What’s new? How much does it cost? And, how can it improve my putting? Max McVittie brings you the lowdown on the new Callaway Elyte Drivers.
Us golfers are getting greedier every year with what we want from our drivers. We want to be able to swing the big stick quickly on the tee box, but still have great levels of forgiveness to prevent those wayward strikes crossing the white marker posts.
Often the case is that we want our driver to go further, yet still be easy to hit. Callaway may just have made our dreams come true with the Callaway Elyte drivers.
What makes these drivers so fast and forgiving? Let’s take a look…
What’s the first thing that springs to mind when I mention Elyte Performance? Speed, forgiveness or precise, perhaps. Well for Callaway and their Elyte driver range it’s all three, there are no trade offs.
Callaway have incorporated Ai into many of the driver faces in generations of clubs gone by. The Ai Smoke, included the Paradym Ai Smoke MAX drivers, which our NCG team found optimised launch and spin, leading to better height and more overall distance in our review.
The brand say that the Ai 10x Face they have introduced for the Elyte line-up is ten times more precise than the Ai Smart face. In terms of performance benefits, the new Ai face will lead to unmatched spin consistency and tight dispersion according to Callaway. This is designed to be evident across the face, for mishits and clean strikes.
Additionally, the head of the driver has been crafted using a thermoformed carbon crown which is bigger for CG and resulting in a higher MOI. This is what enables the fast speeds of the three drivers with the aerospace grade carbon fiber optimising the spin and launch for greater distances.
The development of the Elyte drivers included a testing period with a panel of 50 random golfers of random abilities. Promisingly, they found that the top 20% gained +1.3mph which could be down the refined shape of the driver head.
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Callaway have introduced a new fast head shape for faster swing speeds with added forgiveness. The new shape consists of enhanced aerodynamics.
The tungsten weight is placed low and forward in the head, not attached to the face, which improves low center strikes. This enables off centred strikes to be more forgiving, great for higher handicap golfers and those who aren’t always consistent with their ball striking.
The Callaway Elyte driver represents a modern shape with adjustability. A 13g weight can be moved to favour a draw, fade or neutral swing bias. This is only available in the standard core head, here is more information on the different drivers.
Callaway Elyte Drivers: The Line-up
The Callaway Elyte driver range features three models: Callaway Elyte, Callaway Elyte X and Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond.
Callaway Elyte
Looks: A very neutral, classical shaped golf club.
Main Attributes: Designed to maximise swing speed with added forgiveness and launch capabilities. confidence inspiring off the tee due to a chevron on the topline which also helps with alignment.
Who is it for?: Can be utilised by all levels of golfers.
Callaway Elyte X
Looks: Slightly oversized head.
Main Attributes: Designed to be extra forgiving, easy to hit and easy to launch.
Who is it for?: For those seeking maximum forgiveness and a high launch. Generally higher handicap golfers will benefit from this option most.
Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond
Looks: Smaller footprint on the head of the driver.
Main Attributes: Designed to have lower amounts of spin and launch angle
Who is it for?: For golfers with a fast swing speed.
The Details
Available: Pre-sale from the 15th of January. Retail from the 31st of January.
RRP:
Callaway Elyte – £569/$599.99
Callaway Elyte X – £569/$599.99
Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond – £599/$629.99
Shafts:
Callaway Elyte – True Temper Project X Denali Charcoal and Mitsubishi Chemical Vanquish PL
Callaway Elyte X – True Temper Project X Denali Charcoal, Mitsubishi Chemical Vanquish PL and WMS Mitsubishi Chemical Eldio
Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond – Aretera EC1 Blue, Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Black and True Temper Denali Charcoal
