First Look: Callaway Big Bertha Fusion Fairway Woods

The 20 Second Intro

Callaway leverages multi-material construction and Speed Step technology to create its most forgiving fairway wood.

Available Lofts: 3-wood (15°), 5-wood (18°), 7-wood (21°)
Adjustability: None
Stock Shaft: UST Recoil ES
Stock Length: 3-wood – 43″, 5-wood – 42.5″, 7-wood – 42″
Retail Price: $249
Availability: Pre-Sale beginning 9/9. Full retail 9/30

Not unlike the namesake driver, Callaway’s goal with the Big Bertha Fusion fairway was to use shape and multi-material construction to create its most forgiving fairway wood ever.

Call it the same, but a little different.

While the Big Bertha Fusion fairway wood does feature a Triaxial carbon crown, it lacks the EXO-CAGE of the driver. That means nearly all of the comparative weight savings come from the change in crown materials.

Callaway’s comparative weight data is based on the steel-crowned XR 16, which makes for a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. It also, however, makes the weight-saving benefits of carbon fiber all the more clear.

According to Callaway, Bertha Fusion’s Triaxial carbon offers a savings of nearly 20 grams over XR 16’s steel crown. For those who don’t obsess over mass properties (most of you, I’m guessing), 20 grams may not sound like much, so it’s important to note that 20 grams works out to a 78% reduction in total crown weight.

That’s significant.

As is usually the case with these weight saving stories, Callaway took most of that extra mass and moved it low and to the back of the clubhead. The result is a 19% bump in MOI (forgiveness) compared to the XR 16 fairway.

Other Features

Speed Step Crown – For the first time Callaway is using its aerodynamics-enhancing Speed Step crown in a fairway wood. By Callaway’s own admission, there’s inherently less drag with a fairway wood than a driver to begin with. Couple that with slower head speeds in general (the benefits of Speed Step are exponentially proportional to head speed), and you can understand why any Speed Step related gains might be minimal. That said… it’s golf and every little bit counts… especially when there’s water between you and the target.

Refined Sole Shape – Callaway has reduced the amount of contact area on the sole with the goal of improving turf interaction, while improving the overall versatility of the club.

Bonded Hosel – Perhaps not so much a feature as it is a lack of one, but we’d be remiss to point out that the Big Bertha Fusion fairway wood features a traditional, bonded (glued) hosel, and is not adjustable.

What it Gets You

In what basically amounted to a footnote in the Callaway presentation, Callaway suggests that the Big Bertha Fusion launches 1° higher than the PING G while producing 1.3 MPH higher ball speed (based on player testing).

We haven’t yet had a chance to independently verify the claim, but the comparison alone suggests that Callaway is serious about positioning the Big Bertha Fusion as among the most forgiving on the market today.

Will the Shape Be A Problem?

As with the driver it’s going to be interesting to see how the unconventionally-shaped Big Bertha Fusion fairway resonates with consumers. If it falls flat, shape will likely absorb most of the blame, and it could be quite some time before anyone strays this far from conventional.

If, however, Big Bertha Fusion is well-received by the golfing consumer, then I suspect we’ll very quickly see a reemergence of the trend toward so-called radical shapes. By nearly every account, the secret to higher MOI lies in geometry, but we won’t get there as long as the consumer continues to put aesthetics ahead of forgiveness.

Specs, Pricing, and Availability

The Callaway Big Bertha Fusion Fairway is available in lofts of 15°, 18°, and 21°. The stock shaft is the UST Recoil ES. Pre-Orders begin on 9/9/16, with full retail availability starting 9/30/16.

Retail price is $249.

For a limited time, all MyGolfSpy referred customers can get an additional 10% trade-in bonus on the value of their clubs when they use the code SPYTRADE.