High handicapper review of Callaway Big Bertha CF19 irons

[Immenb]

Hey guys,

I recently got my first iron fitting about 2 months ago and ended up in a set of big berthas. Before going into the fitting, this set was not even on my radar of game improvement irons that I was looking to try. The fitters had me try out these, the new mavericks, and by request the mizuno jpx hot metals. My old set was the 2017 callaway epic pro irons( I really should not have bought those online but just loved how they looked). Upon trying these all out, performance hands down went to the big berthas for me. So I got those and had to get them + 1/2 in and upright 2°. Since getting them ive played 4 rounds of golf and hit probably 1500 practice balls. Here are my thoughts on these clubs.

Right off the bat, looks wise these things are gorgeous. They are a little on the chunky side but the black finish helps mask that a bit. The painted white lines on the bottom groves help frame the ball nicely. They have a fair amount of offset to them which initially put me off but I was able to get used to it quickly. Feel wise, strikes felt good and you get some feedback on really poor strikes. Ones off the toe, in the heel, or really low on the face can be felt. Aside from really bad strikes though, you do not get much feedback on off center hits through the club or even really through distance and launch losses. So in other words they are super forgiving and also very easy to hit.

Performance wise, low spin could be a factor for some people when choosing these but I would say it is kind of a non issue. I have no problem with a 80-90 mph swing speed launching these clubs stupid high in the air and can get them to stop no problem on the greens unless I hit them low on the face almost skull town territory.  Carry distance wise, I avg 155 on my 7 iron, and pretty consistent 10 yard gaps in every club. The aw at 48° carries about 105 and the 5 iron carries about 185. These distances are very consistent for me too. I rarely have bombs from any of the irons and drop offa due to sub par strikes are not very bad at all. 

The only negative aside from feel which in an sgi is tough anyways, is that the black finish does not withstand very much punishment at all. I will include some pictures later at how bad these things have scratched up already. But if that doesnt bother you, these are a great choice for anyone that needs some forgiveness.

Edit* one other thing I forgot to note, shot shaping is not difficult at all to produce with these clubs. For people that thing sgi irons cannot be shaped, I couldn't disagree more. Fade or draw, I can work both ways on every club from the 5 iron down to the approach wedge.

Edited March 16, 2020 by Immenb
Added pics of scratches

[tony@CIC]

Thanks for posting. So what was the distance and dispersion difference between the Epic Pro's and the Big Bertha's? 

[Immenb]

So with the epic pro irons, on my best strikes I was hitting every club about a club further than I am hitting the berthas. The biggest issues I found were that when i hit one perfect out the center of the epics, I flew 10 yards past my avg strike. Miss hits could drop off anywhere from 10 to 20 yards off my avg strikes. I also was not fit in these and topped a lot of shots due to being a bit taller than average. So dispersion carry distance wise was huge.

Left to right dispersion was not so different. That more or less came down to how well I was playing on a given day. Hope that helps!

[Shnooda]

Great post,

What are your shaft specs?