Callaway Epic Flash hybrids pack a punch for everyone

By Drew Mahowald -- 2nd Swing Staff Writer

It’s not a secret that all golfers, regardless of experience or skill level, want more distance. Golf is in the midst of a transition from an era of precision and careful course management to an era of distance and power. Modern golf courses are being built both longer and wider, placing more demand on distance rather than accuracy, especially in the longer clubs.

Callaway has mastered distance-enhancing technologies in recent years, especially in its metalwoods. The result in Callaway’s latest series of metalwoods, Epic Flash, is an astounding pop off the clubface and incredible ball speeds.

The Epic Flash drivers and fairway woods have been so successful that Callaway has decided to take the technology one step further and create Epic Flash hybrids.

In short, the Epic Flash hybrids are built just like a driver, with several driver technologies and materials, in the small, compact clubhead shape of a hybrid.

Most notably, the Epic Flash hybrids include Jailbreak technology, which consists of two titanium bars in the clubhead that stand parallel to each other and connect the sole and the crown together just behind the clubface. This construction stabilizes the club at impact and creates a more efficient energy transfer. 

Steven Sourigno, Product Marketing Manager for Callaway Golf, applauds the Callaway engineers for successfully implementing a technology that was originally designed for only drivers into fairway woods and hybrids.

“We’ve had to engineer Jailbreak in a package that would work for a hybrid but still provide the same benefits. There was much less space,” Sourigno said. “Our engineering team did an excellent job to make sure Jailbreak would work the exact same and perform its job.”

Jailbreak technology was originally introduced in Callaway’s GBB Epic driver in 2017. The results were significant, showing that much more energy was transferred to the golf ball at impact rather than other areas in the clubhead. Since then, Callaway engineers have built Jailbreak for fairway woods and hybrids, and the same results have carried over.

Sourigno says that’s just the beginning of the driver technologies found in the Epic Flash hybrids. Callaway’s T2C Triaxial carbon crown, included in recent driver releases and some recent fairway woods, has been added to the Epic Flash hybrids. The Triaxial carbon crown fabric has a tighter weave, which saves weight that is redistributed elsewhere in the clubhead.

“As far as our T2C Triaxial carbon crown, this is the first hybrid that’s ever had it,” Sourigno said. “It saved weight for us, which allowed us to lower the center of gravity, which is the name of the game for adding distance. The low center of gravity and high MOI will give golfers a lot of forgiveness.”

Additionally, the Epic Flash hybrids include Face Cup technology and MIM’ed (Metal Injection Molding) tungsten weighting in order to optimize ball speed, launch, and feel. The Face Cup technology produces the thinnest clubface ever in a Callaway hybrid, resulting in incredibly fast ball speed on both solid strikes and mis-hits. 

Meanwhile, the internal and external MIM’ed tungsten weighting precisely controls the center of gravity, launch, and swingweight.

“Together, Face Cup technology and our MIM’ed tungsten weighting really make it a club that pops and goes forever with really solid feel to it,” Sourigno said. 

It’s rare that a golf club can be a great fit for any golfer. In most cases, a club can fall into the highly-forgiving game-improvement category, or it can fall into the more workable category for more consistent ball strikers.

However, the Epic Flash hybrids are truly a great fit for golfers of all experience and skill levels seeking more distance from that awkward spot in their bags between fairway woods and irons. 

In addition, the OptiFit 3 adjustable hosel allows golfers to tweak the club’s loft and lie to find their ideal launch.

Sourigno says the Epic Flash hybrid is a perfect match in Callaway’s existing lineup of hybrids, fitting in nicely between the Apex 19 hybrid and the 2019 Big Bertha hybrid.

“It’s got the best of Apex and Big Bertha,” Sourigno said. “Better players will like this if they’re searching for a bigger footprint and higher launch. Higher-handicap players will enjoy the forgiveness and MOI. It’s not as hard to hit as Apex.

“There are a lot of players that want that bigger footprint but don’t want to jump all the way to Big Bertha, so the Epic Flash is perfect for them.”

Clearly, the Epic Flash hybrid will be a hit for amateurs. It’s a great fit for golfers of any skill level, and the only requirement is that they won’t mind more distance and forgiveness.

This is also true for professionals.

“There is a lot of buzz around it on Tour for players that want more height on the golf ball,” Sourigno said. “And this is for the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, really any professional circuit.”

As golf continues to place more of an emphasis on distance, adding the right technology into your bag to achieve that distance becomes more imperative. Between Jailbreak technology, the T2C Triaxial carbon crown, and Face Cup technology, Callaway has done well for itself in the distance-enhancement department.

All of these technologies were originally created for drivers and fairway woods. Now, they’re in a hybrid. The result is the exceptional distance and feel of a metalwood with the high launch and soft landing tendencies of an iron -- a combination that any golfer can benefit from.