An Honest Callaway Rogue ST Driver Review [2022 Edition]

This Callaway Rogue St driver review seeks to analyze the qualities of the Max design.

Out of the three options in the Callaway Rogue drivers series, the Max is built for the average golfer demanding accuracy, distance, and forgiveness.

The other two golf clubs suit fast swinging low-handicap players and inconsistent high handicappers. The Rogue ST Max LS is a low spin option and accelerates ball speed for maximum distance. Conversely, the Callaway Rogue ST Max D provides a draw bias that combats sidespin for straighter drives.

As the latest Callaway Driver, the Max range is a premium product. You can expect to fork out a pretty penny. However, if you are on a budget, you should review our top 10 drivers under $200.

For readers looking for a quick summary, here are the highlights/lowlights:

Quick Overview of The Callaway Rogue ST Driver

Tungsten Speed Cartridge

Engineers at Callaway employed a Tungsten Speed Cartridge which places 26 grams of tungsten weight in the driver’s head.

The cartridge increases the stability of the Callaway Rogue ST drivers to ensure the highest MOI head. MOI stands for moment of inertia, which represents the ability of a clubface to resist twisting during your swing. As a result, it encourages a square face to prompt a straight tee shot.

Furthermore, this stable driver works to maintain ball speed on off-center strikes. This provides exceptional forgiveness levels to the average golfer to keep you long and straight on the golf course.

Jailbreak Speed Frame

Jailbreak Speed Frame technology enhances the stability of your Callaway Driver, horizontally and torsionally. The aim of this structure is to quicken ball speed on all strikes. Therefore, the club maintains velocity on heel and toe mishits and contact low off the clubface.

In addition, this construction helps you reduce spin to boost distance results. Ultimately, Tungsten Speed Cartridge and a Jailbreak Speed Frame provide the best combination of distance, low spin, and forgiveness.

Titanium Unibody Construction

Callaway relied on a Titanium Unibody Construction to bolster stability and lower center of gravity (CG). These two features collaborate to produce explosive ball speed, a high MOI, and ball flight.

The deep and low CG helps golfers with average swing speed to consistently launch their golf ball into the air, leading to maximum carry distance. In addition, the high MOI profile resists twisting to remain square at contact. This leads to consistently straight shots for optimal accuracy.

Triaxial Carbon Crown And Sole

The engineers used a Triaxial Carbon Crown to reduce the total mass of the new Rogue ST drivers. This weight is then repositioned deep into the driver’s head, which enabled the team to lower the CG.

The low positioning of the CG encourages a high launch off the tee to ensure consistent carry and total distance.

Slight Draw Bias

The stock setup of the Rogue ST driver positions the head in a slight draw bias. This helps right-handed golfers combat left to right side spin on off-center strikes, leading to slices and a poor fairway in regulation record.

Although this helps serial slicers hit straighter shots, it can be detrimental to some golfers. The draw bias construction could worsen your results if you tend to hook your shots.

Adjustable Hosel

Despite the slight draw bias profile of the Rogue ST Max driver, it contains an adjustable hosel enabling you to alter the setup. The hosel lets you change the loft and lie of the clubface to achieve your desired launch and shot shape.

Weakening the loft of this driver encourages increased spin for a higher launching shot. However, keep in mind that an open clubface can cause you to generate right-to-left sidespin, prompting a fade.

Conversely, strengthening the loft of your golf club closes the face angle and encourages a low to neutral ball flight. Furthermore, the closed clubface of this driver sets you up to produce a draw.

Lofts

Callaway offers the Rogue ST Max driver in 3 stock loft options. The strongest lofted construction is 9 degrees, while 10.5-degrees works for the average golfer.

Lastly, a 12-degree loft design is the weakest option for slow-swinging golfers.

Faster swingers should consider the strong lofted 9-degree driver, which you can strengthen or weaken. You can reduce the loft on this driver to 8 degrees for a lower launch and 11 degrees for a higher flight.

In addition, the 10.5-degree driver can adjust to 9.5 and 12.5-degrees. Finally, the weaker 12-degree club strengthens up to 11 degrees and weakens to as much as 14 degrees.

Shafts

The Rogue ST Max driver offers 4 stock shaft options to promote an optimal launch for consistent distance and accuracy. Mitsubishi dominates the shaft offering with three different ranges.

Fast and medium driver swing speeds should produce their desired ball flight with the Tensei AV Blue 55 and 65 graphite shafts. Both these options are crafted in regular and stiff flex. Regular flex works for average swing speeds, while stiff flex performs for faster swingers.

Moreover, the Tensei AV White 65 graphite shaft is set up for fast and super faster swing speeds. These shafts are offered in stiff and extra stiff flex.

The final option is the Fujikura Ventus Blue 5 and 6 shaft, which works for fast and moderate swing speeds. These shafts are constructed in regular, stiff, and extra stiff flex. Therefore, they are built for moderate, fast, and super fast clubhead speeds.

Ultimately, the stock shafts for the Rogue ST Max driver are ideal for mid, fast, and super fast golf swings. They are not designed to perform for slower swingers.

What I Like About The Callaway Rogue ST Max

Consistent Ball Speed

The stand-out feature for me was the consistency of my ball speed on shots out the middle and off-center. My average ball speed hovers around 142 mph, which is my benchmark for all driver tests.

The Callaway Rogue ST Max performed optimally in this area during the test. The lowest ball velocity that I generated was 140.3 mph, slightly off-center to the right. Otherwise, the remaining swings yielded maximum speed for my game.

Thanks to the consistent ball speed, I generated optimal distance, which is why I appreciate this asset.

Low Spin

When low spin and explosive ball speed partner, they work to produce maximum yardage in your long game. The Jailbreak Speed Frame in this driver bolsters the stability of the clubhead and face at impact. This keeps your clubface square at impact to impart extreme ball velocity while restricting backspin.

My typical backspin rpm on drives ranges from 2200 to 2300, and the Rogue ST Max delivered the goods. My average was 2275 rpm during the tests, putting me exactly where I needed to be.

Straight Flight

The Tungsten Speed Cartridge and slight draw bias encourage straight ball flight for added accuracy. The former enhances MOI to reduce twisting and promote a square clubface at impact.

In addition, the slight draw bias combats side spin, which induces slices to keep you on the fairway.

What I Dislike About The Callaway Rogue ST

Price

The biggest turn-off of the Rogue ST is its premium price. It carries a recommended retail price of $549.99, which is excessive for the average golfer. However, there is no disrespect to Callaway because their engineers have created a gem of a product.

Appearance

The Tungsten Speed Cartridge sticks out from the back of the crown at address, which is off-putting. When I looked at it the first time, I was reminded of the horrors bestowed upon my eyes by the Nike Sasquatch. Other than this issue, the rest of the club is clean and appealing.

The Wrench Is Not Included

You generally need to acquire the wrench to adjust the hosel separately. This is annoying and adds to the cost of an already expensive item. When you are forking out a premium for a golf club, the least you could expect is to receive a complementary wrench.

Overall Rating and Thoughts

Overall, our Callaway Rogue ST driver review highlights an impressive creation that helps you maximize your distance without relinquishing forgiveness. The Tungsten Speed Cartridge escalates the driver’s MOI and accelerates ball speed on mishits. Together they produce consistent distance and accurate flight for an improved fairway in regulation record.

Furthermore, the presence of a Jailbreak Speed Frame increases the zone on your clubface that accelerates ball speed. Plus, it restricts backspin rpm encouraging additional yards off the tee.

The lower CG positioning is set up to help you launch your drives higher and longer. Finally, an adjustable hosel allows you to set up for your preferred ball flight. Given its qualities, it makes an ideal driver for mid-handicappers.

I am suitably impressed with the performance features of the Callaway Rogue ST driver and applaud their engineers. However, the excessively high price point rules it out for the average golfer, especially with a looming recession. Therefore, I suggest an older, affordable version such as the Epic Speed or Max.

If money is not an issue, then I won’t stand in your way. You can take a closer look at the Callaway Rogue ST driver here.

Matt Stevens

Matt Callcott-Stevens started playing golf at the age of 4 when Rory Sabattini’s father put a 7-iron and putter in his hand. He has experienced all the highs and lows the game can throw at you and has now settled down as a professional golf writer. He holds a Postgraduate in Sports Marketing and has played golf for 28 years.