Tag: Callaway Fairway Woods

Gear: Callaway Big Bertha B-21 fairway woods
Price: $299.99 each with Callaway RCH graphite shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet Soft grips
Specs: Carbon-fiber crown with stainless steel bodies. Available as 3-, 5-, 7- and 9-woods
Available: Sept. 10

Elite golfers use their fairway woods as alternatives to driver off the tee and occasionally off the turf when attacking a long par 5. Recreational players, however, reach for their fairway woods more often, including on par 4s, and some slower-swinging golfers might need a fairway wood to reach a long par 3. The challenges are that fairway woods are long and club players make contact with the ball all over the face, leading to inconsistent performance.

With the release of the Big Bertha B-21, Callaway focused on creating clubs that are extremely easy to hit and forgiving to help golfers who struggle with fairway woods.

Looking down at address, golfers will see a significant amount of offset, and they will notice that the Big Bertha B-21 fairways are … big. The look was designed to inspire confidence.

To increase the quality of the strike, Callaway designed the Big Bertha B-21 fairway woods to be slightly shorter in length than a standard fairway wood. The 3-wood is a quarter inch shorter, and the other clubs are approximately half an inch shorter.

At the same time, the clubs’ profile is also shallow, so more of the hitting area is below the top of the ball. And the leading edge was designed to be lower to the ground without digging into the turf. Combined, these elements should improve contact for players who struggle to hit fairway woods solidly.

The face of each club was designed by a supercomputer using artificial intelligence. Engineers told the computer to prioritize different traits in each club, with greater emphasis placed on getting the ball up into the air with the 3-wood and increased forgiveness in the 5- and 7-woods. For that reason, each of the stainless steel faces is slightly different based on the loft.

Callaway also gave the Big Bertha B-21 fairway woods a triaxial carbon-fiber crown and Jailbreak bars on the inside of each head. The bars connect the sole and the crown, stiffening the chassis. Callaway said that at impact, more energy is returned to the ball instead of being lost in the deformation of the head, so players can expect more distance.

Gear: Callaway Mavrik, Mavrik Sub Zero, Mavrik Max fairway woods
Price: $299 with Project X Even Flow Riptide, Aldila Rogue White or UST Mamiya Helium shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align grip
Specs: Forged C300 maraging steel face cup with carbon-fiber crown and moveable weights.
Available: Jan. 23

Callaway’s newest fairway woods, the Mavrik, Mavrik Sub Zero and Mavrik Max, were designed to help golfers get more distance by utilizing face designs created using artificial intelligence.

Put simply, Callaway made a major investment in access to supercomputing and set about tasking the machines to study thousands of fairway wood faces. Parameters were set so the computer would try to identify the face patterns that produced the most ball speed on well-struck shots as well as patterns that protected ball speed on common misses.

The most interesting thing about the faces the computer designed is they not only differ between the standard, Sub Zero and Max models, they also differ by loft within each model because the analysis showed, for example, that golfers tend to mis-hit 3-woods differently than 5-woods.

While none of the Mavrik fairway woods has an adjustable hosel, each has a carbon-fiber crown that saves a significant amount of weight. Each also has Jailbreak bars in the front of the club that connect the sole to the crown. The bars stiffen the front of the head at impact so energy can be transferred into the shot more efficiently instead of being lost in the deformation of the head.

Callaway said the face in each Mavrik fairway wood has a characteristic time (a measure of springiness) that is akin to a driver, so it should be able to transfer energy created at impact into the ball like a driver.

The standard Mavrik fairway wood is the most aerodynamic and likely will fit the broadest number of players. It is offered as a 3+, 3-wood, 4-wood, 5-wood and 7-wood.

The Mavrik Sub Zero fairway woods are slightly smaller than the standard Mavrik and come standard with a pair of moveable weights (14-grams and 2-grams). Positioning the heavier weight in the front reduces spin and encourages a lower launch, while adding it to the back adds spin and should produce a higher shot. The Sub Zero is offered as a 3+, 3-wood, 4-wood and 5-wood.

Finally, for golfers who battle a slice or who want even more stability, Callaway will offer the Mavrik Max fairway woods. The largest of the three offerings, it has two weight ports like the Sub Zero, but one port is in the heel. Adding the 14-gram weight to that spot should encourage a draw. The face of the Max was designed with a wider radius, so it is especially forgiving on mis-hits in the low-heel and low-toe areas. The Mavrik Max is offered as a 3+, 3-wood, 5-wood, Heavenwood, 7-wood, 9-wood and 11-wood.