Callaway's Great Big Bertha Name Is Back, on Ultra-Premium Clubs that Make a Statement

One of the most enduring brand names in golf equipment returns on titanium drivers, woods, hybrids and irons packed with innovation and priced accordingly.

The memory is crystal clear, even nearly 30 years later, of when my kid sister dropped a Callaway Golf box onto my lap while on vacation. Happy Birthday.

And then … ohmygoodness.

Inside the box was a first-generation Big Bertha driver, the revolutionary club made from stainless steel with an enormous 190cc clubhead. Until that day, all I had ever hit off the tee were my dad’s hand-me-down persimmon woods.

My game changed, and so did the equipment industry. Sales of the Big Bertha were so hot that a year after its introduction, the Los Angeles Times wrote in 1992, “in golf equipment sales, the upstart Callaway now ranks behind only Northwestern, Karsten, TaylorMade, Spalding and Wilson.”

Northwestern and Spalding, that’s how long ago this was.

In 1994, oversized Big Bertha irons joined the party and a year after that the Great Big Bertha driver was released, in all of its 253cc glory.

Fast-forward more than a quarter-century to now, and the Big Bertha golf brand has endured unlike anything else this side of Ping Anser putters. And the next iteration is coming Nov. 11.

The new Great Big Bertha family from Callaway includes an ultra-lightweight driver, titanium fairway woods and hybrids and the company’s first multi-piece titanium irons.

“Great Big Bertha has always represented high innovation, very premium, and these are completely built new from the ground up,” says Dave Neville, Callaway’s senior global product director.

A statement in name, first and foremost. Callaway began 2022 with new Rogue drivers and there were discussions to add a "star" branding on the new family – Rogue Star? – but Big Bertha and, more specifically, Great Big Bertha felt perfect.

“When we do consumer research for Big Bertha, one of the most recognized brands in all of golf, the word cloud includes ‘easy to hit,’ ‘distance,’ ‘Tour,’ ‘very forgiving,’” Neville says. “That all fits in line with what we’re doing here.”

The last Callaway club to carry the Great Big Bertha name was the Great Big Bertha Epic driver in 2017, another high-innovation performance club that among golfers was usually referred to as "the Epic" for short. So Great Big Bertha as a title took a five-year hiatus, until now. 

Callaway believes brand equity should carry pricing equity as well, as the new Great Big Bertha drivers (at a modern 460cc, of course) are $699.99 and the irons are $449.99 each. Yes, each.

“I don’t think you would see us going to Great Big Bertha and then to a low-priced offering,” Neville says. “This is kind of our statement piece.”

He compares these to Mercedes AMG or BMW M Series sports cars, premium niche brands-within-a-brand that are unapologetically priced and not made for everyone. But those who buy them know what they’re getting.

The Great Big Bertha irons combine titanium and tungsten to create driver-like speed / Courtesy of Callaway Golf

The irons are especially impressive pieces of engineering, having represented the biggest challenge for Callaway’s R&D team. The combination titanium/tungsten irons, a first for the company, were tricky to get just right in terms of weight. The tungsten speed cartridge is up to 145 grams in size depending on the iron, creating the lowest center of gravity of any Callaway iron and a new level of speed and forgiveness.

In short, worthy of the Great Big Bertha name. I wonder if my sister is feeling generous again.