The Callaway XR 16 family has been one of the most successful range of golf clubs in recent times; but why?

Not only are amateurs drooling over their newly-found distance and improved accuracy, but several tour winners are proving that the Callaway XR 16 product is amongst the best in the market – including Danny Willett hot off the back of his Masters triumph using the XR 16 wood line-up.

In this article, Foremost Golf looks at what Callaway has incorporated into their XR 16 products, and why this had led to such phenomenal results. You’re in for quite a surprise.

Forgiveness meets fast

That’s Callaway’s tagline for their XR 16 family, a range in which they teamed up with the experts at Boeing – yes, the company that designs aircrafts – to redefine what’s possible in a golf club. And boy have they done it! Here’s how...

• Callaway XR 16 Driver – The Callaway XR 16 driver tackles one of the biggest problems that manufacturers face when designing a driver; and that is to maximise forgiveness whilst making it fast in the downswing. In order to achieve this, Callaway and Boeing produced one of the best drivers golf has ever seen. The XR 16 driver features a sleek and aerodynamic crown that saves weight and increases clubhead speed, whilst shifting the centre of gravity lower in the head to improve forgiveness. That’s not all though, as the face is 19% thinner which leads to more ball speed across the club no matter whether you hit it off the heel, toe or on the sweet-spot – perfect for all golfers. As far as Callaway Golf drivers go, the XR 16 will take some considerable beating.
• Callaway XR 16 Fairway Wood– Callaway utilised Boeing once again to combine its highest MOI and lowest centre of gravity in a fairway wood. The lighter crown (in fact it’s the lightest ever crown Callaway has produced) helps to aid a high launch, ultimately providing golfers with even more ball speed and distance from tee and the fairway. The larger sweet-spot helps make the Callaway XR 16 fairway wood more playable from all lies.
• Callaway XR Iron – From a technological point of view, Callaway’s XR irons are a huge step forward. They’ve taken a face first used in a fairway wood (Cup 360 technology) and worked it into an iron head to add forgiveness, increases ball speed and make them easier to hit. What more could you want?
• Callaway XR Hybrid – Long irons are a thing of the past as more and more golfers opt for a hybrid as a replacement. As such, Callaway has produced the perfect complement to their XR iron range. The Callaway XR hybrid offers extreme forgiveness, high launch and increased distance, everything a golfer wants to replace those hard-to-hit long irons.

So, did you work out the common theme running across the Callaway XR 16 range? If not, how did you miss it? It’s the three things all golfers look for:

1. Added forgiveness
2. Increased ball speed (leading to increased distance)
3. Higher launch/ball flight

It’s all well and good when it comes from the brand itself, but the proof is in the pudding. With the repeated success that Callaway Golf Drivers have had this year – including seven wins in a row across tours – you can be guaranteed their claims are 100% true. All golfers will find a club that’s perfect for them in the Callaway XR 16 range, that’s for sure.

What are you waiting for?

There was a breakthrough moment for TaylorMade golfer Daniel Berger on the PGA Tour this week, claiming a three-shot victory in the FedEx St Jude Classic. On a course that puts a premium on hitting fairways, Berger excelled with the latest additions to his bag – TaylorMade M2 driver and fairway wood. In fact he averaged almost 310 yards off the tee (T5) and hit 60% of fairways over the week (T11), a winning combination in any tournament. After dropping a shot on the first hole, Berger steadied himself with two birdies on the front nine. Three further birdies in the space of four holes on the back nine secured a maiden Tour victory for the American, who heads into this week’s US Open in fine form.

What equipment did he use?

• Driver – TaylorMade M2 (10.5 loft)
• 3-wood – TaylorMade M2 (17 loft)
• Irons – TaylorMade RocketBladez Tour (3); TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC (4-PW)
• Wedges – TaylorMade Tour Preferred EF (50, 56 & 60)
• Putter – TaylorMade Corza Ghost
• Ball – Titleist Pro V1x

Austria played host to this week’s European Tour event, as the Lyoness Open rolled into town. With many of Europe’s best choosing to familiarise themselves with surroundings for next week’s US Open, it was a less than stellar field in Austria. The Diamond Country Club – host to this week’s event – is a brute of a course, measuring near 7,500 yards and it certainly showed with no golfer carding four sub-70 rounds. But history was made nevertheless. Ashun Wu became the first Chinese golfer to record multiple European Tour victories after a one-shot triumph on Sunday. The Srixon Brand Ambassador started the final day one back from the overnight leader, but a birdie at the gentle par-5 first eased any early-round butterflies. Another four birdies before the turn meant that Wu entered the back nine with a three-shot cushion. Things started to unravel for Wu as a bogey on 11 followed a double at 10, finding himself tied for the lead for seven holes left to play. Although briefly falling one behind, two birdies in three holes regained Wu’s outright lead before pars at the final few holes secured a second European Tour victory. 

Englishman and Under Armour Golf UK ambassador Matthew Fitzpatrick eased to his second European Tour victory in last week’s Nordea Masters. Since turning pro off a handicap of plus four in 2014, the impressive 21-year-old has endured a very promising start to his professional career and now finds himself sitting amongst the elite inside the world’s top 35. Fitzpatrick reeled off 17
birdies in his first three rounds, giving him a comfortable five-shot lead heading into Sunday’ showdown. He never looked back as he waltzed to a three-shot victory to secure his place in this year’s Open Championship. On a course which boasts five par-5s, a good performance tee-to-green was always going to go a long way in determining how high up the leaderboard you finished.

Fitzpatrick certainly got it right this week.

Matthew played the longer holes in 10-under-par without a single dropped shot. The only way this would be possible is by hitting fairways and greens, something which the winner did time-after-time. He actually finished third in ‘Driving Accuracy’ at over 73% of fairways found for the week, and first in ‘Greens in Regulation’ with 85% of greens being hit – that’s 7 out of every 8 greens! Impressive golf.

Here’s what Fitzpatrick had in his golf bag…

• Driver – Callaway Big Bertha Alpha (10.5 degrees)
• Fairway woods – PING G 3-wood & 5-wood (14.5 degrees & 20.5 degrees)
• Irons – PING i25 (3-5 irons); PING S55 (6-9 irons)
• Wedges – PING Tour Gorge (47 degrees); Vokey SM5 (54 & 58 degrees)
• Putter – Yes

The term ‘journeyman’ gets batted around a lot, but that’s exactly what last week’s PGA Tour winner, William McGirt, is. By his own confession he’s been around the block, but the 36-year-old’s career will never be the same again after his sudden-death playoff win at the Memorial Tournament. It was a very steady scorecard for McGirt on Sunday, mixing one birdie with 17 pars to record a one-under-par 71 and tie Jon Curran at the top of the leaderboard. And it was a similar story in the playoff as both Americans went to head-to-head. Pars for both on first playoff hole meant a second was needed. Both Curran and McGirt missed the green at the second time of asking, and once Curran failed to get up-and-down, McGirt was left with a seven-footer for the win. This was McGirt’s maiden Tour victory in his 165th start, upstaging a star-studded field in the process.

Here’s what McGirt used en-route to victory…

• Driver – TaylorMade M2 (8.5 degrees)
• Fairway woods – TaylorMade M2 (13 degrees); TaylorMade M1 (17 degrees)
• Irons – Srixon Z-U45 (2 & 3 irons); Srixon Z-745 (5-PW)
• Wedges – Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 (54 & 60 degrees)
• Ball – Srixon Z-Star

Golf putters are a must. All golfers need to have this type of club in their golf bags when playing the sport. The putter is designed to make quite short, low-speed strokes that are designed to get the ball into the hole from a close distance. With that being said, read on to discover what you must consider when purchasing this type of golf club.

• Length – Firstly, the length of the putter is of paramount importance. It needs to be right for your height and stroke. This is vital if you are to have consistent high-quality putting.

• Reviews – It is always a good idea to read reviews that have been left by past customers when buying golf clubs. This will enlighten you to any issues, if there are any, or it will confirm that the putter is a good choice.

• Design – You have numerous designs to choose from, including peripheral weight putters, blade putters, and mallet putters. The one you choose will depend on your playing style.

• Brand – No matter whether you are looking for golf irons or golf drivers, choosing a high-quality brand is highly recommended. Don’t go for an unknown brand simply to save some cash, as it will end up costing you more money in the long run. Some of the best brands in the industry include Callaway, Titleist, TaylorMade, PING, Cleveland Golf, and Nike.

• Face – Last but not least, the face of the putter is something that needs to be thought about carefully. The main options are metal, insert, and grooved putters. There is no right or wrong answer, but most people prefer metal-faced putters, as they offer a hard strike yet are very responsive.

All in all, if you consider the points mentioned above, you should have no issue finding the perfect golf putters for you.