Equipment
Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 Fairway Woods and Hybrids
We’ve reached the point where one fairway wood isn’t just one fairway wood anymore. Callaway’s Big Bertha Alpha 815 fairway woods have two adjustable weights in their soles that allow them to perform like two completely different clubs.
Position the club’s 30-gram weight in its front weight port and its 3-gram weight in its rear weight port, and it will create a lower-spinning ball flight. Flip the orientation of the weights, and the ball flight will have more spin — and the club will have more forgiveness.
Think of the heavy-weight-forward configuration as the fairway wood equivalent of Callaway’s Big Bertha Alpha 815 Double Black Diamond driver — its more forward center of gravity sacrifices some forgiveness for less spin, which can create more distance for some players.
The 815 fairway woods have a compact shape that was inspired by Callaway’s 2014 Big Bertha Pro fairway wood, a tour-only product that was used by several Callaway Staff players including Patrick Reed and Gary Woodland. You don’t have to be a tour player to use the 815 fairway woods, but better players will see the most benefit from their smaller, tour-inspired head design — particularly in the lower lofts.
The 815 fairway woods use Callaway’s Forged Hyper Speed Face Cup that improves ball speed on shots struck across the clubface. They also have Callaway’s OptiFit Hosel, which allows golfers to choose one of eight loft and lie settings.
Does the technology work? In my testing, the heavy-weight-forward configuration created a very impressive 800 rpm less spin than the more forgiving configuration. Not all golfers will see that big of a difference, but the combination of the 815’s adjustable weights, adjustable hosel and three different loft options makes custom fitting (and tinkering) a breeze.
The Big Bertha Alpha 815 Fairway Woods ($299 — in stores Jan. 16, 2015) are available in lofts of 14, 16 and 18 degrees. They come stock with either Fujikura’s Motore Speeder 665 shaft (L, R, S and X flexes) and Aldila’s Rogue Silver 70 (R, S and X flexes).
Testing Tips: Golfers with very fast swing speeds (105+ mph) will want to try the 16-degree model with the heavy weight forward. For me, it launched extremely high because of its 4-wood loft, but had a spin rate that was similar to a 12-or-13-degree fairway wood.
Lower-swing-speed golfers, or those who use two fairway woods, will want to try the 14- and 18-degree models with the heavy weights back.
Big Bertha Alpha 815 Hybrids
Callaway’s X2 Hot hybrids woods swept our 2014 Gear Trials: Best Hybrids list, earning awards in our Distance-First, Forgiveness-First and Balanced Performance categories. One of our few complaints? They weren’t adjustable.
Callaway’s new Big Bertha Alpha 815 Hybrids are adjustable, and like the X2 Hot hybrids include a Forged Hyper Speed Face Cup for top-notch ball speeds. They’re most similar in design to Callaway’s X2 Hot Pro, with a compact shape, minimal offset and a low, forward center of gravity for a penetrating trajectory.
The Big Bertha Alpha 815 hybrids ($249 — in stores Jan. 16, 2015) are available in three lofts: 18 (2H), 20 (3H) and 23 (4H). They come stock with Fujikura’s Speeder 865 shaft (R, S and X flexes).
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
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Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
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Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
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Rich
Jan 5, 2015 at 5:10 am
These have been in stores in Oz for a few weeks now and they are EXPENSIVE! They are dearer than Titleist and Ping at the moment. Can’t imagine paying more for a Callaway than a Titleist or Ping. If they are THAT good then I guess it’s worth it but it seems like top dollar for these guys.
Large chris
Jan 2, 2015 at 10:14 am
Blimey those necks are big….
Fred
Jan 2, 2015 at 12:12 am
Why aren’t the weights on the Alpha FW straight instead of slanted? Functionality? Or did Callaway not want to reposition the name of their product?
spazo
Jan 2, 2015 at 2:05 am
Because doing so would infringe patents
Fred
Jan 2, 2015 at 9:04 am
Whose patents?
Teaj
Jan 2, 2015 at 10:31 am
could be that better players draw the ball more so when they place the heavy weight forward and more towards the toe that it slows the release of the club?
The dude
Jan 3, 2015 at 11:10 am
Makes sense