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The newest Big Bertha family includes a slice-fighting driver and easy-to-hit fairway woods and hybrids.
Jon Rahm won the 2023 Masters Tournament using a new Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond driver and a prototype Paradym Triple Diamond 3-wood. Both are clubs designed for fast-swinging golfers who want to shape shots around the course and who have powerful, repeatable swings.
For golfers on the other side of the spectrum, Callaway has prided itself on offering game-improvement and max game-improvement clubs that are made to deliver more distance and forgiveness, often giving them the hallowed moniker of Big Bertha. The brand released the Big Bertha B21 woods and irons in the fall of 2020, and last October saw the debut of an ultra-premium offering for slower-swinging players, the Great Big Bertha line. Now it is releasing the new Big Bertha 2023 family of woods and irons.
Callaway said its extensive use of carbon fiber can lead to more distance and tighter downrange dispersion.
Gear: Callaway Paradym, Paradym X, Paradym Triple Diamond drivers Price:$599.99 with Aldila Ascent PL Blue shaft, Project X HZRDUS Silver shaft, Project X HZRDUS Black shaft or Mitsubishi Kai’Li White shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips. Specs: Forged carbon composite with titanium face, moveable weight and adjustable hosel. Available: Feb. 24, but available for pre-order now
Who They’re For: Golfers who want more ball speed and tighter downrange dispersion.
The Skinny: By making the entire middle portion of the Paradym drivers with carbon fiber, Callaway created significant amounts of discretionary weight that – in combination with hitting areas designed using artificial intelligence, Jailbreak and adjustability – can lead to more distance and tighter downrange dispersion.
The Deep Dive: In addition to all having an adjustable hosel that lets players and fitters increase or decrease the lofts, the Paradym, Paradym X and Paradym Triple Diamond share three features that enhance their performance.
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Here’s what we spotted from photos of the new Callaway drivers.
With the new year officially started and the first PGA Tour event of 2023 ready to begin on Thursday in Hawaii, equipment makers are set to release new drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, irons and balls. But before new equipment can be used in official events, the game’s governing bodies, the USGA and the R&A, have to test it and confirm that it conforms to the Rules of Golf.
On Monday, the Paradym, Paradym X, Paradym Triple Diamond, Paradym Triple Diamond S and Paradym Max Fast were added to those lists.
At this point, the Carlsbad, California-based company has not released any official details about the new drivers, but in the photos below we can spot a few things.
All of the Paradym drivers have the words ‘Forged Carbon’ and ‘Jailbreak AI’ on the sole, along with adjustable hosel systems. According to the USGA’s description, all the drivers have ‘Forged TI’ on their face.
The Paradym appears to have a sliding weight system on the back, where the words Draw and Fade also appear.
The Paradym X appears to have a weight screw in the back.
The Triple Diamond and Triple Diamond S have a weight screw behind the leading edge, and there appears to be a second weight screw in the back of one version of the Triple Diamond. A second version of the Triple Diamond and the Triple Diamond S do not appear to have a back weight.
The Paradym Max Fast appears not to have a sliding weight or weight screws.
The new Great Big Bertha line takes the place of Callaway’s Epic Max Star family and features lightweight clubs designed to be easy to hit and maximize carry distance and forgiveness.
Gear: Callaway Great Big Bertha woods and irons (2022) Available: November 11
Who It’s For: Golfers with slow to moderate swing speeds who need more carry distance and forgiveness to hit longer, straighter shots.
The Skinny: The new Great Big Bertha line takes the place of Callaway’s Epic Max Star family and features lightweight clubs designed to be easy to hit and maximize carry distance and forgiveness. They are not for everyone and are pricy, but they utilize materials like unique carbon in the driver and titanium and tungsten in the irons to deliver premium performance for golfers who struggle to generate clubhead speed.
With the PGA Tour set to restart at the Sentry Tournament of Champions this week in Hawaii, don’t be surprised if competitors like Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm decided to add one of the new drivers or the new golf balls to their bag this week.
Callaway’s newest drivers have computer-tuned faces, tungsten weights and carbon fiber crowns to help you get more distance and stability.
Gear: Callaway Rogue ST Max drivers Price: $549.99 (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s) with Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Blue, AV Raw White and Project X Cypher shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip Specs: Titanium body and face with carbon-fiber crown and sole pieces along with internal tungsten weight Available: Feb. 18
When it comes to drivers, every golfer, regardless of ability, is looking for two things: more ball speed and more stability. Increasing ball speed can lead to more distance, and extra stability means that the shots you hit outside the ideal hitting area fly straighter and farther.
To achieve those in its new Rogue ST Max drivers, Callaway is introducing a new technology and enhancing others.
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Callaway’s newest drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons for slower-swinging players are ultra-lightweight but pack a punch.
Professional golfers such as Phil Mickelson and Xander Schauffele typically use heavy, control-oriented equipment built to maximize feel. They have powerful, repeatable swings, so they don’t need gear that increases power and distance above everything else.
Most recreational golfers, especially older and slower-swinging players, do not practice like the pros, and their swings are less consistent. They need woods and irons that boost clubhead speed, encourage more carry distance and enhance forgiveness.
Callaway has addressed this part of the golf market for the past several seasons by making lighter, longer and easier-to-hit versions of its flagship clubs and given them the moniker Star. That trend continues in 2021 with the release of the Epic Max Star drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons.
Callaway’s newest drivers feature a new chassis-stiffening mechanism that helps golfers achieve more distance off the tee.
Gear: Callaway Epic Speed, Epic Max, Epic Max LS drivers Price: $529.99 with Project X Cypher, Project X HZRDUS Smoke IM 10 or Mitsubishi MMT shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align Black grip Specs: Titanium chassis and face with moveable weight (Epic Max, Epic Max LS), carbon-fiber crown and sole panels, and adjustable hosel Available: Feb. 4
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Four years ago Callaway said it was able to advance the ball speed generated by its drivers with the addition of Jailbreak technology, a set of bars that linked the sole and the crown inside the head. Then the company made a significant investment in artificial intelligence and allowed supercomputers to design and test thousands of various driver faces to determine which would provide golfers with the most speed.
Now, for 2021, Callaway has applied the same artificial intelligence techniques that created the Flash faces to develop a new Jailbreak, and it is at the heart of the Callaway Epic Speed, Epic Max and Epic Max LS drivers.
The Jailbreak A.I. Speed Frame connects the sole and crown over a larger area than previous Jailbreak bars. (Callaway)
The Jailbreak A.I. Speed Frame bonds the sole and crown of the club together, but instead of connecting in just two places, the supercomputer told Callaway to make it into a rectangular, frame-like structure that extends across much of the topline and the leading edge. It stiffens the titanium head both vertically and horizontally, and it can do a better job of taking energy that would have been lost in the head’s deformation at impact and redirecting it into the shot.
Callaway said the Jailbreak A.I. Speed Frame reduces crown deflection by 20 percent compared to previously designed drivers. As a result, golfers will get more distance, especially on shots hit toward the heel or toe.
The Epic Speed has a carbon fiber crown and classic shape at address. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The three Callaway Epic drivers for 2021 each feature the new A.I. Speed Frame as well as other key technologies, such as aerodynamic body shapes and lightweight carbon-fiber crowns that help lower the center of gravity. Each also has an adjustable hosel that allows golfers and fitters to increase or decrease the club’s stated loft by as many as 2 degrees.
However, even with all those similarities, there are significant differences between the three clubs.
The Epic Speed is the more aerodynamic of the three Epic drivers. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The Epic Speed driver has the smallest look in the address position, and while it has the same forward center of gravity as last season’s Mavrik driver, it has a higher moment of inertia and should be more forgiving. The Epic Speed also will produce a slightly higher launch angle than Mavrik.
The Epic Max driver has the highest MOI and the most potential draw bias. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
While the Epic Speed lacks the Mavrik’s sliding weight in the back of the head, Callaway gave the Epic Speed a slight draw bias by replacing the titanium with carbon fiber in the sole’s toe area.
The 460-cubic-centimer Epic Max is the highest launching and the most forgiving Epic driver because it has the highest moment of inertia. The Epic Max has a sliding 16-gram weight in the back of the head that allows players and fitters to create a large draw bias or encourage a fade. However, in any setting, the stability remains high because so much weight is concentrated in the back of the head.
The Epic Max LS driver has the most potential fade bias and creates less spin than the Max. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
While there is no low-spinning Sub Zero version of the Epic driver, the 460-cc Epic Max LS could appeal to accomplished golfers because its sliding 12-gram weight can create the most fade bias. However, it still has a high moment of inertia for enhanced forgiveness.
Several Callaway Epic Speed drivers are now legal for play on the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and in other official rounds.
New Callaway drivers were added to the USGA and R&A’s Conforming Club lists on Monday, making them legal for play this week at the PGA Tour’s Sentry Tournament of Champions and in other official rounds of golf.
Callaway has not officially released the Epic Speed or the Epic Speed LS drivers, or announced when they would be made available to the public. However, based on the USGA photos published on its website, we can infer a few things about them.
The Epic Speed driver has an adjustable hosel mechanism, and behind four silver-toned dots positioned behind the leading edge, we can see the words, “Jailbreak AI Speed Frame.”
Callaway Epic Speed driver. (USGA)
Jailbreak is a technology that Callaway has used in drivers for the past several seasons. It is a pair of bars that connect the club’s sole to the crown, directly behind the face, that helps to stiffen the chassis at the moment of impact and redirect energy that could be lost in the head’s deformation back into the ball for increased speed. Golfers could never see the bars, but they could see two dots on the sole that indicated where the bars were positioned.
Callaway has used artificial intelligence (AI) to design driver faces for three years. Harnessing the power of supercomputers to run thousands of simulations has helped engineers determine what shapes can help golfers achieve more distance. Perhaps artificial intelligence is now being used to help Jailbreak?
According to the notes that accompany the USGA’s photo, the words “FLASH FACE SS21” are found on the hitting area. Last season in the Mavrik drivers, Callaway used a Flash Face SS20 hitting area, so this is likely an upgraded version of that face.
A portion of the sole in the toe area appears to have a woven pattern, and while that could be cosmetic, that section could also be made from carbon fiber.
Callaway Epic Speed Version 2 driver. (USGA)
There is a single weight in the Epic Speed driver’s back, but the Epic Speed Version 2 and Epic Speed DS, which also now appear on the list, have a weight in the back and a weight in the front of the sole too. These weights could be moveable to shift the center of gravity (CG) location forward or backward.
It’s also worth noting that the Epic Speed Version 2 and Epic Speed DS have three small diamond shapes near the hosel that do not appear on the standard Epic Speed. They only have two Jailbreak dots on the sole, but both have the text, “Jailbreak AI Speed Frame.”
Callaway Epic Speed LS driver. (USGA)
The Epic Speed LS driver also has a front and back weight, two dots near the words “Jailbreak AI Speed Frame” and three diamonds on the hosel. Under the diamonds, the letters LS have been added.
Many manufacturers have added LS to the names of drivers to indicate the club is a low-spin version, but Callaway has historically opted for the designation “Sub Zero” for low-spin clubs made for accomplished players.
As more details about the Callaway Epic Speed drivers become available, Golfweek will report on them.
