Callaway GX Reports

CALLAWAY GOLF

CALLAWAY ROGUE

How in the world do you follow up the epic year that the Callaway Epic driver had? That is the question that we have heard for several months now in anticipation for the new Rogue driver. Callaway Golf President and CEO Chip Brewer knew that would be something that he would have to answer. He challenged his design team to not only match the perfor- mance of Epic, but to flat out beat it. To say that we were excited and maybe… a little nervous… to test the Rogue would be an understatement.

THE TECHNOLOGY: Last year, Jailbreak stood out as the breakthrough technology of the year. This year, Callaway has improved this technology and loaded up the Rogue with some of its best stuff. Some of the highlights are:

NEW JAILBREAK EFFECT Rogue employs improved Jailbreak Technologywith new, hourglass-shaped titanium bars that are 25% lighter, while fulfilling their function to stiffen the crown and sole. The stiffer body allows the face to take on more im- pact-load to promote faster ball speed, and makes possible our new X-Face VFT face architecture, which promotes fast ball speed across an expansive area of the face. Together, Jailbreak and X-Face VFT work together to cre- ate what we call the Jailbreak Effect, which promotes a remarkable boost in ball speed and distance.

WEIGHT TRACK REMOVAL Arguably the most noticeable difference versus the Epic is the lack of a movable weight track. By removing this feature Callaway was able to relocate the weight previous dedicated to the track and movable weight. This change leads to a significantly more stable driver and less twisting at impact (greater MOI). What does this mean to you? The Rogue is signifi- cantly easier to hit than the Epic…and to be honest we thought the Epic was easy to hit too! But don’t worry about the ability to correct your ball flight, Callaway has made the Rogue in three versions: Sub Zero, Stan- dard, and Draw. Each has a distinct ball flight that intended to enhance your performance regardless of your current tendencies. UPGRADED BOEING AERO PACKAGE Boeing and Callaway collaborated to develop the Speed Step technolo- gy used in past Callaway metalwoods. In Rogue, we worked with Boeing to redefine the geometry of the leading edge to improve airflow to pro- mote faster head speed. TRIAXIAL CARBON CROWN Callaway is the leader at using carbon composite materials to enhance metalwood performance. Our proprietary triaxial carbon composite is extraordinarily light and strong, saving substantial weight. We’ve redis- tributed that weight into the head’s perimeter to significantly increase MOI and forgiveness, which helps preserve distance and direction on off-center hits. Rogue has the largest triaxial carbon crown of any Call- away driver ever.

THE TEST: We invited an 11 handicap to put his beloved Epic driver up against the new Rogue. He has moderate to high club head speed and has a natural draw that quickly turns into a hook. We tested his 10.5 Epic with a Hzrdus Stiff shaft versus a 10.5 Rogue with the exact same shaft. To stay consistent we used a Callaway Chrome Soft X ball. Take a look at the results below:

THE RESULTS: The design changes led us to expect a more forgiving driver and that proved to be true. We not only saw a much straighter ball flight, but we saw the smash factor moved up from 1.48 to 1.50. This number is a ratio of ball speed as compared to club head speed and an increase is a telltale sign of a more forgiving driver. What we didn’t expect was the gain in ball speed. The Epic was just such a leap forward in production of ball speed. As you might assume, ball speed is one of the primary factors in determining how long you will hit a driver. The increase in average ball speed for our tester was 1.4 MPH. Fur- thermore the increase from his fastest drive with Epic vs. his fastest with Rogue was 2 MPH. That may or may not sound like much to you, but 2 MPH faster than an already really, really, really fast driver? That’s fast. This produced as much as 12 yards more distance. Also of note, our player increased his launch angle by 1.2 degrees while his spin reduced by nearly 100 RPM’s. In the past an increase in forgiveness almost never lead to a decrease in spin. Likewise, an increase in height typically meant more spin as well. With Rogue that simply isn’t the case. Mis-hits and middle-hits alike, the Rogue produces very consistent launch and spin. This means you should notice more consistent trajectory and distance.

CALLAWAY GREAT BIG BERTHA EPIC DRIVER

A new year means a brand new line up of impressive new clubs from golf’s top manufacturers and, arguably, there is no club that is more highly anticipated in 2017 then Callaway’s Great Big Bertha Epic Driver! For this NGBA GX Report we’re going to try something a little bit different. Instead of our typical standard product testing review and results, we’re going to let one of our Association’s Certified Club Fitters provide you with his per- sonal experience in testing the Great Big Bertha Epic Driver at Ely Callaway Performance Center in Carlsbad, California. So without further adieu… My name is Eric Howard and I’m the Assistant Store Manager and a Certified Club Fitter in Florence, Kentucky. The following NGBA GX Report will provide a different perspective from our standard in-house testing as I was recently given the opportunity to travel to Callaway HQ in Carlsbad, California. It was there at the Ely Callaway Performance Center that I was first able to get hands on and test Callaway’s brand new long bomber. As part of our invitation, we were asked to bring along our current gamer driver, which for myself just so happened to be the predecessor the Epic Driver, the Great Big Bertha. The actual test was relatively simple. We hit a number of shots with our driver and then, using the exact same shaft, we switched to over and hit the same number of shots using the Epic driver head. So how did the Epic Driver pre- form you ask? Let’s take a look!

Even with a slower club head speed on the Epic, my ball speed jumped up an incredible 41/2 mph. That took my carry yardage from 257 to 268, a gain of 11 yards. While my carry yardage went up, spin was also re- duced by over 1,100 RPMS, even though I was using the exact same shaft. All of those parameters put together, my total yardage went from 275 yards, up to 298 yards with the Epic. I must admit, while I was well aware of the industry buzz and excitement surrounding the upcoming release of the Great Big Bertha Epic Driver, I wasn’t prepared for how well it would perform in our product testing. Those types of gains in numbers are sure to make the Callaway Epic have an epic impact on the golf industry this year! Be sure to stop in to your local NGBA Retailer to see what improvements the Epic can do for you.

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CALLAWAY STEELHEAD XR IRONS

Overview Callaway’s new Steelhead XR irons are a throwback to the sleek, classic design of the Steelhead X-14 of yesteryear. This fresh take on a classic design com- bines both playability and ability to shape your shot which could make the Steelhead XR irons one of the most popular set of sticks on the market. The new Steelhead XR irons possess the Next-Generation 360 Cup Face, a technology that helps to generate even more ball speed than previous models and helps promote a higher launch angle. The Steelhead XR irons also have a new Steel-Infused Polyurethane Insert. This serves two separate functions: ab- sorb unwanted vibration to enhance feel and to add weight, lowering the clubs center of gravity, promoting higher ball speeds and launch angles on those mis-hits low on the face. The newly placed Center of Gravity in the Steelhead XR irons allows for a more consistent launch, which leads to more control. All of this new technology makes the Steelhead XR irons more forgiving where you need it…while still having maximum playability!

Test To test the Steelhead XR irons, we compared them to Callaway’s XR iron, which is the preceding game improvement iron from Callaway. Our test golfer in this case, is a single digit handicap player, who normally plays a draw. For both the Steelhead XR and XR, we used a Project X 6.0 Shaft at standard length with standard lie. The first thing that stood out to us was the tighter dispersion from the Steel- head XR. Every shot with the Steelhead XR, even mishits were a consistent draw that ended up within just a few yards of each other. We did not see the same forgiveness from the XR, which struggled to draw with mishits. You can see the dispersion difference in the Trackman report between the Steelhead XR (white) and XR (yellow).

Once we looked at the numbers a little more in-depth, we found some glaring differences.

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Particularly, the differences in the carry yardage were remarkable. The Steel- head XR carried about 9 yards farther than the XR (174 yards vs. 165 yards). The Steelhead XR also got nearly 5 mph more ball speed (120 mph vs. 115 mph). The new Steel-Infused Polyurethane Insert in the Steelhead XR, which low- ers the Center of Gravity, appears to also positively impact the overall height achieved with the Steelhead XR being about 11 feet higher at peak height than the XR (90 feet vs. 79 feet). Conclusion We were extremely impressed with how well the Steelhead XR tested in almost every aspect. Callaway’s new Steelhead XR irons are a throwback to a classic iron. They’re packed to the brim with brand new technology that should have every golfer chomping at the bit to demo these incredible new irons. And be sure to stop by an NGBA Retailer nearest you to test the Callaway Steelhead XR for yourself!