It’s been a heavyweight battle the past few seasons to see who wears the crown of golf’s best driver. The big dogs Callaway and Taylormade are at it again with their 2022 offerings. SIM and MAVRIK were good. SIM2 and Epic Speed were great. How much better are the new sticks; or better yet, how much improved can the new ones be? Let’s break them down and get the scoop.

Taylormade Stealth First and foremost the name doesn’t blow me away. It’s common for a product to have a “code name” while in production before an official name is given before it hits retail. So without the marketing team banging their heads against the wall in Carlsbad in trying to be clever, they just rolled with the development name of Stealth. This is also what happened with the Pro V1. I feel like I could have found a Stealth driver by some no-name in the bin at Kmart or Dunham’s in the late 90’s for $39.99, next to the Knight Billy Club and Northwestern Pinfinder. “Tell me you grew up playing golf in the 90’s without telling me.”

Name aside, the Stealth does have shelf appeal and intrigued me right away.  Part of that is because red and black is my favorite color combo. While the red face is certainly made to stand out, it’s the material of the face or the entire head for that matter, that is the story. Taylormade has been developing Carbonwood for 20 years. Carbon composite is lighter and stronger than titanium. A great combo for the design of golf equipment. But where the material lacks in the ability to flex or provide what we used to call “trampoline effect.” 20 years ago Callaway released the C4 driver, golf’s first ever carbon composite driver. It was light and accurate. The C4 was a real fairway finder. But with the face also constructed of carbon, it lacked speed, and therefore was a dud among the distance revolution of the early 2000’s. This is why the 20 years of development at Taylormade took place; to create a carbon material that also increased ball speed. Almost every driver on the market now has a carbon composite crown and body. This saves a substantial amount of weight which allows engineers to play with the center of gravity and position it in a way to raise the MOI, or forgiveness of the club. But the faces have remained titanium or beta titanium for one simple reason…ball speed.

The face of the new Stealth is made with 60 layers of carbon, which increases the COR and weighs in at 40% lighter than Taylormade’s titanium face of the same size. Another new technology at play in the Stealth is the Nanotexture face. This is a thin polyurethane layer overtop the carbon that creates strength and flexibility for improved launch. It will produce ideal friction in dry conditions and the full-face scorelines will also perform well when it’s wet. All of this combined with the returning Twist Face and Thru-Slot Speed Pocket, enhances forgiveness across the entire face.

The Stealth is available in 3 models: Stealth, Stealth Plus, and Stealth HD. The Plus will be the lowest spinning model in the family and features a 10-gram sliding weight track for CG adjustment. The standard Stealth boasts 15% more MOI compared to the Plus and 300-400 more rpm’s of spin. This model should launch a little higher due to these characteristics. The Stealth HD is your draw bias version for the slicer. You’ll get similar spin and launch to the Plus.

Pro’s take: Before I even hit it I was weary of the feel and the sound of a carbon fiber face. I remember how weak the C4 felt and sounded at impact. But I was really impressed with the Stealth in both departments. I was indoors but it sounded great and felt very soft at impact. My ball speed was 4-5 mph faster than the SIM2.

Preorders begin today and the Stealth will launch at retail on February 4^th. Price is $599.

Callaway Rogue ST Callaway is going rogue once again in 2022.With the original Rogue framework from 2018 in place, engineers added some new tech and extreme weighting, making it the brand’s fastest, most stable drivers ever. Rogue ST, meaning Speed Tuned, refers to the Tungsten Speed Cartridge placed in the back. 26 grams of weight positioned low and deep in the head increases speed, stability, MOI, and enhanced performance on off-center strikes.

There are two Callaway trademark technologies that are still in play but have been optimized and enhanced. The Jailbreak Speed Frame increases speed and stability while the AI Flash Face lowers spin and offers even more forgiveness.

Rogue ST features 4 models while Stealth has 3 offerings. Rogue ST Max promotes a slight draw bias and will fit the broadest range of players. It’s the best combo of forgiveness and distance with a high MOI and high launch in the lineup. The Rogue ST Max D is for the slicer with extreme heel weighting and a more upright lie angle. This face is also the longest from heel to toe and will sit closed at address. Rogue ST Max LS is the low spin model and will feature a more neutral trajectory. This year they’re bringing the Triple Diamond model back to retail. The Rogue ST Triple Diamond LS is more compact at 450cc and is the lowest spinning model in the fam. With the neutral to fade bias weighting, this is for the high speed, tour caliber player.

Pro’s take: If anything the Rogue ST is the nicest looking driver I’ve seen in a long time. The copper color scheme is sharp and the club is gorgeous at address. I hit the Max LS a little higher than the Epic LS, which is what I wanted. I hit last year’s LS too low. It was a fairway finder but even with adjustments I felt I lost a little carry distance compared to the MAVRIK. What stands out to me is the consistency throughout the Rogue ST line. The Speed Tuned technology is present throughout, whether it’s a fairway wood or an iron. It’s a story and it’s a design that is obviously producing results. I see the total opposite in the Stealth line from Taylormade. No carbonwood face in the fairways or hybrids. Why not? In 20 years of R & D did they just develop a SIM 2 with a red face and no merit?

Preorders begin Jan 21 and Rogue ST will launch at retail on February 18^th.

Enjoy the game and each other,

Seth Zipay – Head Golf Professional