Callaway reveal new Rogue Drivers and Fairway Woods

Callaway have announced the launch of their latest Rogue Drivers and Fairway Woods, all featuring improved jailbreak technology for greater ball speeds.

The new Callaway Rogue range includes three Drivers (Standard, Sub Zero and Draw), and two Fairway Woods (Standard and Sub Zero), which all feature an improved version of the Jailbreak technology that was in Epic and a new X Face VFT for enhanced power and more forgiveness.

・Callaway Rogue Driver
・Callaway Rogue Sub Zero Driver
・Callaway Rogue Draw Driver
・Callaway Rogue Fairway Wood
・Callaway Rogue Sub Zero Fairway Wood

Following up an epic success is a tricky thing to do. Just look at films – has there ever been a sequel that was better than the original? Very, very few. Callaway has been wrestling with that issue after a record-breaking 2017, a year in which they’ve smashed their sales forecasts and become the top-selling brand in many of the world’s major golf markets.

A lot of that success was down to the Epic driver (and, to be fair, their Odyssey O-Works putters and Chrome Soft ball). The new “Jailbreak” technology in the Epic drivers really resonated with consumers, and delivered distance gains in tting bays all over the world. So how do you improve on it? Callaway says its Rogue line – with new drivers, fairways, hybrids and multiple iron offerings – does exactly that.

Boeing and Callaway collaborated to develop the Speed Step Technology used in past
Callaway metalwoods. In Rogue, they worked with Boeing to redefine the geometry of the
leading edge to improve airflow to promote faster head speed.

Callaway Rogue Driver: £469

Callaway claim to have broken away from their own metalwood design protocal to once again reinvent the driver, inspired by a desire to dramatically change driver performance by changing the driver dynamics.

They took the technologies that made the Callaway GBB Epic and say that they have supercharged those to create Rogue, a driver that combines all they know about boosting ball speed with a new, MOI-enhancing shape that they say delivers exceptional forgiveness.

Callaway say their new Rogue driver produces 1.5- 2mph faster ball speeds than last year’s Epic, achieved by enhancing their revolutionary Jailbreak Technology with new, hourglass-shaped titanium bars which are 25% lighter to stiffen the crown and sole.

By removing the sliding weight track at the back of the head, the Callaway Rogue driver also has a 15g weight saving over Epic. Why is that important? Repositioning that weight delivers more forgiveness and a 16% tighter shot dispersion. Along with an improved aero package.

Callaway Rogue Sub Zero Driver: £469

Callaway’s Rogue Sub Zero Driver is a powerful, extremely low-spinning, Tour-level driver packaged in a high-MOI head shape. Although it is designed to appeal to Tour Pros, Callaway think their Rogue Sub Zero driver is so forgiving and easy to hit that any amateur seeking lower spin is also a great candidate for it.

The performance of the Callaway Rogue Sub Zero Driver performance is spearheaded by their improved Jailbreak Technology, which drastically changes how the head behaves at impact. There are new, hourglass-shaped titanium bars are lighter than before, yet equally effective at stiffening the crown and sole, allowing the face to take on more impact-load to promote faster ball speed.

Improved XFace VFT Technology promotes fast ball speed across a larger part of the face. That, combined with Jailbreak, promotes a significant boost in ball speed and distance. Rogue Sub Zero’s high MOI starts with its light-and-strong triaxial carbon composite crown, which saves weight that’s redistributed in the head’s perimeter. We can’t emphasise enough what an astonishing engineering feat it is to make a low-spin driver with this high level of forgiveness.

Rogue Sub Zero’s head shape and construction allows Callaway engineers to position
the CG low and deep with a more neutral bias. This position, along the head’s neutral
axis (the line that runs perpendicular to the loft and intersects with the geometric centre
of the head), promotes higher launch and low spin — the launch conditions that promote
maximum distance.

Two interchangeable weights (2g and 14g) in the front and back of the sole allow you to
adjust spin-rate ±200 rpm. Position the heavier weight forward to lower spin; position it in
back to increase forgiveness and promote higher launch and longer carry.

Callaway say the Rogue Sub Zero Driver has more of a player’s profile (than the Callaway Epic Driver); expect it to be in Sergio’s bag for 2018.

Callaway Rogue Draw Driver: £469

Aimed at the golfer who has a slice, the Callaway Rogue Draw Driver has draw-promoting qualities combined with all of the other technologies in the standard Rogue driver. 

Draw drivers have come a long way over the last 18 months and from looks alone most golfers wouldn’t know the Draw isn’t a standard Rogue Driver. Callaway say there’s seven yards more draw bias than the Epic, which helps keep shots away from the right side of the course, and improves ball speed for heel strikers. 

The Callaway Rogue Draw Driver includes the combination of Jailbreak and X-Face VF Technologies, improved Boeing aerodynamics package and triaxial carbon crown, all designed to work together to promote an increase in ball speed and distance. 

A 5-gram screw in sole near the heel and substantial internal weighting at the heel also feature in the Rogue Draw Driver. This pulls the CG location inward, toward the heel. That enhances the head’s ability to create ‘gear effect’ a physical action that minimises slice-spin when the face is open at impact.

Callaway Rogue Fairway Wood: £269

Callaway’s Rogue Fairway Wood features jailbreak technolgogy and boasts higher launch and lower spin. 

Jailbreak makes an appearance in a fairway wood for the first time in the Callaway Rogue Fairway wood. Combined with a new ultra-thin and springy carpenter 455 steel face, Face Cup technology, Callaway says this is the most effective speed-boosting package they’ve ever made.

A carbon composite crown and glued hosel free up weight in the Rogue Fairway wood, which is repositioned to create an ultra-low CG, high MOI package that makes them easy to launch and extremely versatile. Together, the two most effective speed enhancing technologies we’ve ever developed make Rogue the most powerful fairways we’ve ever created.

“The challenge was to make these technologies work together,” said Dr. Alan Hocknell. “That technological synergy is what makes Rogue Fairways an engineering marvel, and an absolute powerhouse.”

According to Callaway’s lab rats the Rogue Fairway Wood is ultra-easy to launch from the turf, extremely versatile and the total package when it comes to fairways.

Callaway Rogue Sub Zero Fairway Wood: £269

Callaway’s Rogue Sub Zero version of the Fairway Wood boasts all the same Jailbreak, fast-face, composite crown and aero tech, but the sole weight’s moved towards the face. That creates a low and forward CG which lowers spin and maximises distance for fast swing speed players.

Additional features include an ultra-thin Carpenter 455 steel face, triaxial carbon crown
and ultra-low and forward CG location. The body, Jailbreak bars and Internal Standing
Wave are all cast as a single piece of steel, allowing all of these elements to work together
in service of distance and forgiveness.

The Boeing Aero Package has also been improved. Boeing and Callaway collaborated to
develop the Speed Step Technology used in past Callaway metalwoods. In Rogue, they
worked with Boeing to redefine the geometry of the leading edge to improve airflow to
promote faster head speed.

The high-speed and low-spin properties of Rogue Sub Zero Fairway Woods create a
set of distance-enhancing launch conditions, and are the reason Evan Gibbs, Sr. Director
of Metalwood Development, calls this club “an absolute beast.”