The tagline for the Callaway Elyte driver family is “Going from good to Elite” (while taking some liberties with spelling along the way).
To get there, Callaway emphasized breaking through some of the trade-offs between speed and forgiveness but in a way that doesn’t rely on throwing out a big MOI number and calling it a day.
The backstory here is that while Ai Smoke was a very well-balanced driver, against the competitive set, it wasn’t otherworldly in any category.
Callaway wanted more.
To unlock Elyte performance, Callaway sought to ramp up speed without removing any forgiveness from the recipe. And while there are invariably devils in the details, we can simplify Callaway’s approach to three “more complex than they sound” bullet points.
- New aerodynamic shape
- New crown materials
- Updated10X Ai Face
With our introduction out of the way, let’s dig a bit deeper.
New shapes
With Elyte, Callaway has made significant changes to the shape of its driver heads. As you’d probably guess, the idea wasn’t to change shapes for the sake of changing shapes. The goal was to create the kind of aerodynamic improvements that translate into more head speed, more ball speed and eventually more distance.
It’s been a while since Callaway told a serious aerodynamics story but, at one point, Callaway was the leader in, or at least the leading promoter of, clubhead aerodynamics.
(Remember that time Callaway worked with Boeing? Anyway …)
The rub for Callaway is that when it has had speed-centric shapes like Mavrik, for example, the speed came at the expense of forgiveness.
Remember, this year is about eliminating trade-offs, and that means Callaway’s goal was to create more speed without losing forgiveness.
In looking for areas of opportunity, Callaway identified the hosel area and the aft section of the head as problem areas. In both cases, its pre-Elyte shapes suffered from a bit more airflow separation than was optimal for creating speed through the air which is what you want when you swing a golf club.
Given recent history, you might expect Callaway would leverage its AI tools to spit out new and improved shapes but, this time around, the company relied on what I suppose we might call old-school human engineering coupled with some new capabilities.
Callaway’s engineers created the shapes and then leveraged its new titanium 3D printers to significantly increase the number of prototypes it was able to create and test.
To throw some numbers at this, in past development cycles Callaway would have only four or five prototype heads (with some lead time in between as it waited for parts to arrive from overseas) to choose from. Some might show small improvements while others would show none at all or, worse yet, degraded performance.
With its new printers, Callaway was able to create 75 different iterations in-house, iterating almost as fast as it could print and test.
To be clear, the final retail versions that will hit shelves later this month aren’t 3D-printed but the technology allowed Callaway to produce hittable prototypes significantly faster than ever before.
According to Callaway, in a typical release cycle, if testing showed a .2 to .5 mph increase in clubhead speed, it would be considered a win. As a result of its rapid prototyping and testing capabilities, it was able to add up to 1.3 mph of clubhead speed and up to 2.1 mph of ball speed with Elyte. And we’re not talking about a bunch of 115-mph swing speed guys. The test pool included a wide range of speeds including some in the 80-mph range.
As golf companies better understand aerodynamic performance, more golfers are going to benefit from more efficient shapes.
For context, Callaway says the year-over-year aerodynamic gains it achieved from Paradym Ai Smoke to Elyte are the equivalent of five to six years of steady advancement before it was able to essentially print titanium.
What might golfers notice when they look at the clubs? Look for a lower profile where the crown feeds into the heel area near the hosel as well as a trailing edge that’s raised a bit compared to previous models. Both help prevent airflow from separating prematurely which works to promote head speed.
The raised trailing edge is particularly interesting as that typically would have negative performance implications but Callaway was able to avoid them because of some other updates rolled into the Elyte driver family.
New crown material
With Elyte, Elyte X and Elyte Max Fast, Callaway is introducing a new crown material it’s calling Thermoforged Carbon. Callaway says the material is similar, though not identical to, Titleist’s PMP (Proprietary Matrix Polymer) and better suited to the particulars of its application of the material.
Given how things work in the golf equipment world, it won’t surprise you to learn that Thermoforged Carbon is lighter, stronger and more precise than its previous material and that allows Callaway to do some things it couldn’t do before.
Thermoforged Carbon is described as a precision-molded product which essentially means that it comes out of the molds at a finished size with no additional trimming, shaping or polishing (the industry-favored euphemism for sanding or grinding) required. Eliminating the need to polish the crowns removes a step that can introduce inconsistencies in thickness that can reduce aerodynamic efficiency.
Rewinding a bit to our discussion on shape, raising the crown up typically would result in a higher center of gravity which means more spin and, for many, reduced distance. The addition of Thermoforged Carbon allowed Callaway to pull carbon into the perimeter of the body, allowing it to remove some titanium and save weight.
What that gets you is a lower center of gravity and, ultimately, lower spin along with faster speeds.
10X AI Face
What’s a Callaway story without AI? And so here we go.
With the Paradym Ai Smoke lineup, Callaway introduced the concept of microdeflections. Your brief refresher is that, using AI, Callaway was able to specifically tune different parts of the face (what it calls control points) to react independently at impact to promote consistent speed and straighter ball flight.
What’s changed with Elyte is that Callaway has significantly increased the number of control points.
To understand what a control point is, picture the driver face being covered with a spider web, a cargo net or whatever mesh structure you prefer. Where the structures intersect is a control point – a specific point on the face where AI can tune thickness and create an elaborate thick-to-thin and back again topology.
Paradym Ai Smoke faces offered 1,500 individual control points. With Elyte, that number has climbed to 25,000 which the mathematically inclined among you will quickly realize is actually a16X AI face.
Is Callaway as bad at math as it is at spelling?
No.
The reality is people like things simple and 10X probably works better than 16X, even if it means selling yourself a little short. So, yeah, we’re calling it a 10X face even though it has 16X the control points of Ai Smoke.
What all of those control points get you as a golfer is what Callaway says is up to 19 percent tighter dispersion by way of more consistent speed and spin optimization.
Looking at the data and charts provided by Callaway, what stands out isn’t just tighter dispersion, it’s that Callaway’s visuals suggest it has fundamentally changed the shape of the dispersion pattern.
Even if you’ve never thought about the shape of a driver dispersion pattern, you know what it looks like. It runs “long and left” to “short and right.” Callaway’s charts show a flatter, more level dispersion pattern where long-left and short-right are far less pronounced.
More consistent distance with less left-to-right variation is what we’re talking about here.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that with Callaway Elyte drivers that it’s impossible to overcook one left or spin one right. Your worst is still going to be bad but, anecdotally, hitting balls on the range, the downrange distance of the left miss and the right miss were a bit closer.
With the tech covered, let’s look at how this year’s lineup shakes out.
4 Elyte driver models
As it did last season, Callaway will again launch its flagship driver with four semi-distinct models.
Callaway Elyte
There’s no MAX this year. The suffix-less Elyte should be one that proves best-suited to the highest percentage of the golf market. In addition to the OptiFit hosel, trajectory tuning is accomplished through three discrete weight positions (draw, neutral, fade) at the rear of the club.
The Callaway Elyte driver is available in 9, 10.5 and 12 degrees.
Stock shafts are the Project X Denali Charcoal and MCA Vanquish PL (R2 flex). As a brand introduction of sorts, the premium/exotic Aretera EC1 Blue is being offered for an upcharge of $100. In most lineups, you can expect that upcharge to be around $320. The new Aretera lineup isn’t exclusive to Callaway but the favorable pricing is.
Callaway Elyte X
In recent years, Callaway has bounced back and forth between using “D” (Draw) and “X” to denote its draw-biased model.
This year, we’ve landed back on X but this is the draw one or at least it can be.
The Elyte X offers two weight positions with the draw position producing four to eight yards more left bias than the Smoke Ai Max D and the neutral position being two to four yards more right of Max D in the neutral position.
Frankly, I hate to see the X get pigeon-holed as the anti-slice offering. The Ai Smoke Max D was a sneaky good all-around performer so my advice is to not let the suggestion of draw bias prevent you from trying this one.
The Callaway Elyte X is available in 9, 10.5 and 12 degrees.
Stock shafts mirror those of the Elyte with the addition of an R flex offering in the MCA Vanquish.
Callaway Elyte Max Fast
Without a “Max” in the lineup this year, Callaway is leaning into the idea that Max Fast is its maximum head speed option – especially for golfers looking to regain clubhead speed through reduced weight.
With that in mind, the simple description of the Elyte Max Fast driver is that it’s the light one.
Where the story gets a bit more compelling (and perhaps slightly confusing) is that the Elyte Max Fast is essentially a lighter version of the Elyte X though, to my eye, the Max Fast looks a bit more rounded.
The fun detail is that you’re getting the lighter build without sacrificing the moveable weight.
The Elyte Max Fast is available in 10.5 and 12 degrees.
The stock shafts are the MCA Vanquish PL and MC Eldio.
The Max Fast trades the stock Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip found on other Elyte models for a Winn Dri-Tac 2.0.
Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond
As you may be aware, the Triple Diamond model is historically Callaway’s lowest-spinning, better player-centric model. While that’s true this time around, there are some details worth calling out.
First, Callaway is billing the Elyte Triple Diamond as its most playable Triple Diamond ever. That is to say, this Triple Diamond shouldn’t be considered the exclusive domain of the better player.
While previous Triple Diamond models have had some measure of fade bias, Callaway says the Elyte Triple Diamond has a neutral bias (insomuch as neutral can be a bias). The point is that it favors the middle which should make it playable for a wider segment of golfers. It’s still a little smaller than the others and it’s still for golfers seeking lower spin but, as the most playable Triple Diamond ever, it should now fit a wider range of those golfers.
Notable is that the Elyte Triple Diamond doesn’t offer the Thermoforged Carbon design of the other Elyte models. Instead, it retains the 360 Carbon Chassis from the Paradym family.
The Elyte Triple Diamond offers front-back adjustable weighting to tune launch and spin (as opposed to the directional control system of the other models) and, for whatever reason (and this part is no fun), it’s $50 more than the other Elyte models.
The Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond is available in 8 (RH only), 9 and10.5 degrees.
Stock shafts are the MCA Tensei 1K Black, PX Denali Charcoal and Aretera EC1 Blue ($100 upcharge).
What about … ?
This is the part where I try to anticipate a few of your most common questions. Be sure to let me know if you have any others.
What about the looks?
To each his or her own, of course, but I figured I’d share my initial impressions of how the new drivers look – particularly as you’re staring down at them behind the ball.
The standard Elyte is about what you’d expect. I suppose the shape qualifies as modern but it’s not offensively or even overly large.
The Elyte X and Max Fast are both visibly longer from front to back but, again, the Max Fast looks slightly more rounded to me.
I’m a sucker for more of a pear-shaped head and that’s what you’re getting with the Elyte Triple Diamond.
The Elyte, Elyte X and Elyte Max Fast all feature visible carbon weave patterns in the crown. The details really pop in direct sun which isn’t necessarily bad (I stopped noticing after a few swings) but it’s something you should be aware of.
The Elyte Triple Diamond features a gloss-black crown with no visible carbon weave pattern. To an extent, it’s closer to what many better players (or at least traditionalists) are looking for but with the visible seam in the transition from gloss titanium to the gloss carbon fiber and no alignment aid, I could do with a bit more detail. Frankly, I prefer the look of the Ai Smoke Triple Diamond but if the new one outperforms it, I can promise you that won’t matter.
What about sound and feel?
My bad for not paying any particular attention but I suppose that means that there’s nothing overtly unpleasant about the sound and feel of the new models. I suspect the Thermoforged crowns contribute to a less muted sound on the Elyte, Elyte X and Elyte Max fast but, other than that, there’s nothing particularly noteworthy which isn’t a bad thing.
What about 10K?
As I’ve said, Callaway is philosophically aligned with Titleist, Mizuno and others whose driver design philosophy takes the approach that there’s only so much MOI you need and when you cross a certain threshold, performance suffers in other areas.
With that, none of the drivers in the Elyte lineup are 10K.
Callaway has designed 10K drivers in parallel with the stuff they’ve released and even went so far as to make a totally non-conforming 12K driver to see what would happen. In their tests, the 10K+ models were slower, shorter and produced a more right-biased shot shape.
Again, there’s a legitimate audience for 10K drivers but Callaway believes there are more efficient ways to create forgiving drivers.
I don’t think we’ll see 10K from Callaway anytime soon, if ever.
What about an Elyte Max Triple Diamond?
As you may recall, last year Callaway launched the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Triple Diamond driver some months after the initial release. It was a hit with golfers, became a bit of a cult classic and was often in short supply.
As of right now, there’s no Max Triple Diamond in the lineup but when something works, history has a way of repeating itself and I think it’s fair to say the Max Triple Diamond worked.
What about an Elyte Mini?
As with the Max Triple Diamond, Callaway’s not particularly succinctly named Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver came a bit later than the rest of Paradym Ai Smoke lineup. That is again the case this year but as the popularity of the mini driver category continues to trend up, Callaway may have a new mini sooner rather than later.
TBD.
Pricing and availability
Retail price for the Callaway Elyte, Elyte X and Elyte Max Fast Drivers is $599.99. The Elyte Triple Diamond will sell for $649.99.
Pre-sale begins Jan. 17 with full retail availability on Jan. 24.
For more information, visit CallawayGolf.com.
Don’t Sleep on last year’s model
In preparation for the release of Elyte, Callaway has discounted last season’s Paradym Ai Smoke to $499.99. While there are compelling reasons to choose the latest model, Ai Smoke was our favorite Callaway driver in recent memory.
