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!
First thing in the am, yes.
I enjoyed last years iteration but I did have trouble controlling it at times. When I timed it up, I hit some big drives.
Gained about 2-3mph, but more importantly, didn’t see huge drops in speed or spin on mishits!
I’m also curious about this. Weirdly i hit the max LS much more consistently than the epic speed.
Don’t think that’s weird. The Max LS is meant to be more forgiving than the speed.
I had some good days with the Speed, Max did not do much for me. But overall, too inconsistent. The Rogue looks more to my liking – more MOI, and a better overall shape to me than Epic Max.
True, what i meant was that with the Speed i hit a two way miss, either a low hook draw or a really bad slice, sort of irrespective of mishit.
With the Max LS i hit a nice little baby fade to baby draw almost every time.
I thought the more draw biased driver would be better for me but it appears not.
i think i need help
You look better in person, and you look good on zoom!
To start the session I was set at -2D, I was having to hold it off to make it not go left. After about 4 or 5 drives, I decided to move it to -2N to open it up a little and it changed everything. I was able to give it everything I had and the ball speed went the highest I have seen it personally.
The first set was with the CSX:
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The 2nd set was with the CSXLS
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If I go with the CSXLS because of my new set of irons, I think I have to move the Max to -1N to get the spin up another 4-500 rpm.
I am so excited to play golf! I have never really been able to go full bore on the driver. I think I have the one to do it now.
I would guess they may have them in store a little bit earlier than that.
I’m assuming people stopped and stared when they heard you hitting that beast. Great numbers Cap, love to see it!!
Is it too early to call dibs on our capt as my partner for the next reunion trip?
I’m really pumped to try this thing. No idea which model I’d fit into best
I was surprised as heck to be fit into the max but Gerritt knew exactly what was happening! So incredibly stoked!
the ball speed difference is nuts. Also good to see the spin isn’t that much different between the two. Get that launch up and holy ? Batman!
From the chevron to farthest point is 4.5in
From the T to farthest point is 4.375
Surprisingly they’re roughly the same, tho pics would have one think otherwise.
All has to do with how the crowns slope, it does more visually than the .125 will.
thanks for this. Measuring form the alignment aid to the back on my current driver I’m seeing the same 4.5. The difference I’m seeing is from the toe to the farthest point and it’s 3.75. Not a big difference and how I’m sure part of the tech story for this one. I need to see these in person because the gains you guys are seeing can’t be denied
Remember, the way the crown slopes (and the rate at which it does) is a lot of the visual difference here. It’s a different way to skin a cat, but it also changes the appearance at setup too.
This is your chance to sell me on it.
Please? Hahaha
Need to process the data and pics but sneak preview.
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1.52….? Missread?
Maybe? It wasn’t the only one at or above 1.5. Normally I see a few swings with efficiency on trackman over 1.5 during a session. Rarely ever on gcquad.
That made it move.
I’m 90% sure I’ve settled on the Rogue ST over the Stealth. However being unable to get an order in before I change my mind 33x is annoying. Two options I’m considering:
1) Rogue ST Max 10.5 with Tour Red adapter (i’m just hoping this is actually feasible and I don’t need to jump through a bunch of hoops). Good spin and higher MOI with the flat adapter to fight that slight left bias.
2) Rogue Triple Diamond 10.5. Does it carry enough spin is the main question for me.
Low strokes and high toe misses seem to be really good with this family of heads. Low strokes in particular seem to always end up much further than I thought and way more on line than previous gens.
What that comment it makes it more likely this is going to be my driver.
In general, the Rogue Triple Diamond LS would be the go to for the miss you described. The flat cog (red line) would then further fight the left miss, but only if really needed. As always, trial and getting fit is the correct answer, but there’s your starting point.
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Max LS is calling me.
So I grabbed some sim time today to get some more swings with the Rogue ST Triple ??? LS and to work on some swing mechanics with my irons ( steep and toe down it seems ). I brought 2 shafts with me for the driver head: Hzrdous Smoke Black RDX 6.0X which was my gamer for the 2nd half of last season with the Epic Max LS and a Ventus Red 6X that I got at the Grandaddy ( Initially fit with Ventus Blue 6X but didn’t have one available at the time ). The sim was set to 0 elevation and by the time I got to hitting drivers, I had already put an hour and 10 minutes into about 50 or so iron swings ( warmups plus 7iron work ) so my swing speed was a bit down from normal 110-111 mph. All shots were done with the 2022 CSX LS ball.
I am a draw ball hitter by nature. Snap hooks are what I dread and I end up blocking lots of shots right to avoid the snap hook. I spent a lot of last year playing a cut swing with the Max LS to keep the face/path right for control and it served me pretty well. I never really did swing all out last year in fear of the left shot but it really worked for me for scoring averages. Knowing what the head is designed for ( anti-left, right biased ), I decided for today’s test I would swing like I normally do which means full draw swing and not do any cut swings. Both sets of numbers below are those swings.
I hit a few with the Smoke Black RDX set at neutral 9 degrees on the head but I wasn’t swinging it hard enough to really load it. It takes a lot to load that shaft for me and when I am swinging hard, it works out. When I am a little lower on swing speed or not as aggressive, it ends up being boardy feeling to me. First set of numbers are of the black but I won’t spend much time as it came alive with the Ventus Red.
Disclaimer: For the numbers below, I ditched the 1 best shot and the 3 worst shots to get rid of outliers, bad swings, and just general asshattery in my swing today as I was not feeling great. The numbers below unless stated are the averages of 9-10 swings with each setup: Smoke Black RDX at 8 degrees neutral, Ventus Red at 8 degrees neutral.
First the smoke black . Lower ball speed, lower efficiency, lower spin. 2000 average with a bunch dipping at or below 1800. This created a few big benders but interestingly enough, no drop kick snap hooks. These are the kind of swings you are looking to do on a long dog leg right but besides that, not ideal. Just wasnt’ making the best contact or getting the right launch with this setup.
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Second, I swapped out the smoke black for the Ventus Red. I hit 3 or so shots to get used to the feel then started collecting data. First 3 shots were low on swing speed as I wasn’t sure with this shaft. Once I gained some confidence, I started to just go after it since it felt really stable. This was a much better fit to hit the launch windows I was looking for. Higher efficiencies ( almost suspiciously good for a GCQuad ), spin was averaging 2200 with peak at 2300 and floor at 1800. Launch angle average was 12.7 and I tend to like 14. I think if I can get it up another degree on average, I might get a bit more carry. Ball speed average at 163.6 mph vs the 159.6 with the Smoke black RDX.
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Really really hard to ague with the numbers this head is producing. Yes, the head had the white dots on it but as you can see for some reason it wasn’t capturing it properly so maybe that had something to do with it. Not sure. What I saw out of the head though is exactly what I wanted to see. I didn’t need the head to kill the left side as much as tame it. If I can guarantee a nice soft draw each swing, I am sold. Looking at the dispersion, all the shots started right of target and had a draw shot shape, just of varying amounts. Only 1 was a dead pull and that was a big of a necky one so it went relatively straight.
Overall, I think I am really going to enjoy this head. It it feels amazing, still provides you feedback on strikes, but man does it launch. Just a great combo of control from the lefty snap and spin management.
Also really surprised by the Ventus Red. The shaft profile mated with this head dynamics seems to produce a really consistent strike pattern for me and was not to high of a launch/spin profile which I was worried about. Yeah I had to turn it down to 8 degrees but I did the same thing on the Epic Max LS last year.
Could I fade the club? No doubt. After this data set I did a 5 swing set ( but didn’t collect any data ) where I hit fades using my cut swing/ fairway finder swing. Ball speed was down a smidge ( 1 mph-2 mph ), spin jumped up to mid 2500’s and lost distance ( right around 305 average total, average 285 carry ), but it was really controllable.
I have some more testing to do when the Ventus Blue 6x gets here and 1 other shaft that I am dying to try in it. I’ll be doing a 3 way bake off when they get here.
While I know each of us has a different swing, I am hoping this data helps you decide one way or the other on whether or not to try them. I might need to take some swings with the Rogue ST Max LS just for fun to match up against the Triple ??? LS or maybe against my Epic Max LS.
Really interested to see if @vgolfman and @DNevsCG are seeing this same trend in others trying out the Triple Diamond LS head.
I might want to try that flat cog at some point.
Try them both!
It’s inevitable. And I’ll blame @vgolfman. ?
The “stronger trajectory” description from the Max LS, does that mean more flatter/penetrating?
Also is the rule of thumb they lower lofted drivers (9* v 10.5*) will spin less?
Yes, the Max LS and Triple Diamond LS are slightly lower launching and spinning compared to the Max and Max D models.
No, not really. But yes, if you decrease loft, all other things constant, the spin will decrease as well.
What. A. Post. ?
Excellent feedback Tev! Love what you’re seeing.
Thanks Mike!
I think I have seen some of that already. Especially the left/right misses. A little necky or a little toe anecdotally seem to result in less variation than the Max LS which I thought was really good at that same thing.
Great suggestion/guidance. I’ll keep that in mind for the next run. Might do 3 shots and switch shafts randomly to get data sets.
I think I had harder time finding center with the Smoke Black RDX which is why the average is lower. The Ventrus Red gave me the same feel the UST Mamiya LINQ does in my current setup as far as finding the center of the face. That confidence / head feel is a big deal.
Completely agree. I was at -N/-1 and will put it to -N/S for next step.
Thanks for the incredible feedback Mike.