{"id":793,"date":"2005-06-22T12:14:19","date_gmt":"2005-06-22T17:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/uncategorized\/callaway_big_bertha_454_review\/"},"modified":"2005-06-22T12:14:19","modified_gmt":"2005-06-22T17:14:19","slug":"callaway_big_bertha_454_review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/clubs\/callaway_big_bertha_454_review","title":{"rendered":"Callaway Big Bertha 454 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CallawayI’m a Titleist guy. I admit it. I’ve gone to counseling and it’s not helped. I’ve undergone shock treatments, withstood bribes, and watched Tiger Woods win major after major with “inferior equipment” following his move away from Titleist to Nike. I even saw Phil Mickelson shoot 59 after switching from Titleist. Still, I’m a Titleist guy.<\/p>\n

But at the core, I’m a golfer, and one who plays fairly well. The line that separates “good enough” equipment from “perfect” equipment is a blurry one. I’m always looking for a bit of an advantage, and the Callaway Big Bertha 454 has gotten some rave reviews. Though Phil and Annika are playing the next Callaway driver (the recently introduced FT-3), the 454 promises to be an everyman’s driver – good technology that doesn’t require the ability to shoot 59<\/a> to handle it.
\n
\nBig Hitters<\/strong>
\nThough the Callaway Big Bertha 454 may have been used by David Mobley to drive a golf ball 377 yards to win the 2004 Re\/MAX World Long Drive Championships<\/a>, when I say “big” hitters I’m referring to the clubhead size and not the distance the ball travels. The Big Bertha 454 measures (shock! gasp!) 454 cubic centimeters, only six shy of the 460cc limit imposed by the USGA. It features Callaway’s “S2H2” (Short Straight Hollow Hosel) – a technology that’s since been adopted and modified by others (such as the Titleist 983 and 905 drivers, and even the fairway metals like the 980F and the 904F) – with Tru-Bore technology. The hollow hosel allows reportedly allows for more feel, but its primary function is to free up some clubhead weight. The 454’s ultra-thin titanium face also frees up some weight, and Callaway engineers position the available weight around the clubhead to increase stability and moment of inertia.<\/p>\n

\"CallawayCallaway has long led the charge to bigger drivers. The original Big Bertha driver<\/a>, now about ten years old, was much bigger than the persimmon and steel drivers available from the competitors, and the 454 – though not the biggest – is certainly up there.<\/p>\n

Looks and Setup<\/strong>
\nI’m not the biggest fan of today’s “VW Beetle on a stick” drivers, and the Callaway 454 looked like a titanium balloon at the end of the shaft when I first started looked at it. Combined with the short (i.e. nearly indistinguishable) hosel, the look may be quite startling to those not used to it.<\/p>\n

The 454 does shift from typical Callaway fare in one regard: the finish is a sleek, modern fleckled dark grey. The crown is adorned with a single Callaway chevron (<) that acts as an alignment aid. The clubhead, unlike many of today’s longer, larger drivers sits surprisingly square to the ground without waving its toe around in the air.<\/p>\n

The clubface is cleanly grooved with a smooth, groove-free hitting area. Combined with the chevron on the top of the club, the smooth area aids in alignment. The clubface sits square with visible bulge and roll. From the front, the clubface looks a bit like someone blew a bunch of air into the shaft and inflated the clubhead like a balloon. It bulges out everywhere, but the hitting area dominates the front-on view, inspiring confidence. “It’s tough to whiff 454cc,” said one of my playing partners.<\/p>\n

The grip is typical Callaway fare – a non-corded grip with Callaway markings and swooping grooves. It felt comfortable, though I prefer a softer, corded grip.<\/p>\n

\"Callaway
Tee the ball higher for the Callaway Big Bertha 454 than you would with a smaller driver – this driver has a big face and hits the ball low!<\/p>\n

Performance<\/strong>
\nBig Berthas have long been famous for “playing high.” If you liked a 9° driver by any other manufacturer you often had to move to an 8° or even a 7° Callaway driver produce shots with a similar trajectory. This is decidedly not so<\/em> with the 454 – this is one heckuva low-ball driver. This thing hits the ball too low for my taste at its stated loft.<\/p>\n

I currently play a Titleist 905S with a YS-6+ stiff shaft. It’s a whippier shaft than some of the others available, but the long, bore-through hosel on the 905 makes the shaft play a bit stiffer than in other clubs. I first tried the 454 with a stock stiff RCH shaft and 9 degrees of loft. I teed the ball higher, due to the 454’s larger clubhead, and put the ball a tad forward in the stance. I couldn’t hit anything but low bullets with a small cut. My misses were simply bigger low cuts.<\/p>\n

\"CallawayNext, I borrowed a friend’s 454 with a YS-6 and 10 degrees of loft. The cut remained – I never did get the 454 to turn the ball over – but the ball flew on a normal trajectory. Callaway naturally has a large variety of shafts<\/a> for custom fitting, and I encourage anyone considering a Big Bertha 454 to start with a higher loft and a lower-kickpoint shaft than they may first suspect.<\/p>\n

Though the 454 is fairly forgiving, I did find that my mis-hits didn’t travel as far as they would with my 905S. They travelled straighter, but lost about 10-15 yards. Solid hits produced a similar ball flight and yardage as my 905S with a bit less curve – the 454 was more accurate all around than my 905S. Mishits may not travel as far, but the worst I could do with even a moderate swing with the 454 was a 20-yard cut off the heel. Plus, with the Callaway in my bag, I was never further away than spitting distance from the fairway.<\/p>\n

The Big Bertha 454 isn’t what I would call a player’s club. It may be too forgiving, as contact anywhere on the face produces a very similar feeling and sound. It’s very difficult to tell whether you’ve hit the ball a half inch low, towards the heel, towards the toe, high, or some combination of those. This is a great<\/strong> thing for those looking for game improvement from their drivers, but silly fools like me who would rather be told where they mishit the shot should look elsewhere. This driver is a lot more Ping Eye 2 than Titleist 670, if you get my drift.<\/p>\n

The only difference between a shot hit dead center and one hit off-center – besides the 20-25 yards you give up by mishitting this club – was the sound. Mis-hits had a very loud pinging noise, and solid hits had an even louder ping sound. It’s pretty obnoxious to someone who’s used to the solid “thwack” of a 905, but the “ping” is pretty standard these days – lots of the big-headed drivers make a high-pitched noise when struck properly.<\/p>\n

\"Callaway
The Callaway Big Bertha 454 is a sexy looking club from this angle. Gone are the days of the clear-coated silver clubs. Here – hopefully to stay – is a smart combination of dark grey, silver, and magenta. It looks hot!<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong>
\nAt $299, the Callaway Big Bertha 454 out-performs nearly all other drivers in its class. (Then again, the sub-$300 driver class is becoming increasingly small.) It’s loud, it’s large, and it’s a tad obnoxious. It’s also one of the most forgiving drivers on the market today, though that comes at the expense of 10-15 yards. This isn’t a player’s driver – they’ll want to look at the FT-3 or at another company’s drivers – but the Callaway Big Bertha 454 is a great “everyman’s” driver.<\/p>\n

Just one final reminder: get fitted. The driver loves to hit the ball low, unlike every other Callaway driver to date, and you may be surprised at how high a loft and how low a shaft kickpoint you need to get this baby airborn. When you do, rest assured that you’ll probably be close to the fairway. And hey, put a good swing on it and you may find yourself 378 yards out, looking back at David Mobley and chuckling.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo Credits: First image © Callaway Golf. All others © 2005 Erik J. Barzeski\/The Sand Trap<\/a>. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Callaway Big Bertha 454 may not be Callaway’s top of the line driver now that the FT-3 is out, but it’s a solid everyman’s driver that’ll keep you in the fairway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-clubs","category-review"],"yoast_head":"\nCallaway Big Bertha 454 Review (Clubs, Review) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/clubs\/callaway_big_bertha_454_review\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Callaway Big Bertha 454 Review (Clubs, Review) - The Sand Trap .com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The Callaway Big Bertha 454 may not be Callaway's top of the line driver now that the FT-3 is out, but it's a solid everyman's driver that'll keep you in the fairway.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/imgs\/clubs\/callaway_454_back.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@the_sand_trap\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@the_sand_trap\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erik J. 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