Epic irons media summary sheet
One-liner: Innovation without boundaries
A few years ago Callaway’s CEO Chip Brewer came to our Head of R&D Dr. Alan Hocknell with a unique request. Chip asked, “If you could design the very best iron that you would play, if you wanted maximum performance without any limits to the cost or engineering process, what would that be?” Alan is a passionate golfer, and he was excited by the endless possibilities for such an ambitious project. Once he determined what the iron should be, he dedicated more than 70 of the best engineers in golf to the project with two key messages: we want groundbreaking innovations, and there are no boundaries.
The engineering team had the freedom to give these irons every performance advantage by using the most ultra-premium materials and advancing some of the most revolutionary technologies in the industry. We were confident they would make something special, yet the final product greatly exceeded our expectations. And we knew that it deserved to be called Epic.
To develop Epic irons, we pushed ourselves in a way that they could elevate performance to the highest level we’ve ever achieved. It had to provide the absolute best combination of ball speed, distance, forgiveness, accuracy, control and feel. And to go beyond that standard, we had to be extremely meticulous, creative and committed to carefully crafting each material.
Callaway has been the #1 Iron in golf since the beginning of 2015. While developing Epic, we started by improving the technologies that made us the category leader. And our revolutionary 360 Face Cup is the technology that truly led us to #1.
The Face Cup incorporates an ultra-thin rim around the perimeter of the inner side of the face. At impact, the rim flexes and rebounds to add ball speed on center-face hits and minimize ball-speed loss on off-center hits. It’s especially effective on the most common mis-hits — toward the toe and low on the face. To further improve face performance, we increased the rim’s flexibility by reducing the thickness to 1 mm at its thinnest point, resulting in even faster ball speed on center and off-center hits for more distance.
Every iron in this set is uniquely constructed to promote optimum performance. During development we studied and tested new ways to enhance launch and trajectory, and succeeded by introducing an incredibly high amount of MIM’ed tungsten (over 664 grams in the set) into our Internal Standing Wave technology. MIM’ed stands for Metal-Injected Molding, an injecting-molding process using finely powdered metal to create intricately shaped parts with tremendous precision.
Tungsten is relatively heavy, which allowed us to control the head’s internal weighting so that we could give each individual iron its own optimized CG location. To do this, we engineered a precise amount of tungsten for each club. We could lower the CG in the long irons for easy launch and high, long carry, and raise the CG in the short irons for lower, more controllable flight. And we could better control the left-right CG positioning in tandem with the hollow hosel that creates weight savings. This is an expensive alloy to manufacture, but it’s integral to enhancing performance in the Epic Irons.
Yet what truly sets this iron apart is the Exo-Cage head construction that we first applied to an iron in the Big Bertha OS, the only iron to earn five stars in every category of the 2017 Golf Digest Hot List. The high-grade steel structure
in the center of the cavity stiffens the body, especially the topline and sole, so that the face can take on more impact load.
This is known as “energy lensing”, and in the irons energy lensing allows the face to behave more efficiently to promote faster ball speed and distance, dramatically enhancing performance. In fact, it helped us raise the COR right up to the limit in each iron. We’ve never reached that level of speed in a full set.
The multi-material head consists of a variety of premium components, each precision-milled and robotically laser-welded to give Callaway engineers precise control over CG location, COR, MOI and vibration control, with maximum structural integrity. A multitude of processes, steps and inspections are required to create each head. The result is the most premium, high-performance iron ever to bear the Callaway name.
Features and Benefits
Next-Generation 360 Face Cup Technology for Longer Average Distance
Advancing the industry-leading face technology that made Callaway the #1 Iron in golf, the rim of the Face Cup is 1 mm at its thinnest point to add even more ball speed on center hits and further minimizing distance loss on off-center hits.
Exo-Cage for Energy Lensing and Maximum COR
Exo-Cage head construction stiffens the body to allow the face to take on more of the load of impact. This is known as “Energy Lensing” – it promotes faster ball speed for longer distance, and it helped raise the COR in Epic Irons right up to the limit in each iron. We’ve never reached that level of speed in a full set.
Multi-Material Standing Wave To Optimize CG Location
Multi-material construction demands strict tolerances, seamless fit and secure bonding. Epic Pro Irons are precision-milled and robotically welded, and every iron in this set is uniquely constructed for maximum integrity and optimum performance. Incorporating tungsten in the Internal Standing Wave allowed Callaway engineers to precisely position the CG in each individual iron. This includes a lower CG for easier launch and long carry in the long irons, higher CG in the short irons for a lower, more controllable flight, and left-to-right CG control in tandem with the hollow hosel.
Epic Hybrids media summary sheet
Product One-liner: Innovation Without Boundaries
To develop a hybrid worthy of the name Epic we had to move beyond the usual boundaries of time, materials and performance to create an innovative club capable of delivering a higher level of distance, control and versatility.
Epic is the first hybrid to incorporate a crown consisting of our revolutionary and proprietary triaxial carbon composite material. Used in our GBB Epic driver and fairway woods, triaxial carbon is the thinnest and lightest composite material we’ve ever used. The substantial weight it saves is redistributed into strategic locations within the head to dramatically increase MOI and lower the CG, making the Epic hybrid exceptionally powerful, forgiving, accurate and easy to launch.
Each part of the head is precision-milled and robotically laser welded. The frame provides a robust structure that concentrates weight around the perimeter to maximize MOI and help position the CG extremely low and deep in the head, to increase both forgiveness and power.
Distance is further enhanced by a clubface that boasts an expansive zone that delivers fast ball speed, courtesy of our industry-leading 455 Forged Hyper Speed Face Cup technology that has made Callaway the #1 Hybrid Brand in Golf. The thin and flexible rim around the inner side of the face flexes and releases more uniformly and efficiently at impact to increase ball speed across the face, especially toward the bottom, where most mis-hits occur.
During development we studied and tested a variety of new ways to enhance launch and trajectory, and succeeded by incorporating MIM’ed tungsten into our Internal Standing Wave technology. (MIM stands for Metal-Injection Molding, an injection-molding process using finely powdered metal to create intricately shaped parts with tremendous precision.) The precise shape and weight of this MIM’ed tungsten piece (1.8 x heavier than steel) allowed us to achieve the specific mass property goals necessary to raise this hybrid’s high forgiveness and easy launch characteristics to the next level.
Epic hybrids are equipped with UST’s new Recoil 760 ion-plated graphite shaft engineered to promote great feel, long distance and tight dispersion.
Features & Benefits
Maximum Forgiveness From the Ultra-light Triaxial Carbon Crown
Weight saved by the ultra-light triaxial carbon crown (which is significantly lighter than steel) is repositioned to increase MOI and lower the CG for easy launch and longer, straighter shots.
Faster Ball Speed From Our Revolutionary Hyper Speed Face Cup
Next generation 455 Forged Hyper Speed Face Cup is more efficient at delivering faster ball speed across the face, especially on mis-hits, for increased average distance.
Increased Performance From the Ultra-premium Body Frame
Robust body frame positions weight strategically around the perimeter to increase MOI, and concentrates weight low in the head to keep the CG low and deep for easy launch.
MIM’ed Tungsten Infused Standing Wave Optimizes CG Location and Adjustability
Precisely shaped MIM’ed tungsten Internal Standing Wave gives this adjustable hybrid the same low-deep CG properties as a non-adjustable hybrid.
