Callaway Rogue ST MAX Driver Review | An Honest Take in 2024

Looking for a definitive Callaway Rogue ST MAX Driver Review? Look no further.

At over $550, is the Rogue ST MAX Driver worth it for the average golfer? How does it stack up against offerings from Titliest, TaylorMade, PXG and PING? When you are paying top dollar for equipment, it is important to have considered all the information available before making a purchase.

The objective of this article is to provide an honest, and in-depth review. As always, we will aim to decrypt jargon and technical terms so the content is digestible for beginner and intermediate golfers.

Let’s get to our definitive Callaway Rogue ST MAX Driver review!

Overview- What are we going to cover?

The big headline is that is Callaway’s fastest, most stable driver ever.

How have they gone about achieving this?

Well, there are two main driving forces. Firstly, they have included a Tungsten ‘Speed Cartridge’– a fancy way of saying there is a weight at the back of the club which makes it more forgiving.

The second is the use of artificial intelligence (A.I) to shape the club face and insert a ‘speed frame’ (we’ll explain later) into the club.

This is where the ST (speed tuned) comes from. The idea is that A.I is used to tune the club for the MAX speed possible. Rather than getting golfers to hit thousands of shots and analyzing the data manually, Callaway’s A.I system solves all the problems itself.

These A.I simulations help Callaway more accurately design different versions of the club to suit golfers of different abilities.

Hopefully it does not get bored of running club simulations and decide to launch all the world’s weapons of mass destruction, create an army of cyborgs and then send one with an Austrian accent back in time to assassinate the person who eventually defeats it.

Anyway, these are the main questions we will answer in this article.

• Are Callaway rogue drivers any good?
• What is the difference between the ST MAX, ST MAX D, ST MAX LS and ST Triple Diamond LS?
• Is Callaway rogue driver good for high handicappers?
• When did the Callaway Rogue ST MAX driver come out?
• Do any pros use Callaway Rogue?

For those skim readers among you who are just looking for a brief summary giving the bottom line: see below. After that, we will get into the questions above.

Do I recommend the Callaway Rogue ST MAX Driver?

Yes. There is no doubt that the Rogue ST MAX is one of the leading drivers on the market because of how well it is suited to so many types of golfers.

There are four models available (which we discuss below), and each has been meticulously tailored to golfers of different abilities.

The price point is high, but that’s no surprise. Callaway has invested big in A.I to ensure this driver has market leading technology.

As far as the main metrics are concerned; distance, speed, durability and sound it is as good as any of its competitors. From an aesthetic standpoint, the matt black crown with gold trim is stunning to look at. This is a change from previous Callaway Drivers that were an eye-sore.

There are less expensive options that will work just as well for beginners and intermediates, but if you have disposable income and like to turn heads, then this is the driver for you.

Callaway Rogue ST MAX Driver: Key data

As you will see in the table below, Callaway offers 4 different models of the Rogue Driver. See the section below which explains the differences between these models. It’s actually very straightforward and easy to understand.

Distance
Forgiveness
Value for money
Aesthetic
Best For

Callaway Rogue ST MAX Driver: Pros and Cons

We will go into more depth later, but below are the main pros and cons of the Rogue driver.

Pros

• Crisp sound on impact
• Matt black and gold aesthetics are super classy
• Each version really is designed for different golfing abilities

Cons

• Price is high
• No moveable weight like the previous model (Mavrik) though this is not a factor for most golfers.

Callaway Rogue ST MAX Driver: Key Questions Answered

Let’s look at the main factors you should consider if you are thinking about making the Callaway Rogue your new driver.

Are Callaway Rogue Drivers Any Good?

Yes, but it’s a totally fair question. The driver is beautifully balanced, and provides great options for all abilities.

Let’s consider the features of the club and how they impact your game.

Tungsten Speed Cartridge

Although it sounds like something that you might find in a print shop, it does actually help enhance your ball striking. The gold section on the club head is actually a 26 gram weight that shifts the weight low and deep into the club head.

What is Tungsten, and how does it help?

Tungsten is a very dense, heavy metal where little mass can add a lot of weight. By back-weighting the club it increases MOI.

And what is MOI?

MOI, or moment of inertia is essentially a measure of your club’s resistance to turning when the ball is struck NOT on the sweet spot. So in effect, the higher the “MOI”, the less your club will twist when you hit the heel or toe, and therefore the straighter your ball will be on a mis-hit. It is certainly a club that breeds confidence: allowing golfers to play a variety of shots.

The below diagram applies to drivers as well, but it is easier to show on an iron.

Jailbreak Speed Frame

This might sound confusing, but it’s actually rather straightforward.

There are two hourglass-shaped bars that connect the crown and the sole, keeping the top and bottom of the club more stable, allowing the face to take on more stress on impact and therefore generate more ball speed.

A.I Generated Face

All the big brands have their thing. TaylorMade Stealth has its carbon, Callaway Rogue ST driver has its A.I.

When done manually, a driver face may go through ten iterations before being ready for mass production. Using machine learning, Callaway’s A.I runs through 15,000 iterations, learning from each one before creating the face for the Rogue.

It’s a powerful concept.

So powerful it could decide to enslave humanity in a virtual reality while harvesting body heat for energy. That was the last one, promise.

The bottom line is that all this testing gives golfers the absolute optimal combination of ball speed, forgiveness and spin (mathematically).

What is the difference between the ST MAX, ST MAX D, ST MAX LS and ST Triple Diamond LS Models?

Just to make matters slightly confusing, you will notice that there are four different Callaway Rogue drivers available. These types of variations are standard for drivers, but that do they mean? And how do you know which of the Rogue ST drivers is right for you?

Even though it won’t be the choice for most golfers, it is easiest to explain if we start with the Rogue ST Triple Diamond . This is the hardest to use and we can work down to the easiest.

Rogue ST Triple Diamond

Very few club golfers will pick this option.

This is the choice of the top tour professionals and what I would recommend for advanced golfers seeking higher ball speed and the ability to shape shots.

A word of caution. I am not talking about single figure handicappers, but either professional or scratch golfers who are able to hit the sweet spot of the club every time.

If you nail the center, there is the potential to bomb drives with minimal spin that carry long distances. If you mis-hit, expect the ball to fly all over the place.

Unless you are seriously good with a driver, move to the next.

Rogue ST MAX LS Driver

Way more forgiving than the triple diamond, but still low levels of spin and forgiveness by most golfer’s standards.

So how do you know if this is right for you?

Essentially, if you are an advanced golfer who has a high swing speed and wants to adjust to optimize for a certain type of ball flight, then this might be the club for you.

Think single figure handicappers or golfers that are very competent with their drive and want to generate extra distance.

Rogue ST MAX Driver

This is the option I would recommend for most intermediate and regular playing golfers. The ST MAX has been engineered for more forgiveness and stability with off-center strikes.

In addition, the ST MAX produces more spin on impact– if you do not have a fast swing, this will help keep the ball in the air for longer.

So bottom line, if you know that you do not always hit the center of your driver, but you still prioritize distance, then go with the original ST MAX.

Rogue ST MAX D Driver

The ST MAX D driver is the most forgiving driver out of the four and is what I would recommend for beginners/ high handicappers. Particularly for those who tend to slice their driver off the tee.

This (draw bias) is incredibly common– by generating side spin on the ball, right handers will see the ball curve right and vice versa for left handers.

Callaway have essentially set the weight distribution of the club up to be most forgiving for those that tend to slice. Don’t get me wrong, it will still be very possible to slice the ball off the tee, but this gives you the best chance of softening the curve.

Expect more spin, slightly less ball speed and the most forgiveness of the Rogue ST drivers.

Mitsubishi Tensei AV blue shafts come as standard for all models.

Is the Callaway Rogue Driver Good for High Handicappers?

Yes. The ST MAX D version of the club is the best option for beginners. The ST MAX D is the most forgiving version of the Rogue drivers. It is set-up to specifically work against slices off the tee (where a golfer generates side spin). If for example you are a right handed beginner, you may notice the ball curving right off the tee. This slight draw bias helps combat this unwanted left to right (in the case of right handers) shot shape.

The MAX D gives you maximum forgiveness, additional spin (which keeps the ball in the air for longer) and the cost of slightly less ball speed.

This is a great option for beginners who do not always hit the center of the club and want an extra layer of control.

When did the Callaway Rogue ST MAX driver come out?

4th January 2022.

Do any pros use Callaway Rogue?

This is obviously something that is subject to change at any moment as professionals are regularly testing new equipment in an effort to make incremental gains over their peers.

Currently, notable tour pros with the Rogue driver in their bag include:

• John Rahm
• Phil Mickelson
• Xander Schauffele
• Adam Scott
• Branden Grace
• Henrik Stenson

The caliber of pros that use (mainly the triple diamond and ST MAX LS) is certainly a contributing factor to the high price point. You can make the argument that the driver is the most important/ highest margin for error club in the bag.

If these golfers are willing to trust the club in high pressure situations, with sporting immortality and millions of dollars on the line: then that’s a huge endorsement for the product.

Pricing Breakdown

Callaway Rogue ST drivers are at the high end of what one might expect to pay for a driver. That simply comes down to the innovation with the A.I (we all know software is expensive) and the fact that Callaway is one of the most sought after equipment brands out there.

In the US, it retails at $549 across the different versions of the model.

In the UK you are looking at a £479 RRP.

Comparison

Comparing clubs is always somewhat of a treacherous business. Sure, if you are really into the details there are outlets that have run tests where they take drivers across the board and have compiled data that ranks drivers by ball speed, launch angle, height and carry.

But how does this help? Do I just select the club that has the best test results?

The short answer is no.

Test results are a great indication, but it should not be forgotten that often it is just one golfer hitting these clubs. It might be a controlled environment, but we all know that sometimes you just hit good and bad shots. Sometimes it’s up to the club, sometimes it’s you. This is very hard to quantify.

Even if you increase the sample size with more golfers and shots, there are still so many mitigating factors.

Oftentimes, the results often yield similar results with incremental differences. This makes sense, as these equipment manufacturers are in the hands of professionals competing for major championships. If one brand of clubs gave you that much of an advantage, all the tour players would use them.

Competition Breakdown

So how can we compare Rogue drivers to their peers?

Ultimately, the best we can really do is generalize which types of clubs suit different brackets of golfers.

Starting with the essentials, hopefully the below table gives you a hard and fast breakdown of the key features of some of the main competition.

	Price (for standard model)	Lofts available (degrees)	Head size	Length
Callaway Rogue ST MAX	549 USD 479 GBP	9, 10.5, 12	460cc	45.75
TaylorMade Stealth	579 USD 470 GBP	9, 10.5, 12	460cc	45.75
TaylorMade SIM2 Max	450 USD 300 GBP	8, 9, 10.5	460cc	45.75
Ping G425 Max	549 USD 420 GBP	9, 10.5, 12	460cc	45.75
Titleist TSi2	549 USD 479 GBP	8, 9 ,10, 11	460cc	45.5
PXG 0311 Gen 5	300 USD 250 GBP	7.5, 9, 10.5	460cc	45.5

As you can see, from a specification perspective, these clubs are all very similar. This makes sense. The USGA has specific regulations and limits that manufacturers must follow.

Perhaps more helpfully, we have listed below what we believe is the best option for each bracket of golfer.

Best Overall: TaylorMade Stealth Driver

Best for Beginners: TaylorMade Stealth HD

The Best for Intermediates: Ping G425 Max

Best for Advanced: Callaway Rogue ST MAX Triple Diamond

Best Budget Option: PXG 0311 Gen 5

I hope you found our review useful!