The Callaway Epic Flash hybrid may take its name from the company’s popular driver, but it may actually be a more natural fit with the company’s latest Epic Forged irons.
That connection lies in the use of tungsten weighting within the head to improve performance. In both the Epic Forged iron and now the Epic Flash hybrid, a metal injection molding process is used to create a precisely shaped tungsten slug that fits within the head. In metal injection molding (MIM), metallic powder is used to form the specific shape to create an optimal centre of gravity, said Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s senior vice president for research and development. It’s a combination of the heavy tungsten and a thin, light carbon composite crown that works to improve launch conditions. It’s the same tighter and weight-saving carbon crown weave found in the company’s Epic Flash drivers.
“We’ve got a design that allows us to move a lot of weight around, and we want to put it low in the head in a very similar idea to the Epic Forged irons,” Hocknell said. “On the sole of the iron on the inside is the largest MIM tungsten weight that we’ve ever used on a hybrid. That’s allowing us to put the centre of gravity low and in a position that’s good for easy launching with relatively low spin but also contributes to the overall forgiveness of the head.
“It’s a huge amount of weight that presents some technical challenges in the way that it’s mounted inside the head and in the way the head and the weight actually react to one another because they’re almost equal weight.”
Hocknell said depending on the loft on the Epic Flash hybrids, the tungsten weight can account for 80 to 90 grams.
That low weighting improves the CG location, but the Epic Flash hybrid’s power comes from the company’s proven “jailbreak” face technology in which two parallel vertical bars connect the crown and sole. That connection stabilises the perimeter of the face to improve deflection at impact for better ball speed. Also helping those launch conditions is the use of ultra-thin Carpenter 455 in the company’s wraparound cupface construction.
While this head also incorporates Callaway’s eight-way adjustable hosel, that hosel size has been reduced in mass to further reposition the saved weight low in the head. Also helping launch for average players is a more fairway wood-shaped design. The Epic Flash hybrid is larger than Callaway’s non-adjustable Apex or Rogue hybrids but smaller than the adjustable Big Bertha hybrids.
Also similar to the company’s just-launched Epic Forged irons, the stock shaft is the Mitsubishi Tensei AV Silver.
Australian price and availability for the Epic Flash hybrids is expected to be announced later today. Stay tuned for updates!
