Callaway golf has long been known for its long, forgiving drivers. They started the oversize driver rage in the early 90’s with their original Big Bertha driver and have since seen over 10 new drivers come out since then. Over the years, Callaway has gone from simple hickory shafted wedges to some of the most technologically advanced golf equipment on the planet. Callaway has continued its dominance in the mid to high handicap market with its line of drivers, throw in their irons, wedges, and recent purchase of Top Flite and Odyssey Golf, new “players” equipment and a great line of Callaway branded golf balls and you have the makings of a monster that will now be in the forefront of golf technology and design for years to come.
The X460 Tour driver is a great upgrade from the X460, especially for the better player. Callaway has a just recently begun making more “players” equipment and they have gotten rave reviews. Several players on many Pro Tours still use this club, I can’t argue with them for doing it either!
The X460 Tour features a 460cc head for maximum forgiveness and hitting area in a driver. The size of this club also allows the designers to move the weight around the perimeter of the club to make it very forgiving on off center hits. They borrowed their VFT Technology from previous designers as well. The VFT Technology stands for Variable Face Thickness, this allows the designers to make the areas of the face much hotter by being able to control the thickness of the entire face, giving the middle of the sweet spot more “pop” at impact while the perimeter of the face is kept a little thicker for added control on off center hits.
The main difference in the Tour Model is that it features a slightly open to square club face angle and a neutral center of gravity. This makes for a more boring trajectory better players prefer along with allowing them to work the ball more easily from left to right.
The X460 Tour also features a Consistent Alignment Sole. This feature allows the club to sit perfectly flat on the ground each time it is placed behind the ball. The player will no longer have to worry about the club head rocking back and forth, opening or closing, lofting or de-lofting the club head before they swing. They S2H2, Callaways bore through design is also incorporated in the new X460 Tour allowing for a shorter hosel, again giving the designers more weight to move around to the rear and perimeter of the club for more distance.
When I got a chance to hit this club, I was impressed. The driver took off very easily with a slight fade. The ball flight was a little low for me, but I was using a 9.5* with a Extra Stiff flex shaft. The shafts in the Tour version play a little stiff than your standard shafts. It looks great at address and the Consistent Alignment Sole really does its job. I only needed to set the club behind the ball, set up my stance and go. No extra fidgeting of the club head was needed to know it was aimed where I wanted it to go. Working the ball with this driver was a piece of cake!
This driver is still out there folks, and for around $150 on some Internet sites, it is defiantly a solid upgrade for a great price!
