Our team gets hold of Callaway's offerings for players of all levels.

TESTER: Gary Sanderson

HANDICAP: 11

MODEL AND SHAFT PLAYED: Callaway Razr Hawk driver with 10.5º loft, neutral head and fitted with an Aldila RIP regular flex shaft.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: It’s another “big dog” head, the kind of driver you feel you can swing hard with, as many seem to be these days. Picking it up the first time, it felt quite light, although the head is nicely weighted.

VERDICT: Compared to the Razr, my current driver feels hard off the face. This Callaway has a really springy feel at impact with the way the ball comes off.

The sound it makes is terrific – a nice, solid thump rather than a tinny sound, which further improves the feel and feedback you get from a good drive.I found I was getting a high draw with a standard swing, which worked well for me. With the 10.5 loft, the ball was coming out quite high. I was initially worried that the shaft may have been a touch soft, and my first few swings were a bit tentative. But once I started swinging freely and more confidently, the results improved.

I grew more comfortable with the driver through the test round, and it ultimately proved very easy to get used to. It has a nice combination of looks, feel, sound and performance.

TESTER: Matt O’Donnell

HANDICAP: 18

MODEL AND SHAFT PLAYED: Callaway Razr Hawk driver with 10.5º loft, neutral head and fitted with an Aldila RIP regular flex shaft.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The clubhead looked massive, and made me feel like I couldn’t miss. I liked the look of the graphite-like effect on the head and shaft. In the hands, it had that good, light-feeling balance.

VERDICT: On well-struck drives, the feel was absolutely pure and soft. A good hit produced a long, high ball flight. On the not-so-good shots, the level of forgiveness was really helpful. I hit a lot of shots out of the toe, and they would generally go low and left.Even with the lower flight, the off-centre impacts would still find a way to travel a good distance.

I was able to adjust to the Razr after some average shots early, and by the end of the test, I was hitting it pretty well. It was up to the task of keeping it straight and onto the fairway, and I was impressed by how high and long the drives would go.

Overall, this driver was an easy-to-hit club which produced a good trajectory. The new material that Callaway put in the head didn’t certainly didn’t hurt the feel or sound, which were both great.

FACTS AND FIGURES

SUITABILITY: All levels of player.

SHAFTS: Aldila RIP 60-gram is standard.

LOFTS: 9.5, 10.5, 11.5 and HT.

LENGTH: 46 inches.

LEFT-HANDED MODELS?: Yes in 10.5 and 11.5.

HOW MUCH?: $549.

CALLAWAY SAYS: “Callaway has made a giant leap forward with Forged Composite technology in the new Razr Hawk Driver. This new material gave engineers the freedom to position weight exactly where needed for maximised distance, accuracy, and workability.

“Forged Composite is the result of a unique partnership between the R&D teams of Callaway and automaker Lamborghini. This revolutionary new material is one-third the density of titanium, yet features a greater load carrying capacity per unit mass in bending. The sole and crown of the Razr Hawk Driver contains more than 23 million turbostratic carbon fibres that reinforce 67 percent of the clubhead.”

Contact Callaway Golf on 1800 217 777 or www.callawaygolf.com