JudgeSmails

viewing in the app is def different than a browser...notice my vids dont show in the app, at least for me....suggest when you have the time, jump on a computer and check it all out in a browser Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

apologies, didnt know that...dont remember what format they are Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

was looking at some stats from last year, early this year and more current.....not seeing FW% really changing, but I know my 'accuracy' is up, my missed fairways are much more playable, I am seeing GIR go up, which would be an indicator of that for me

I have my stats from earlier this year and last year, lemme take a peak at 'em tomorrow and see if there is much difference...I kind of doubt it, i think my missed fairways are just better at this point......last weekend, I hit 2 fairways, but 13 greens!! I was hitting the ball farther, and was just barely off the fairway many times, one time i drove through the fairway and was chipping on a short 4....so, not a fairway hit technically, but great result

Nothing specific there as far as taking on shots.....not many fairway bunkers on my courses.....I have noticed using a shorter iron on occasion than normal

my Stage 2 is up for those interested........appreciate feedback as well

pm'ed ya Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

My stage 2 will have both, I have already done a side by side on a simulator to gather hard #'s, and have a fair amount of rounds in w/ Epic........I'm thinking I will get that up next week

layups are for basketball

Been walking a lot more this year, love my Bag Boy Quad.......feel I play better when I'm walking

it's because of my hat, the free bowl of soup was nice though

STAGE 3 The Five Questions Will this product go in your bag? Why or why not? It is in the bag, and will be staying there for a good long time. % wise, I'm not hitting more fairways, but misses are longer and more playable. The ones I'm hitting well are getting me to spots I haven't really been before, distance wise. I even seem to be favoring a slight draw much of the time now, my miss has ALWAYS been a big slice. The toe hit is probably what has impressed me the most, I can feel it immediately and start thinking "Oh Sh!t", that is, until I see a low bullet with a little draw going down the right side of the fairway about 250 To whom, if anyone, would you recommend this product? Why? Anyone who is considering a new driver should have this on the demo list. Of course getting the correct shaft for any driver will be key How, if at all, did this product change your overall impression of [brand]? I don't think it changed my impression at all, I've always like Callaway woods, and that opinion hasn't changed What feature would you change or eliminate from the next generation of this model? It's hard to really think of anything, to be honest. What feature do you really like, and would most like to see continued or evolved in future models? I'm a fan of adjustable weights, and I doubt that is going anywhere, maybe even more weight options in the future would an improvement. Also, if I'm paying $500 for a driver, let's make pretty much any grip I want a no-upcharge....mmmmmKayyy Here's a video from this past weekend, probably one of the combination longest/straightest drives I've ever hit.....measured 285, down the middle....it didn't waiver an inch either way. In conclusion, I am in LOVE w/ the Epic, so much I am gaming the 5 wood as well. My good hits are BOMBS down the fairway, and my mishits have been mostly in a playable position with good distance. My 89/100 on my stage 2 was probably a little harsh on it, to be honest. I can't imagine there is a driver out there that better suits my game. Thank you all for reading and Thank you MyGolfSpy for this opportunity

Callaway GBB Epic Driver – Official MGS Forum Review by JudgeSmails Player Biography I covered most of my BIO in stage 1, but just as a refresher: I am a 42 year old, certified golf nut. Not a day goes by that golf, in some form, is not on my mind. I love to play, watch, talk and of course...TEST out Equipment. My day job is in the IT field, I work for a large Credit Union here in Indiana. My 2nd job has become a small business that I started this year, making custom ball markers out of copper. It has certainly kept me busy, but I am really enjoying it and still spending as much time as I can on the links. I have been playing golf off and on for 20 years, but really gotten serious about in the last 4 or 5. I strive to get better. I don't play to a handicap, but calculate to track my progress….I'm sitting at roughly a 10…..Most of my rounds are in the low 80's, and I occasionally break 80 if some putts are falling. My goal is to hit the single digits by the end of the year, and next year start creeping into the 7-8 range, but I know I need to practice more. When it comes to testing out equipment, I think most of us agree, Drivers are at the top of the list. They are fun to test and they really move the needle in the golf equipment industry. I was VERY excited to test the Epic. I have always liked Callaway drivers and had demoed one very briefly and liked what I was seeing. If I had to pick one club at the beginning of the year I would want to test, THIS WAS IT. Performance So let's get to the meat and potatoes. Performance, this is what it's all about. I really don't care about anything but the results when it comes to golf clubs. The EPIC: Fitting I used the Callaway online fitting tool, combined with trying a couple different shafts out at my local shop. Here is what I came up with: GBB Epic 10.5* Project X HZRDUS T800 55 Graphite REGULAR Flex Standard Golf Pride Plat/Black/White/Green grip Performance at the Range Let's talk 2 different range sessions. The first time I unwrapped her, I went to the outdoor range at a local course. I kept the hosel at standard from factory, and pushed the sliding weight towards draw, since I do fight a slice. Put the Epic through a small bucket and was loving what I was seeing. I was launching the ball fairly high and mostly straight. Of course I'm not consistent enough to put a perfect swing on it every time, but even the decent ones had a great ball flight and seemed to fly forever. The feel was nothing different than I'm used to, when you hit the sweet spot, you know it, when you don't, you feel that as well. I will say my mishits, were mostly shots that would be ‘playable' on most courses, and not much distance loss. I can't comment on workability, I'm not someone that is trying to work the ball off the driver, just shoot it down the fairway when I can….I will let the better players speak to that. Now, an outdoor range session is all well and good, but you can't really tell exactly what the ball is doing...so for the 2nd range session, I setup an hour at an indoor simulator, to test the GBB Epic vs the 2014 Big Bertha (my old driver). It is also 10.5* w/ stock R Flex shaft, so I think this will be a great comparison to how far they may have come in 3 years. The TEST: I hit 15 balls with each driver, using the same ball. Wilson Staff DUO Urethane, which is the ball I play I alternated drivers after 3 shots each, taking some short breaks so that fatigue would not be an issue. I removed the worst shot with each driver, to take that outlier out of the equation. I will say, the 2014 BB worst shot was a TERRIBLE heel strike of my own fault, I did not have such a shot w/ Epic, so hopefully that makes the numbers fair. HERE ARE THE RESULTS, 14 CALCULATED SHOTS EACH As you can see, EPIC outperformed in every category. I'm paying most attention to Ball Speed and Carry distance here, total distance would be taking into account some imaginary roll out. Also, the Offline dispersion was MUCH better with the Epic, although I did hit a few bad hooks with it. I'm not sure how accurate this part is on a simulator, because I have ALWAYS fought a slice, but on the simulator, my miss was almost always to the left. Take that for what it's worth. 6 yards of carry distance might not sound huge, but I won't overlook it. That's a ½ club closer for me and the strength of my game is the shorter irons. If I can get a 9i in my hands instead of an 8i, I will take that all day. And if the dispersion numbers are even somewhat accurate, it's the difference between gently rolling off the fairway and being in the trees. Something else my game needs immensely, the ‘blow up' hole for me starts off the tee and has killed many a round. Range Score: 9/10 Performance on the Course Accuracy – Performs very well. My good strikes have been straight as an arrow and held their line well. The off center strikes have been playable, particularly the toe hits. I can certainly feel when I catch one on the toe, and results have been great. The toe hit seems to produce a low draw, which has started down the right side and came back to the right edge of the fairway, with minimal distance loss. I have hit my share of bad shots as well, but that's my inconsistency off the tee. A few bad slices and the unexpected duck hook, no club can fix that for me. Distance –Distance has been GREAT, I am hitting some BOMBS that I have never hit before (see pic). As I stated before, even the slight mishits are getting solid distance and not costing me big time on the course. I have found that when I take a good whack at it, I am actually hitting the ball straighter, than when I try an easy swing to hit the fairway. I have no idea why, but it is an observation. I have hit a couple of the biggest drives I've ever had over just a few rounds with Epic. Consistency – This word is not part of my game...lol….BUT, the driver itself performs great, I have a lot of confidence stepping on the tee, which had been lacking. I really feel when I peg that tee in the ground, I'm gonna slap something out there, with good distance and be in playable position. Shot Shaping – Like I said before, I won't comment on this because it's not something I do….at least on purpose Carry vs Roll – The ball seems to really launch off this driver, and hang in the air for what seems like an eternity. Roll out has also been very acceptable. I used to be a line drive hitter, now I like seeing that ball climb in the air and hang there as long as possible. I am certainly getting that result. Course Score: 28/30 (no driver is perfect, but I would say this is getting close as it fits my swing well) Performance Notes How did it perform? Performance has been great, tough to ask for more Were you pleased with how the club(s) performed? I think it has lived up to my expectations, which were high Please compare and contrast it to what you are currently playing? Longer and More forgiving, but the 2014 Bertha is no slouch itself What improvements would you like to see? Perhaps a slightly more visible center alignment on top, that's getting pretty picky, but hey, you asked What would you do away with? I think for the price this driver goes for, a little nicer headcover or some more no upcharge grip options would be a nice addition Subjective Looks I really like the look of this driver. I am partial to green as a color in general. The way the carbon fiber ‘fades' in on the crown is a very cool look, but not at all distracting on the tee. The green only shows just a tad at the back of the crown. I also love the combo of Grey/Green on the HZRDOUS shaft as well, again…..it looks very cool, but will not be distracting at all when in use. I give the Headcover a C+, sometimes less is more and it's a little busy for my taste. I would also like to see the alignment spot on the crown stand out just a little more. Looks Score: 18/20 Sound and Feel The feel is what you would expect from a premium driver. When you hit the sweet spot, you know it immediately. You can definitely feel you mistakes as well, when I hit that toe strike, I can actually feel the head rotate back. The results from the mishits have been more than acceptable though. I've had a few toe strikes where I thought “OH SH!T”, then watched a nice line drive drawing back down the fairway. Sound wise, it seems louder than the 2014 version. Kind of a high-pitched crack...but I will let you decide. Check out the video below, really picks up the sound well. It is a teebox tucked back in some trees and you can really hear it. Sound and Feel Score: 18/20 Likelihood of Purchase This is always a tough one for me, I love me some golf equipment, but am also frugal by nature. Based on the performance of this club, I honestly can't imagine there's a better driver on the market right now for my game. However, the drawback is the hefty price tag of $500. I'm not sure I can see myself buying it out of pocket; how much better is it than a driver I can get for $300, will I just be wanting the EPIC2 or whatever next spring. That being said, IF i had $500 to spend and wanted a driver, I would not hesitate to purchase. The points you see docked off here, are 100% due to price, not quality. LOP Score: 16/20 Conclusion The GBB Epic is a great driver, that fits my game well. I play much better when I am confident on the tee box, and I am feeling that here. Will you get 20+yards over your current setup, probably not, but if you are already thinking of this driver or just a new driver in general, you would be good to give it a demo and see if it fits you as well. Even before I received my driver, I went to my local demo days to try out 5 woods (i had currently only carried hybrids and wanted to give a FW another shot).....I tried out the Epic, along with the Fusion, Cobra F7, M2 and the newest Mizuno…...the results weren't even close, the Epic destroyed them all and I had to walk out with it. The Epic Driver and 5w have become a great combo in my bag, and I expect them to be there for some time. Total Score: 89 / 100 Ask any questions you like and I will try to answer them when I can..thanks for reading!

Hello All! You all know me as JudgeSmails, my real name is Scott. I am a 41 year old, certified golf nut. Not a day goes by that golf, in some form, is not on my mind. I love to play, watch, talk and of course...TEST out Equipment. My day job is in the IT field, I work for a large Credit Union here in Indiana. My 2nd job has become a small business that I started this year, making custom ball markers out of copper. It has certainly kept me busy, but I am really enjoying it and still spending as much time as I can on the links. I was honored (and excited) to be chosen to test the Callaway GBB Epic a while back. Of all the new drivers on the market, this is the one I wanted to put through the wringer. I had hit it in a demo days, and was liking was I was seeing. Will the results be as EPIC, as I'm hoping for? We shall see in Stage 2. I was giddy when I pulled into the driveway and finally saw that beautiful Callaway box sitting next to my door, it had been almost a month since we were selected, and I was getting anxious to say the least. Upon opening the box, no surprises. Not sure if anyone cares, but the contents were standard for a modern driver. The club, headcover and adjustment tool w/ instructions. I will save some of this for Stage 2, but let's talk looks. I know they got some flack for the green on this driver, but I love it. Could be because I love green in general, but I think it is very good looking. And if you're not a fan of the bright green, at address, all you can see are 2 tiny little lines at the back of the club. The headcover is nice, and feels like good quality. The looks of it are OK, but that is certainly something is open to everyone's opinion, not everyone will like or dislike it. Here is the 'unwrapping' video if you want to check it out https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B13drBZZNYTOR0hjX1RoZ2xXV0E Now it's time to run through some of the Pre-Testing questions, I am going to save a lot of my comments/opinions/information for Stage 2, which is the "meat and potatoes" of any review. I will tell you that I have already done side by side testing and have several rounds in the books.....but you'll just have to wait for that part....... Handicap/average score? 10 (don't play to a hcp, just calculate to see how i'm doing) Strengths of your game? irons/short irons….can hit GIR if I get in position Weakness of your game? Inconsistency off the tee….is it 250 down the middle, or 220 into the woods Typical ball flight? all over, used to be a line drive hitter, but can get the ball up in the sometimes now, part of my game I've been working on Typical miss? RIght….almost always Right Current comparable equipment? Callaway 2014 Big Bertha...I had bought an M1 last year after a fantastic demo days experience, but I just couldn't get in a groove with it (prob wrong shaft for me)..so I went back the old lady Swing tempo? smooth/moderate….occasionally ‘go after' one Driver swing speed? Low 90's What makes you love the game? Anything and Everything….Playing, Watching, Talking about it….nothing I don't love except 3 Putts How long have you been golfing? on and off for 20 years….Have gotten more serious about it in the last 5 What kind of golfer are you? hmmm...serious about the game, but still like to have fun on the course. You won't see my pounding drinks, but will hear lots of Tin Cup/CaddyShack/Happy Gilmore quotes going around, at the same time, I'm concentrating and trying to get better. What is in your bag? Driver: TBD FW: Callaway GBB Epic 5W Hybrid: Wilson-Staff D200 4hy Irons: Wilson-Staff C200 5-gw Wedges: Wilso-Staff PMP 52/56/60 Putter: Scotty Cameron Fastback Select (codename, Little Scotty) How did you choose them? The WS equipment I won in a contest here last year! Love the irons/wedges/Hybrid…….Bought the Epic 5w after I hit about 40 shots at a demo days from every spot imaginable, and couldn't hit a bad one...it has, this time, translated to the course..love that club What region do you play out of? NE Indiana Are you a tinkerer or a set and forget it type? Probably a Tinkerer, always love to mess with/try/talk about equipment Stay tuned for STAGE 2..............

sweet...just entered....i figure anything with betti on it is worth $18[emoji1] Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

talked my local shop down to $18....restore project? Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

not a bad idea....testing refurbished and X-outs could be interesting as well

Island green at Cherry Hill in Fort Wayne, yesterday playing w/ Josmi15

If I only had the game for them.....

Weather has been really unpredictable here in the Hoosier state, have been able to get 4 rounds in though I believe

Yes! Just started walking more this year and really enjoy it......push cart a must for me though

I don't have the S version, but just got a C130 this year.....works perfectly in a cart or a push cart....love it

pretty much all 80's all the time for me.....but I really only listen when i'm in the car

as has been said before, get a good basic set of tools to start off with when something breaks, try to fix it yourself, there are youtube videos for almost anything you can think of that can break as you need more tools to do these jobs, they will accumulate over the years

giving this a quick bump for all the new members that have joined recently