Even though many of us are worried about how AI will take over our lives, I think the Callaway Epic Flash driver is the way of the future when it comes to golf clubs.
Callaway spent about $5 million on a supercomputer to make the sketch for the Epic Flash driver. At first, even their R&D guys didn’t understand what it came up with.
It works like this: you give the computer the legal limits and a few other rules, then you let it figure out the best design. It fails a lot, but it learns from those failures, and after 15,000 tries, it comes up with the Flash Face.
The back of the card shows that the Flash Face is made up of thick and thin lines that form what looks like an ear.
The human-designed X face has a more even shape with a bigger part behind the middle to make it legal. This one is very different.
Callaway is still learning how the Flash Face works to make the ball go faster, just like the computer. But that’s all you need to know.
The faster ball needs a stronger face to handle it. The Epic Flash Face is made from 595C Super Aged Forged Titanium, which is heated to make it stronger and then laser welded to the head.
To get the thickness down from 5/1000 of an inch to 2/1000 of an inch, the face is first cast on the inside and then milled on the front. This keeps it closer and closer to the limit.
The laser-etched lines look pretty cool, and the five bigger squares at the ends of the lines around the sweet spot are grooves that were etched. This means that when the club is at address, you can see two lines of white dots that line up with the ball to help you line it up.
A new T2C Triaxial Carbon with a tighter carbon weave is also in the crown. It is lighter. It only has 9.7g of weight and helps cut down on the CG.
After that, the tech includes the well-known Jailbreak bars, which connect the sole to the crown to make the frame stiffer and increase ball speed.
Finally, the weight that slides is back. It was in the Epic but not the Rogue. It now weighs 16g more and goes on a shorter track than in the Epic. This is done so that the weight doesn’t move too far forward and move the CG out of place.
As you can see, this head is somewhere between the Epic and the Rogue in terms of size and depth.
Many people liked how fast the Epic was, but it could have been more forgiving if you didn’t hit it right. A lot of people found that the Rogue solved their problem, but I didn’t like the shape that was drawn back, and I wasn’t going any farther with it.
I think that with the Epic Flash, they took the best parts of both and added a faster face. The Epic has a more open sound, but this one has a Callaway carbon sound to it.
The lead edge is set back from the curvy line that is typical of Callaway clubs.
It makes me think of older FT drivers, but this isn’t my favorite way to look at alignment. If the line is taking the place of the Speed Step, it’s not being overt about it; running your finger over it makes you feel something.
The OptiFit hosel can be adjusted from -2° to +2°, and when I use it to get to about 10°, I like to go up from 9° instead of down from 10.5° to keep the face angle more straight.
There is a raised bump on the back of each of the three stock shafts that helps you line up your hands. These grips are called Golf Pride Align. Both of the OptiFit rings can turn on their own, so you can keep this in the right place when you change the loft.
On GC2, I used Titleist Pro V1x balls and the Project X HZRDUS shaft that Epic fitted me for. I also brought the Epic Flash, Rogue, and original Epic drivers.
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With this set up, the Epic Flash gave me ball speed that was about the same as the Epic. I was able to get a higher launch with the Epic Flash, which gave me an extra couple of yards. This was because the CG was deeper than on the Epic.
The Epic had a deeper head than the Rogue, so I was able to lower the loft. The deeper head gave good lift with less spin. This means that the deeper head gives you more mercy and the straighter face gives you more ball speed. If you can do this, it’s kind of a win-win.
But this wasn’t the best choice for me, as I’ll show below with the Sub Zero model.
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A Look at the Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero Driver
It has all the same features as the regular Callaway Epic Flash driver, but it has a smaller head.
A lighter 12g weight is in the back, and a screw weight is just behind the face. This moves the center of gravity (CG) forward and slows down the spin.
At address, it looks like it’s about the same size as the first Epic driver, which means it will be bigger than the first Epic Sub-Zero.
Because the head was set up to give 2.5 mph more ball speed with less spin and the same launch, the Epic Flash Sub Zero is the better choice for me than the normal model. The ball went an extra 6 yards.
The Epic Flash Sub Zero is about the same size as the regular Epic, but the head is a little lower, which makes it seem more give. To get the most distance out of your sets, you really need to go through a good fitting process with both the Epic Flash heads and different shafts.
Review of the Callaway Epic Flash Driver Verdict
Overall, this is a pretty cool new idea from Callaway. What’s even cooler about the Flash Face is that the back is designed to fit heads of this size and shape. On the inside of a different type of head, the shape will be different, as you can see from the Callaway Epic Flash Fairway’s Flash Face form.
The Flash Face does offer faster ball speed, just like Jailbreak did before it. If you can find the right launch and spin settings, you should also see a distance increase.
Also, it’s great to see the Epic name and colors back. I didn’t really like the blue of the Rogue, even though it worked well and was the best-selling car on the market.
Because the Epic Flash costs more, if you really like your Rogue, you might want to hold on to it for a little while longer. It will still be around for a while, and some higher handicappers may like the extra mercy it gives.
But if you already have the original Epic, I think you should get a Flash because it looks better, is more forgiving, and has faster ball speed.
