In September, Callaway launched its highly anticipated Epic Super Hybrid, which the company branded its “fastest ball speed hybrid ever.”

The club arrived featuring an all-titanium Flash Face with a titanium body combined with the brand’s Jailbreak A.I. Velocity Blades for ultimate ball speed, distance, and launch.

In addition, the latest hybrid from Callaway includes Jailbreak A.I. Velocity blades which stiffen the body in design to allow the face to flex for maximum ball speed, while extreme tungsten weighting (up to 90 grams) located toward the club’s perimeter aims to offer a combination of low CG and high-MOI for a high, powerful, and stable ball flight.

• Read more of what GolfWRXers had to say in the testing thread. 

Recently, we chose four members to test out the new Callaway Epic Super Hybrid, and in our forums, they’ve been reporting back to the community about the things that they have noticed while testing out this product.

Here are their thoughts on the latest hybrid offering.

Texas_Tom:

I have a mid-speed swing, 94mph with the driver and usually fairly on target with my lines. My purpose for this is long par 4s or par 5s. Maybe after testing a short tee replacement.

The head is larger than my current hybrid, but not as big as the UW or a fairway, but definitely larger. It also sits squarer to the ball than the Ping. Very clean looking, the top is shiny carbon, which looks good with the small Cally Arrow.

Off the tee: this is an absolute rocket launcher. I was easily keeping up with and passing my 5 wood for distance. The hybrid has a hard penetrating flight and good roll. I could easily see this from the tee on tight shots or a shorter length. I was getting to 210 yards.”

I swapped out the shaft for a Tensei Blue HY shaft. Great choice for me! I am now getting great contact on the turf and able to keep this club straight. I am getting at least 10 yards farther than the other brand hybrid with a similar shaft. Definitely hot. 

I’ll tell you, for me, the short par 4 tee shot replacement, man, this thing FLIES from a tee shot. You can for sure feel the ‘Driver Technology’ on that shot.

M_W (Pt.1):

Here are my observations so far:

I’ve been experimenting with the 6 hybrid (27 degrees) as a 5 iron replacement. The first issue I came across was that I needed to loft up because, at 27 degrees loft, it was still flying seven to nine yards further on average than my regular 5 iron. This thing is hot!

The sound is pretty muted and gives a good ‘whack’ – nothing tinny or pingy, which I really like. It sounds closer to a game improvement iron than a fairway wood.

Due to the sole design and overall narrower head, it’s great to hit out of tight lies, weird rough situations and so forth. 

The ball launches very easily off this thing. The main reason why I wanted to try it is because I don’t get the height I need off my 5 iron on slight mishits. The Super Hybrid certainly solves that.

Forgiveness is top-notch – probably forgiveness level of a fairway wood in a hybrid – that’s how I’d describe it. You can hit it pretty much across the face and still get good launch and ball speed. Really notable is the forgiveness on thing strikes which really stands out, even in comparison to other great hybrids such as the G425.”

GolferJeff

I finally got to play a few rounds with this over the last 5 days, and let me tell you all: What an amazing club! I was blown away by how easy it was/is to get airborne with it. The head is nearly the size of that of a driver; it’s ginormous for a hybrid and definitely bigger than my current 3 wood.

This club makes it so easy to get the ball in the air quickly and solidly. Me being a high handicapper, this was essential to me, as I’ve struggled at times in the past to get the ball in the air. The hits were solid, even on mishits. I also moved it up to a “4H” and really felt great hitting it there as well. I found myself hitting out of a few rough spots last Thursday, and this club totally saved me from being in an even worse spot.

The ball speed seemed ok, but I didn’t have any sort of data to check to see what I was hitting it at regarding ball flight, swing speed, etc. It did give a nice, solid “whack” of a sound whenever it was hit off the clubface, and you can definitely tell you’ve hit it solidly. I mishit a few, and it really made no difference IMO, the ball still went in the air easily.

I don’t think I’ve ever hit a.more forgiving club (especially a hybrid) than this one. Overall, The forgiveness, look and feel, are all superb and definitely helped improve my shot making and my game. 

M_W (Pt.2)

After completing six rounds with the Super Hybrid, I’m able to provide a more complete picture.

The short version: The SuperHybrid is probably the “hottest” hybrid on the market today, delivering high launch and low to mid-spin.

My goal: Can I replace my 5 iron with a 6 hybrid to create better consistency into greens without giving up stopping power and workability

Looks: The SH is on the bigger side of hybrid heads – it provides the look of a lot of forgiveness and inspires confidence. If you are used to “players clubs “it might look a little too “fairway wood”, though.

The Result: My 5 iron on average carries 186 yards, has a peak height of 82 feet and spins around 4500. Ball speed is usually around 120-123mph. My struggle has always been the low-strike, resulting in shots that might still carry 175-180 yards but fly at around 65 feet and spin 2500-2800 rpm – in short, not a shot that you are going to stop on a green anymore.

The 6 hybrid of the SuperHybrid is a 27* head and therewith 2* higher-lofted than my 5 iron. After initial testing on the GCQuad, my numbers were 189 carry, 91 feet height, 4600 spin and average ball speed of 127 – now remember, this is with 2* weaker head. 

Turf interaction was great from fairway lies. In the rough, I found the club to be forgiving as well and the sole to cooperate. The only negative on turf is awkward and uneven lies in the rough where I sometimes wished the sole would be a little smaller.

Positives: In typical Callaway fashion, low strikes are very well compensated. Thanks to the Jailbreak tech, you still get most of the launch and speed if your miss is low. I found ball speed to be very consistent; during play on the course I didn’t notice any over-performers as I’ve seen from some hybrids of the past. The launch is high, something that one really needs and wants in this kind of club. 

Negatives: I’m not in love with the feel of the shaft, to be honest; I’m in general not a fan of the “Steelfiber feel”, and this one isn’t any different to me. Another challenge was shaping the ball from left to right. The face at address looks a little closed, and in its default setting, I was able to hit beautiful draws but wasn’t really able to hit a fade. When opening the clubface, it certainly becomes possible.

Summary: Who is this for? I think the Super Hybrid will speak to people looking for high launch, fairway-wood-level forgiveness, consistent spin and speed and a higher ball flight. For that player, I don’t think there’s a better hybrid available right now. Those that want “tour looks” should look at the Apex line. I think Callaway has a winner here that’s a worthy successor of the original Super Hybrid.

• Read more of what GolfWRXers had to say in the testing thread.