It’s time to go Rogue, or perhaps as Callaway is phrasing it, “Think Speed. Go Rogue.”
After a release cycle away, where Callaway introduced the Mavrik lineup, Rogue is back, but if you are thinking it’s just another “off year release” that isn’t Epic, you might want to reassess that.
Callaway is pulling no punches here, and though the Rogue line may have a slightly different target in some respects than Epic, this is still them bringing all of their innovations to the table alongside some new ones.
What better place to start than drivers, so let’s get into it!
While the Rogue name is back, there is no denying a lot has changed. Where metalwoods are concerned, the name of the game is stability, and Callaway is utilizing its most extreme weighting technology combined with every other tech which they have pioneered and continue to evolve.
Foremost, every single club in the new Rogue lineup has a unique A.I. face which now takes even more parameters into consideration like speed, launch, and spin robustness through a new optimization formula which means an even more refined face. Make no mistake, Callaway is not at all exaggerating when they say no one is doing club design like they are, and no one is using A.I. like they are.
These drivers have the most extreme weighting tech the company has ever used in a driver, they are using a “Tungsten Speed Cartridge” which uses up to 26g of MIM’d Tungsten, and folks that is a lot of tungsten. This is placed at the very extreme edge of the driver in order to increase speed on off center hits through “ball speed robustness”, which is fancy for minimizing the loss when you miss. Of course, this also helps with making the head more resistant to twisting.
Each driver is also using the new “Speed Tuned Jailbreak Speedframe” which is like what was used in Epic, except more slender with the same balance and stiffness, though some priority is given to further stiffening the lower part of the head.
Finally, the shaping here is a departure from the Cyclone shaping of the Mavrik release, that has gone in favor of a more rearward CG through the use of a “low tail” which looks pretty familiar to be honest, but this does follow the current trend, so it makes a lot of sense to see. It doesn’t mean Cyclone was wrong, this is just a different way to make things happen. This is part of the unibody frame construction that takes from F1 in the notion of making as much of the head one piece as possible while keeping it smooth and thin. It is finished out in all the Rogue drivers with Triaxial Carbon on both the crown and sole.
Even bolder than the tech perhaps, is that Callaway is bringing four different drivers to the Rogue ST MAX lineup. Yes, four.
Callaway Rogue ST MAX D Driver
This one is the most draw biased of the four drivers, it is the club for those who tend to struggle with a slice and need as much shot shape correction as they can get. This naturally has a draw weighted CG and a closed face orientation with the largest footprint to provide the forgiveness, elevation, and directional correction that golfers need without excessive spin.
The MAX D comes in three lofts (9°, 10.5°, 12°) and utilizes the OptiFit adapter. All three heads are also available in RH and LH.
Rogue ST Max Driver Rogue ST Max Driver
Callaway Rogue ST MAX Driver
This is the “sweetspot” driver of the lineup which will fit the largest number of golfers in the segment. It does have a slight draw bias because, believe it or not, that is what most of us need, and this offers the best combination of forgiveness and distance. The Rogue ST Max has the highest MOI of the four models and is somewhat larger but designed to still fit the eye of even the most discerning golfers.
The MAX has three base loft options (9°, 10.5°, 12°) with each using the OptiFit adapter and being available in both RH and LH.
Rogue ST Max LS Driver Rogue ST Max LS Driver
Callaway Rogue ST MAX LS Driver
Ah yes, the Rogue which is aimed at the slightly better player, the golfer which wants to see the ball go right and left at times and can use a more neutral overall bias to do just that. The MAX LS maintains a very high overall MOI thanks to the Tungsten Speed Cartridge but also keeps a lower launch angle and spin rate than the MAX.
The MAX LS also uses the Callaway OptiFit adapter in two loft options (9° and 10.5°) which also are available in both RH and LH.
Rogue ST Max Triple Diamond LS Driver Rogue ST Max Triple Diamond LS Driver
Callaway Rogue ST Triple Diamond LS
Yes, for those who clamor with every single Callaway metalwood release, for this driver release, the Triple Diamond is a regular part of the lineup. Well, as regular as it can be. The Triple Diamond is a 450cc head making it the smallest of the four and has the lowest spin profile with the most neutral to fade bias of the four options. While it still offers all the design bells and whistles of the others, there is no doubt the Triple Diamond is for the smallest segment.
Availability here is in two lofts (9° and 10.5°) with the OptiFit adapter and in both RH an LH.
While it will come as no surprise, Callaway, through their internal and external testing, believes they have created four drivers that will each lead their specific segment in performance. A bold take, absolutely, but the crew at Callaway have never been short of confidence, which they typically back up well.
The Details
Standard shaft options are as follows:
- Lightweight/Womens – Project X Cypher Black (40g, 50g)
- Mid Offering – Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue (50g, 60g, 70g)
- Low Offering – Mitsubishi Tensei AV White (60g, 70g, 80g)
The Rogue ST drivers will be priced at $549.99 and hit retail on 2/18/22. Be sure to keep a keen eye on the THP Community as we will have a lot of feedback beginning today as 12 forum members already have these in hand!
Going away from the cyclone towards the low tail seems to fit with trends and I like how it’s presented here. Really clean look. Strong and classy. Don’t miss the the gloss, surprisingly.
Have spent some time with a couple and have enjoyed the 9* LS Triple Diamond. Looks really good over the ball and has performed well. Nice of them to release it up front and eliminate some regular questions there.
Can’t wait to hear the GD guys give us their experience with being fit into these bad boys!
View attachment 9057141View attachment 9057142
View attachment 9057143View attachment 9057144View attachment 9057146Rogue ST LS : ST-X : King LTD
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Do you have an Epic Flash (or Sub Zero model) head to compare it against to give me an idea of how it looks?
How would you compare your ball flight with this compared to the ST-x? I remember seeing you hit the ST-x with good results last year.
I do not but the other guys will be posting vs the previous releases lineup.
Definitely a more penetrating flight. The D version during the fitting would remind me more of that’s type of flight. Which during the fitting the Max D went remarkably straight a lot of the time but my spin hovered higher which is a large part in why I went with the LS in the lineup. All heads and styles will be covered by this group as I know each version had someone fitted to.
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Warning ……it’s long…..?
Really curious to see the address view of Max LS and Triple Diamond.
Can’t wait to read GD feedback.
Super interesting, so you ended up with an LS but Cap ended up with the Max which goes against kind of the marketing words of the LS or Triple Diamond going to the low handicap and max going to the mid to high. Yet again why everyone should get fit I suppose.
And unlike TM, these are real.
Of course he’s focusing on the cover, sounds right, even though that’s something various companies have done at times for 30 years now.
I mean it’s a 12:05 video and he mentions the cover for 5 seconds. I don’t know that we can say he’s "focusing" on the cover, cmon man.
It’s a great review overall, that give’s data, shows ball flight, talks about sound, gives really good views of all the heads. Your review is great as well, but I want to see about 10 different reviews on this thing and this is just another medium.
I agree with his take, a 1 on the driver headcover is silly. It’s so unnecessary, and I don’t see Cayce, Swag or any others who sell Driver Headcovers putting 1’s on them, so I’m not sure how common it is? It seems like a pretty fair take to nit pick it.
C’mon nothing, that’s the typical talking heads HUNTING for something even quasi negative, when they don’t need to hunt if it’s not there. Always the same formula.
It’s been done many times in the past in stock covers, comparing to boutique covers isn’t apples to apples.
In terms of performance, the face is HOT! I tried most of the drivers from the 2021 lineup and ended up choosing the TSi3 because it was the best launch profile of the ones I tested. I picked up 2mph with the Rogue ST (172mph to 174mph avg) with a great spin profile (2400-2700rpm) and workability. The more important factor for me was how stable the driver is on off-center strikes, which are typically toe side. Which almost all the other drivers, this leads a high launch/low spin knuckleball that starts left and takes a hard left turn. This was not an issue with the Rogue ST. On my mishits at ECPC, club retained spin and was able to hold its line significantly better than any driver I’ve had previously.
On the course, the performance was amazing. It is effortless distance with a ridiculous amount of forgiveness. It is also very easy to shape left to right and right to left. When I needed to hit a draw with the driver, I always went to my 3 wood because I was worried about that left going left miss if I didn’t strike a driver perfectly. I don’t have that concern anymore because it retained spin so well on toe strikes. Equally important is that it doesn’t spin up a crazy amount on shots that I hit with a fade. It has a very solid, powerful feel and a very solid sound to match. It is one of the better sounding drivers I’ve heard, but I don’t put much stock into this unless is it ridiculously obnoxious. I attached a video with the sound so you can make your own judgement.
If I had to choose 3 words to describe the performance of the new drivers, I’d go with fast, forgiving, and consistent. The look speaks for itself, but I fully expect this driver to be in my bag for a long time.
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I’m going to stand by my post and we can disagree. I don’t think it is outlandish to take 8 seconds (went back and looked, it’s 8 seconds not 5 seconds) to mention a headcover in a 12:05 video. You can’t say he "focused" on it though, I mean that’s just factually incorrect. It’s literally 1.1% of the entire review, 8 seconds of the 725 second video. Overall, his review is POSTIVE, POSITVE, POSITIVE.
He mentioned it and pointed it out, and I think it’s fair to mention it. Is it a big deal, no, not really. Would it ever stop me from my buying it, no. But I can also think of no good reason why one would put a 1 on the headcover and I like that he called it out. It shows an unbias and a fair review in my opinion.
Get fit and get one!
Definitely following the trend on Tour and in the segment. Thought it was nice they made sure to point out that it doesn’t mean Cyclone was wrong, this is just the current trend on getting to the results, both work. Me? Into typically prefer the more compact shape.
38 year old me knows he needs some more help. The ST Max seems like a smarter choice. The Max LS will probably be where I end up.
That’s where I am at right now. I’ve liked compact shapes a lot and while I played the Mavrik Max for a while, it took a lot for me to overlook the shape because I couldn’t deny the results.
Same!
I went to California confident that my bag was set and would hold it in for another year.
“Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson
Queue the equipment presentation and this woods lineup was the proverbial fist to the mandible that left me on the floor. The hits kept coming but I’ll focus here for now.
I was blessed to get dialed into a Rogue ST Triple Diamond LS driver. Coming from the Epic Speed Triple Diamond that I LOVE, this club had its work cut out for it. My gamer had me hitting more fairways than I have in years with no sign of hooking left. This years Triple Diamond LS head was different. 450cc vs 460cc. Matte finish vs gloss. It has a diifferent weighting configuration as well and the difference is pronounced.
As you can see below the smaller head is heavier. That extra heft makes for tremendous feel and stability in the swing.
In addition to feel and stability, these drivers excel in the sound category as well. The muted this of the Epic that heralded the arrival of Jailbreak technology is gone and a lively, more powerful “thwack has taken its place. It’s just so good and only gets better in the fairways
Exhibit A.
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The Triple Diamond LS retains the deep face of its predecessor, along with the straighter tooling and flatter lie preferred by serial faders of the ball. As someone who hates to see the ball turn left, I’m so excited to see this option continue in the lineup and at retail. The carbon crown continues its legacy but this matte version is stunning and easily my favorite iteration by far. As a matter of fact, this just might be the first time in years that I don’t purchase a Callaway Customs option.
As for performance, this head is leaving nothing on the table. I’ve yet to get on the SIM for numbers, but shot shape and dispersion wise, I see no white flags being raised any time soon. The battle will continue but Epic Speed Triple Diamond is on the ropes. ?
Super excited to read the articles and hear all about the Callaway line from the Grandaddy crew. Strap in it’s gonna be a wild ride!
Excited to try these.
Don’t want to highjack, but that King LTD looks ?
?? ?
This thing with the CSX LS was pretty hard to ignore the other day on course. Serious bomb maker.
I knew you were gonna get all the best toys at the GD you lucky devil!
Fwiw, that’s the old LTD.
I don’t personally have much issue with it. I think it’s maybe.. odd, but I don’t really care. I was bothered by the length of the conversation I had to have about it the first time a few of us saw it though. lol There were guys that definitely didn’t like it, and we all agreed in the end that having one without a number, and one slightly smaller right next to it that said ‘mini’ might be the only cool version of feeling the need to put something there. Otherwise yeah, leave it off.