COST: $829.99.

TESTED BY: Stephen Hughes, Golf Australia reader (GA Handicap 20).

MODEL PLAYED: Big Bertha B21 with 10.5˚ loft, fitted with Callaway RCH 55 Regular shaft.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Having read about the B21 range I was excited to get a chance to test the full set of clubs over the course of a few rounds and driving range sessions, with the driver the first club to report back on and the club that made the biggest impression on me.

Taking the clubs straight to the range at my club and hitting off my less preferred grass than mats, the driver was really easy to hit straight away, whereas I took some time getting used to the rest of the clubs.

It looks really good. Whereas some super game improvement clubs I look at and think ‘Oh that looks really clunky and has lots of bells and whistles to try to help me’, the B21 doesn’t really look like that at all. It just looks like a really nice driver.

HOW IT PERFORMED: Having managed to get my handicap down to the low teens at times, before going back out recently, I feel as though I am right on the edge of the kind of player that would benefit from the B21 range. But as an occasional slice sufferer, the driver seemed to be the best fit for me.

Straight away I noticed how forgiving and easy to hit it was. It was just really easy to feel like I could hit it really clean off the clubface and it would just go dead straight.

There is no avoiding the fact that you can still hit a slice if you put an absolutely awful swing on it. But with my problem being hanging back and the ball taking off right and continuing to go that way, I felt like I made some of those swings with B21 and they didn’t go as far right or wildly out of control at all.

Compared to my current driver, I didn’t notice any significant distance gains, but am looking forward to some more games with it in the bag and perhaps range sessions hitting the two side by side to get a better comparison. I also didn’t make any adjustments to the settings to see if I could gain any more distance that way.

When it came to feel, I was certainly impressed. When you hit one out of the screws, and for me there is always obviously a big margin for error in that, it felt really good and sounded really good. It was a pretty solid sort of feel.

Having used my own driver for a significant period of time, I am certainly comfortable with it, but had no problems adjusting to the Big Bertha, and was comfortable with it quickly, thanks in part to its obvious performance benefits for a slicer like myself in an overall inoffensive package.

The reduction of my big miss was the major plus for me when testing the B21 driver, and although considering myself between perhaps this line and some of the less game improvement models, the Big Bertha’s design being so easy to hit certainly had me less sure of this than I was before.

For someone who is on a higher handicap and really struggles to hit the ball straight, I think it would be a great club for them in my opinion.

FACTS AND FIGURES

SUITABILITY: Designed for players who struggle with a slice, the Big Bertha B21 will suit golfers looking for distance and to reduce the big miss off the tee.

LEFT-HANDED MODELS? The 9˚ and 10.5˚ models are offered in left-handed, while the 12.5˚ is available in right-hand only, with all heads featuring adjustable loft sleeves.

CALLAWAY SAYS: The Big Bertha B21 driver is built for golfers who want to hit their drives further, and straighter so that their ball finds the fairway.

It’s especially suited for players who hit a slice or struggle to find a consistent ball flight, with advanced technologies that make this driver really long, forgiving, and easy to hit.

What’s truly extraordinary ... it’s Callaway’s first driver with the unique combination of high launch, low spin and significant draw bias in a forgiving shape. This is a new formula for distance that’s designed to take the big miss out of your game.

And it’s a total ball speed package, with the company’s artificial intelligence (A.I.) designed ‘Flash Face SS21’, ‘Super Strength Titanium’, and innovative ‘Jailbreak Technology’.

For more information, visit www.callawaygolf.com.au