Callaway Elyte Mini, TD Max and TD Tour Draw drivers | 4 things to know
Callaway has three new drivers just in time for the Masters.
Jack Hirsh/GOLF
With the Masters just around the corner and a premium on driving a necessity at Augusta National, Callaway is releasing three new weapons for players to use off the tee.
The new Callaway Elyte Mini Driver, Elyte Triple Diamond Max and Elyte Triple Diamond Tour Draw drivers are each designed with unique performance benefits — perfect timing as the best in the world prepare for the year’s first major and much of the country begins golf season.
Here are 4 things to know about the new Elyte Mini Driver, Elyte Triple Diamond Max and Elyte Triple Diamond Tour Draw drivers.
1. The mini that isn’t so mini
The Callaway Elyte Mini driver made its debut on the PGA Tour two months ago at the WM Phoenix Open and is the company’s second mini driver; the Paradym Ai-Smoke Mini Driver debuted last year.
Like last year’s model, the Elyte Mini retains the 340 cc clubhead size, making it the largest mini driver on the market and more than double the size of the Elyte 3-wood. It also has a shaft that is half an inch longer at 43.75″.
Why is that important? Because a larger head size means more MOI, which makes the Elyte Mini even more forgiving, like a driver, while still being playable off the turf.
“I think you have two options: a mini driver or a big fairway. We feel like the mini driver size is more optimal for shots off the tee,” Jacob Davidson, Callaway VP of global tour and product strategy, told GOLF.
While the Ai-Smoke Mini had adjustable front and back CG weights, the new Elyte model features a rear weight port with three settings for draw, fade and neutral.
In keeping with the rest of the Elyte line, the Elyte Mini features Callaway’s new Ai10x face, which gives designers full control of the face for the first time. It also has the Thermoforged Carbon crown, which lowers the CG and makes the club easier to launch off the deck.
2. A club for both Tour players and high handicappers
Callaway believes the mini driver is surging because of the club’s unique ability to fit both Tour pros and amateur golfers alike.
“There’s a phenomenon happening out there, and it’s very rare that you see this, but the best players in the world are seeing the benefits of the mini driver and higher handicappers and very rarely do they cross over on far opposite sides of the spectrum,” Davidson said.
Davidson said most pros are using their 3-woods mostly off the tee and if they are hitting them off the turf, it’s not because they need to ball to stop quickly. The mini driver allows them to have a more forgiving and longer option off the tee while still being playable from the turf if needed.
Callaway Elyte Custom Mini Driver
On the other side of the spectrum, many amateurs get to a short, tight hole and pull their 3-wood because they think it’s more forgiving.
“That’s partly true and partly untrue,” Davidson said. “The true part is that [the 3-wood] is easier to hit straight because it’s a shorter shaft length.
“It’s partially untrue because a 3-wood does not have a MOI number as a mini driver or driver. A driver is going to be your most forgiving club, so I think when you take the benefits of both of those and you say, ‘OK now I’m giving an average golfer a club that is shorter but with a head that has a higher MOI,’ they’re seeing the benefits of hitting that.”
3. Something for everyone
Callaway’s Triple Diamond designation has been the sign of a driver design geared for Tour pros over the last several years , and typically those drivers are smaller and geared for players who like to move the ball left-to-right.
In fact, as more and more Tour pros opt for a fade, OEMs have been optimizing their low spin platform drivers for fade across the board.
But what about elite players who still play a draw?
That’s where the new Elyte Triple Diamond Tour Draw comes into play.
This isn’t your granddad’s draw bias driver as the Triple Diamond TD (or TD TD, if you please) comes from the same shape and head size as the 450 cc Triple Diamond with a slightly different face progression and a slight weight bias toward the heel to promote a right-to-left ball flight.
Typical draw bias drivers are high launching and feature an optical change to promote a closed club face, but that isn’t the case here. The Tour Draw isn’t for shot correction. This is designed for a player who has the control and swing type to hit a draw on their own, but wants to be sure when they aim down the right side of the fairway, their ball will turn over.
“Last year we saw a lot of our Triple Diamond drivers being set up for some of the lower swing speed tours,” Davidson said.
When Callaway looked at the data, they saw that while PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour players increasingly play fades, players on the DP World Tour, LPGA and PGA Tour Champions were all playing draws.
“Instead of just releasing another Triple Diamond and letting the same thing happen again, what if we just gave reps another feather in the cap for tour,” Davidson said. “We can bring it out limited fashion in the market just because we feel like there’s a lot of consumers that do you like to aim down the right edge of the fairway and just turn it over slightly.”
4. Even the best want forgiveness
While the Triple Diamond platform is designed for the best ball strikers in the world, even those players have realized it doesn’t hurt to have added forgiveness.
But players have become attached to the classic and compact shape of the Tiple Diamond that lends itself more to producing low spin characteristics, rather than forgiveness.
Building on last year’s highly successful Paradym Ai-Smoke Triple Diamond Max, Callaway is bringing back the low spin, high forgiveness platform with the Elyte Triple Diamond Max.
Davidson said there are a few players on Tour using the more forgiving Elyte core model this year, but others are more hesitant because of the shape.
“There’s a lot of guys are like, ‘Man, I just I can’t make the transition from a triple diamond shape to a bigger footprint,'” he said. “So that’s where we said, ‘Hey, why don’t we take a Triple Diamond and just make it slightly more forgiving?'”
The result is the Elyte Triple Diamond Max, which, like it’s predecessor, features the same cosmetics of the Triple Diamond, such as the 36-carbon chassis and glossy carbon crown and a more compact player’s shape. But the Triple Diamond Max is 10 cc bigger, right at the 460 cc legal limit.
While the Max is going to spin slightly more than the regular TD for most players, the added forgiveness is usually a worthy trade-off.
Price and Availability
Callaway Elyte Custom Mini Driver
ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA TOUR Superstore, Callaway Golf
Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond Tour Draw Custom Driver
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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA TOUR Superstore, Callaway Golf
Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond Max Custom Driver
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