Callaway Rogue ST Max irons review
What’s new? How much does it cost? And how does it perform? Jack Backhouse brings you the low down on the Callaway Rogue ST Max irons
Are these really Callaway’s Longest ever irons? Find out in our Callaway Rogue ST Max irons review.
NCG SUMMARY
If you’re in the market for a new set of irons and all you want is more distance, look no further than the Rogue ST Max irons.
These irons sit so big behind the ball you really feel like you can play good shots, regardless of your ball striking ability.
Callaway have packed this iron head with all of their latest tech to make this a really high-performing set of clubs.
PROS
- Long
- Consistent ball speeds across the face
- Strikes feel powerful
CONS
- Chunky heads won’t suit the eye of all players
- Low spin makes distance control hard inside 150 yards
Callaway Rogue ST Max irons review: First Impressions
There’s no getting away from how big these irons are. At address the Rogue ST Max irons almost make the ball look small, which is good as these clubs are designed for a player who wants maximum forgiveness and distance. They sit with the classic Callaway iron style and have the strongest lofts in the Rogue ST family.
Callaway Rogue ST Max irons review: NCG Verdict
Clubs like these make me nervous. I typically play with blade irons, with fairly ‘traditional’ weak lofts and basically no forgiveness, so when testing a super game improvement iron like the Rogue ST Max, I wonder if the radical distance and forgiveness will be enough to convince me I’m not the player I believe I am.
As soon as I made my first practice swing, I had a feeling the Rogue ST Max irons were going to be long. Something about the way the weight in the head felt different to the other irons I have tested recently, probably something to do with the 260% increase in high-density tungsten weights since the Mavrik series.
The results do not disappoint, these irons are crazy long. From what I would consider being fairly average club head speed averages, I was able to hit a 9 iron that carried 149, a 7 iron that carried 180 and my longest 5 iron went 204 CARRY. This was easily the longest Rogue ST iron model.
Callaway have used AI to design the club face and have produced something that feels really jumpy at impact like the ball is being shot out of a cannon.
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The Rogue ST Max are not only long but also incredibly forgiving. Strikes from places other than the centre also flew extremely far and felt really solid. I even had mishits with the Rogue ST Max irons that fly further than a good strike on my current irons. Not a good look for the old blades.
I hit the Rogue ST Max irons with the True Temper Elevate Steel 95g shaft, which compliments the head really well. It’s light enough so that you can really feel the weight of the head swinging, which I believe to be good for golfers.
The only downside I see with the Rogue ST Max irons would be that the spin on the shots is very low. This is great if you want more distance but not good if you’re trying to control it, and would give me problems when hitting into greens. I would also probably have to add at least two more wedges into my bag to fill some gaps created by the irons going so far.
These are a brilliant set of irons that I recommend to anyone who needs more distance, which is almost everyone. Callaway have jam-packed the head with all of the latest tech and have produced rocket launchers. They won’t be featuring in my bag as I lean towards control over distance, but still a brilliant set of irons.
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Callaway Rogue ST Max irons review: The Details
Available: Now
RRP: £849
Lofts: 4i: 18.5 – 5i: 21.5 – 6i: 24.5 – 7i: 27.5 – 8i: 32 – 9i: 36.5 – PW: 41
Shafts:
Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue 65 Graphite: Regular
Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue 75 Graphite: Stiff
Project X Cypher Black 50: Light
True Temper Elevate 95 Steel: Regular, Stiff
More information: Callaway Website
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Jack Backhouse
Jack is a PGA Golf Professional who specialises in coaching, teaching golf to beginners and top-level amateurs for 10+ years. He also loves his golf equipment and analysing the data of the latest clubs on the market using launch monitors, specialising in blade irons and low-spinning drivers despite having a chronically low ball flight.
Although Jack has no formal journalism training, He has been reading What's In The Bag articles since he started playing at 12 and studying golf swings since his dad first filmed his swing to reveal one of the worst over-the-top slice swings he reckons has ever been recorded, which set him off on the path to be a coach. His favourite club ever owned was a Ping G10 driver bought from a local top amateur with the hope that some of the quality golf shots would come with it (they didn't), and worst was a Nike SQ driver he only bought because Tiger was using it.
Jack is a member of Sand Moor Golf Club and regularly gets out on the golf course to prepare for tournaments. Jack uses a TaylorMade BRNR Mini driver, a half set of TaylorMade P7MB irons, MG4 wedges and a TaylorMade TP Reserve putter.
