Callaway Golf is proud to announce the European launch of udesign™ by Callaway, a new era in golf club personalisation and customisation. udesign by Callaway, an online customisation tool, gives golfers purchasing a RAZR Fit® Driver the unprecedented ability to design their own version of the Company’s hot new club that is already in the hands of Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Alvaro Quiros.

Featuring an innovative and easy-to-use online interface, golfers can visit www.callawaygolf.com/udesign to select your own colour choices on RAZR Fit’s clubhead and grip, as well as a myriad of shaft model and other custom configurations. udesign by Callaway presents the opportunity to design thousands of unique versions of the award-winning RAZR Fit Driver, giving you the ability to express their individualism on the course like never before.

Accessible to virtually customise RAZR Fit drivers for both Men and Ladies models, the udesign by Callaway process begins with the selection of a right-handed or left-handed clubhead and a range of loft and colour choices. With each selection, the RAZR Fit image on screen modifies in real time to embody the latest design choice. After making a colour selection, advanced customisation options detailing the choice of stock or after-market shaft, its flex, length, grip model and wraps follow. When finished, you can view multiple angles of their configuration and also send your unique RAZR Fit design to friends and contacts via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Email through a dedicated share function.

Recently introduced to Callaway’s staff professionals and brand ambassadors, the udesign by Callaway platform has sent a charge of excitement through a team that was already thrilled with RAZR Fit’s performance and look. San Diego native Phil Mickelson chose powder blue and gold in honor of the Chargers. Callaway Staff Professional and apparel ambassador Alvaro Quiros commented, “Give me one in every colour and I will match my driver with my apparel!”

Introduced in December and already a winner on the PGA and European Tours, the RAZR Fit Driver was named Editor’s Choice by Golf Digest’s annual “Hot List” equipment review. By combining the performance benefits gained from several proprietary technologies with an easy-to-understand adjustability system, Callaway is empowering players around the world to dial in their game with RAZR Fit.

The udesign by Callaway personalisation and customisation features an additional fee of £40 / €50 (or local currency equivalent) on top of the standard RAZR Fit price, while certain after-market shaft and grip choices may entail additional costs – please check with your retailer when ordering. The ability to make designs and place orders is immediately available; the first RAZR Fit Drivers personalised with udesign by Callaway will begin shipping in May 2012.

For more on Callaway Golf, please visit www.CallawayGolf.com

“It is extremely satisfying to be honored with four ‘Hot List’ Gold Medals from among our various Callaway golf ball offerings,” said Steve Ogg, Vice President, Global Golf Ball Category. “It took a great deal of effort from our golf ball R&D and Operations teams to develop not only our new HEX Black Tour ball, but also the new HEX Chrome product. Our goal is to offer the best performing golf ball at every price point and we feel we have achieved that with these new golf balls and the rest of our 2012 offerings.”

Callaway, which earned more Gold and Silver Medals than any other manufacturer within the Equipment Hot List that Golf Digest released earlier this year, struck Gold with the HEX Black Tour Golf Ball, currently being played by Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Alvaro Quiros, Branden Grace and a host of other elite professionals. This new five-piece offering earned a Gold Medal in the Tour category. Golf Digest awarded the HEX Black Tour 4½ stars (out of five) for Performance, 4 ½ stars for Innovation, and four stars for Feel. The HEX Black Tour is now available at retail for £39.99 per dozen.

In Golf Digest’s Premium category, Callaway’s new HEX Chrome Golf Ball dominated the field, capturing “Category Leader” distinctions in both Performance and Innovation. The magazine wrote of the new three-piece ball: “In all the right ways, HEX Chrome is a tour ball. In one way, though, it thankfully isn’t: price.” The HEX Chrome, which features a softer core than the HEX Black Tour to deliver more ball speed for players that don’t possess top-end swing speeds, is the best three-piece urethane ball Callaway has ever made. It was engineered for complete performance from tee to green, allowing golfers to take advantage of high spin around the greens and penetrating distance off the tee. The HEX Chrome is now available at retail for £34.99 per dozen.

The HX Diablo Tour™, another three-piece offering that retails for £24.99 per dozen, earned a Gold Medal in the Premium range for the second consecutive year. Golf Digest called the HX Diablo Tour, “A reliable performer on all swings, it gives what most golfers want from their tee shots; high launch and low spin, but with the added benefit of greenside control.”

In the Value category, the two-piece Callaway HX Diablo™ earned Gold for the second consecutive year. Awarding it 4½ stars for both Performance and Feel, Golf Digest called the HX Diablo “a distance ball with a soft feel that doesn’t become mushy. That’s no easy feat.” The HX Diablo retails for £21.99 per dozen.

The Flip Face Putter features an innovative, patented system that allows golfers to change the face insert of the putter quickly and easily to fine-tune feel and performance. With the introduction of Flip Face, Odyssey, the #1 Putter in Golf®, further extends club customisation options to all golfers, and meets an increasing demand for adjustable equipment that dials in a golfer’s game.

By using a clever screwdriver that doubles as a divot tool, golfers can unscrew a single component in the self-contained putter head to seamlessly rotate the putter face 180 degrees, allowing them to choose between two inserts: the new Metal-X® Insert or the popular White Ice® Insert. The two-sided putter face allows players to adjust their Odyssey putter for feel, speed and roll characteristics based on course and weather conditions.

“Engineering the Flip Face Putter to be a self-contained and conforming piece of adjustable equipment while also performing to the standards of the world’s best players was not a simple task,” said Austie Rollinson, Principal Designer, Odyssey Golf. “But we love a daunting challenge at Odyssey, and we think the Flip Face – with both a Metal-X and White Ice Insert – offers golfers a considerable advantage to dial in their game with a simple adjustment made before the round begins.”

Featuring a satin chrome finish for a clean, premium look, the Flip Face Putter will be available in three popular Odyssey models: the #1, a rounded heel-toe weighted blade putter with a crank-neck hosel and full-shaft offset; the #5, a rounded mallet putter with a single bend shaft and full-shaft offset; and the #9, a toe-weighted, heel-shafted, flanged blade putter with a long hosel and half-shaft offset.

Among the early adopters to Flip Face was PGA Tour Professional Stuart Appleby, who put the #5 model in play early in the 2012 season. “I really like the look of the Flip Face, and it reminds me of the license plates on James Bond’s car that used to flip around,” Appleby said. “I like the Metal-X insert so much; I love that firm feel. But it’s nice having the option to switch to the White Ice insert if you want to.”

“I also think it shows that Odyssey as a brand is always pushing to develop new things and leading the way when it comes to putter innovation,” Appleby said. “It’s a very cool design.”

Each Flip Face Putter comes standard with a Lamkin® 3GEN® Pistol Grip, made of Lamkin’s proprietary 3GEN material, which is their softest synthetic rubber compound and reduces vibration without dulling the feel of the putt. The material allows golfers to keep their forearms relaxed, apply very light grip pressure, and minimise hand tension for smooth, consistent strokes.

About the Metal-X Insert
With a lightweight aluminium face in front of a urethane backer layer, the Metal-X Insert provides golfers the crisp feedback of a metal striking surface with the benefits of a softer feel for optimal touch. Additionally, the lightweight aluminium outer layer on the Metal-X Insert has a face pattern unlike any other putter in golf, with oval depressions that create a mechanical lock with the ball’s pocked surface at impact. This mechanical lock creates more friction, which delivers a lower launch with optimised topspin for reduced skidding and the truest roll through steady ball deceleration. The urethane inner layer provides soft touch and saves weight to optimise performance. Together, the two layers combine for crisp responsiveness and sound.

About the White Ice Insert
Developed in tandem with Tour Pros and in step with evolving golf ball technology, Odyssey’s multi-layer White Ice Insert has been fine tuned in the Flip Face line of putters to enhance sound, responsiveness and consistency. Already wildly popular on Tour and among amateur golfers, White Ice’s inner core is firmer and stiffer to enhance feel and resiliency, supporting distance control. Additionally, the insert’s face surface has been roughened to increase friction with softer golf balls, promoting a better forward roll and a more appealing sound at impact.

Odyssey is the number one putter across the world’s major professional tours in wins, usage and top-10 finishes.

For more on Odyssey’s complete product lineup, please visit www.odysseygolf.com.

There have been just 15 events on the European Tour this season, and following early season wins at The Joburg Open and the Volvo Golf Champions, the young South African has won 20 percent of them!

The 23-year-old now joins legendary golfers Seve Ballesteros and Sandy Lyle, who have also won a trio of tour titles at such a young age. He also becomes only the third South African to win three times in a single season, and again he is in the company of Major winners, with Ernie Els and Retief Goosen as the other players to do so.

Grace, enjoying his first season as a Callaway Staff Professional, led from the front during the final round in China and has now set his sights on even greater achievements this season.

“I want to get better, I want to win more titles and I want to play the Majors and make a name for myself around the world,” said an ecstatic Grace, who carded a final round 69 to leave him three shots clear of the field.

He added: “To have three wins before May is literally unbelievable, but I’ve been playing well so I’ve been feeling like I can win and I’ve been giving myself opportunities. I’m definitely competing to win every week I play right now.”

Neil Howie, President of Callaway Golf Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “Branden is a delight to work with and he deserves everything that he is currently achieving. To replicate a feat attained by both Ballesteros and Lyle, in claiming three European Tour wins at such a young age, tells you everything about this boy’s talent and we believe that there are no limits to what he can accomplish.”

Driving distance and iron accuracy was a key ingredient in Grace’s victory in China. He was fifth in the field in driving distance using his Callaway RAZR Fit Driver to average 301.4 yards off the tee and was also third in the field in Greens in Regulation, hitting 86 % for the tournament with his Callaway RAZR X Forged irons.

Here’s what equipment Branden Grace had in his bag this week:

• RAZR Fit Driver (8.5° N)
• RAZR Fit 3-Wood (13°)
• Diablo Edge Tour Hybrid (18°)
• X Forged ’09 Irons (3-PW)
• X-Forged Wedges (52°, 60°)
• HEX Black Tour Ball
• Odyssey Black Series Tour Design #1 Wide Putter

For further information about the complete Callaway product range visit www.callawaygolf.com

The first key to playing effectively from the rough is accurately assessing the lie of your ball: how deep or buried is your ball? The club you hit and what type of shot you play are dictated by this because the rough creates resistance as the club enters the grass, causing the club to slow down or decelerate before impact. The heavier the rough, the more rapidly the club slows down. Obviously, the club head slowing down results in a loss of distance. So, judging how much grass is going to interfere with the club head before impact is critical.

If your ball is sitting where some portion of the ball is above the tallest blades of grass (Image 1 above), the loss of club head speed will be minimal and therefore so will be the loss of distance. In this circumstance, take one more club than you’d normally hit from that yardage and let er’ rip. High lofted fairway woods and hybrids can be especially effective in this circumstance.

For a lie where the top of the ball is even with the top of the grass (Image 2 above), you’re also going to take an extra club than you normally would for the given distance, but now you also need to alter your technique slightly. In this situation you want to make your swing plane steeper or more upright so you approach the ball with a more vertical angle. This technique minimises the amount of resistance from the rough.

Doing so requires a few minor adjustments to your set-up (see the images below). First, at address open both your stance and the club face slightly (Image 3 below). Next, play the ball in the middle of your stance (Image 4 below). And finally, increase the grip pressure in both hands. This will help keep the club face from closing rapidly as the club enters the grass (the long grass in the rough often wraps around the hosel of the club before impact causing the club face to close and the ball to come out low and left).

With your set-up adjusted, begin your swing by focusing on taking the club away more with your arms (Image 5 below) than by turning your shoulders (Image 6 below), as is normally desired. Initiating your backswing with your arms together and an open set-up will promote a more upright swing plane, resulting in the desired more vertical angle of attack. When executed correctly, it should feel like you’re hitting a cut shot.

The worse case scenario in the rough is when the entire ball is deep under the top of the grass. In this case, your best option the majority of the time is going to be to take a high lofted club and put the ball back in the fairway. As you may have witnessed in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, this is the option even the best players in the world chose most often. One thing you will notice when the pros play back to the fairway from the rough is that if it’s at all possible, they lay-up in the fairway to a favourite yardage. For some that yardage maybe 90 yards, for others it may be 75 yards. This is a great lesson for amateurs also. When you’re at the driving range, determine how far your sand wedge or lob wedge goes with a normal swing and then try laying up out of heavy rough to that distance. It won’t take long for you to realise laying up to a specific yardage from heavy rough and relying on your wedge game is far more practical than lashing at the ball with a long iron or fairway wood.

So remember, playing from the rough is part of the game and it doesn’t have to destroy your score. If you learn to assess your lie correctly, alter your set-up and swing plane as needed and choose the correct club you’ll prevent the rough from wreaking havoc on your score card.

Original article by Randy Peterson
Callaway Golf Director of Fitting and Instruction

Callaway Staff Player and three-times Masters champion Phil Mickelson came up just short in his bid for a fourth Green Jacket this weekend at Augusta, falling two shots shy of a playoff that ultimately determined the winner. Displaying a dazzling array of shots on Saturday, Phil thrilled the Augusta patrons with a 6-under-par 66, including a spectacular flop shot from the back of the 15^th green that will be remembered for a long time to come.

In Phil’s bag: RAZR Fit Driver (9.5º) ; Big Bertha Diablo 3-Wood (15º); RAZR Fit 5-Wood (18º); RAZR X Muscle Back Irons (4-PW); X-Series JAWS Wedges (52º, 60º & 64º); HEX Black Tour Golf Ball and an Odyssey White Hot XG ‘PM’ Blade Putter.

Furyk & Jacobson have solid Masters
Callaway Driver & Ball Staff Player Jim Furyk continued to rely on Callaway equipment (namely the RAZR Fit Driver and the HEX Black Tour Golf Ball) as he steadily returns to form in 2012. This week, Furyk finished a strong solo 11th at Augusta.

Fredrik Jacobson (the answer to our #RAZRMasters Twitter competition!) had a gutsy week at the Masters. After an opening-round 76 had Freddie staring at a possible missed cut on Friday, the Swede fought back and carded a second-round 68 and third round 70. He finished with a 74 on Sunday and tied for 19th place. Freddie re-shafted his Callaway Big Bertha Diablo 3-wood with his Miyazaki Kusala gamer shaft at 43 ½ inches. He had tried another shaft at 44 inches but it felt too loose and was going left and right. The Miyazaki was re-built at 43½ inches, which is his normal length.

Gary Player fine-tunes RAZR Fit for ceremonial first tee shot
On Thursday morning,  Gary Player made a little adjustment to his RAZR Fit Driver prior to kicking off the Masters with the ceremonial opening tee shot alongside Jack Nicklaus and fellow Callaway Icon Arnold Palmer (who also used the new RAZR Fit Driver). Mr Player worked with Callaway tour reps and got a higher lofted club head and adjusted the cog to hit the ball higher and help attain his desired draw ball flight. He loved the club so much that his caddy came to the Callaway Tour Truck on Wednesday to confirm the longer distance and wanted to get a RAZR Fit 3-Wood to match the driver.

So that’s it for another exciting Masters. We will of course keep you up-to-date with the latest news from all the European Tour and WGC events, and the remaining Majors, the next being the US Open in June. For more behind-the-scenes news and pictures, be sure to follow us on @CallawayTourSpy or become a fan of our Callaway Golf Europe Facebook page.

The field has been finalised for this year’s Masters at Augusta National, and there is a great selection of Callaway Staff Players competing for the green jacket. Check out our RAZR Family of Irons “Rooftop” advert below, and let us know which Callaway Staff Player, playing in this week’s Masters Tournament, is accompanying Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey as he takes on an epic par 4 high above the streets of Las Vegas. Simply tweet the player’s name, and include the hashtag #RAZRMasters for your chance to win.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED BUT PLEASE FEEL FREE TO VISIT OUR TWITTER PAGE

HOW TO ENTER

• Follow us on Twitter @CallawayTourSpy
• Tweet us which Callaway Staff Player appears in the “Rooftop” advert AND will be taking part in year’s Masters Tournament
• Important: Remember to include the hashtag #RAZRMasters
• Check out our Facebook page, our Twitter feed or the MyCallaway.eu website after the 9th April to see if you’re one of the lucky winners.

LIKE THIS COMPETITION? WANT TO WIN MORE?
Become a fan of our Callaway Europe Facebook page to keep up to date with latest competitions, promotions and content, and to engage with our brand and fellow fans of Callaway.

Terms & Conditions
The competition is open to participants aged 18 and over (16 years and over for Scotland residents) residing within Europe and by entering the competition; entrants are declaring themselves to be over 18 years old (16 years old for Scotland residents) and confirm that they have read and understood these terms and conditions and agree to be bound by them. Entrants must include the hashtag #RAZRMasters in their Tweet, and include their answer of which Callaway Staff Player they think appears in the 2012 Callaway “Rooftop” advertisement in Las Vegas AND who is taking part in the 2012 Masters Tournament. Any Tweet with the hashtag #RAZRMasters will be entered into the competition save that any tweet that could be considered defamatory, offensive, abusive, obscene, hateful or inflammatory in any way may be removed from the competition at Promoter’s sole discretion and Promoter shall have no liability to the entrant in such a case, such decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered in to. Employees of Callaway Golf Europe Ltd. and their immediate families, agents or anyone professionally connected with the promotion are excluded from entry. Entries are restricted to one entry per day only, and quantity will not guarantee you are a successful entrant.

Entrants must adhere to the Twitter Guidelines of use: https://support.twitter.com/articles/18311-the-twitter-rules

The winner will be drawn at random from qualifying entries after the competition closes, based on the parameters outlined above. No purchase is necessary. The judges’ decision is final in all matters and no correspondence will be entered into.

The competition opens on Tuesday 3^rd April 2012 at 2pm (14:00 GMT) and closes at 8am (08:00 GMT) on Monday 9th April 2012. The winner will be notified via their competition entry Twitter account after the competition closes. Winners are required to supply their name, address and email address in order to receive the prize, and agree to supply one quote on their win, and one image of the prize in their possession to be used for promotional purposes. This information will not be used for any other purpose unless stated otherwise.

The prizes consist of one first prize: a set consisting of eight (8) irons of any Callaway RAZR Irons (RAZR XF, RAZR X, RAZR X Tour, RAZR X Black, RAZR X HL or RAZR X Forged) with Graphite or Steel shafts and 1 dozen (12) HEX Black Tour Balls; and 10 RUNNER-UP prizes of 1dozen (12) HEX Black Tour Balls. No cash alternatives will be offered and the prize is non-transferable and non-refundable and Callaway Golf Europe Ltd. reserves the right to offer a substitute prize of equal or greater value in the event of the prize becoming unavailable. If the Promoter is not able, for any reason, to contact a winner by midnight on Tuesday 24th April 2012 using the details provided to it, then the Promoter reserves the right to choose another winner and to reallocate the prize to such new winner.

The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any loss, damage, injury or disappointment suffered by any entrant resulting from entering this prize draw or by the entrant’s acceptance of the prize, or any damage to any entrant’s or other person’s computer or mobile phone equipment as a consequence of entering or downloading any material relating to this prize draw. Nothing shall exclude the Promoter’s liability for death or personal injury resulting from its negligence.

The Promoter reserves the right to modify, cancel, terminate or suspend this competition in whole or in part, at its sole discretion, if it believes the competition is not capable of being conducted within these terms and conditions or in the event of a virus, computer bug or unauthorised human intervention or any other cause that is beyond the reasonable control of the Promoter that could corrupt or affect the administration, security, impartiality or normal course of the competition.

Any entrant who enters or attempts to enter the competition in a manner, which in Promoter’s determination is contrary to these terms and conditions or by its nature is fraudulent or unjust to other entrants (including but not limited to tampering with the operation of the competition, cheating, hacking, deception or any other unfair playing practices such as intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or Promoter and/or any of its agents or representatives), or who submits an illegible or incomplete entry, may be rejected from the competition at Promoter’s sole discretion.

The Promoter of this competition is Callaway Gold Europe Ltd., Unit A27, Barwell Business Park, Leatherhead Road, Chessington, Surrey, KT9 2NY. By entering this competition you are agreeing to take part in any promotional activity resulting from your win. The winners name will be posted on the official Callaway Golf Europe Facebook page and @CallawayTourSpy Twitter account after 10th April 2012.

“The idea for the new Metal-X putters came from working with several Tour players who liked the look and performance of our putters, but wanted the feel of a more metallic face,” said Austie Rollinson, Principal Designer for Odyssey Putters. “We took their feedback and decided to create an aluminum face with a urethane backing layer in order to maintain a lightweight face that helps us optimise the weight distribution in our designs.”

However, in an effort to improve feel and performance, Rollinson added another key feature. The lightweight aluminum outer layer on the Metal-X putters has a face pattern unlike any other putter in golf, with oval depressions that create a mechanical lock with the ball’s dimples at impact. This mechanical lock creates more friction, which delivers a lower launch with optimised topspin for reduced skidding and the truest roll in the game through steady ball deceleration. The urethane inner layer provides soft touch and saves weight to optimise performance. Together, the two layers combine for crisp responsiveness and sound.

“The texture on the face does two things—it reduces surface contact and increases edge contact between the face and the ball. Reducing the surface contact during impact helps us create a solid, yet soft, sound at impact. That sound equates to feel, so it’s a great feeling insert,” Rollinson explained. “I came up with the oval design on the aluminum insert to also create a lot of edges, which increases the friction between the face and the ball and helps create a very smooth and consistent roll.”

Taking specific feedback from Tour players, Rollinson incorporated a midnight black finish to increase durability and reduce glare on sunny days. First introduced on professional tours in early February, Metal-X putters have already been put in play by numerous players, including PGA Tour pros J.B. Holmes and Danny Lee. In fact, in the very first week of its availability on the European Tour, 13 players put various Metal-X models in play.

“Feedback from Metal-X’s first few weeks on the world’s tours has been phenomenal,” said Chris Koske, Global Director of the Odyssey Business. “Every tour professional we have spoken to has told us not only how good the insert feels, but also about how the ball seems to hug the green.”

Each Metal-X putter comes standard with a Lamkin® 3GEN® Pistol Grip, made of Lamkin’s proprietary 3GEN material, which is their softest synthetic rubber compound and reduces vibration without dulling the feel of the putt. The material allows golfers to keep their forearms relaxed, apply very light grip pressure, and minimize hand tension for smooth, consistent strokes.

The Metal-X putters will be available in Europe on 15th April, in a wide variety of models, including the Core #1, #6, #7, #8, #9, and Rossie models and the more Progressive 2-Ball and D.A.R.T. models, while the Metal-X #7 will also be available in Mid and Long options.

For more information about the Metal-X Series of Putters, please visit www.odysseygolf.com/metal-X. For more on Odyssey’s line-up of popular Belly and Long putters, please visit www.odysseygolf.com/bellyputters, and to see Odyssey’s complete product lineup, please click here: www.odysseygolf.com.

Launch Angle and Backspin
Today, most golfers are familiar with terms such as “launch angle” and “backspin” — especially as they relate to hitting a driver. These terms are mentioned often during televised golf tournaments and covered regularly in golf magazines. A large number of retail golf shops and pro shops now have launch monitors capable of measuring these and many other parameters. Launch monitors, such as FlightScope, are routinely used during club fitting sessions and at Demo Day events throughout Europe. For the record, launch angle is defined as the angle the ball leaves the clubface relative to horizontal and is measured in degrees. Backspin is the rate the ball spins backward around its rotational axis and is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm). Optimising these two parameters, along with ball speed, allows you to achieve your maximum driver distance. Optimum launch angle and backspin rate vary depending on ball speed. However, a launch angle of 10°-14° and a backspin rate of 2200-2600 rpm can be considered in the optimum range.

So, what are the critical factors contributing to the optimization of launch angle and backspin? Obviously the loft of the club plays a crucial role and is vital to determine when being fit for a driver. As a point of reference, a 1° change in loft will result in a change of 1° in launch angle and 300 rpm of backspin, assuming a center clubface impact. That means if you move from a 9° driver to a 10° driver, and hit a shot with each club in the center of the clubface, you can expect the 10° driver to launch a degree higher and the backspin rate to have an increase of 300 rpm. This 1° difference in launch angle and 300 rpm difference in backspin is enough to cause a 5-6 yard net difference in distance. And I don’t know anyone who would turn down an additional 5-6 yards off the tee.

The Importance of Impact Location
Another important factor in determining launch angle and backspin is impact location: the exact point on the clubface that makes contact with the ball. In fact, the variability in launch angle and backspin caused by various impact locations is enormous. Impact location has a much more dramatic affect on launch angle and backspin with a driver than loft alone. And since no one hits the ball in the same place on the clubface every time—not even Tour Professionals and certainly not average golfers—we must account for the effects of impact location when talking about launch angle and backspin.

For the purposes of this article we’re only talking about varying impact locations in the vertical plane, from top-to-bottom on the clubface.

Woods and hybrids, unlike irons, do not have flat clubfaces. They have curved clubfaces. The curvature is called “roll”. Because the clubface on woods is not flat, the club doesn’t have the same loft on all points of the clubface. For example, a driver will have more loft at the top of the club head and less loft at the bottom. The loft you read stamped on the bottom of a given driver is the loft measured in the center of the clubface. Hitting the ball above the center of the club face will result in a higher launch angle than if you had hit the ball in the middle of the club face. The higher you hit it on the clubface, the bigger the discrepancy in launch angle when compared to a center impact. Hitting below the center of the clubface will have the opposite effect: the ball will launch lower than if you’d hit it in the center of the club face. And it’s not just the launch angle that’s affected. Back spin also varies greatly depending on impact location. Relative to impact location, backspin is inversely proportional to launch angle (caused by gear-effect). This means as launch angle goes up, backspin goes down and vice versa. So if you hit a shot high on the clubface with a driver you can expect the ball to launch higher with less backspin than if you’d hit the ball in the center of the club face. Again, the opposite is true for hitting the ball low on the clubface: the ball will launch lower and have more backspin than if it had been hit in the center of the clubface.

What It All Means To You
In extreme cases, where the golfer has a very wide dispersion in impact location, it’s possible to see launch angles vary by 8°-10° and backspin by as much as 1500-2000 rpm. Even among accomplished golfers it’s not uncommon to see variances of 3-4 in launch angle and 500 rpm in back spin. There can be a 20-30 yard difference in distance with the same club head speed based on impact location alone. Being aware of the significant effect impact location plays on the resulting shot will help you better understand the variance in your driver distance. In fact, we’ve seen players improve their driving simply by paying more attention to where they to hit the ball on the clubface and making small adjustments to their swing, tee height or ball position.

This is not to suggest that getting fit for the right driver with the correct loft isn’t important. On the contrary, it’s very important. Rather, the point of this column is to illustrate the effect impact location has on the resulting ball flight.

Understanding the effects of impact location on launch angle and backspin can help ensure you get fit into the correct driver specifications and can also improve your performance with your current driver. Whenever you’re comparing two drivers with different lofts or drivers with the same loft but different models/brands, make sure you’re paying attention to where you’re hitting each driver on the clubface. Comparing shots hit in similar locations will provide you the most accurate feedback, allowing you to truly compare the benefits of each club. Remember, your impact location will have a greater affect on the outcome of the shot than any other individual variable.

It features a clean and traditional look at address, yet delivers best-in-class performance, thanks to the inclusion of the Callaway R&D Team’s latest technological advancements. The driver’s crown is made of Forged Composite, a highly advanced carbon composite material that was developed in partnership with luxury Italian automaker Automobili Lamborghini. It is the lightest, strongest, most precise material either company has ever employed. Forged Composite allows our engineers to precisely design a clubhead that produces optimal launch and spin characteristics for greater distance.

The RAZR X Black also introduces the Company’s proprietary SpeedFrame™ Face Technology, which melds Callaway’s VFT® and Hyperbolic Face™ advancements to create a larger sweet spot and increased ball speeds across the titanium face. Streamlined Surface Technology reduces energy loss from head drag during the downswing by 23 percent compared to RAZR X Black’s predecessor, the Diablo Octane Driver, leading to higher impact speeds and additional distance off the tee.

Check out the product video above to find out more about the RAZR X Black Driver and the science behind delivering longer, straighter drives.