a wrench (also allows some easy access for hot melt) and a greater range of no cost shaft options.

So after me waffling on for a few paragraphs the summary of this post is that the Alpha for the drivers I have been able to compare it against will be "King of the Jungle" and the Alpha name is very fitting!
It carries as far as any other driver I have ever hit compared to be other drivers total distance and then the Alpha rolls about 15m past that point.

Alpha looks and feels "the business" it is as good or better in these departments than anything we out there IMO.

Alpha has an awesome no cost shaft option list which will keep 99% of golfers very happy.

Some numbers on Trackman to follow if I get the opportunity tomorrow

[Dill Pickleson]

Instead of Big Bertha Alpha they should've called it Big Alpha.

[kwooten31]

[quote name='HISPL' timestamp='1387326897' post='8315299']
[quote name='kwooten31' timestamp='1387316561' post='8314495']
Anyone compare the Alpha to the SLDR yet?
[/quote]

Whilst I didn't hit them at the same time we do have SLDR available to compare in fittings and I have hit it.

For me SLDR was no better than my Razr Fit Xtreme in terms of distance (only about 5m shorter than Razr Fit Xtreme so no biggie) but I don't like the silver bit on the back of the crown, I don't like the shape of the head and it sounds terrible, oh and it costs $150 more than Callaway with the same shaft I got with my RFX originally.

So Alpha eats SLDR, distance by about 15m for me the Alpha carry distance is as far as the total distance of SLDR and then I get 15m of runout with Alpha.

Subjective difference, well Alpha just plain looks nicer, shape and colour of the head, it sounds nicer a more "solid whack" than "tinny plink" and the stock grip (which I wouldn't use anyway but a lot of people would) is a no contest, Multicompound on the Alpha and a cheap rubber POS on the SLDR.

The Alpha is going to cost the consumer a little more than the SLDR BUT the TP SLDR is about the same money and the Alpha comes with basically whatever shaft you want so the cost is comparable when you look at apples V apples (I couldn't help myself!)

So we have the ability to test X Hot, Razr Fit Xtreme, 913 D2/3, G25, Anser, SLDR, AMP Cell/Pro and for me the Anser and Razr Fit Xtreme had the best performance for me and a large number of my customers.
The advantage that the RFX over the Ping is a wider range of face angle adjustability, weight adjustment at the turn of a wrench (also allows some easy access for hot melt) and a greater range of no cost shaft options.

So after me waffling on for a few paragraphs the summary of this post is that the Alpha for the drivers I have been able to compare it against will be "King of the Jungle" and the Alpha name is very fitting!
It carries as far as any other driver I have ever hit compared to be other drivers total distance and then the Alpha rolls about 15m past that point.

Alpha looks and feels "the business" it is as good or better in these departments than anything we out there IMO.

Alpha has an awesome no cost shaft option list which will keep 99% of golfers very happy.

Some numbers on Trackman to follow if I get the opportunity tomorrow
[/quote]
Thanks for your review, I guess I should have been more precise, I was really looking for trackman data between the two heads. I would love to see how they stack up data wise. Thanks again!

[HISPL]

[quote name='kwooten31' timestamp='1387358484' post='8316967']
[quote name='HISPL' timestamp='1387326897' post='8315299']
[quote name='kwooten31' timestamp='1387316561' post='8314495']
Anyone compare the Alpha to the SLDR yet?
[/quote]

Whilst I didn't hit them at the same time we do have SLDR available to compare in fittings and I have hit it.

For me SLDR was no better than my Razr Fit Xtreme in terms of distance (only about 5m shorter than Razr Fit Xtreme so no biggie) but I don't like the silver bit on the back of the crown, I don't like the shape of the head and it sounds terrible, oh and it costs $150 more than Callaway with the same shaft I got with my RFX originally.

So Alpha eats SLDR, distance by about 15m for me the Alpha carry distance is as far as the total distance of SLDR and then I get 15m of runout with Alpha.

Subjective difference, well Alpha just plain looks nicer, shape and colour of the head, it sounds nicer a more "solid whack" than "tinny plink" and the stock grip (which I wouldn't use anyway but a lot of people would) is a no contest, Multicompound on the Alpha and a cheap rubber POS on the SLDR.

The Alpha is going to cost the consumer a little more than the SLDR BUT the TP SLDR is about the same money and the Alpha comes with basically whatever shaft you want so the cost is comparable when you look at apples V apples (I couldn't help myself!)

So we have the ability to test X Hot, Razr Fit Xtreme, 913 D2/3, G25, Anser, SLDR, AMP Cell/Pro and for me the Anser and Razr Fit Xtreme had the best performance for me and a large number of my customers.
The advantage that the RFX over the Ping is a wider range of face angle adjustability, weight adjustment at the turn of a wrench (also allows some easy access for hot melt) and a greater range of no cost shaft options.

So after me waffling on for a few paragraphs the summary of this post is that the Alpha for the drivers I have been able to compare it against will be "King of the Jungle" and the Alpha name is very fitting!
It carries as far as any other driver I have ever hit compared to be other drivers total distance and then the Alpha rolls about 15m past that point.

Alpha looks and feels "the business" it is as good or better in these departments than anything we out there IMO.

Alpha has an awesome no cost shaft option list which will keep 99% of golfers very happy.

Some numbers on Trackman to follow if I get the opportunity tomorrow
[/quote]
Thanks for your review, I guess I should have been more precise, I was really looking for trackman data between the two heads. I would love to see how they stack up data wise. Thanks again!
[/quote]

Planning on getting Trackman data tomorrow.
I played 18 today and used the Alpha and my Razz Fit Xtreme using the same shaft, the Alpha definitely appears to be longer I was using the SR3 ball today but will compare using Hex Black tomorrow if I get the opportunity

[Ripken08]

A 5 minute honeymoon qualifies as the shortest one ever lol.

[HISPL]

Guys, sorry had to take today off had some bad news this week and my boss gave me some time off to be able to deal with it.

I've planned now to get on Trackman tomorrow, I'll be able to compare my usual shaft in both an RFX and the Alpha/Big Bertha heads.

[kwooten31]

No rush, take your time. Hope everything works out for you...

[indyvai]

So it's more than meets the eye?

[HISPL]

Ok so here it is-

Ball speed consistently 3-4mph higher with BBA v RFX and it is WAY more consistent/forgiving so a really really good one with the RFX was the same as the BBA but the BBA was always good.

Spin with the gravity core was about the same as the RFX and changing it and putting the heavy end near the crown made 4-500rpm difference in spin for me.

BBA launches 1.5-2 degrees higher consistently with no extra spin compared with the RFX.

I had a PGA Pro hit shots and he had very similar results to me in terms of the differences between the drivers. He got his best results with the Big Bertha 9.0 degree set up neutral with the Zeta Tour from the Alpha he needs more launch and spin to keep the ball in the air.
Big Bertha had 400rpm of spin more than to Alpha consistently for me and 2 degrees more launch.

Feel free to ask any questions!

[Sean2]

[quote name='Naughty Mazz' timestamp='1387328818' post='8315477']
Instead of Big Bertha Alpha they should've called it Big Alpha.
[/quote]

How about just BA? Bad Attitude. :-)

[emea_golfer]

The RFX shaft are compatible with Big Bertha Alpha?

I hope not, makes it more difficult to upgrade....

[HISPL]

[quote name='emea_golfer' timestamp='1387529108' post='8326877']
The RFX shaft are compatible with Big Bertha Alpha?

I hope not, makes it more difficult to upgrade....
[/quote]

No, but compatible with FT Optiforce