Callaway Big Bertha B21 Irons Review 2023 – The Hottest Irons Of 2023

One of the most famous and long standing brands within golf is the Big Bertha line from Callaway. It all started way back in the 90s and the name came from a German WWI howitzer cannon. The latest incarnation of the Big Bertha line have landed for 2023.

In this short article I am going to tell you about the Big Bertha B21 irons and review them to help those of you in the market for new weapons. Have a read, hopefully it helps you work out whether these are the new irons you need for next season.

Callaway have been pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in their products to enhance the speed of their products.

These clubs are a product of this use of AI and are made to give golfers new distance and straighter shots than ever before. These are in the “game improvement” part of the market and will be great for intermediate golfers who are searching for the next step in their golf journey.

Why Should You Buy The Big Bertha B21 Irons?

These irons have lightning-fast faces

Callaway’s “Flash Face” technology has created club faces that help develop incredible speed on the ball and also improve the spin which helps accuracy. You will find distance with these that you will struggle to believe.

Ready for launch

The weighting of these irons has been developed to help you launch the ball higher, this also helps with distance and control.

Well-placed tungsten inserts have optimized the center of gravity in each irons, get ready for towering irons shots like you see on tour.

Forgiveness and feel

The offset on these irons will help you reduce a slice and increase your consistency.

New technology using urethane, the plastic used in the core of golf balls, gives feel that is often lacking in game improvement irons.

Callaway B21 Iron Specs Chart

Iron	Loft	Standard Length	Lie	Offset (mm)
#4	19°	38.75″	60.50°	8.128
#5	22°	38.125″	61.25°	7.747
#6	25°	37.50″	62.00°	7.366
#7	29°	37.00″	62.50°	6.858
#8	33°	36.50″	63.00°	6.096
#9	38°	36.00″	63.50°	5.461
PW	43°	35.75″	64.00°	4.699
AW	48°	35.50″	64.00°	3.810
SW	54°	35.25″	64.00°	3.175
LW	60°	35.00″	64.00°	2.540

Key Technology Powering These Irons

Artificial Intelligence

Using A.I. Callaway are able to try tens of thousands of iterative configurations of each club to find the perfect design to put into manufacturing.

Without doubt, this technology on top of Callaway’s decades of experience as market leaders in golf clubs has helped create these special clubs.

Face Cup

One of the advances in these irons is something that Callaway are calling the “face cup”.

This is a feature in the face of the club that acts as a spring to help generate ball speed through a hotter face. It is like putting a driver face onto an iron to have the same effect on distance.

Stronger Lofts And Wider Soles

One “trick” that manufacturers use to help golfers find distance is to strengthen the lofts of clubs (de-loft them).

You can see from the table above that these irons have some strong lofts on them. They also have a wider sole to help the club glide through the turf a bit more which will improve your contact on chunky shots.

What Set-Up Options Do You Get In The Set?

This set comes with two standard options, the lightweight Callway RCH 65i graphite shaft (light, regular and stiff flex, all weighing 60g) and the KBS Max CT80 steel shafts (regular weighing 80g/stiff weighing 85g).

There is also a whole host of custom options which includes the ability to alter the loft, lie and length of the clubs. They are available in right- and left-handed except the lob wedge which is right-handed only.

Should You Buy The B21’s?

This set is perfect for intermediate golfers who are looking for more distance and better spin control. They are a little advanced for high-handicappers. They will make decent golfers excited to hit the ball.

Club composition

Head

The head of these clubs are made of a unique configuration of steel, tungsten (for improved centre of gravity control) and urethane microspheres for improved feel.

Shaft

The shaft details are above but these clubs come in many different shaft options to suit any golfer wanting to play them.

Grip

The standard grip is a Callaway Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 Soft. This enhances the feel of these irons even further.

How Do They Compare On Performance And Feel?

These irons go far, however, they don’t completely out-perform the Callaway Mavrik Max irons which are considerably cheaper. That being said, they do feel much better than the other Callaways.

Accuracy, Forgiveness, Flight and Trajectory

These clubs are great for accuracy, the face cup really helps improve spin consistency.

They are also incredibly forgiving which will please many golfers. The flight is high with a strong trajectory, these clubs launch the ball so well and it really is impressive.

How much do they cost?

The standard version come in at $999.

Other sets to consider

TaylorMade SIM Max

These irons are incredible yet perform in a very similar way to the Big Bertha B21s.

The TaylorMade SIM Max irons are made for speed and forgiveness too.

The choice here is which do you like the look and price of more.

Check Out More Reviews Here:

Callaway Mavrik

It is hard to tell the difference between the Callaway Mavrik and Callaway Big Bertha B21 irons at address.

The finish on the Mavriks is shinier and they are less forgiving. The price could make up for the forgiveness though.

Check Out More Reviews Here:

Mizuno MP-20

Mizuno simply make some of the finest irons in golf and the MP-20s are some of the most beautiful clubs they have ever.

These are far more bladed than anything else we have talked about in this article and so will suit the more advanced golfer. They are for good ball strikers looking for precision control of their golf ball.

Check Out More Reviews Here:

Conclusion and recommendation

The Callaway Big Bertha B21 irons are a fantastic piece of engineering. This is only the start of the AI journey for Callaway irons and I expect big things. It really is hard to ignore the big elephant of a price tag in the room though, $999 is a lot of money.

For me, if you are the kind of golfer who would really benefit from Callaway Big Bertha B21 irons, save yourself $150 and get TaylorMade SIM Max irons instead.