Callaway's new Big Bertha V-Series driver shot at the 2014 WGC Bridgestone

[dmblanch]

It's all just a cosmetic nostalgia play. Like when Ford brought back the T-bird convertible in pastel colors. Trouble was, only 50 year old ladies wanted to drive it. But it has the same tip adapter as the current models so it'll cost me nothing to try it with preferred shaft. I'll know in a half a bucket of balls if there's anything worth keeping or not.

[jjl]

Man they ruined an otherwise nice looking club with that Newton decal and quote on the sole. What were they thinking??

[J13]

I could care less about a graphic on the sole of the club. If it was on the crown I would be signing a different song though

[lbsc1985]

I may be wrong, but with this release isn't Callaway actually matching release for release with TMag or even outpacing them in the new club per month race? Note, not a TMag hater comment--I used to be a Titleist fan boy but have gone to the SLDR (dark) side!

[spurcell42]

That thing is beautiful. Will definitely have to try this one.

[buckeyefl]

[quote name='jjl' timestamp='1406667614' post='9811731']
Man they ruined an otherwise nice looking club with that Newton decal and quote on the sole. What were they thinking??
[/quote]

Hopefully they rethink that little feature. Horrendous.

[Noonan]

What is the big deal with a little port decal on the sole of the club that you'll NEVER notice when hitting it? You guys are too much.

Did you b**** about the hideous crown graphics on the TM R1 when that came out? If so, I could understand that. There's never been an uglier premium driver.

[illyc]

i don't get the strategy here. another 399 driver from Callaway to go along with BB and Alpha. i assume x2 is going away in 45-60 days?

[golfware]

That driver is sweet sweet sweet! Can't wait to try it!

[timbo08]

[quote name='lbsc1985' timestamp='1406669271' post='9811887']
I may be wrong, but with this release isn't Callaway actually matching release for release with TMag or even outpacing them in the new club per month race? Note, not a TMag hater comment--I used to be a Titleist fan boy but have gone to the SLDR (dark) side!
[/quote]

Well I wouldn't say you are wrong, in the last 18 months or so Callaway has released or will release the Razr Fit Extreme, X-Hot, X-Hot Pro, Big Bertha, Big Bertha Alpha, X2 Hot, X2 Hot Pro, Optiforce and now the BB V-Series..... So at best if you round up and call it an even two years since the Razr Fit Extreme was "announced at the end of 2012" and we don't know when the V-Series is coming out that's still 9 maybe 10 drivers depending on how many V-Series models there are.

Taylormade over the same time has had the R1, RBZ Stage 2, RBZ Stage 2 Tour, Jetspeed, SLDR, SLDR S. That gives TMag 6 sticks but you could argue more with the TP models which I did not include. To my knowledge however that's just a different shaft, no difference in the head.

The two companies that are praised on here for holding price points and not over saturating the market would be PING and Titleist. Ping in the same timeframe has had the G25, G30, and I25. Titleist released the 913 series on 11/1 and I would assume the same for the 915, so you are looking at 4 drivers from them.

Current count:
Callaway-9
Tmag-6
Ping-3
Titleist-4

I wonder what would happen if you put the same shaft in all 9 of those Callaway drivers, set them at the same loft and had the same guy swing it on a Trackman? Marginal difference at best? A few might be more forgiving then the others so a few more yards on mishits at best, a couple might be longer than the others but less forgiving so a few more yards at best, and some others might have a tighter dispersion than the rest by you guessed it a couple yards at best. I'd be willing to bet that if you picked a center point on the fairway of the average distance and yards offline for all 9 of those drivers, then had that guy hit balls with each club (throwing out the obvious mishits that would be lousy with any club), all the balls would be within 10-15 yards of that center point.

What "the new Callaway" and the "Zoo crew" is really selling you is MARGINALLY better clubs that look slightly different. I'm not defending ANY of the other OEMs or saying that some aren't even doing the same thing, but come the eff on really? Callaway is saturating the market with this stuff.

Yes, I am excited as well over new gear, new technology and drool over pics of clubs just like every other guy on this site, that's why we a lot of us are here. But Callaway isn't following the motto of "Innovate or Die", it's "Let's market the crap out of stuff and convince people to buy"! At the end day though, they are a business, and there to make money, so if releasing 9 $250-$500 does that for them and puts em in the black, that's their decision.

Profits aside though, do they really have the best interest of the average consumer and the majority of their customers in mind with that business model though? Releasing marginally better clubs every two months or so on average, and marketing the heck out of them convincing the majority of their customer base that their latest is greatest is that much better than what they just shelled out their dough for that's sitting in their bag (which you can now purchase on Callaway Pre-Owned at a 50% discount in like new condition!!!).

Maybe if Callaway wants to go old school or vintage or however they want to market it with cartoon Newton's and throwback names, earn some good money for themselves and maintain their integrity and loyalty amongst their fan base they should try looking at their old business model? Which was the Original Big Bertha in 91 then the Great Birtha in 94/95 followed by the Big Bertha Warbird in 98. Oh yea, there was also the Big Bertha X12 irons followed by new "X Series" irons every two years. Pretty sure that was what made Callaway the sales leaders of the 90's in Drivers and Irons. How about instead of releasing marginally better tech every few months, you develop ALL of that tech into ONE solid performing driver every couple years? A players model and a more forgiving model that actual show advancements in technology that are somewhat significant. Not a fancy new paint job and tiny increases that are only there so they don't get sued for false advertising claims.....

Who knows what Callaway will do though? I am sure 3 months from now we will all be talking about the The Great Big Bertha Warbird Beta that is set to come out at the beginning of the year and features a sliding weight tracking, your choice of two adjustable gravity cores, a shiny new paint job that increases club head speed 1.5 mph which gains almost 10 yards for players with a 110 mph swing speed when hit 750ft or greater above sea level and all the same great technology that has made them the "Leader" over the years like Hyper X face, standing wave technology and the patented Optifit adjustable hosel. All why the "Zoo Crew" hops all over social media hyping the crap out of their product, giving away free trips on the marketing budget and making limited factual claims but telling you that "something really cool is coming" or "it's part of the plan", or to "just wait and see" all in a slick and edgy video package. Sounds good to me, sign me up!!!

[TheRealDeal]

Will I be able to use my current BB alpha shaft in this new driver head?

[deck]

[quote name='TheRealDeal' timestamp='1406691848' post='9814567']
Will I be able to use my current BB alpha shaft in this new driver head?
[/quote]

Yes sir

[TRoc9892]

I'm mostly interested in how these things sound.
I doubt the materials are the same but that old driver made a wicked odd muted piercing sound.

[TonyPags26]

[quote name='TheRealDeal' timestamp='1406691848' post='9814567']
Will I be able to use my current BB alpha shaft in this new driver head?
[/quote]Yes, same adaptor

[TonyPags26]

[quote name='TRoc9892' timestamp='1406692465' post='9814617']
I'm mostly interested in how these things sound.
I doubt the materials are the same but that old driver made a wicked odd muted piercing sound.
[/quote]I remember my BBB echoing through the entire course. In comparison to drivers now, it's not too bad

[TRoc9892]

[quote name='TonyPags26' timestamp='1406692710' post='9814639']
[quote name='TRoc9892' timestamp='1406692465' post='9814617']
I'm mostly interested in how these things sound.
I doubt the materials are the same but that old driver made a wicked odd muted piercing sound.
[/quote]I remember my BBB echoing through the entire course. In comparison to drivers now, it's not too bad
[/quote]
A buddy of mine still uses an old 3+ wood and that thing makes such a piercing metallic noise. And it goes forever. I'm still surprised how long that club is.

[richard25pro]

[attachment=2349413:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1406740866.809107.jpg][attachment=2349415:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1406740880.507666.jpg]

These are pictures of the fairways from a listing on Ebay, whether they're legit or not I don't know.

[hayzooos]

[quote name='richard25pro' timestamp='1406740926' post='9817847']
These are pictures of the fairways from a listing on Ebay, whether they're legit or not I don't know.
[/quote]

Scoring lines look like those from the first 3Deep, which I liked.

[TonyPags26]

Yeah I'm gonna need one of these FWs. Worst thing I ever did was get rid of my warbird 3w

[bmos21]

Callaway back to making ugly sticks. Thought they stopped with the RAZR fit. Guess not.

[MNoonan]

Sorry, you shouldn't have to put a cartoon character on the sole to sell clubs. Whats next SpongeBob square pants Wedges? We cant have that, square grooves are illegal.

[Leroy Jenkins]

You know what would be cool? Optional RCH graphite shaft!

[Leroy Jenkins]

[quote name='MNoonan' timestamp='1406763727' post='9820457']Sorry, you shouldn't have to put a cartoon character on the sole to sell clubs. Whats next SpongeBob square pants Wedges? We cant have that, square grooves are illegal.[/quote]

Sponge Bob Wedge Pants. Huge with the kids. First Tee program mascot.

[illyc]

what's funny is that on the driver, the sole emblem is 3d - meaning the writing "floats" above sir isaac.

[b-man777]

Hey all: Nice looking driver clean and simple is often times best. Will there be fairway wood and hybrids added to the line as well. P.S. Yeah it does have an old bb warbird look and I still have a 5wd that I use every now and then that still works great. thanks

[hayzooos]

I was looking through a few images of the tourney today and Harris English had one of these in play today:

 

 

[RPVL]

Images aren't showing here.

[Shooter123591]

Patrick Reed, Harris English, and Matt Every are all using the V-Series this weekend according to Harry

[hayzooos]

[quote name='RPVL' timestamp='1406845964' post='9827625']
Images aren't showing here.
[/quote]

I'm assuming this is in response to me...perhaps the Getty domain is blocked where you are? Doesn't make a lot of sense though as it's not like it's tumblr, imgur, photobucket or whatever your image hosting site of choice is.

Not sure why else they wouldn't be showing up.

[mxtitleistgolfer]

[quote name='hayzooos' timestamp='1406858413' post='9829091']
[quote name='RPVL' timestamp='1406845964' post='9827625']
Images aren't showing here.
[/quote]

I'm assuming this is in response to me...perhaps the Getty domain is blocked where you are? Doesn't make a lot of sense though as it's not like it's tumblr, imgur, photobucket or whatever your image hosting site of choice is.

Not sure why else they wouldn't be showing up.
[/quote]

I'm using safari on my iPhone and the images don't show up for me either. Just shows rectangles with the words "Posted Image" inside them.