What’s new? How much does it cost? And how does it perform? Jack Backhouse brings you the low down on Callaway’s fasted fairway wood ever
Callaway have released a fairway wood they claim to be the fastest they’ve ever made, so how did we find it? Let’s take a closer look…
NCG SUMMARY
An extremely well-rounded club that should be considered by players of all abilities.
The club boasts extremely fast ball speeds, mid-launch, and huge forgiveness with new technology.
This could be the club that makes you fall back in love with fairway woods again, as not only does it look and sound great, but strikes feel solid from all over the face.
PROS
- Matte head looks great behind the ball
- Slight draw bias
- Huge ball speeds
- Great off the tee as well as the fairway
CONS
- Not adjustable
Callaway Rogue ST Max Fairway Woods review: First impressions
The Callaway Rogue ST Max fairway has a great reputation so I was excited to hit this club. It sits great behind the ball on a tee or on grass, and despite not being as shallow or elongated as the Max D model, still looks confidence-inspiring behind the ball.
The Rogue ST Max is the most versatile fairway wood in Callaway’s lineup this year and has gone straight into the bag of Tour players like Jon Rahm and Matt Wallace.
Callaway Rogue ST Max Fairway Woods review: NCG verdict
Callaway have done a great job with the Rogue ST Max fairway wood. I knew after the first shot I hit that this could go straight into my bag. Straight away I loved the matte finished head, and the black and gold colour scheme. More understated than previous models but the performance of the club draws plenty of attention to it.
I started out testing this club out on the practice round hitting a variety of shots from the turf, from a tee and out of some short rough. I was really pleased with how the club interacted with the turf when hitting from the ground. I was able to get the ball up in the air from all different kinds of lies, this probably due to Callaway’s new high strength face cup, which allows good shots from strikes all across the face.
I loved hitting this club so much that I took it out to play with in my weekly Sunday morning 4-ball twice! I found that this club was brilliant for me off the tee on shorter and more narrow par-4s. As a neutral/draw hitting player I actually enjoyed the slight draw bias in the club. It allowed me to confidently aim up the right to curve the ball back to the centre and it went a really long way. The tungsten speed cartridge that’s been added to the Rogue ST Max fairway has moved the centre of gravity of the club more towards the face, which boosts ball speed and lowers spin, which is ideal for tee shots.
On the launch monitor, I was pleased with the numbers I saw. To basically be at 150mph ball speed with a fairway wood is great for me, and to average that over a number of shots is brilliant. You can see how consistently the club went the same distance, and that was with a variety of different strikes off the face. The consistency in ball speed Callaway say is down to their new A.I designed club faces, which differ from club to club to optimise launch conditions with whichever club you’re using.
I absolutely loved this could and would put it straight in my bag. 150mph ball speed is faster than my current gamer and I noticed the difference when out on the golf course. Callaway have done a great job combining great ball speed and forgiveness to produce a fairway that can be used by any standard of player.
I am normally put off when I see a club is draw biased as I certainly dont need any help turning the ball over, but Callaway have done this subtly and a player might not even notice it if they hadn’t read up on the club beforehand.
Callaway know that the Rogue ST Max fairway can be used by anyone, and offer the club from 3 wood to 11 wood, and it has the largest selection of stock shafts available. I tested the 3 wood with a Tensei White AV 65 Graphite in stiff which produced just the flight I was looking for.
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Callaway Rogue ST Max Fairway Woods review: The details
Available: Now
RRP: £299
Lofts: 3 wood: 15 degrees, 5 wood: 18 degrees, Havenwood: 20 degrees, 7 wood: 21 degrees, 9 wood: 24 degrees, 7 wood: 27 degrees
Stock shafts:
Mitsubishi Tensei AV White 65 Graphite: Stiff, Extra stiff
Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue 55 Graphite: Regular, Stiff
Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue 65 Graphite: Regular, Stiff
Mitsubishi Tensei AV White 75 Graphite: Stiff, Extra Stiff
Project X Cypher Black 50 Graphite: Regular, Womens
Project X Cypher Black 40 Graphite: Light, Regular
More information: Callaway website
Jack Backhouse
