2021 Callaway Epic Speed Max - Leaked Photo

[noodle3872]

Just got back from hitting balls. My local Pro was breaking in his Epic LS 9° against his Mavrik SZ TD 9°. Both heads were built/hotmelted to the same weight. He was using GC Quad and brand new Srixon range balls (not ideal but numbers are like for like). On average he was getting more launch, more ball speed and a couple more yards out of the LS. When he allowed me to check out the clubs, the head shapes were very close except for the toe shaping of the TD. He found the LS with weight centered to be more neutral than the TD. I wish I had my phone on me so I could grab some pictures but I didn’t because the driving range is where I go disconnect for awhile.

[SwooshLT]

17 minutes ago, noodle3872 said:

Just got back from hitting balls. My local Pro was breaking in his Epic LS 9° against his Mavrik SZ TD 9°. Both heads were built/hotmelted to the same weight. He was using GC Quad and brand new Srixon range balls (not ideal but numbers are like for like). On average he was getting more launch, more ball speed and a couple more yards out of the LS. When he allowed me to check out the clubs, the head shapes were very close except for the toe shaping of the TD. He found the LS with weight centered to be more neutral than the TD. I wish I had my phone on me so I could grab some pictures but I didn’t because the driving range is where I go disconnect for awhile.

 

 

Did you hear a sound difference? 

[tigercolt77]

4 hours ago, jds101086 said:

Looks the part from address...

 

Max ls looks like the mavrik did a month of keto. Slimmed down but the same shape. I like it 👌

[noodle3872]

1 hour ago, SwooshLT said:

 

 

Did you hear a sound difference? 

After playing EF SZ and EF SZ TD, I’ve not really terribly concerned about sound at impact so I didn’t pay real close attention to sound. However now that I think about it I would say they sounded quite similar. Suffice it to say they both sounded good on an outdoor range with a tall ceiling.

[FOOTJOY16]

9 hours ago, Rig14Port said:

When will demo's hit US retail stores? also, any word on Launch Date yet?

My local store got theirs late last week.  I hit the LS version today.. I was impressed.

[SwooshLT]

35 minutes ago, FOOTJOY16 said:

My local store got theirs late last week.  I hit the LS version today.. I was impressed.

 

 

Go on........

[FOOTJOY16]

14 hours ago, SwooshLT said:

 

 

Go on........

I tried the regular first..was spinning it off the map.. the guy handed me the low spin version.. saying he could knock the spin down.  Hit it with the Ventus Black 7x.. he was right.. wasn't there for a fitting.. just wanted to see the new stuff.. I hit this combo twice with a 9 degree head which launched too high but the spin came down to 1900.  I only hit a few but the ones I did hit I liked better than last years sub zero.  Looking forward to giving it a real test.. but it is going to be hard to beat my TSi3...

[SwooshLT]

31 minutes ago, FOOTJOY16 said:

I tried the regular first..was spinning it off the map.. the guy handed me the low spin version.. saying he could knock the spin down.  Hit it with the Ventus Black 7x.. he was right.. wasn't there for a fitting.. just wanted to see the new stuff.. I hit this combo twice with a 9 degree head which launched too high but the spin came down to 1900.  I only hit a few but the ones I did hit I liked better than last years sub zero.  Looking forward to giving it a real test.. but it is going to be hard to beat my TSi3...

 

 

Great to hear! As you know , I'm trialing with a tsi2 .....stable, solid .....nothing wrong with it at ALL! The new epic line and sim2 are the only ones I'm looking to try but like you said, gonna be hard ......also nice to hear that you're hitting the 9* high with lowish spin......pretty neutral flight? 

[noodle3872]

1 hour ago, FOOTJOY16 said:

I tried the regular first..was spinning it off the map.. the guy handed me the low spin version.. saying he could knock the spin down.  Hit it with the Ventus Black 7x.. he was right.. wasn't there for a fitting.. just wanted to see the new stuff.. I hit this combo twice with a 9 degree head which launched too high but the spin came down to 1900.  I only hit a few but the ones I did hit I liked better than last years sub zero.  Looking forward to giving it a real test.. but it is going to be hard to beat my TSi3...

High launch with low spin is the gold standard for drivers. People thought TM’s 17° launch with 1700 rpm was an insane belief but it seems to be the direction things are moving. Maybe not 17°/1700 rpm because that is a recipe for pure distance but 14°/2200 rpm is highly playable.

[SwooshLT]

32 minutes ago, noodle3872 said:

High launch with low spin is the gold standard for drivers. People thought TM’s 17° launch with 1700 rpm was an insane belief but it seems to be the direction things are moving. Maybe not 17°/1700 rpm because that is a recipe for pure distance but 14°/2200 rpm is highly playable.

 

 

Didn't get back over for pics yet, ay?😏

Edited January 14, 2021 by SwooshLT

[noodle3872]

24 minutes ago, SwooshLT said:

 

 

Didn't get back over for pics yet, ay?😏

Hoping to get back tomorrow. 

[mtp]

I hit the whole lineup today. Not a fitting.  Just trying them out. Was using the HZRDUS Smoke Green. LS was best for me. Prefer the shape, sound and feel over my current Sim Max.  

[SwooshLT]

2 minutes ago, mtp said:

I hit the whole lineup today. Not a fitting.  Just trying them out. Was using the HZRDUS Smoke Green. LS was best for me. Prefer the shape, sound and feel over my current Sim Max.  

 

 

Go on.......wait , I use that already......face depth, heel to toe length , sound and initial trajectory off face?  Carbon/muted sound?

[mtp]

23 minutes ago, SwooshLT said:

 

 

Go on.......wait , I use that already......face depth, heel to toe length , sound and initial trajectory off face?  Carbon/muted sound?

Looks - I prefer a shallower face than my Sim Max and I thought the LS was perfect. To my eye at least, it looked a little shallower. Also love the length from face to back of club. Not stretched out but still forgiving looking. 
 

Sound/feel - definitely muted but I wouldn’t call it carbon sounding like the Sim Max. I could hear a slight metallic sound to it. Big fan of the sound. As for feel, I could tell where I hit it on the face. That’s my one complaint with the Max, there’s times I can’t tell a good strike from a bad one. Really like the feel. 
 

Launch - not really apples to apples because my driver has a Fujikura Pro 2.0 Tour spec in it but the LS launched higher. Not as high ball speeds as mine but very similar carry because I was able to launch it higher with comparable spin number. I was way more consistent with the LS setup than my own but I’ve been thinking about a shaft change in mine anyway. 
 

FYI - My swing speeds are very modest. Low 100’s. 

[SwooshLT]

26 minutes ago, mtp said:

Looks - I prefer a shallower face than my Sim Max and I thought the LS was perfect. To my eye at least, it looked a little shallower. Also love the length from face to back of club. Not stretched out but still forgiving looking. 
 

Sound/feel - definitely muted but I wouldn’t call it carbon sounding like the Sim Max. I could hear a slight metallic sound to it. Big fan of the sound. As for feel, I could tell where I hit it on the face. That’s my one complaint with the Max, there’s times I can’t tell a good strike from a bad one. Really like the feel. 
 

Launch - not really apples to apples because my driver has a Fujikura Pro 2.0 Tour spec in it but the LS launched higher. Not as high ball speeds as mine but very similar carry because I was able to launch it higher with comparable spin number. I was way more consistent with the LS setup than my own but I’ve been thinking about a shaft change in mine anyway. 
 

FYI - My swing speeds are very modest. Low 100’s. 

 

 

My speed is even slower than yours.....I was using SIM @ 10.5 * std 

 

Sim has a shallow face , playable however.....

 

The new max LS is really appealing as I've been using tsi2 which has the stretched back head shape.....

 

This will be an exciting revelation for my switching into the deeper cg style heads

 

Thanks for your input

Edited January 14, 2021 by SwooshLT

[FOOTJOY16]

5 hours ago, noodle3872 said:

High launch with low spin is the gold standard for drivers. People thought TM’s 17° launch with 1700 rpm was an insane belief but it seems to be the direction things are moving. Maybe not 17°/1700 rpm because that is a recipe for pure distance but 14°/2200 rpm is highly playable.

Thats funny you say that.. the last one I hit was 17.4 launch at 1780 spin.. it was 2.5 yards offline.. crazy numbers...

[FOOTJOY16]

6 hours ago, SwooshLT said:

 

 

Great to hear! As you know , I'm trialing with a tsi2 .....stable, solid .....nothing wrong with it at ALL! The new epic line and sim2 are the only ones I'm looking to try but like you said, gonna be hard ......also nice to hear that you're hitting the 9* high with lowish spin......pretty neutral flight? 

yes.. I usually play a draw..sometimes a hook.. the last one I hit was 2.5 yards offline.. 236 rpm side spin.. interesting numbers..

[FOOTJOY16]

3 hours ago, SwooshLT said:

 

 

My speed is even slower than yours.....I was using SIM @ 10.5 * std 

 

Sim has a shallow face , playable however.....

 

The new max LS is really appealing as I've been using tsi2 which has the stretched back head shape.....

 

This will be an exciting revelation for my switching into the deeper cg style heads

 

Thanks for your input

So many good drivers out now.. the new Ping.. the Sim2. which looked better to me than the first SIM and the Callaway stuff.. good time to be testing drivers..

[zeke66]

This thing is a beast. Hit it with a Paderson ballistic tp. I was swinging awful with all 3 drivers I was hitting including gamer, and wouldn’t leave the hitting bay until I started hitting it better. So I grabbed the Max Ls 9.0 and worked through it. Average ball speed was around 177 low 120’s with spin around 2100-2200, launch 12-15. When you catch one on the screws... it goes as good as anything I think. 

[tj7644]

9 hours ago, zeke66 said:

This thing is a beast. Hit it with a Paderson ballistic tp. I was swinging awful with all 3 drivers I was hitting including gamer, and wouldn’t leave the hitting bay until I started hitting it better. So I grabbed the Max Ls 9.0 and worked through it. Average ball speed was around 177 low 120’s with spin around 2100-2200, launch 12-15. When you catch one on the screws... it goes as good as anything I think. 

What about us mere mortals that only swing around 105, instead of 120?   Could we hit the Max LS?  Or better with the Max?

[bcflyguy1]

18 hours ago, zeke66 said:

This thing is a beast. Hit it with a Paderson ballistic tp. I was swinging awful with all 3 drivers I was hitting including gamer, and wouldn’t leave the hitting bay until I started hitting it better. So I grabbed the Max Ls 9.0 and worked through it. Average ball speed was around 177 low 120’s with spin around 2100-2200, launch 12-15. When you catch one on the screws... it goes as good as anything I think. 

I've been testing this line of drivers for a few weeks now but have kept my impressions to myself until the media embargo lifted.  The raw horsepower is there as it has been since the OG Epic, but where this line takes a noticeable step forward is in translating those eye-popping TrackMan/GCQuad numbers into improved playability on the course. Have to think that the shift in design philosophy toward much higher MOI in the Max heads is primarily responsible for this while the Speed Frame also likely plays its role. I've been on a serious heater for the last month and my GHIN is at an all time low. Big reason for this has been consistency with the driver, and while it can't all be put down to the driver it has definitely played its part. It's helped me make more birdies while also costing me fewer shots when I make an idiot swing. Not sure what else you can ask for.

 

On TrackMan, I've seen MUCH tighter dispersion ellipses (directional and distance) as well as much tighter standard deviations on all launch parameters. The peak ball speed gains are not necessarily there but then you really can't expect them to be given imposed limitations. However, if you make even the slightest effort to look past max speed and distance numbers the consistency of output becomes obvious immediately. IOW, you will likely produce tee shots you can score from more often while hurting your score from the tee less. If that doesn't intrigue you, I'm not sure what will.

All I'd say is give this line a shot to compete for space in your bag. There's likely strokes to be gained if you do.

Obviously there will be folks who prefer the offerings from the other OEMs for any number of reasons and I totally get it. However, there’s something to this Epic line worth giving serious consideration.

Edited January 16, 2021 by bcflyguy1

[bcflyguy1]

8 minutes ago, tj7644 said:

What about us mere mortals that only swing around 105, instead of 120?   Could we hit the Max LS?  Or better with the Max?

If at all possible, test them both. Obviously the directional bias can be tuned to an extent with the sliding weight, but the more effective way to think about driver lines like this is differences in directional bias rather than differences in spin. The Speed head is going to be the most neutral, the Max LS the more fade biased while the Max can offer the most help to the player that fights the slice.

 

Having said that, there will likely be many exceptions. Upon testing, think there will be many who prefer the Speed head for it's slightly more compact shape at address and slightly softer impact sound and feel. Some (like me) may find the Max head to be exactly what they want after tuning the draw bias out with the weight slid toward the toe. My ball speed tends to be in the upper 160's and I still get a spin number that's plenty low out of the Max while getting to keep its higher MOI.

So all that to say I wouldn't dismiss the LS for you simply because you're not a 120+ fire-baller. 

[tj7644]

1 hour ago, bcflyguy1 said:

If at all possible, test them both. Obviously the directional bias can be tuned to an extent with the sliding weight, but the more effective way to think about driver lines like this is differences in directional bias rather than differences in spin. The Speed head is going to be the most neutral, the Max LS the more fade biased while the Max can offer the most help to the player that fights the slice.

 

Having said that, there will likely be many exceptions. Upon testing, think there will be many who prefer the Speed head for it's slightly more compact shape at address and slightly softer impact sound and feel. Some (like me) may find the Max head to be exactly what they want after tuning the draw bias out with the weight slid toward the toe. My ball speed tends to be in the upper 160's and I still get a spin number that's plenty low out of the Max while getting to keep its higher MOI.

So all that to say I wouldn't dismiss the LS for you simply because you're not a 120+ fire-baller. 

Good to hear.  Based on just general information and not hitting them first, I lean toward the LS because that's the one that's most fade biased.   My big miss is the hook.   I want to eliminate that as much as possible.   So I'm hoping to be able to help that along with the sliding weight.

[bcflyguy1]

5 hours ago, tj7644 said:

Good to hear.  Based on just general information and not hitting them first, I lean toward the LS because that's the one that's most fade biased.   My big miss is the hook.   I want to eliminate that as much as possible.   So I'm hoping to be able to help that along with the sliding weight.

Is the big hook caused by a face to path issue? Strike issue? Both?

[tj7644]

31 minutes ago, bcflyguy1 said:

Is the big hook caused by a face to path issue? Strike issue? Both?

It's generally caused by my habit of rolling my right hand over too quickly.   Comes from a habit from another sport.  So I've found a little more weight on the toe side of the driver helps that out.

Edited January 15, 2021 by tj7644

[ob1soccer]

how much will the sliding weight affect ball flight

[nsxguy]

19 hours ago, zeke66 said:

This thing is a beast. Hit it with a Paderson ballistic tp. I was swinging awful with all 3 drivers I was hitting including gamer, and wouldn’t leave the hitting bay until I started hitting it better. So I grabbed the Max Ls 9.0 and worked through it. Average ball speed was around 177 low 120’s with spin around 2100-2200, launch 12-15. When you catch one on the screws... it goes as good as anything I think.

 

You sound surprised. Why ?

 

As you no doubt know ball speed off the face has been limited for quite while now.

 

There's pretty much nothing more any manufacturer can do besides maintaining as much ball speed as possible on OFF center strikes and make the head more forgiving dispersion-wise.

[noodle3872]

2 hours ago, ob1soccer said:

how much will the sliding weight affect ball flight

IIRC, Depending on model 16-20 yards of shot shape correction.  

[bcflyguy1]

Here's the gouge on the featured shafts for the '21 Epic line as best I've been able to gather:

Project X Cypher:
Contacted Project X about this and the Green iM10, and they didn't reveal much about what's going on with it. Performance is very much in line with things like UST Helium, Aldila Quaranta, EvenFlow Green etc. ie very light weight to help slower swing speeds find the extra speed and launch they need to squeeze out as much performance as possible. I've had one of my regular playing partners (early 70's and about a 2 hdcp) testing a Max 10.5 head with a Cypher 40 5.5 flex and he's driving it better than I've ever seen him do before. I may not get it back from him...LOL.

 

HZRDUS Smoke Green iM10:

WARNING: Don't expect this shaft to be anything like the Green T1100 or the Hulk. Not remotely similar, and not intended to be.

Word from Project X is that there will eventually be two versions of this shaft available, a mid launch (which is the one available in Epic) and a low launch. iM10 is a reference to a new advanced material being applied in this shaft, but didn't get any other details about it. Have not tested it much, but when I hit a few with the 60X it felt very much like stiffer handle/softer mid/stiffer tip sort of EI profile (think Aldila Blue, PX Smoke Yellow). That being the case, can see this shaft being a quite adequate fit for many. No word on if the Low Launch version of this shaft will eventually be a custom option.

MCA MMT:

Info for this is on their website. Mitsubishi tends to stay with tried and true EI profiles but releases shafts that are different material applications of those same profiles and that's the case here. The EI profile is very reminiscent of the classic Blue with quite linear loss of stiffness from handle to tip. Very typical pleasing feel through the swing and at impact. Not really a low launch/low spin shaft for those that truly need that, but there are some of those available at no upcharge. MMT is also the featured shaft in the Apex Pro hybrid in a 80ish gram weight, and it's an excellent match in that as well. The '21 Pro hybrid is a baaaaad mutha.

Edited January 16, 2021 by bcflyguy1

[EaglesGolf99]

Hit the Speed today. 

 

 

Hit 167 Ball Speed.

 

 

I have a new Driver.