You’ve probably heard rumours of Callaway bringing her back and seen the teasers that they’ve released over social media, but today, they make it official – #BerthasBack, twice! And she’s meaner than ever, available as the Big Bertha and Big Betha Alpha! But they didn’t bring back the Big Bertha name for nostalgia, they did it to advance the science of the driver and hitting the ball long, much like the original Big Bertha which launched the oversized driver era in golf!
The new Big Bertha driver is faster, more robust and features Callaway’s new Adjustable Perimeter Weighting system for maximum distance from a total performance driver. There is an 8-gram sliding weight toward the rear of the club to give the Big Bertha a higher MOI for more forgiveness as well as an infinite number of draw and fade bias options (which reminds us of Mizuno’s MP 600 series). This puts the center of gravity farther from the club face and amounts to longer, straighter shots. Callaway also implements their 8-way Advanced Adjustable Hosel Technology, introduced in the FT-Optiforce, to help golfers increase or decrease loft (up to +2* or down 1*) to complement the weighting system, therefore, optimizing launch, backspin and preferred shot shape. Forged Composite materials provide the Big Bertha with a high strength, lightweight crown that weighs only 8 grams! By saving the weight in the crown, Callaway was really able to maximize the effects of their Adjustable Perimeter Weighting. And similar to the Callaway X2 Hot, the Big Bertha also features the new Hyper Speed Face that is lighter and hotter than before, increasing ball speeds all across the face.
The new Big Bertha Alpha driver also features the Adjustable Hosel Technology, the Hyper Speed Face and Forged Composite materials. But it not only offers golfers the ability to change the centre of gravity horizontally, but also vertically, bringing it more forward towards the club face. Instead of the Adjustable Perimeter Weighting system and the sliding track, the Big Bertha Alpha features movable heel and toe weights of 1, 3, 5, and 7 grams. But Callaway’s latest innovation features a central tube called the Gravity Core that lets the golfer change the centre of gravity vertically. The Gravity Core features a cylinder with a heavier tungsten weight (10.5 grams) on one end that can lower the centre of gravity when positioned toward the sole. According to Callaway, this lowers the centre of gravity by more than 2 millimeters, promoting a flatter, more penetrating trajectory and reducing backspin by 300-600 RPM. If you flip the Gravity Core around, that promotes a mid-centre of gravity placement which produces a bit higher spin. This allows golfers to manipulate spin without changing loft and is one of the biggest innovations in driver technology for the 2014 season. Offering four ways of independent adjustability, it’ll be interesting to see how the Big Bertha Alpha will match up against Taylormade’s SLDR this year!
Both the Big Bertha and Big Bertha Alpha will feature standard shafts from Mitsubishi Rayon – the Fubuki Z for Big Bertha and Fubuki ZT for Big Bertha Alpha, both at 45.5 inches. The Big Bertha will have a D2 swing weight, where as the Big Bertha Alpha will have a D3 swing weight. Both are also 460CC club heads and will be available on February 14, 2014 for $399 and $499 respectively. In addition to the drivers, Callaway has also introduced a Big Bertha fairway wood as well that will share the Adjustable Hosel Technology and the same face technology as the X2 Hot. Check out the videos below to find out more from Callaway and everything you’ll need to know about the Big Bertha and Big Bertha Alpha.
Big Bertha
Big Bertha Alpha
Big Bertha Fairway Woods
Source: Callaway Golf
