Monday was a big morning for gear nerds as both Callaway and Ping‘s new-for-2025 drivers and fairway woods were among a slew of new clubs that appeared on the USGA conforming list.
All clubs that get put into play in any form of competition governed by the USGA and R&A rules need to be reviewed and approved by the bodies, and once they are, they are put on the conforming list allowing anyone from weekend hackers to professionals to use them. This process generally happens before the clubs hit retail.
With several events going on this week around the world, including the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, equipment-watchers will be keeping a close an eye on who is already switching into 2025 gear. For example, in the first round of his Hero win last year, Scottie Scheffler was already gaming TaylorMade’s then-unreleased Qi10 LS driver.
While Callaway and Ping have still yet to officially comment on their 2025 offerings, here’s what we know about Callaway Elyte and Ping G440 drivers.
Callaway Elyte
From the conforming list, we can gather there will be four driver heads in Callaway’s 2025 Elyte line — the spelling likely a nod to Callaway founder Ely Callaway Jr. — Elyte, Elyte X, Elyte Max Fast and Elyte Triple Diamond. Only the Triple Diamond and the Max Fast appear as left-handed options at this time, but that’s likely to change.
Interestingly, the company is bringing back a “Core” model without any addition to the Elyte name; every 2024 model had “Max” or “Triple Diamond” added to its moniker. There also is no “Triple Diamond Max” option that was added to the Paradym Ai Smoke line in May after those clubs saw success on Tour for players seeking both low spin and high forgiveness.
In terms of adjustability, each driver has an adjustable hosel. The core model Elyte features a rear movable weight with three settings (draw, neutral, fade), while the Elyte X and Elyte Max Fast have only two ports (draw and neutral). The Triple Diamond features adjustable weight ports in the front of the sole and rear, which are likely to dial in launch and spin conditions.
Additionally, Elyte, Elyte X and Elyte Triple Diamond also appeared on the conforming list. Those clubs featured an interesting “Tungsten Speed Wave” branding on the sole near the clubface.
Ping G440
Following the success of the initial three-model G430 release, Ping is once again releasing three different heads for the G440 line with the G440 MAX, G440 SFT and G440 LST.
In previous years, Ping’s “MAX” products have been geared toward fitting the widest range of golfers and in 2024, they offered an additional “MAX” head with the release of the G430 MAX 10K. While it remains to be seen if this year’s MAX product has similar Moment of Inertia properties, all three heads feature a new “CarbonFly” branding.
All three heads are already on the list in left-handed options and also retain the same adjustability options as their predecessors. Both the MAX and LST heads have a rear adjustable weight that can be placed in three settings: draw, neutral and fade. The SFT head features ports only labeled “Draw” and “Draw+.”
The Ping and Callaway releases aren’t the only 2025 clubs already on the conforming list. Back in October, Srixon’s ZXi and Cobra’s DS-Adapt driver lines both appeared on the list.
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