FIRST LOOK: Callaway’s new Great Big Bertha line offers premium distance

The Great Big Bertha name is back and it’s bringing with it a line of clubs packed with ultra-premium materials, premium construction and easy distance. 

Beyond aiming for cart paths and playing golf on the moon, the easiest way to create more distance is to create more club head speed — but that’s easier said than done for a lot of golfers in the moderate swing speed category. To help these golfers gain speed, Callaway has engineered the new Great Big Bertha line to create an ultra-lightweight package to promote greater returns through the bag.

Great Big Bertha Driver

Golfers are generally going to find their biggest distance gains off the tee, and the new Great Big Bertha helps achieve this with its weight. The GBB is some 30g lighter than the current Rogue ST Max, allowing for greater swing speeds.

Callaway invested in a host of lightweight components, including a UST Helium Nanocore Shaft (40g) and Winn Dri-Tac Lite Grip (22g in standard size). To put that into perspective most stock graphite driver shafts are in the 60g range and grips around 50g — meaning the new Great Big Bertha has a 56 percent reduction in weight in the shaft and grip alone.  

To maintain MOI and forgiveness at the lighter weight, the driver’s head utilizes a lightweight Triaxial carbon crown alongside a forged carbon sole plate.

This isn’t the first time Callaway has used forged composite, in fact, you can find it in Callaway products as far back as the Diablo Octane series in 2010, when the manufacturer introduced forged composite clubs in partnership with Italian car manufacturer Lamborghini.

The driver as well as the rest of the line uses Callaway’s A.I. Flash Face design to optimize ball speed on mishits. 

Lofts: 9°, 10.5°, 12° (RH Only)

Fairway woods and hybrids

The fairway woods and hybrids bring driver technology to the long game by using titanium faces and bodies paired with the same Triaxial carbon crown and forged carbon sole plate.

By combining all of these lightweight materials, Callaway engineers saved huge amounts of discretionary weight that was later positioned around the head for added forgiveness.

The hybrids average out to over 100g per loft, allowing the engineers to push the center of gravity locations to the absolute limit to promote high launch and low spin.

To maximize ball speeds, the fairway woods (and hybrids, for the first time ever) use Callaway’s Batwing Technology to increase the rigidity of the body while allowing greater flex in the face, helping shots launch higher and go further.

Callaway’s use of premium titanium in this line — rather than steel — made a significant impact on overall performance, because titanium can be made thinner and lighter.

Fairway wood lofts: 15°, 18°, 21°, 24° (21° and 24° RH Only)

Hybrid lofts: 18°, 20°, 23°, 26°, 29°, & 32° (29° and 32° RH Only)

Irons

If you thought the driver, fairway woods, and hybrids had a story to tell, just wait until you hear about the Great Big Bertha irons.

The new GBB irons consist of three components: a titanium face and body, tungsten (a LOT of it), and Callaway’s urethane microspheres. That’s it.

The titanium frees up on average 96g of discretionary mass per head, which gives engineers the ability to use up to 146g of tungsten in the rear of the iron to lower the center of gravity for an easy-to-hit set of clubs. The new Great Big Bertha iron uses 133 percent more tungsten than the Rogue ST Max, helping to produce the lowest center of gravity Callaway has ever achieved in an iron.  

Although titanium offers a huge advantage from a design perspective, its rigidity has limited custom fitting options in the past. For the Great Big Bertha, Callaway’s engineers found a clever solution. By using what Callaway calls a “commercially pure grade” of titanium, they are able to forge the face and the body of the club, while still allowing the hosel to be adjusted for custom fitting specs. 

To fill that void between the body and the A.I. face, urethane microspheres are used to soften vibration and create a soft solid feel at impact.

Specs

Pricing and availability

The Great Big Bertha driver retails for $699.99; fairway woods are $499.99; while hybrids and irons are individually priced at $449.99 each. 

The retail launch for the full line is Nov. 11.  

Want to overhaul your bag for 2023? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below.