One of the most fondly remembered and spoken about fairway woods is the Callaway Steelhead, an absolute revolution when it first came on the scene. The club, that debuted nearly 2 decades ago, remains to this day, Callaway’s biggest seller ever. It was well loved by amateur and professional golfers alike.
The key feature of this legendary club is the Hawkeye sole. This made it exceptionally good out of a poor lie, something most golfers had not experienced before. The compact, aerodynamic head was also groundbreaking on their early models.
Review: "I struggle to use Large headed Drivers because to me they feel like a bucket on a stick. I bought an 11 degree Steelhead with Callaway Graphite Stiff shaft off, best purchase I ever made. For me, it has solid contact every time, even on mishits and almost always goes straight and long with a very solid feeling and pleasant sound. It has a nice solid weight, not too light like many bulbous headed 460cc Drivers these days, the weight helps me to keep it on plane. I hit this 15 year old Driver 220 to 240 yards consistently no problem and that suits me just fine, and I'm 48. I also use Taylor Made Firesole rescues in 18, 21 and 24 degree and they're awesome too, one of the best if not the best Hybrids ever produced. The original and the best in my opinion... like the Steelhead, one of the best ever produced and if you love a club, and it works for you, stick with it, no matter how old it is."
Ely Callaway, founder of Callaway Golf, chose the name Big Bertha for the driver he introduced in 1991. He borrowed the name from a German WWI howitzer, nicknamed Big Bertha because of its massive size and power.
The Big Bertha driver was revolutionary at the time for its fully stainless steel construction during a time when many golfers still used traditional wooden drivers. The head of the original Big Bertha, while small by today's standards, was quite large by 1991 standards, which immediately set the club apart from competitors.
Besides setting a new standard for size and materials, the Big Bertha driver was revolutionary in that it put more weight around the perimeter of the club-head, resulting in a thinner, more forgiving club-face. The design instantly enlarged the sweet spot compared to persimmon drivers, while remaining lightweight.
This Big Bertha driver is suitable for players who tend to slice their ball or struggle to find consistency in ball flight. While Big Bertha will allow you to hit it long because of its larger sweet spot, its forgiveness accommodates players of all abilities.
Made of stainless steel, Big Bertha OG clocked in at 190cc.
Big Bertha’s large sweet spot, which provided a new level of forgiveness, separated the line from its competitors. Designers eliminated the neck of the club by extending the shaft through the club head which created more energy at impact. At 190cc, the 1991 driver was only about 40% of today’s 460cc drivers, and is more comparable to today’s 3-woods, which have club-heads in the 175cc neighborhood.
Big Bertha has become one of the most recognized names in golf as a staple of the Callaway Golf lineup that has been successful since it launched in the 1990s.