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!
Same. I’m really close to getting it all back to where I was last winter and hoping I get my break and start playing some consistent good golf.
I’m a 6’ 5” lefty. Still waiting on the HZRDUS blue 6.0 to arrive. Getting this shaft Pured and a 1/2” longer. Hopefully this shaft picks up where my LZ16 left off for me.
looking forward to getting the HZRDUS blue this week. Getting this shaft Pured by the fitter.
Going out this afternoon with the LS Max. Still paired with the LZ16 shaft. This will be my first round with the Max.
If you call, you can mention swing weight to them. I called when I did mine as I was looking for D7, but they only go up to D5.
Thanks to @DannyLe for making me the Shaft Up #1 contest winner! ??
check eBay first. The retail and secondary market has lowered from Callaway.com
It goes to show how well the club responds no matter the contact location. I know I’ve covered so real estate on the face and have been very pleased with what I’d seen. Can’t say enough how much the Max has changed my driving.
It’s not always like this. Breaking 300 is an about 1/15 kind of shot for me, but 328?! I haven’t been kidding when I’ve said this club has changed my game in so many ways.
Not that it matters, but I played this from the one up tees and they were farther up than normal. This par 5 isn’t usually this short lol
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Following up on this after testing today. Ball is the CSX LS
First up was the Rogue ST Max 9* set at -1/N
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To compare it, here is the Max LS, also set at 9* and -1/N
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To finish out, I decided to hit the Max head, at -1/D
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SUMMARY
When the MaxLS is good, it’s really good. But the forgiveness of the Max is extremely hard to ignore. Getting my body synched up is the hardest part right now with my recovery, and right now I’m really feeling the Max at -1/D is giving me the best spot off the tee. Excited to bring it back out on the course in a few days!
That’s what I keep saying after a lot of rounds. The Max is the best!
I’m familiar with testing the entire face. I love the Kinetixx Velocity but trying a Lin-Q might be the next experiment.
I highly recommend this head.
asking for a friend
I think your friend would be well served with both ?
the LTDx LS monitors my internet posts…it was an absolute ? today and i haven’t played in a while.
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Your driver game is so strong!
I was (and still am) shocked I was fit into the triple diamond, but there’s no arguing with the results and I’m definitely not losing any distance.
I still don’t have all my swing speed back, but I feel like I’m maximizing my efficiency and ball speed.
Fairways were really firm, and wind was crazy, all led to a career day in distance off the tee. Into the wind I was still getting about 230. With no wind or a helping wind, the Max LS was throwing BOMBS
hole 10 took a good hop and ended up the longest drive I have ever hit, and was in the rough, so still could have been better
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It is point and shoot. I got in trouble off the tee but that was more because I didn’t know where I was going. The all started on line where I wanted it. It will be very hard knocking this out of the bag.
?
Looks like you were pounding it!
Make it happen! Lin-Q = GOOD!
I’m wanting a Lin-Q Blue that’s been tipped really bad. Just to see if I eek any more performance out of the Rogue ST Max LS.
still in the bag. It’s been a crazy strong club this year.
That’s awesome!
I started my journey with the Rogue ST line in December last year at the Grandaddy. Driver was a club that I knew could be a weapon because of my length, but I hadn’t found a driver that I was confident in consistently. I would have rounds from time to time when I could pull out the driver and go full send without fear, but when it was off, it was a hinderance to my game that I was able to hide because I was rarely forced to hit it off the tee if I didn’t want to. On bad rounds, the driver would cost me multiple strokes throughout the round because I’d be ball in hand on the tee hitting 3. I knew this needed to be addressed at ECPC.
I honestly thought it had been after December and January. I was fit into the Rogue ST TD LS 10.5° (N/-1), and I love that driver. The problem became the non-existent practice time thanks to my medical school schedule. I still played a good amount of golf all things considered, but I would literally walk from my car to the 1st tee most of the time. The demons of driver’s past continued to pop up from time to time, and I reached out to @MattyD-MPLS about his experience with the Max. At Callaway HQ and ECPC, I never even considered the Max head for my own game. I didn’t like the more forgiving shaped heads, and I really liked the head shape of the TD. I realized that if I wanted to get rid of these demons, I might have to try something completely new, so I bought the Rogue ST Max during the US Open because of the "Callaway Wins, You Win" promo.
Was it a smooth transition? I want to say yes, but honestly, it took a round or two to adjust. I would say that my "range/simulator" swing wasn’t coming with me to the course because I didn’t have the confidence to swing freely with the same speed. It took one swing on Hole 13 at Glenross to finally open the flood gates. It may have been the reload on that hole, but I finally struck one like I had on the simulators and it was GONE. This opened the door for the best driving summer I’ve ever had. I don’t have great objective data from previous years because I’ve switched between tracking apps multiple times, but this is the first year I’ve been looking for reasons to hit the driver on holes. I initially had a 46" PX Hzrdus Smoke Green 60X with a green dot adapter set to (N/-2) that I used for the first half of the season, which was really solid. The first time I played with @Golfers Anonymous and had this setup resulted in a 364 yard drive followed be a 3/4 lob wedge for an easy eagle. Because I’m a tinkering (ask me about my experiment finding a 230-240 yard club lol), I decided to pair it with a LinQ Black M40X because of the rave reviews it has got on THP, and that has been a match made in heaven!! It is the smoothest shaft I have ever played and just effortless distance with insane feedback.
Sorry for all the pictures, but this has been my summer/fall on the course since I switched to the Rogue ST Max. What I learned is that you have to try something completely new to get different results. I stopped looking for distance with the goal of finding forgiveness/the same planet on my bad shots and what I found was an extra gear on my GOOD shots thanks to a new level of confidence in the big stick!! Huge thank you to @JasonFinleyCG @DNevsCG and all the amazing guys at Callaway for giving me the opportunity to play these phenomenal clubs!
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Nice review and post! Glad you’ve had success! Can’t wait for 2023 and a full year with the Hzrdus Blue in the LS to see if I can find more fairways again!
Best wishes with your journey! You’ve got the right club to start. I know the golf season in Minny is pretty much wrapped up according to my parents who lives in Spicer, but next season, I can’t wait to hear how it goes
Driver End of Season Review
What a year indeed! In my mind, this part of the bag was what I needed to improve the most to have a chance to take my game to the next level. I’ve said it like 80 times already but I was in a bad spot last year with my confidence with this club. I had to get it back on track.
I used three different models of the Rogue ST line this season. The Max, Max LS and TD LS. Every single one of them had strengths and weaknesses for my game. I’ve written full breakdowns on each head, picture comparisons of each head as well as just updates on confidence. I’ve posted a bunch of individual thoughts in this thread through the year but I’ll try to link the main posts below.
Max Initial
Max Overall
TD Initial
TD Final
Max LS Initial
Max LS Mid
Shape Comparisons
Final thoughts on the Max LS:
I really couldn’t be happier with my driver this season. There were some rough patches. I’m not good enough to not have those relatively regularly. But not once did I lose confidence over the ball this year. I’ve lost some distance compared to my initial thoughts. I’ve changed shafts six different times. But on top of everything I wrote in my thoughts that were linked, there is nothing more I can ask for than to be confident over the ball. Lost confidence on the tee is a lost game for me. Last year proved that. But this year, every time I stepped over the ball, I could swing free. I couldn’t be more grateful for that.
To THP and to Callaway, thank you for everything these last two years. From the lead up to the Grandmama, to the actual event of the Grandaddy, to this last season with the gear. I will forever be grateful and full of appreciation. 38 days until the next group gets to California to start the event that has changed my golf life.
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Don’t forget doesn’t sound like a cat being murdered like your last driver.
I mean you hit it further, straighter and didn’t have wicked slices into the woods anymore. it’s a winner
Yeah it changed how I play my local course. I’m driver wedge on most par 4s now.
Lol just keep it Chris!