What’s better than winning the trip of a lifetime? Gaining more driving distance, of course. And eight lucky GolfWRX Members had a chance to do both last month. Callaway flew them to its headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif., where they were fit for the company’s new line of golf equipment, including the company’s new Epic drivers.
8 GolfWRX Members
Gamer Vs. Epic Driver
+11.675 Yards AVE on Trackman
The eight GolfWRXers were selected from more than 1000 forum members to be a part of an experience called #TheWRX. On the trip, they were given full access to Callaway’s leadership to ask questions about the Callaway brand, its products and test all the new gear before it was announced to the public.
Callaway also wanted to prove that its new products could outperform whatever clubs were in their bags, especially its new GBB Epic and GBB Epic Sub Zero drivers. So the company asked the eight GolfWRXers to bring their gamer driver with them to its Ely Callaway Performance Center, where they tested it head to head against Callaway’s new driver line.
The Results
The eight GolfWRXers covered a wide range of both handicaps (10.5 to +2.1) and ball speeds (125.5 mph to 166.4 mph). They challenged the new Epic line with drivers from Callaway, Ping, TaylorMade and Titleist. Impressively, all eight saw improved ball speed (+5.175 mph on average) and more carry distance (+9.837 yards on average) with an Epic driver. The average total distance gained (carry + roll) was 11.675 yards.
Only one tester didn’t see an increase in average total distance (Matt Quandt), but he did see +3.3 mph ball speed and +5.5 yards carry distance on average with an Epic. The biggest gains came from Sean Foster-Nolan. He saw an average of 24.2 yards more total distance with an Epic, increasing his ball speed 12.4 mph and his carry distance 19.2 yards.
Among the eight GolfWRX Members, there was an even split in those who performed better with a GBB Epic driver and those who performed better with a GBB Epic Sub Zero. See what driver each of the eight GolfWRX Members brought with them to Callaway HQ, as well as what Epic driver worked best for them below.
Bram Taylor (Brizam)
Handicap: 8.8
Ball Speed Gained: 3.1 mph
Distance Gained: 17.6 yards
Epic Driver: GBB Epic Sub Zero (9 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-TP 7X
Gamer Driver: TaylorMade M2 Tour Issue (8.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Tensei CK White Pro 70TX
Greg Harris (gregh729)
Handicap: 8
Ball Speed Gained: 5.3 mph
Distance Gained: 10.9 yards
Epic Driver: GBB Epic Sub Zero (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana D+ 60S
Gamer Driver: Ping G25 (9.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Blur Red 005 (Stiff Flex)
Their Experience, Their Words: Read what Greg had to say about #TheWRX
Jeff Singer (MtlJeff)
Handicap: 1.8
Ball Speed Gained: 4.2 mph
Distance Gained: 10.9 yards
Epic Driver: GBB Epic Sub Zero (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana D+ 70S
Gamer Driver: Ping Anser (10 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana ‘ahina 70S
Rodney Spruill (Hot Rod 71)
Handicap: 5
Ball Speed Gained: 1.2 mph
Distance Gained: 6.1 yards
Epic Driver: GBB Epic (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana S+ 60X
Gamer Driver: Callaway Great Big Bertha (10.5 degrees, set to 9.5)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 60X
Their Experience, Their Words: Read what Rodney had to say about #TheWRX
Scott Griffith (Waterboy)
Handicap: 7.7
Ball Speed Gained: 7.1 mph
Distance Gained: 11.7 yards
Epic Driver: GBB Epic (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-TP 7X
Gamer Driver: Titleist 915 D2 (12 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 60S
Their Experience, Their Words: Read what Scott had to say about #TheWRX
Matt Quandt (QMany)
Handicap: +2.1
Ball Speed Gained: 3.3 mph
Distance Gained: 0 yards
Epic Driver: GBB Epic (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Tensei CK Pro Blue 60TX
Gamer Driver: Ping G (9 degrees)
Shaft: Ping Alta 55X
Their Experience, Their Words: Read what Matt had to say about #TheWRX
Paul Macke (mackepa)
Handicap: +0.1
Ball Speed Gained: 4.8 mph
Distance Gained: 12 yards
Epic Driver: GBB Epic Sub Zero (9 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-TP 6S
Gamer Driver: Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki K 70X
Their Experience, Their Words: Read what Paul had to say about #TheWRX
Sean Foster-Nolan (sean2)
Handicap: 10.5
Ball Speed Gained: 12.4 mph
Distance Gained: 24.2 yards
Epic Driver: GBB Epic (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana Green M+40 (R-Flex)
Gamer Driver: Callaway XR ’16 (9.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Speeder Evolution II 665 (R-Flex)
Their Experience, Their Words: Read what Sean had to say about #TheWRX