Equipment
Callaway Great Big Bertha Driver: What you need to know
Callaway’s Great Big Bertha driver ($449.99) is available in lofts of 9, 10.5 and 13.5 degrees for right-handed and left-handed golfers. Stock length is 45.5 inches. Stock swing weight is D2. It’s in stores August 28, 2015.
Stock Shafts: Mitsubishi Rayon Bassara (40-gram range), Mitsubishi Rayon Kuro Kage Black (50-gram range), Fujikura Evolution 665 Tour Spec (60-gram range), Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana D+ 70 (70-gram range)
What you need to know
- The Great Big Bertha is Callaway’s most forgiving driver of 2015, and because of its adjustability it also has the potential to be Callaway’s most draw-biased driver. It’s more forgiving than Callaway’s Big Bertha V-Series driver, which was the most forgiving Callaway model from last year. It’s also lower spinning than Callaway’s V-Series driver, as well as the company’s 2014 Big Bertha, 2015 Big Bertha Alpha 815 and 2015 XR drivers.
“THERE ARE A LOT OF DRIVERS OUT THERE THAT TEND TO FOCUS ON ONE VARIABLE, BUT THEY DO SO AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHER VARIABLES,” SAID EVAN GIBBS, CALLAWAY’S MANAGER OF PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS. “[WITH THE GREAT BIG BERTHA], DESIGN WITHOUT COMPROMISE WAS THE OBJECTIVE.”
- Callaway expects the Great Big Bertha to be the company’s best performing model for 80-to-90 percent of golfers. The other 10-to-20 percent of golfers will get better performance from Callaway’s new Big Bertha Alpha 816 Double Black Diamond driver, which is intended for better golfers who can gain added distance through the reduction of spin.
Golfers can maximize ball speed by matching the position of the sliding weight to their impact position. So if you hit a lot of shots on the heel, try sliding the weight toward the heel for more distance.
- The Great Big Bertha marks the return of Callaway’s Advanced Perimeter Weighting (APW), a sliding weight track that allows golfers to shift the center of gravity (CG) toward the heel for more draw bias or toward the toe for more fade bias. The weight track, which first appeared on Callaway’s 2014 Big Bertha driver, has been re-engineered to be lighter than the previous model and offer more draw bias.
“THE SLIDING WEIGHT HAS PROVEN TO BE OUR MOST INTUITIVE, SIMPLE AND EASY-TO-USE FORM OF ADJUSTABILITY,” GIBBS SAID.
- Because the sliding weight is on the perimeter of the club head, the driver retains a high moment of inertia (MOI), a measure of forgiveness, regardless of the weight’s position. The sliding weight weighs 10.5 grams, and the change in spin rates between the extreme weight positions (far toe, far heel) is only 100 rpm, according to Gibbs.
The Great Big Bertha has a matte black crown and a Chevron alignment aid.
- The Great Big Bertha uses Callaway’s Forged Composite Crown, creating a lightweight chassis that allows for its added adjustability features and moves weight lower in the driver head for a higher launch, less spin and more forgiveness. It also has the company’s updated R-MOTO face design, which expands the driver’s sweet spot for higher average ball speeds.
“THERE’S REALLY THREE REASONS GOLFERS DON’T GET MAXIMUM DISTANCE: EFFICIENCY OF IMPACT, LAUNCH AND SPIN CHARACTERISTICS AND THE STRAIGHTNESS OF THE SHOT,” GIBBS SAID. “THE EFFICIENCY AND STRAIGHTNESS OF THE SHOT ARE MOST IMPORTANT FOR MOST PLAYERS. GREAT BIG BERTHA OFFERS A WIDE RANGE OF SHOT SHAPES AND CAN MINIMIZE SLICE.”
- The Great Big Bertha driver uses Callaway’s Advanced OptiFit Hosel, which gives golfers a 3-degree range of loft adjustability. So a 10.5-degree driver can be adjusted to lofts of 9.5 degrees, 11.5 degrees and 12.5 degrees. Each loft can also paired with an individual lie angle of either standard (S) or draw (D), which makes the lie angle more upright.
Both the Great Big Bertha (left) and Big Bertha Alpha 816 DBD measure 460 cc, but the DBD has a deeper face that makes it appear more compact at address.
Total club weight with stock shafts
- 295 grams: Mitsubishi Rayon Bassara (Ladies, Light and Regular)
- 305 grams: Mitsubishi Rayon Kuro Kage Black (Light, Regular, Stiff and X-Stiff)
- 315 grams: Fujikura Evolution 665 Tour Spec (Regular, Stiff, X-Stiff)
- 325 grams: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana D+ 70 (Stiff, X-Stiff)
More Photos
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- Both driver are 460 cc.
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- The DBD (bottom) has a deeper face than the Great Big Bertha.
Related
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.
Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.
Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX
7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX
Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.
@Lamosteve began:
Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine
Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6
Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
- JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
- jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”
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Bret
Aug 16, 2015 at 6:02 pm
Is this optifit hosel the same as what was on the Alpha? Would I be able to put my current alpha shaft (fubuki x stiff) into the great big Bertha without issues? Or is the tip diff size in the GBB compared to Alpha?
Desmond
Aug 6, 2015 at 2:29 am
Looks like another fine option from Callaway.
Don’t know if they will ofer a loyalty bonus, but one of my drivers is going trade-in, trade-up.
One of the photos is mis-captioned. The GBB has the chevron and is on the right.
Andy
Aug 5, 2015 at 12:31 pm
I am a big fan of the deeper drivers. 816 DBD will be on my list to test out. I would have preferred to see a 12 degree model than using the opti-fit adjustment to get to 12 if the spin is even less than the 815. Nice article.