Callaway reveal new Big Bertha irons and hybrids

Callaway’s new Big Bertha irons are built purely for distance. They boast a hollow construction and feature the first 360 face cup Callaway has put in an iron, with a perimeter ring and variable face thickness to boost distance away from the sweetspot. 

Callaway has also used a different heat treatment on the clubface itself to boost its strength, allowing them to make it even thinner. Internal Standing wave technology carries over from previous fairway woods and hybrids to position the CG low and forward and keep the face more flexible. 

“This is a remarkable new technology,” Dr Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s head of R&D, told TG. “It takes our cup face from our fairway woods and hybrids and introducing it into the construction of an iron for the first time. That allows us to have the face more flexible by having more of the body take part for more ball speed. They’re easy to launch and blisteringly long in some of the tests we’ve seen.”

Although being built for distance, the Big Bertha irons are designed to offer playability for a broad range of golfers. 

“We wanted the progression to be useful for a broad range of players,” Hocknell continued. “So the soles are quite wide in the long iron, almost like a utility iron, but the soles on the short irons are narrower than Apex irons, making them more playable for more golfers.”

Callaway has also launched a new Big Bertha hybrid to go with the irons. It’s adjustable, to make the gapping and process of replacing long irons easier, it’s been made more playable and features a forged cup face for faster ball speeds. 

“This is the first adjustable hybrid we’ve made and to combine it with cup face technology makes it a special product,” Callaway’s Dr Alan Hocknell told TG. “We were proud of the ball speed advantages we saw from the forged cup face in X2 Hot. This Big Bertha hybrid has that technology in it, but we’ve changed some of the configurations to make it more playable for the average golfer. It’s deeper from front to back, has more weight in the back of the head, which means it has more MOI for added forgiveness and easier launch.” 

Having the adjustability in the hosel is a big advantage when it comes to blending the hybrids into iron set. It enables you to make the gapping in the set work best for you. Plus, it also goes from 3-7 hybrid so with the adjustability there’s lots of different lofts on offer. 

Details: RRP £699 steel, £899 graphite. Available in 8-piece sets, up to two hybrids per set. Hybrid £199. www.callawaygolf.com