Is the Callaway XR 16 Driver Still Good? Is it Forgiving for High Handicappers?

Callaway XR 16 Driver

“When the Callaway XR 16 driver first came out, there was a lot of hype generated by the fact that Callaway designed this club with the help of Boeing.”

Aerospace-grade technology went into this driver. As such, it was marketed as one of the fastest and most forgiving drivers of its time.

But how does it hold up to modern game improvement drivers? And why didn’t the XR line of drivers continue?

These are the kinds of questions we wanted to answer in our review of the Callaway XR 16 driver. Read on to find out if this is the driver to lower your score.

Is the Callaway XR 16 Driver Still Good?

“One of the most interesting things about this driver is its profile.”

Yes, it has a special crown that is supposed to cut down on wind resistance. But the shape and profile of this driver are what really stood out to us.

Unlike a lot of modern drivers, the rear of the head is very narrow while the face is very wide.

The heelside of the head is also wider than the toe-side section. This is a very peculiar design that is actually beneficial on a couple of levels.

For one thing, the narrower rear-head section does feel faster than your average game improvement driver.

It just feels like this driver head really slices through the air and our launch monitor data substantiated that feeling. Almost all of our testers were seeing upticks in their average club head speed.

Secondly, the heelside weight bias produces a nice draw. Granted, if you have a tendency to hook the ball then the Callaway XR 16 will not be the right choice for you.

But if your driver could use a nice, high baby draw then the Callaway XR 16 is definitely a good driver for you.

Is the Callaway XR 16 Forgiving for High Handicappers?

“You don’t lose very much ball speed when you mis face-center.”

The Callaway XR 16 is definitely a forgiving driver. The sweet spot seems to stretch across the entire face.

Speaking of the face, it is very wide and very deep. You have a very wide margin for error which is why this is a good driver for high handicappers seeking maximum forgiveness.

When taken as a whole package, the Callaway XR 16 driver will help you increase club head speed and help you maintain good ball speed when you miss face-center.

The Callaway XR 16 also feels fast on the downswing. The Swing weight is D3 and you can really feel it when you load up.

Again, if you are seeing hooks on a regular bias, do not buy the Callaway XR 16 driver. It will surely make things worse.

However, if you typically have trouble with pulls, the Callaway XR 16 would be a great driver to try out.

Callaway XR 16 Vs Callaway Big Bertha

“Like the Callaway XR 16 driver, the Big Bertha produces surprisingly low spin rates.”

The Big Bertha driver utilizes forward-oriented weights in order to reduce spin off the tee.

For most of our testers, this helped reduce the occurrence of slices. Instead, they were mostly getting really nice, high draws – very similar to the typical shot shape of the Callaway XR 16 driver.

However, the Callaway Big Bertha driver has a lower swing weight than the Callaway XR 16 driver. And for the most part, our testers were getting slower club head speeds with the Big Bertha.

We would also say that the forgiveness of the Big Bertha driver is very similar to the Callaway XR 16.

Callaway XR 16 First Impressions

“The profile is what we couldn’t help but notice at first.”

But when we started swinging the Callaway XR 16 driver, we were impressed by something else: spin rates.

The spin rates we were getting were between 1800 and 1900 which was very surprising for a driver of this size.

The footprint of the Callaway XR 16 driver is large. You get a real sense of just how big this driver is when you look at it behind the ball. So for it to produce such low spin rates was very impressive

Callaway XR 16 Selling Points

R Moto Face
Speed Step crown
Built in conjunction with Boeing engineers
Adjustable hosel sleeve
Draw bias

Callaway XR 16 Driver Key Features

“You can tell that nearly all the features were meant to promote forgiveness and increase club head speed.”

Adjustable Hosel Sleeve: This feature allows you to tweak the loft angle up or down by three degrees.

Speed Step Crown: These are basically fins that help reduce drag on the crown. However they are matte black so they aren’t distracting at address.

R Moto Face: The R Moto face has been thinned out by 19% over previous models. It feels reactive and fast at impact.

What Handicap is it for?

“We can see this driver working for a wide array of handicaps.”

But perhaps the players it would benefit the most are ones in the 15-25 handicap range. These are the players that will gain the most from the high forgiveness factor and the low spin rates.

Callaway XR 16 Driver Options

Fujikura Speeder Evolution 565 Red Graphite shaft
Light, regular, stiff and extra stiff flex
9°, 10.5°, 13.5° loft (all adjustable within three degrees)

Who Should Buy the Callaway XR 16 Driver?

“The Callaway XR 16 would be great for the mid to high handicapper who has trouble with slicing.”

Much like the Big Bertha driver, the Callaway XR 16 is a near-automatic slice stopper. But beyond that, the Callaway XR 16 would also be good for players who want to increase their club head speed.

We were getting really good smash factor readouts from this driver which is really encouraging as a mid to low-tier player.