Is Big Bertha V Series the Next Optiforce?

Written By: Tony Covey

Freshly added to the USGA’s Conforming Clubs list this morning is what we’re reasonably certain is the follow-up to Callaway’s surprisingly likable FT Optiforce. Seriously. Lay out 2 season’s worth of Callaway drivers…X Hot, RAZR Fit Xtreme, X2 Hot, Big Bertha, Big Bertha Alpha…FT Optiforce is my favorite. It’s not even close.

Unfortunately for those of us who appreciate the radically different, this Optiforce Big Bertha doesn’t appear to have the spoiler described in the patent application we covered a few weeks ago. Bummer, right?

What We Can Tell from Grainy USGA Photographs

With respect to their photos, it’s the USGA’s job to document, not to win a Pulitzer, so as is usually the case, the photos don’t come close to telling the story. We’re going to have to do some well-educated speculating about this upcoming release.

Before we dig in any further, from a performance perspective, it’s important to remember that while aerodynamics are a legitimate way to increase head speed, the guys who already swing fast reap the greatest rewards. Simply put, if you swing 85 MPH, you’re not going to see nearly the same benefit as they guys who swings 115.  I know…it isn’t fair.

Still, something is always better nothing.

Because somebody else is surely going to point it out, the images suggest design elements that aren’t wholly visually dissimilar those found previously on Adams Speedline Tech driver. What I describe as channels can be found on both the toe side (similar to Adams) and the heel side (not similar). Those channels along with the phrase SPEED OPTIMIZED TECHNOLOGY, and Callaway’s inclusion of the scientific formula for Kinetic Energy into the graphics scheme, suggest a club designed to increase head speed through aerodynamics, and well, that fits very nicely into the Optiforce line.

If all of that wasn’t enough, I’m going to go out a limb and suggest that V is for Velocity. Hooray…more physics-y words.

And you know…it’s been about a year since the launch of Optiforce, so it fits from a timing perspective as well.

The USGA doesn’t do crown photographs, so we can’t tell if Callaway’s got anything akin to PING’s Turbulators in play, but my guess the crown is clean. The channels will account for the bulk of the story.

As far as lofts are concerned, the USGA has approved 9.5°, 10.5°, and a 13.5° HT model. With Callaway’s Optifit Hosel, that should cover just about all of us. Thus far no “Pro” models have been approved by the USGA.

But It’s Not an Optiforce

Not surprisingly, it appears Callaway will position the new V series as part of the Bertha family. The company is clearly committed to the reinvigorated franchise, and so it’s just good branding to stamp Bertha on as many drivers as reasonably possible.

You love Bertha right? Well, here’s another one.

The new Callaway Golf (let’s call it the Chip Brewer era) has shown a willingness to play it a little campy at times. The marketing team refers to itself as the Zoo Crew (it’s cheesy right?…not that a little cheese is a bad thing), they sometimes tweet silly little graphics and assorted inside jokes along with their persistent message about physics. Now they’re stamping cartoons on the bottom of their drivers.

The fun stuff draws you in. You become an insider. You get the joke, and when they’ve really got your attention…#BOOM. Physics. Physics. Physics. Branding is serious business.

Let’s be real for a second. That Sir Isaac Newton logo on the bottom of the new driver…it’s pure cheese. It’s campy. It’s almost certainly going to get a rise out of the “No Real Golfer would…” crowd.

Could TaylorMade pull that off right now? Would Titleist ever try? That’s the beauty of being Callaway right now…they have a growing audience of golfers who aren’t categorically opposed to the notion that golf should be fun. That’s an audience I’m guessing some others would love to cultivate. Others have certainly tried.

Re-Building an Identity

Every brand has an identity…or at least every brand wants an identity (and the one they get isn’t always the one it wants). Titleist has Performance (and Quality). PING has Engineering. TaylorMade has … hmm…I don’t know…and that’s a problem. And while it’s almost certainly been calculated every step of the way, Callaway appears on the verge of cementing its place (real or contrived…doesn’t matter) as the most physics-inclined company in golf.

Physics is Callaway.

Have Your Say

Were you an Optiforce Guy? Are you a Bertha Guy…or just a Callaway Guy in a more general sort of way?

What do you think of the next Bertha and/or the idea that Physics is Callaway.