Will Golfers Find Value in Callaway’s “Ultra-Premium” Epic Star Lineup?

I’d LOVE to hit the driver (& fairway). But then I’m a demo-day junkie, like a kid at toys-r-us! When it comes to all these club claims, I believe everyone & I believe no one. I just bought a set of irons & on the course they played no better (even worse) than my previous set (& that was after being ‘fitted’ at the local golf store). Luckily I dumped them on ebay w/ only a minimal loss. These club companies & stores are there to SELL you new stuff, not to hear how good your 3-yr old driver is working!

I Tried the Epic line at a local demo day. I’m 50 and battling back issues from this game I love and recently went from my TM R9’s with stiff KBS 90 to PING G25’s with Reg KBS90 and then to TM RSI 1’s with the Reax 90 reg shafts. All clubs were fitted 1* up in steel, all 7-irons were played at 150-155 yards and my handicap has stayed somewhere between a 5.7 and 7.5 index over the last five years. All clubs were played with 5-10 yard fade as that’s about all I can produce even after hours of range time and lessons to straighten out the ball flight. I’m an average iron player. I then hit the Epic line with the Recoil ES760 F3 regular graphite shaft and noticed straighter ball flight and longer distances. It was a little thick in the top line but enjoyable to hit but not enough improvement to drop another $1,800.00 on. Distances were probably 5 yards longer if not a little more. I then picked up the lonely Epic Star club, only one seven iron was available with the Grand Bassara 55 regular shaft, stock flat lie. I hit this club for an hour. 7-irons went 165-170 and as high as my 9-irons. I didn’t want to be the guy hitting the senior club but dammit it looked good, felt good and launched straight shots that dropped from the sky. I know the lofts are jacked but with the higher ball flight I didn’t even notice. I was longer and straighter and it felt good. The 5-SW 8-club set was quoted at $2,400.00. Damn you Callaway. The fitter mentioned that the line was aimed to compete with PXG? You’re not PXG. And why change the color and make it different from the Epic line at all? I’d buy this set for $1,500.00, keep it in the same look as the Epic line and call it Epic-S or put a * symbol at the end of the name. Get the 55 gram shaft in a finish to match the Recoil shafts that keeps us looking like we’re hitting steel with our undercover graphite. Keep us slower swing speeders in the same group as the younger 170 yard pounding 8-iron youngsters with 10.7 indexes. I’m not ready to drive the vette with the handicap sticker so help us out, the market is waiting and we probably have a coupon.

I just found this site. I did some homework on the Epic Star series and came to the exact same conclusion as your article. Good work.

So let me get this straight………They took away adjustability (which is needed by most seniors because they will adjust to higher lofts as they slow down), they toss on a skinny grip (that most people will probably change out – especially seniors with stiff fingers who usually prefer fatter grips), and they significantly raised the price for all of this – while going after seniors who are on fixed incomes hoping they will pay the upcharge????
Good luck with that Callaway! LOL

If they can sell their new product for that price so be it and good for them. As in some other premium sets, it seems the only real differential from normal folk clubs is the price. I do find it funny that all the “longer distance club advertisement” really is nothing more than playing smoke and mirrors with the lofts.

Callaway has had the number one irons for years. The Epic driver is way ahead if the competition in every measurable way as well. Let’s not start getting gimmicky by slapping some gold paint on an existing product, changing a shaft and calling it innovative. You guys are better than that. I love my Epic driver and wouldn’t trade it for anything on the market. And my Steelhead Pros have brought my scores down dramatically. I have shot 3 sub 80 rounds with them this year. I have never done that. So stop trying to chase PXG and stick with what you know. There’s nothing special about PXG. They just cost more. If PXG were than special then they’re players would be winning every tournament. Hate to see you guys fall into the gimmick trap like Taylormade.

Callaway had the golf world by the you know what!! Now, not so sure. Is there someone from TM on the Callaway board of directors calling the shots? I will play my 2010 Callaway clubs until they can’t hit a ball!!! I have a Diablo Octane driver and its as long as anything my buddys buy now, and my X20’s do a fine job. I am 61, and I had to replace stock shaft on my driver, and I went heavier than I had. Went from 55g to 78g, and shortened shaft from 46 to 42, and gained control of my driver which was prone to fits of wildness. Won’t be buying anything for a while except balls-which I try different balls every year.

Can I borrow a mirror? I want to see if I look that stupid.

Interesting read. XXIO has been leading the way in this category for 17+ years. With amazing results.

Not sure if those clubs will sell well. I shot archery in the professional circuit for 27 years. Bow manufacture did the same thing, achery retailers loved it. Help move used bows u know the trade-ins. 700.00 for a Calaway driver, no name wants Tour Edge 250.00 per club for black, really.
I do wish them well

All the average golfers complaining about the price of this driver is the equivalent of an able-bodied man complaining about the cost of one of those custom built handicap accessible vans with the automatic ramps.

with all these golf equipment companies going premium, it sure feel as if contrary to all expressed outrage (usually only a small % makes the most noise) they realized that there’s a significant market for premium clubs that PXG unveiled. I know that the fitter who fitted my PXGs has been very busy fitting PXGs and now the incumbents want in.

Like an earlier comment, check out Cleveland Golf’s new lineup. GI irons and SGI irons. A driver with a fixed hosel, a new streamline HiBore head and additional technology. FW woods and hybrids. I’m looking at the Launcher HB irons which remind me of my old set of HiBore irons. They may not fit everyone’s look for an iron but, if they perform like the old ones, goodbye Callaway. $800 for a set with a real deal Miyazaki C. Kua shaft.

Tony, a few years back, I purchased a Cleveland Driver with a 39 gram shaft made by Miyazaki I think. I don’t have the driver in front of me and I am old and forgetful, but I am pretty sure I am right. At the time I was fitted for this I was approaching 70 years of age but I still had a swing speed of 92. The light weight shaft increased my swing speed to 97. The nice part about the club was there was no big increase in price for this shaft. I was told some time later by a Cleveland Rep. that they were no longer able to use that shaft because the manufacturer was upset they were selling the club so cheap. Wether this was true or not I have no idea all I know is I am still using this driver and still hitting the ball well most of the time.

Stronger lofts, longer shafts, fancy visual, marketing story…. Let’s not pretend we’re being caught off-guard by this everyone. Innovation in the golf business now means building a TV studio on Rutherford Road and making your marketing team a bunch of cartoons since the rest of it is a lost cause. Until the USGA takes the handcuffs off these club designers, there is simply no reason to buy a brand new golf club. See y’all at the Mercedes certified pre-owned lot!

I don’t need to curse out loud to express my disbelief in the cost per club but I guess the Japanese golfer has more disposable income to buy more expensive clubs than the golfers here in the states. Callaway is just smart in capitalizing on this market and making the most out of it. I could not afford these clubs so I’ll be satisfied with what I can afford. I love the look of a Rolls Royce too but I drive my Toyota for this very same reason. It gets me to where I want to go.

Cleveland Golf may just have scooped (to use a newspaper term) Cleveland with it’s new Launcher driver designed specifically for players with lower swing speeds and at only $299/per club they just might beat the snot out of Callaway.

Been down the lightweight thing before with Cleveland and it didn’t help me at all.

But I don’t blame them for trying. There will always be folks (especially old folks) with a lot of money to spend, whether on a car or a golf club, so there’s no reason not to try to stick it to them. Somebody will bite…

Unless they are to Japanese COR specs most seniors won’t bother…..

Are you kidding me???? Just buy Ben Hogan High Loft set of irons-used- that start with the 47* PW, call the 47 your long gap wedge, the 43 your short gap wedge, the 39* your wedge, etc.. and you have the same lofts-just call them whatever you want-and they will be +1/2″. And, for a hell of a lot less $$$ you get a premium forging moderately heel/toe weighted that is a thing of beauty and feel. Seniors like me only carry 6 or 7I thru the wedges anyway. Lightweight? Put a set of 45-50g shafts in them, let them swing lite (faster, right) and still be a fraction of the $$$.

Callaway is f’ing out of it’s mind. $699 Sweet Jesus!

Tony, full credit for pointing out this price swindle. It’s up to us consumers to stop this madness by NOT BUYING this product range.

Saturday R20 sand wedge with dots in the face instead of lines. I played with this club for 15 years. I hit four pitch shots that were in the leather. I haven’t done that in 10 years or more. I think I’ll leave my new 175.00 wedge at home next time I play

kinda honma look with the goldish color

Epic nonsense I think.
My old Callaway Hawkeye driver sends the ball within five yards of the last three latest Callaway drivers I have tried.
For me as a mid handicap golfer why would I spend more than twentyfive percent of my annual club membership fee to gain a questionable five yards which may not even be down the middle?
No brainer I believe.

This is why you follow and read MyGolf Spy reviews. You get the truth without the marketing BS.

Great write up. Callaway gonna be pissed off pretty bad, and they may refuse to participate in future MyGolfSpy club tests. Sad.

Not interested….

love the color combo – wish I can get the sub zero in this color scheme

Goodbye Callaway. I am done with you and all your lies.

I find myself liking Callaway less and less the more they bring out “product” like this.

Wow Callaway has joined the narcissistic PXG genre of I cost the most so ergo I must be the best-duh.. One of the biggest reason golf continues to loss players is cost of golfing to include equipment. Imagine if you are a new player and you spent $1,000+/- for equipment,but you still don’t play very well and the game is frustrating to you. Along come PXG and Callaway telling you that you need to spend $4000+ to have a good game. You can’t afford that and you have all this angst and in frustration you give up the game and tell all your buddies the game is outrageously expensive and hard. Again more customers who don’t give it a chance. Manufacturers should be promoting traiming. In fact a great marketing ploy could be buy a set from us and we’ll give you 5 group lessons from a PGA teacher. Make a golfer feel like the companies want you to succeed at this great game, not give you a tool that is hard to use.

No.

Epic Star sounds like new space junk sold to kids at wal-mart . Seriously though really the cost is getting out of line for these products. Calloway is now the second Taylormade every two months your new is old. I’ll stick with my mizuno still the best made and half the price.

Is it just me, or does the Epic iron look very similar to the older “Fusion” iron?

Remember when bonded hosels meant cost savings?

Fools and their money are soon parted!!!

This is the norm for Asia. Its a status symbol. When working in Vietnam, South Korea, and Malaysia, the guys I played with all had Honma or other expensive clubs in the bag. The light club thing is also an Asia thing. The clubs I borrowed or rented were insanely light and mostly graphite shafted irons. Can’t really complain as I got to play some awesome coursels

What a great write up! I can imagine Harry won’t be real pleased, but way to call it like it really is. Is this the first “PW” to break 40?

Here’s a great way to get $500 of value – get custom fit for a shaft that meets your individual needs. As a former fitter, I can promise you that there are options for everyone at $100, $200, $300 and even $500 that will do wonders. Strip the paint and you won’t be able to tell which one is $100 and which is $500. Incidentally, the standard Epic with its adjustable hosel, makes that process pretty easy.

Callaway looks almost desperate to do something…..
I think this is a bad move that should backfire on them.
Shame on them.

I don’t know what I’m laughing harder at: the paint job or an 8 hybrid built that approximates my 6 iron specs.

Excellent article calling out Callaway on this series of clubs!

I’m not convinced lighter is better or longer–lighter means you lose all sensation of where the club or club face is located or sensation of swinging rather than “flinging”

Market from a few Collectors and well-to-do New Orleans Saints fans….

Callaway should be tried for senior abuse .

Epic Rip-off

Slapping a lightweight grip and shaft on a club doesn’t make it a premium lightweight offering. XXIO has been making lightweight clubs for 10 generations and by making their own shafts and grips in house, they truly have a better product in this space.

Callaway is once again flooding the market with more product and not taking the same kind of heat for it as Taylor Made.

Their luck will eventually run out, it’s not easy to stay on top in the business.

I’ll stick to my PXGs then

Rip off

For fu$k sake, off to ebay for the shaft

I like the look but I hope they don’t sell

Sounds like Callaway is trying to rip off some seniors. “Epic star” as a name is laughable. Love callaway and their apex irons but come on.

The answer to the question is no.

The article itself is one big contradiction. They speak of the changes in weight they made and the different shaft and grip. Shit they even hit on the fact that it’s for a slow senior player or the Asian market… and then they say it sucks they put new paint on it, don’t buy it. Come on guys, you are supposed to be the unbiased company spreading the info. Might be on the TM payroll the way they bashed Callaway here lol.

I would argue we’re the only ones that did the research, the only ones who comprehend what’s going on here. There’s 1 gram worth of difference between the Diamana and the Basara and the bend profiles are similar. The reduced head weight is a function of a glued hosel and a reduction in the sliding weight. You’re basically 1, $30 weight away from turning your Epic into an Epic Star…and that’s before we talk about the loft game being played with the hybrids and irons.

Look, Callaway has produced incredible product over the last 2 years, but this one…the entire story is a shaft that the majority of the target audience doesn’t need. Your money, spend it however you’d like, but understand that you’re being offered an existing product for significantly more money.

As for any suggestion that we’re on the TaylorMade payroll. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve read in a day full of stupid things. Do some basic sniffing around before you throw that one out there. They’re literally the last company that would pay us for anything and most anybody who reads us with any regularity knows it.

Here’s what’s real. We have an excellent relationship with Callaway. My guess is they don’t love this story, but if they have a major problem with it, I’ll hear about it. We’ll discuss it like adults and move on, but the reality is everything I wrote is 100% factual based on information provided by Callaway. There’s no bias, just factual information about specs and how Callaway arrived at those specs. – TC