2019 Official Forum Member Review-Callaway Epic Flash Drivers

[edingc]

Opening nine holes of my 18 yesterday were the best of my life, I played an overall solid 18 holes, and the Epic Flash was a big reason for the success.

I spent most of the week on the range trying to correct my low face hits and build up confidence to “go for it” on my swings. The practice paid off. I moved the ball slightly further back in my stance (inner side of my left armpit) and that brought my face contact to the sweet spot. 

The opening hole at my home course is a slight dogleg right, 305-yard par 4. First drive the day went 239 yards right in the middle of the fairway. The course is still very wet and the fairways have yet to be mowed this season so very little roll out. 

I hit 4/7 fairways on the front nine and didn’t miss the others by much en route to a +3 39, my best ever 9-hole score. Although driver is probably not the right play on a few holes, I was so accurate I pulled the Epic Flash everywhere I could.

Again, I’ll reiterate confidence and its effect on my swing. Hole 10 is a tight 341-yard par 4. The fairway is about 20 yards wide at my landing spot. After posting the +3, I remember telling myself on the 10th tee, “I’m going to put this one right down the middle.” 

I striped it. 243 yards, all carry, dead center of the fairway. Plugged ball for proof!

For the day I hit 10/15 fairways, which is very good for me. My irons and short game let me down on the back, where I carded a 49 for a respectable 88 overall. I did hit a few bad drives, especially toward the end of the round as I was getting tired. But overall this was the best driving day I’ve probably ever had. I hit five drives that went 225 yards or further, a huge improvement on my previous round.

Hopefully this keeps it up. My strokes gained/lost due to the driver was far better in this round than any of my previously tracked rounds this year.

[yungkory]

Opening nine holes of my 18 yesterday were the best of my life, I played an overall solid 18 holes, and the Epic Flash was a big reason for the success.

I spent most of the week on the range trying to correct my low face hits and build up confidence to “go for it” on my swings. The practice paid off. I moved the ball slightly further back in my stance (inner side of my left armpit) and that brought my face contact to the sweet spot. 


The opening hole at my home course is a slight dogleg right, 305-yard par 4. First drive the day went 239 yards right in the middle of the fairway. The course is still very wet and the fairways have yet to be mowed this season so very little roll out. 
I hit 4/7 fairways on the front nine and didn’t miss the others by much en route to a +3 39, my best ever 9-hole score. Although driver is probably not the right play on a few holes, I was so accurate I pulled the Epic Flash everywhere I could.
Again, I’ll reiterate confidence and its effect on my swing. Hole 10 is a tight 341-yard par 4. The fairway is about 20 yards wide at my landing spot. After posting the +3, I remember telling myself on the 10th tee, “I’m going to put this one right down the middle.” 

I striped it. 243 yards, all carry, dead center of the fairway. Plugged ball for proof!

For the day I hit 10/15 fairways, which is very good for me. My irons and short game let me down on the back, where I carded a 49 for a respectable 88 overall. I did hit a few bad drives, especially toward the end of the round as I was getting tired. But overall this was the best driving day I’ve probably ever had. I hit five drives that went 225 yards or further, a huge improvement on my previous round.

Hopefully this keeps it up. My strokes gained/lost due to the driver was far better in this round than any of my previously tracked rounds this year.

Wooooo! Nice dude. I totally understand falling apart on the back 9, happens to me frequently sad to say.

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[THEZIPR23]

All we do is hit BOMBS 

[yungkory]

All we do is hit BOMBS 

BOMB SQUAD MGS2019 EPIC FLASH BATALLION!!!

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[edingc]

8 minutes ago, yungkory said:

BOMB SQUAD MGS2019 EPIC FLASH BATALLION!!!

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Felt so good yesterday. So many bombs. Carried over to the range today, too. Even saw 104 MPH on the Swing Caddie. Confidence is a wonderful thing.

Of course I'd still be the third option in a scramble if I'm playing with you two...

[yungkory]

Felt so good yesterday. So many bombs. Carried over to the range today, too. Even saw 104 MPH on the Swing Caddie. Confidence is a wonderful thing.
Of course I'd still be the third option in a scramble if I'm playing with you two...

That's ok, you probably putt better than I do with your eyes closed, no hands, while drinking a cup of coffee. I'm a one trick pony!

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[sirchunksalot]

Played 10 holes after work today and its official...I have the shanks. Shot a 61, mainly due to poor iron play. The Epic Flash Sub Zero did a good job, I saw strokes gained on all but two drives.

I was only 1/7 hitting fairways, but we had steady 15 mph winds and gusts probably up to 25. My misses were all pretty close except for a major slice on 1. I did manage to hit my shortest drive with this club on 7 where I managed to hit a tree and have it ricochet back and right after hitting a tree. I only measured 113 yards on that one. Taking that one out of consideration, I still averaged 204 and that's more than my usual average of 200.

My overall ability to hit the fairway is sitting at 34 percent, but I feel that better numbers are just around the corner. I'm not going to lie, my iron play really got to me and gnawed away at my confidence.

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[sirchunksalot]

Forgot to add this to my last post, but just to give an idea of how bad I was today here's the par 3 sixth. 6I chunk, SW chunk, SW chunk, SW skull, SW shank, decent SW, 2 putts. That's an 8 on a par 3.



This game is humbling.

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[edingc]

Wait, what is this that showed up on my doorstep today? 

I have been thinking a lot about my fitting ever since @GolfSpy STUDque asked whether we thought our shaft and club head choices were correct. Specifically, thinking about how I was swinging on that particular day and how I'm swinging now. As I've been figuring out my game this past year, my swing has been rather transient. I know on the day of my fitting it was very steep. 

I remember thinking the Tensei AV Blue felt rather nice during the fitting, but I ended up with the HZRDUS Smoke to fight the steepness of my swing on that particular day. I've liked the feeling of the Smoke at times, but at other times it feels a little lifeless and boardy. @yungkory's assertion that the Tensei is a little whippy intrigues me. Some life from the shaft might be nice.

I've been scrounging eBay for the past few weeks and nabbed a new Tensei with the MCC Align grip and Callaway adapter for $80/shipped last week. It was too good of a deal to pass up. While it's not +2 wraps like my Smoke, I felt both and don't know how much of a difference that will actually make.

I've swapped out the shaft and hope to get some range time with it early next week, assuming weather allows. 

[yungkory]

Played an impromptu 18 today when my friend called and said he was down the road. Threw my contacts in my eyes, grabbed my bag and hit the course. Probably should've ate breakfast but he brought me a spam musubi (my favorite pregame snack, or at the turn, or just whenever) and we walked on.

Flash was on point again, but the rest of my game slept in for the weekend. After shooting a pretty steady +3 on the same front nine on Wednesday, I took the turn at +12. Yikes.

My driving handicap today was inflated because of shots made not with the Flash, but here is the breakdown of when I did pull it out of the bag:

 

I did cook one left today for the first time and had to take an unplayable. That's the furthest-left dot in the screenshot above. I think it was a bad bounce, but it was definitely heading left so it wasn't completely bad luck -- shouldn't have been left in the first place obviously. I thought I should've gotten a kick to the right off of the slope, but it might've kept turning beyond where we could see from the tee box. Sucks because it was on the same #9 where my previous longest with Flash was recorded.

 

Which brings me to my new best:

 

They need to update that Google Earth picture, those aren't trees there anymore, it's a water hazard. Lipped the putt of course, but like I said I played like poop.

[ole gray]

Great reviews guys and the Epic Flash sounds like a real winner!  

[sirchunksalot]

Great reviews guys and the Epic Flash sounds like a real winner!  

Thanks OG! My last round was a complete disaster, with the exception of the Epic Flash. This driver has performed excellently, even when I couldn't hit water by falling out of a boat.

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[ole gray]

2 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

Thanks OG! My last round was a complete disaster, with the exception of the Epic Flash. This driver has performed excellently, even when I couldn't hit water by falling out of a boat.

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I like it, I like it a lot   ......        

[sirchunksalot]

Today was a range day, thought I would get out and see if I could get over my case of the shanks. I read somewhere to use a putter cover and put it just outside where the toe of the club is at address. Well, my putter cover was still in the trunk of the car, so I improvised.

I thought that I would rather hit a broken tee than have to chase a cover down when it went flying into the range. It worked! I was seeing better contact with my irons and only had a couple of shots off the heel. I was definitely seeing crisper contact, even with my 5 iron.


I was hitting the Epic Flash really good today, I did have one off the heel and it still performed very well. Mostly, I was a bit high on the face. It still was getting the ball out there, I'm thinking this Flash Face might be on to something. Bad hits, good performance. This is a high handicappers dream!


I was able to get one in the sweet spot and it feels amazing when the club goes through impact and feels like nothing is in its way and the ball just launches!

I was beginning to worry that I might not have the best shaft for this club since I have seen really high ball flight, but seeing how high I've been hitting on the face has calmed that fear, it's more me than the club. Anything I hit near halfway down on the clubface takes off in a nice, piercing flight.

I was able to get video of the sound comparing the two drivers. I'm beginning to like the sound of the Callaway. I think my earlier thoughts on it were due to the fact that I've been hitting off the heel it's just a bit higher pitched than the Ping, but I don't feel the sound is much different after listening to the videos. First off, the Ping:

Now for the Epic Flash Sub Zero:

I actually made my wife did a blind listen to the sounds and she liked the sound of the Callaway better.



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[edingc]

Loving the Rock Flite range balls, @sirchunksalot!

I like the sound generally. On my home course there are a few tee boxes surrounded by trees. The sound really only is less than stellar when it has something to echo off, in my opinion. Never notice the sound on the range.

[THEZIPR23]

I was only able to get a round in on Saturday (In-Laws ) and swing was not great. It's hard to stand over a driver that looks so good and not swing as hard as I can. It was my second highest driving handicap I have had since putting the Flash in the bag, pretty much due to the fact that I blocked one OB on #2. Even with that and the poor swing I took to the course that day I still hit 9 fairways and average distance was still higher than previous gamer. It is very reassuring knowing that even when swinging bad the Flash is still better than what I have had in the bag before. 

[ga_pike]

16 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

Today was a range day, thought I would get out and see if I could get over my case of the shanks. I read somewhere to use a putter cover and put it just outside where the toe of the club is at address. Well, my putter cover was still in the trunk of the car, so I improvised.

I thought that I would rather hit a broken tee than have to chase a cover down when it went flying into the range. It worked! I was seeing better contact with my irons and only had a couple of shots off the heel. I was definitely seeing crisper contact, even with my 5 iron.


I was hitting the Epic Flash really good today, I did have one off the heel and it still performed very well. Mostly, I was a bit high on the face. It still was getting the ball out there, I'm thinking this Flash Face might be on to something. Bad hits, good performance. This is a high handicappers dream!


I was able to get one in the sweet spot and it feels amazing when the club goes through impact and feels like nothing is in its way and the ball just launches!

I was beginning to worry that I might not have the best shaft for this club since I have seen really high ball flight, but seeing how high I've been hitting on the face has calmed that fear, it's more me than the club. Anything I hit near halfway down on the clubface takes off in a nice, piercing flight.

I was able to get video of the sound comparing the two drivers. I'm beginning to like the sound of the Callaway. I think my earlier thoughts on it were due to the fact that I've been hitting off the heel it's just a bit higher pitched than the Ping, but I don't feel the sound is much different after listening to the videos. First off, the Ping:

 

Now for the Epic Flash Sub Zero:

 

 

I actually made my wife did a blind listen to the sounds and she liked the sound of the Callaway better.



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Seriously...  the only thing I saw in the video was the old man with his socks pulled up to his crotch.  

[sirchunksalot]

I definitely drew the hardest balls out of the bucket@edingc. I honestly didn't know I got a rock flight until I watched the video. Seeing that takes me back to when I started playing and those were a nice, cheap option to lose in the woods.



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[sirchunksalot]

Have any of you had a day where you were playing out of your mind? I'm talking one of those days when you exceeded your expectations?

 

That was my day.

 

I went to get in some quality time with the Epic Flash Sub Zero after work, expecting to play maybe 12 to 14 holes and I just couldn't bring myself to leave with the way I was playing. Shot a 44/45 for a personal best 89 on a par 71 course. Granted, it's only about 5300 yards, but it features narrow fairways and a few postage stamp greens.

 

It's one of the reasons that I picked this course to test the Epic Flash, it may be short but it demands accuracy. The 473 yard par 5 7th has an uphill tee shot to a fairway that is only about 25-30 yards wide and a green that's 1600 square feet.

 

I sliced the drive, I'm skittish of this hole due to the fact that I once pull hooked a drive that crossed the road and nearly hit a house. I was off the fairway, but still had a good line for my second shot. That's what I'm really loving about this driver, the bad hits still result in good opportunities. On the par 4 fourth hole I drive one 245 missing the fairway but was left with this:

 

I was punished on one drive on the third hole when I hit one into the creek that crosses the fairway, I was a bit to the right and would have been close to the fairway if not for the water. I also hit one over the cart path that crosses on 17 and it hit the down slope on the hill.

 

Overall, I hit six drives over 240 yards with a long of 259 and an overall average of 230 yards!

 

Honestly, I wasn't hitting the ball great on the front, but once I got to the back things just got better. My last three drives all went over 250 and I thought I had a chance to drive the 18th when I hit it, but was just a little short.

 

Of course, I was thinking this hole was 260 and not the 275 it was playing. I'm not complaining, I just stood there and watched it launch with a smile on my face.

 

It was a good day.

 

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[Nunfa0]

Very nice work Sirchunksalot, so this club is looking like a keeper then

[sirchunksalot]

Very nice work Sirchunksalot, so this club is looking like a keeper then

I don't think you could pry this out of my hands right now.

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[yungkory]

Played today after work. Usually we go hit up the muni on Wednesdays but since it was National Golf Day, we splurged and played 18 hole twilight. This driver continues to perform, but the rest of my game is complete T R A S H at the minute. I am more confident off the tee than I am from 100y, and I couldn't say the same about the TS2 I was gaming prior. This driver is just a BEAST. Hit my new long today:

A little downwind, I teed it a fraction higher and let loose. It flew over the bunker in the bottom of the screenshot with the tiniest draw and caught the slope perfectly.

[sirchunksalot]

Played today after work. Usually we go hit up the muni on Wednesdays but since it was National Golf Day, we splurged and played 18 hole twilight. This driver continues to perform, but the rest of my game is complete T R A S H at the minute. I am more confident off the tee than I am from 100y, and I couldn't say the same about the TS2 I was gaming prior. This driver is just a BEAST. Hit my new long today:

A little downwind, I teed it a fraction higher and let loose. It flew over the bunker in the bottom of the screenshot with the tiniest draw and caught the slope perfectly.

Congrats on the new personal best! The Callaway is just a rocket launcher. I can see why it was the Most Wanted Driver of 2019.

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[Nunfa0]

2 hours ago, yungkory said:

Played today after work. Usually we go hit up the muni on Wednesdays but since it was National Golf Day, we splurged and played 18 hole twilight. This driver continues to perform, but the rest of my game is complete T R A S H at the minute. I am more confident off the tee than I am from 100y, and I couldn't say the same about the TS2 I was gaming prior. This driver is just a BEAST. Hit my new long today:

A little downwind, I teed it a fraction higher and let loose. It flew over the bunker in the bottom of the screenshot with the tiniest draw and caught the slope perfectly.

That's just purdy driving

[edingc]

3 hours ago, yungkory said:

Played today after work. Usually we go hit up the muni on Wednesdays but since it was National Golf Day, we splurged and played 18 hole twilight. This driver continues to perform, but the rest of my game is complete T R A S H at the minute. I am more confident off the tee than I am from 100y, and I couldn't say the same about the TS2 I was gaming prior. This driver is just a BEAST. Hit my new long today:

A little downwind, I teed it a fraction higher and let loose. It flew over the bunker in the bottom of the screenshot with the tiniest draw and caught the slope perfectly.

320... That's just awesome. Congrats, man!

[ole gray]

How many of ya'll are playing the stock shaft?

[edingc]

13 minutes ago, ole gray said:

How many of ya'll are playing the stock shaft?

I believe all of us are playing one of the three stock shaft offerings. They are the Project X Evenflow Green, Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue and Project X HZRDUS Smoke.

I started with a HZRDUS Smoke 6.0 (stiff) shaft, and just recently purchased the Tensei stiff to try as well. Weather hasn't cooperated with me this week, but I'm hoping to do a head-to-head comparison at the range really soon.

[sirchunksalot]

How many of ya'll are playing the stock shaft?

I've got the Project X Even Flow Green in mine.

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[THEZIPR23]

HZRDUS smoke for me. Which I have been pleasantly surprised at consistency wise. I can really go after it and it does not get away from me. 

[MDGolfHacker]

Got to hit this driver during a demo day yesterday and it was pretty freakin' awesome!  I'd really have to get on a launch monitor to see  which of the two, the F8 or this was giving me better numbers...but it was definitely a rocket off the tee!  The Cobra bag might be in trouble...

 

MDGolfHacker