Callaway old vs new

[sam004]

I bought some Callaway equipment after a friend let me hit some of his clubs.
I got the Big Bertha Ti 454 driver a BB Ti 3w 16* last year.

I really liked the way it helped my game so I bought an X-18 iron set and Oddessy putter from the Callaway preowned site.

Just for the heck of it, I thought I'd try a Steelhead III 5W & 7W and a 3+ W [13* ].

I think I like the older Callaway clubs compared to the newer ones.

Any other Callaway owners care to comment ?

[jrode]

I don't own any Callaway equipment yet nor have I used any of the new stuff on the course, but I really love the feel of their new equipment.

The Squareway woods are absolutely fantastic, I love how the X20 irons feel in my hands and the FT-5 feels great.

Like I said, this is all based on feel and not actually hitting anything yet, but I love their new stuff compared to their old stuff, which I think is good, but their new stuff is just that much better.

[twomey7]

i use my callaway big bertha irons from 1996 and love them, they were my dads clubs. i also like my driver, but want to get a 460 cc one. i dont hit my woods well at all though. might look into the squareway ones

[Ben]

I absolutely loved Callaway fairway woods from back in the day. I carried a War Bird 11* "driver" that I used as a sorta driver/2wood for years. Those Steelheads are great fairway woods too. I know a few guys that also still carry them to this day. As you can see from my signature, I have a bit of a fondness for their recent models of clubs too. At my level I never thought I'd play a Callaway iron, but these X Forged are beyond fantastic. That FT 2h I have is just perfect. Its the first hybrid I put in my bag. I mash on the thing. Roger Cleveland designs their wedges now too. I was never into the Vokey but alway like the Cleveland 588s. Its no wonder I like my 58 so much.

As far as their Cast irons go, I hear the X16 was a great set. The new FT irons look really nice too. We're having a demo day with them on Saturday. So I'll have everything at my fingertips to try.

[Simon Plumb]

It's all about old-school Callaway woods with an RCH-36 Pro Series shaft.

Freddie Couples' favourite shaft apparently and Darren Clarke still plays a Steelhead with an RCH-36.

[Wisconsin Golfer]

As you can see by my equipment, I love equipment, especially BIG BERTHA stuff. My irons and my 3 wood are older, however my driver and HEAVENWOOD hybrid are about 2 years old. My "also made by " putter and chipper are brand new. I like the old and the new, I wouldn't trade this set for any other set regardless of price.

[hamletsdead]

I use a little of the old (but not super-old) and the new. I have an FTi driver and FT-3 driver, which I use interchangeably, and 3-, 5-, and 7-wood Big Berthas which never leave my bag. And then I have been alternating between playing my several year old Fusion irons and my new X20 irons. I like them all, and play equally well (or poorly) with all of them.

I am not convinced that new is better; a lot of times new is only better because we psych ourselves into thinking it must be better (after all, it's new!) when in fact there haven't been that any groundbreaking innovations in clubs that I am aware of for a while (and certainly not from 2007 to 2008). Real golf equipment innovations are few and far between (e.g., graphite shafts, perimeter weighted irons, 460 cc titanium clubheads) and most of the advertising is obviously hype. After all, if every year they came out with a new driver that you could hit "20 extra yards" as a lot of them say, everyone would be smashing 400+ yard drives by now. That ain't gonna happen.

That said, if you are playing Callaways from the 80s or 90s, you probably will notice a vast difference if you buy some new clubs.

[TinCupTampa]

Callaway heavenwood hybrids are some the best I have ever played... but you need a solid swing.

[goblue107501]

I have a Callaway Big Bertha War Bird 3+ wood with the stock Callaway shaft in strong flex (I belive at the time the strong was between stiff and x-stiff). Anyway, this is the one of the clubs in my bag that they will have to pry from my cold, dead hands.

I am with some others in that the newer stuff is not always better. I'll test out a three wood here and there but have never been able to find anything that I can hit better so I feel no need to change.

[Wisconsin Golfer]

I agree that newer isn't always better. If all the advertising were true we would all be on tour.

[Fraser]

I've got a BBB and Steelhead Plus 3 wood.

They might not be today's technology but I still really like them. The Steelhead Plus has the most satisfying feel of any club I've had. If I hit that well it has the perfect sound and it's just brilliant.

The BBB is also a favourite and I'll miss that when it finally breaks. I must have had it almost ten years now and it can still go the distance, hit off the back of 310yrd par 4 last week (a bit of a one off!) and that's good enough for me.

I tried out the FTi the other week and god it was awful. It felt and sounded like hitting a lamp-post with an aluminium Louisville Slugger...and it made me go near deaf! The FT5 was much better and I got on well with the Hyper X. Nothing to make me whip out the Amex card on spec though...

[drtbk933]

I love my Great Big Bertha 8.5* x-stiff shafted driver. Used it today to hit a drive 240 into the middle of the fairway.

[mikelaw]

I agree 10000% on this! The quality is not what it used to be. Everything now seems 'hollow' from them. The older big berthas from the 90s were KILLER and now they are like toys as far as feel IMO. GREAT thread.

Then there are some companies like PING who have come full circle with their drivers in particular and they are amazing compared to their older drivers.

[guywoof]

This is an old thread, but I just went back to my old 1996 big bertha irons. For me the best feeling, most accurate irons I've ever played. That would include Pings, Wilson blades, newer Callaways, and Hogans. Knock downs, working, high spin. For me the best.

[newtogolf]

Except for iron lofts getting jacked up in new sets, the technology upgrades have been evolutionary rather than revolutionary.  The heads today might benefit from the redistribution of weight to make them a bit more forgiving but the real enhancements imo have been in the number of shaft options that are now offered.

[Mr. Desmond]

When Chip Brewer jumped aboard, everything changed...

[guywoof]

Yep. Something you might find interesting regarding shafts....I am also a hickory player, and hickory shafts can be super stiff. So there may be nothing new under the golf sun. In fact sometimes when I finish a hickory round I think we may have taken a step backward..............way to advanced by half. I can get huge distance from some of my irons on a particular hickory shaft. Makes golf the most interesting game by far.

[RangePro]

I would have agree with "newtogolf". When I compared the loft and length of the new Big Bertha irons claiming 2 clubs longer to my Mizzy Mp54's I found that the BB 7 iron is 4 degrees stronger and approx. 3/4" longer.