Category: Callaway Golf
The former president of Burlington Industries, Eli Callaway came out of retirement in 1981 when -- while playing golf in Palm Springs -- he discovered a club with a shaft made by a company called Hickory Stick USA. Because the wood look reminded him of the clubs he played with as a kid, Callaway bought one half of the company. And a legend was born.
Callaway eventually bought out his Hickory Stick partners and set up Callaway Golf in Carlsbad, California. Devoting huge amounts of resources to R&D, the newly renamed Callaway Golf developed a large-headed, steel driver head that was named "The Big Bertha." The most successful driver in golf history made Callaway Golf the number one golf club manufacturer.
Callaway Golf FT-i Driver With I-MIX
Callaway Golf FT-i Drivers With I-MIX Technology
After TaylorMade pioneered the idea of changing the weighting of a golf clubs’ heads, it was only a matter of time before someone marketed clubs with interchangable shafts. Actually, though, it’s a tool that’s been available to clubmakers for years. Rather than have hundreds of club and shaft combinations pre-made for customers to try, clubmakers used threaded connectors that allowed them to quickly swap out pieces until the client found the desired mix.
Callaway’s entry into the interchangable shaft market is the I-MIX. With Callaway’s system, you can choose from 22 clubhead designs and 70 shafts for 1600 custom configurations. Wow.
It’s expensive, though. The head is $400, and the shafts run from $150 to $350 each.
Callaway FT Irons
New for 2008 are Callaway’s FT Irons. Like the older Fusion models, these are hollow, with a thermoplastic urethane filler called Sensert, which is designed to decrease vibration and produce a solid feel. They have a Tunite cradle designed to move the weight to the perimeter and a titanium face for faster ball speeds.
What makes them different is a thinner topline and more narrow sole. This is supposed to make them more appealing to the mid and lower handicappers. I didn’t think that the Fusions—and especially the second edition --- had the volkswagen-on-a-stick look of most of Callaway’s game improvement clubs, but these are supposed to have an even more traditional look.
I liked the feel of the Fusions and am looking forward to trying a set of these.
Interestingly, this set comes in 4-AW.
You can get them at ”Golf Galaxy.”
Defective Callaway Balls?
A reader recently purchased a pack of Callaway HX 56 balls and noticed a set of mysterious bumps in the hexes. I know that these balls are supposed to have six DEEPER dimples as a part of the HX 56 redesign of last year. The bumps have to be a manufacturing mistake. The question, of course, is whether this is an isolated case. Could there have been a batch error that resulted in tens of thousands of these being distributed?
The reader writes:
I have been playing Callaway X20 tour Irons and switched to the HX tour 56 ball. The other day a friend asked to see one do to there different dimples. I reached into my bag a gave him one. I knew it was NEW because I had not put my initials on the ball yet. He noticed some bumps on the ball. I found approx. 5 different bumps of different sizes. These bumps would make the ball roll untrue. I contacted Callaway via email sent them pictures of the ball,and they want the ball. I told them they must have a issue with their quality control. I paid $40 for a dozen and this is the first time I have ever seen a ball like this. They asked for me to call them and they would give me a address to send the ball so they can test it. I called and was on hold for a long time and hung up. Gee not even a, we would like to send you some balls and then could you please send us this irregular ball. I have since sent them a email back asking for address and no reply. I am very surprised and bothered by the way they are treating this. I told them with the way they are treating me maybe I should go back to playing Titleist.
This isn’t a Callaway Bash. I make no secret of my admiration of their HX Hot ball. But you have to wonder ...
Callaway Lady FT-i Driver
CALLAWAY Lady FT-i Neutral Driver with Graphite Shaft
Callaway’s square headed driver now is available in a ladies model.
Callaway HX Tour 56 Ball
The HX Tour 56 is Callaway’s Premium tour ball. As with all balls of this type, it’s got a three piece construction, with a solid core, a boundary layer designed to increase driver distance, and a thin, soft cover for feel and spin.
Two features set this ball apart. The first is Callaway’s concentric core technology, which is supposed to produce a precisely centered core. This shoudl make the ball fly more consistently.
More evident is Callaway’s use of hexes rather than dimples to produce the lift needed to keep the ball in flight. While Callaway has been using hexes for a couple of years now, the new design has six “sub hexes”, deeper depressions designed to further reduce drag and create lift.
I think that the hex technology works. The HX Hot is by far the longest ball that I play with on a regular basis.
