By Scott Kramer – guest contributor
Those of you watching last week’s Open Championship from St. Andrews’ Old Course in Scotland may have noticed how many Tour pros were bypassing their full-sized drivers to use smaller-headed alternatives on some holes. Several of these bulked-up long irons and miniature drivers have hit the market in the past year. They’re built to give you more accuracy than a standard-sized driver, with nearly all of the distance. I’ve personally played TaylorMade’s SLDR Mini since last Fall, favoring it on tight driving holes, as well as off the deck on long approaches. For whatever reason, I get psyched out trying to hit a 3-wood, but this TaylorMade club gives me the visual confidence I need to attack.
Now there’s a new option available. Callaway’s new Bertha Mini 1.5 driver ($299) bears a 235cc clubhead — it’s much smaller than the standard 460cc drivers these days but is still 35 percent larger than the company’s XR 3-wood. The 44-inch shaft is two inches shorter than you’d find on a typical driver, which gives you more control over your shots. Callaway officials claim that the Mini’s forged clubface helps generate high ball speed and low spin — a recipe for maximum distance. An adjustable hosel lets you choose from eight different loft and lie angle combinations. In other words, it offers all of a driver’s best features but in a smaller package.
Evan Gibbs, Callaway’s senior manager, research and development – woods, explains that the clubhead viscera is really “most similar to our fairway woods, but…gives players driver-like launch conditions in a smaller, more-versatile head shape. And the added adjustability helps them optimize their trajectory based on the functionality they’re looking for. We really encourage golfers of all abilities to give it a try and perhaps re-think that part of their bag…it offers a unique combination of distance, forgiveness and versatility.”
The Bertha Mini can truly appeal to a wide range of skill levels — either as an alternative off the tee for those who might struggle with a conventional driver, for ultra-tight holes when you need to find the fairway, or right off the fairway on long par-5s where you can try reaching the green in two.
Some of Callaway’s Tour pro staffers, such as Patrick Reed and Freddie Jacobson, have put the club in play on shorter courses where they don’t necessarily need distance on every hole, or on courses where they need to shape their tee shots. I personally took it out with a friend recently and was achieving distances as far as I could with my regular, full-sized driver. My friend — who hits the ball as far as most Tour pros — struck it even longer than his regular driver, and with much more accuracy.
Of course, you should try one out in a golf shop before buying one. But you may well find this mini driver to be the biggest club in your bag.