In fact, if you’re looking for a new Callaway driver that offers launch and spin characteristics on par with last year’s Sub Zero, your best bet is to buy the Epic Speed and turn loft down by one degree.Įpic Max LS – A New Generation of Low Spin The Epic Max LS is low spin relative to the Epic Max but should generate appreciably more spin than Mavrik Sub Zero did. It certainly caught me by surprise.Īs you’ve no doubt surmised, the LS does, in fact, stand for Low Spin, but don’t take that to mean the Epic Max LS is this year’s version of the Sub Zero. That brings to the Epic MAX LS which might not be what you’re expecting from Callaway. The Callaway Epic Max is available in nine, 10.5 and 12 degrees. It’s not the same level of correction you might find from a dedicated draw-bias club but it does make the Callaway Epic Max a viable option for the golfer who has a slice and is trying to correct it.ĭraw bias now, neutral later. The 17-gram weight allows for upwards of 16 yards of shot-shape correction. That adds a fair amount of intuitive and demonstrable shot-shaping capabilities to the design. The Epic Max features Callaway’s sliding weight track. Within that context, Callaway is where it wants to be right now. There isn’t a clear right or wrong, just a company position. It’s not PING but it reasonably qualifies as a mid-to-high level of conventional forgiveness.Īgain, so much of these types of conversations are rooted in design philosophies at the brand level.
Where they’re at is a front-to-back MOI in the mid-5,000s and a combined MOI over 9,000. “We like where we’re at,” says Alan Hockenell, VP of R&D for Callaway Golf. In practical terms, Epic MAX won’t have the highest MOI on the market but it should be forgiving-enough. Callaway believes there’s a point of diminishing returns at which the ball speed penalty isn’t worth paying. Like TaylorMade and Titleist, Callaway’s design philosophy doesn’t involve chasing MOI to the greatest extent possible. It’s forgiving in the most conventional sense. Relative to the other two Epic models, the Epic Max offers the highest MOI. Of the new Callaway Epic drivers, the Epic Max is perhaps the easiest to explain. The Callaway Epic Speed is available in nine, 10.5 and 12 degrees of loft. Depending on the golfer, one may be more effective at preserving distance than the other.ĭespite the somewhat unusual shape, a slight draw bias and the most forward center of gravity in the 2021 Epic lineup, the Epic Speed should prove to be the best fit for the majority of golfers. As they move forward, you get better spin robustness. As centers of gravity move back, you get more ball speed robustness. Callaway describes it as mid-spin, though for some golfers it will be the lowest-spinning driver in the new Epic lineup.īy conventional metrics, Epic Speed could be considered unforgiving but, as was the case with Mavrik, Callaway maintains that forgiveness in the Epic Speed driver comes from AI Face design and the spin robustness (consistency) provided by the more forward center of gravity. A more forward CG typically means faster peak ball speed and since Epic Speed has the most forward center of gravity of the three new Epic drivers, it should be a tick faster than the others.Īs far as launch and spin are concerned, the Epic Speed is similar to Mavrik. There are a couple of ways to consider fast and either provides adequate justification for the claim.
The quick version of the story is that the C allaway Epic Speed driver is the fastest in the 2021 lineup. Here’s the breakdown of the three models.
It’s not what I expected from Callaway and that makes it all the more intriguing. The third – the Epic Max LS – is a fairly significant departure from what Callaway has done over the last several iterations. Differences in movable weight technologies aside, two of the three aren’t significantly different than what we saw in last year’s Mavrik line.
CALLAWAY EPIC DRIVER ADJUSTMENT CHART DRIVERS
Callaway Epic Drivers – Three ModelsĪs become standard for Callaway and nearly everyone else, there are three models in the Callaway lineup. There’s definitely a bit of manufacturing ingenuity involved but it’s worth mentioning that production versions of the AI Speed Frame are made of titanium and aren’t green. While the bright green thing Callaway staffers are holding up is a reasonable representation of the technology, the actual AI Speed Frame is fixed into the head during the casting process. As an aside, you may have seen images of the AI Speed Frame on Callaway’s social media channels.