Written By: Chris Conley
Overview
Today I had the opportunity to demo the Callaway Razr X Black Driver; this club has been on the market since the beginning of this year but this is the first chance I had to actually hit the club. The first thing you notice when looking at the is the deep black paint job that makes it really stand out; Callaway uses a process called Physical Vapor Deposition to get the rich black color on the club and make it aesthetically appealing. The model I demoed was the 9.5° model with a Fujikura Motore F8 stiff shaft, which worked well aesthetically with the black club head. When first looking at and swinging the club, the club head seems to be smaller but after reading the specs it is a 460cc club face making it the same size as most of its competitors. Callaway uses the term Streamlined Surface Technology and I think this is what makes the club look smaller than other drivers on the market, the black color along with the contours of the club give it a very sleek almost smaller look. Callaway uses Forged Composite (Carbon Fiber) to reinforce the club head and allow for precise control of the club head thickness. After taking a few practice swings with this club, I felt like my club head speed was faster than with my current R11 driver. The Razr X Black is not an adjustable club like a lot of other new drivers on the market and comes 1 degree open on the 9.5 and 10 degree models standard, even though if you put the club head square on the ground it looks closed it is in fact 1 degree open. Once I started hitting balls with this, I felt I could hit the ball dead straight and about 280 with little to no effort at all; out of about my first 30 balls I didn’t have one hit that I would consider a mishit with the club and I always made solid contact. In my opinion, this club is good for players of all handicaps, however if you have a slower swing speed, the weight and design of this club might leave you lacking a little power of the bigger heavier drivers on the market. However if you have a moderate to fast swing speed, this club will improve your game.
Pros
The best part of this club is the weighting in my opinion; it cuts through the air on your swing and makes solid contact launching the ball every time. I have been known to like the new white look of the TaylorMade drivers out there, but the carbon fiber black on this club makes it look futuristic and makes it stand out from other black drivers on the market.
Cons
There is no adjust-ability with this club, while I normally never change the loft on my R11, I do like the face closed as I have a fade that involves into a slice with anything else. So this club coming standard 1 degree open would hurt me if I didn’t know to play my shot with that in mind.
Wrap Up
Great club at a price that is more affordable then other drivers on the market; this club will improve your game if making solid contact with your driver is a problem. I would be shocked if after hitting this club it didn’t add distance to your drives.
| Callaway - Razr X Black Driver | |
|---|---|
| Esthetics |   |
| The first thing you notice when looking at the is the deep black paint job that makes it really stand out; Callaway uses a process called Physical Vapor Deposition to get the rich black color on the club and make it aesthetically appealing. | |
| Performance | |
| Once I started hitting balls with this, I felt I could hit the ball dead straight and about 280 with little to no effort at all; out of about my first 30 balls I didn't have one hit that I would consider a mishit with the club and I always made solid contact. | |
| Price | |
| Right now Dicks Sporting Goods has this club on sale for $199 which is a steal for a good driver in my opinion; you are going to save AT LEAST $100 compared to other drivers on the market. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| I would definitely recommend trying this club. | |
Unsure about this club
I tried a demo of this club and seemed to work great. However, the one that arrived came with the standard shaft described in this article. This one isn't so good. I seem to hit off the toe consistently or top the ball. The ball gets a lot of roll so on a mishit the distance is still acceptable. I've worked with this club
and hits do seem to be getting more toward the sweet spot. If I do connect, the ball rolls out about 230 yards.
Overall, I'm disappointed as I find this driver very difficult to hit compared to my Tom Wishon driver. I don't know if its the illusion of the head looking so thin that's throwing me off or the lightness of the club causing me to over turn. The last thing I don't like is the sound which reminds of a plastic baseball bat.
The thing I do like is the look. The club does look cool compared to other clubs.
I hit a Cleveland Launcher DST for two years and found that it was too light and tough to control for my grip and rip drives at 104mph. Even with a Stiff shaft I left most drives out to the right and no chance of a draw. So a golf bud lent me this Razor black 10.5 degree from Callaway… my first choice. At first it looked odd, felt too light and took a few drives to get used to teeing the ball so low.
After a few drives I found the head in my swing quite easily even for a club with no weight to it, the control even for a higher ball flight was manageable too. The major benefit of this driver is it’s forgiveness. Considering that all my drives were hit on the toe side of the face and barely on the sweet spot, none of my drives were beyond the rough.
I would take those miss hits all day and subsequently bought the driver from said golf bud.
Ernest Benoit(Quote)