2019 Official Forum Member Review-Callaway Epic Flash Drivers

[PMookie 10,757]

I’m curious to see if the SZ testers are seeing some nice dispersion reduction vs current gamers.


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[THEZIPR23 4,678]

57 minutes ago, PMookie said:

I’m curious to see if the SZ testers are seeing some nice dispersion reduction vs current gamers.


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My previous gamer was Rogue SZ, so similar profiles. That being said the dispersion is less and the miss hits are better. There has not been one drive that I have thought it should have been in a different place than where it was. I can still miss but even with the miss I am not in major trouble. And I have pretty much eliminated the left miss, something I have been trying to do since I picked up a club.

[PMookie 10,757]

My previous gamer was Rogue SZ, so similar profiles. That being said the dispersion is less and the miss hits are better. There has not been one drive that I have thought it should have been in a different place than where it was. I can still miss but even with the miss I am not in major trouble. And I have pretty much eliminated the left miss, something I have been trying to do since I picked up a club.

That’s great to hear! It’s what I saw in my fitting.


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[sirchunksalot 6,770]

I’m curious to see if the SZ testers are seeing some nice dispersion reduction vs current gamers.


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Here's what I'm seeing as far as dispersion goes. Arrow is showing a five yard difference between the Sub Zero and the G400 LST. Remember, too, that I haven't exactly had the most repeatable swing since my first round and have been working to find it. For how I've been hitting the ball, I'm impressed.
Sub Zero
Ping

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[sirchunksalot 6,770]

I went and played today after work to see if all my range work would reap any benefits. I was only able to play 14 holes, due to having to pick up supper for the family. Fortunately, there's a local course that is under new ownership that has a single price whether you play nine or eighteen.

 

I hit 5/10 fairways and averaged 215 off the tee. For any of you who follow me on Arccos, you know my average drive is around 200. I've struggled with my swing, hitting down on the ball and having several pop up. It took a few holes to really get the handle on what I needed to do, as I had adjusted the loft down to 9.5 to see how that worked out.

 

My shot of the day came on the 250 yard par 4 12th.

Keep in mind, I was playing into a 15-20 mph wind. I striped my drive, a nice fade.

I landed just short of the green, but this was the closest I've come to driving it. It wasn't my longest drive of the day, but the Epic Flash still got me 221 into a head wind.

We're supposed to be getting storms the next few days, so this weekend is pretty much a no go, but I'm really excited about what I'm seeing.

 

 

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[ole gray 16,259]

I'm enjoying the info coming out of this group!  Keep up the great work guys..... 

[goaliewales14 1,250]

On 4/9/2019 at 1:21 PM, yungkory said:

On the bottom, they’ve shortened the adjustable weight track and painted it quite possibly the ugliest color combination I have ever seen.

(Sorry guys just getting to this review)  Could not agree more with this comment!!  I'll be curious if you guys get used to the sound as well.  For me this driver did perform, but I couldn't look at it or hit it without cringing each time. 

[yungkory 8,645]

Flash is still going DEEP and I like how little curvature there is on my ball now. I'm not used to it not moving left, and I need to adjust my aim a little now. I'm pretty sure I can just take aim dead center and with the weight in the toe the ball will start right and baby draw back towards center. If it doesn't, hopefully at worst I'll be right edge depending on fairway width.

I didn't have Arccos up today because it didn't have the correct yardages and par numbers, and I got butthurt and turned it off. Hit 4/6 fairways and one of the misses was a bomb down the left that kicked further left than I think it should've ended.

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[sirchunksalot 6,770]

(Sorry guys just getting to this review)  Could not agree more with this comment!!  I'll be curious if you guys get used to the sound as well.  For me this driver did perform, but I couldn't look at it or hit it without cringing each time. 

The sound definitely takes some getting used to but I don't find it as bad as when I got it. I guess it helps that my previous gamer, before the Ping, was a TaylorMade Burner Superfast 2.0 and I was accustomed to a tinny sound.

I'm contractually obligated to not like the color scheme since my wife is from the Chicago area. I love the look of the crown when it's behind the ball, the colors are pretty subtle there so I don't notice them.

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[yungkory 8,645]

The sound definitely takes some getting used to but I don't find it as bad as when I got it. I guess it helps that my previous gamer, before the Ping, was a TaylorMade Burner Superfast 2.0 and I was accustomed to a tinny sound.

I'm contractually obligated to not like the color scheme since my wife is from the Chicago area. I love the look of the crown when it's behind the ball, the colors are pretty subtle there so I don't notice them.

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With the amount of comments I'm reading about the sound it's really making me wonder if I ever hit the middle lol. I really don't think it sounds that loud/bad but I know this is a personal thing.

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[GolfSpy Stroker 9,759]

3 minutes ago, yungkory said:

With the amount of comments I'm reading about the sound it's really making me wonder if I ever hit the middle lol. I really don't think it sounds that loud/bad but I know this is a personal thing.

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...well, tbh, everything sounds better in paradise...I mean Hawaii. 

but seriously - can you feel when you hit one in the sweet spot?

[edingc 6,195]

2 hours ago, yungkory said:

With the amount of comments I'm reading about the sound it's really making me wonder if I ever hit the middle lol. I really don't think it sounds that loud/bad but I know this is a personal thing.

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Me, too. I'm second guessing whether I actually like the sound or not now. Color scheme is one thing. The bottom design neither helps nor hurts my impression of the club, and Callaway does offer the custom program for those who are vehemently again the colors. The crown, which is really all you see over and over again, is downright gorgeous. 

1 hour ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

...well, tbh, everything sounds better in paradise...I mean Hawaii. 

but seriously - can you feel when you hit one in the sweet spot?

As I alluded to in my post from last weekend, I hit two back-to-back on the sweet spot and it is a marvelously smooth feeling. The driver is forgiving off the sweet spot, but you can still feel where the mishits are. On the sweet spot it felt so effortless and just rocket-launched the ball out there.

[yungkory 8,645]

...well, tbh, everything sounds better in paradise...I mean Hawaii. 
but seriously - can you feel when you hit one in the sweet spot?

Yeah overall it's got a great feel. Similar to the feeling off the face of the Mizzys -- you don't really feel anything at all it's just buttery soft. The heel and toe strikes are definitely noticeable as well.

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[sirchunksalot 6,770]

...well, tbh, everything sounds better in paradise...I mean Hawaii. 

but seriously - can you feel when you hit one in the sweet spot?

What is this sweet spot and how can I find it? All kidding aside, Callaway did a great job on dialing in the feel. It took me a couple of sessions to get used to, but it's not too bad. To me it feels just a tad bit firmer than I'm used to, but I really love the feeling the trampoline effect that the Ping G400 LST has. It's like the ball is hitting a marshmallow. I think having the jailbreak tech in the Callaway just gives it a different sort of vibe, but it's growing on me.

 

It's raining here and fifty degrees, so today was a good day just to give the clubs a good scrubbing and play with the adjustments on the Sub Zero. I'm curious to see how the draw setting on the Opitfit hosel will change my flight. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warmer and that sounds like a good day to hit the range.

 

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[yungkory 8,645]

Range practice. Remember when I said it's forgiving in the heel? Even with hard range rocks, I don't hear any tinny sound... it sounds more like a crack than a metal sound to me. Maybe the carbon crown has something to do with it? I don't build clubs I just hit um.



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[edingc 6,195]

Snuck out after chores this afternoon for a quick nine at the same course I played last weekend.

I'm going to leave this nugget from my Stage 1 here because it's really relevant today:

On 4/9/2019 at 1:24 PM, edingc said:

I lack confidence in the driver and it shows in my erratic results with it on the course. 

Because of the snow and rain this week I hadn't swung a club at all before heading to the course and it showed, especially with the driver. And it's almost all confidence based. Mentality is a big challenge that I need to overcome. But here's the ugly truth in all of its glory. I hit five drives today: 186, 187, 202, 205 and 207 yards. Ouch. I hit two huge slices to open the round, so this marks the first time I made this club go right. 

Certainly not the club. I hit a five iron 197 yards later in the round and finished with a solid for me 44 (+8). Just need some more practice to gain more confidence. My best effort, middle of the fairway and straight is below. Hit my approach to the back fringe and used the putter from there to finish with a solid par.

Couple thoughts:

• The sound is OK. I keep going back and forth trying to decide if it's a metallic sound or more of a crack like @yungkory described. 
• The align grip is really growing on me. Club naturally falls into the right alignment with the hands without any effort. I had initially thought about replacing the grip but I'm sticking with it for sure now.

[sirchunksalot 6,770]

I'll agree with@yungkory, this driver is forgiving when you hit it in the heel. I remembered I've had a can of foot spray in the trunk of my car for a couple of months and finally decided to bring it out. I didn't get a photo of my first few hits, but every one of them were heel shots and they flew pretty straight. After wiping it off I did take a photo of the second attempt after adjusting in order to actually hit more toward the center.

Spray powder is very humbling, but I did find I tend to hit high on the face and favor the heel. After reducing my forward sway, I did see better ball striking. Now I've got to work on my over the top move to reduce my left to right flight.

P.S. When you do hit it good, this thing launches the golf ball.

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[THEZIPR23 4,678]

I snuck out for an early morning range session yesterday before the family festivities started. I wanted to test the sliding weight and how much difference I saw in ball flight. No LM so don't have the hard numbers but what I can tell you, for my swing, the weight REALLY moves the ball around. Even subtle adjustments on the track are a visible difference. This gives everyone the ability to manage ball flight for their swing. Really impressed by the differences. 

 

P.S. Sorry to the range boys having to pick up balls 60 yards left of the range. 

[edingc 6,195]

Keeping with the impact mark trend, today's range session saw me hitting the lower half of the driver:

Consistently around 96-100 MPH, 225-240 carry according to my Swing Caddie. I did play with the sliding weight today, moving it about halfway between center and draw positions. I do not draw the driver typically, but on a few of my better swings after moving the weight I managed a nice baby draw. Something to continue to play with as I also work on the swing.

Since sound has been a huge focal point in this thread, I attempted to capture it on video as best as I can. I brought all of the drivers in my house along to the range today to hopefully give a better illustration of the sound.

The Epic Flash is definitely more of a muted crack than a metallic sound. Both Cobra drivers in my video above are definitely more metallic, and the Ti Bubble 2 from the late 90s sounds like I'm hitting metal on metal! 

I didn't take many swings with the other drivers, but all indications show several more yards carry distance with the Epic Flash as well.

What else would everyone like to see? What questions can I answer or help out with?

[sirchunksalot 6,770]

Great video@edingc! I'm jealous of how well you picked the ball clean off the tee. I would have been having to put another one down on every shot.

I attempted to get video yesterday, but the sound didn't really pick up like I wanted. I guess I'll have to give it another try at my next range visit.

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