New Clubs Designed to Maximize Clubhead Speed and Increase Ball Speed for Distance Gains
Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) has introduced two innovative products designed to deliver speed and distance to golfers, its FT Optiforce™ Driver and Fairway Woods. The new clubs, which will be available at golf retailers nationwide on July 12, 2013, debut several new and systematically-designed technologies to help increase a golfer’s clubhead speed, ball speed and, thus, overall distance. The FT Optiforce Driver will – in a first from Callaway – offer loft and lie adjustability to optimize launch conditions. In a distinct approach, Callaway is launching two variations of the FT Optiforce Driver clubhead to help golfers find their optimal performance.
“Callaway has always placed the golfer’s performance first when developing clubs, and we feel strongly that one club head does not fit all golfers,” said Dr. Alan Hocknell, SVP, Research & Development, Callaway Golf. “Players using an 8.5-degree driver are fundamentally different than players using 12.5-degrees of loft, so with the FT Optiforce Driver we have optimized each of the two available heads — the 440cc and the 460cc – and adjusted critical elements like size, weight, center of gravity position, moment of inertia and others so that golfers have the best chance to optimize their launch conditions for better total performance.”
The four primary technologies that merge to generate the speed and performance advantages of Callaway’s new drivers are outlined below:
Aerodynamic Efficiency
The FT Optiforce driver was born from an aggressively aerodynamic prototype that Callaway tested while exploring the complex variations in aerodynamic flow during a driver’s entire downswing. As a result, the FT Optiforce driver – based on its shape and construction – is tops among the fastest and most aerodynamically efficient driver Callaway has ever brought to market, leading to increases in clubhead speed. The FT Optiforce has been measured with 23 percent less drag than a conventionally shaped driver.*
Fast Configuration
Also contributing to advances in clubhead speed is the overall configuration of the driver, including the use of lightweight Forged Composite™ in the crown and two stock shaft offerings that can enhance a golfer’s ability to deliver the club to the ball faster. The primary stock shaft is a 43-gram Project X Velocity shaft, the lightest shaft Callaway has ever included in a standard driver offering. The secondary stock shaft is a 62-gram Mitsubishi Diamana S+. The overall construction of the new driver is under 300 grams.
Advanced OptiFit Adjustability
The FT Optiforce Driver will debut an innovative loft and lie adjustability solution. The driver features an Advanced OptiFit® Hosel that allows players to adjust the driver’s loft 1-degree down or 1- or 2-degrees up. The loft setting helps golfers adjust their launch angle and amount of backspin, while the lie — selected with the neutral or draw settings also contained within the hosel — will help golfers adjust side angle and sidespin. Coupled with the differences in the 440cc and 460cc heads, golfers of all abilities can set use the simple adjustability solution in the FT Optiforce to find their optimal launch conditions and ball flight.
Speed Frame Face Technology
The additional clubhead speed in FT Optiforce generated by the aerodynamic shape and the overall configuration is then transferred to ball speed at impact with the driver face. Implemented with much success in the other 2013 Callaway drivers, the Speed Frame Face Technology found in FT Optiforce distributes stress across the titanium face for a larger, more consistent sweet spot and increased ball speed. The Speed Frame Face also saves weight that is redistributed in the clubhead to improve the CG position and maximize MOI, which leads to optimized ball flight and forgiveness.
Also available this month, the full line-up of FT Optiforce Fairway Woods share similar construction to the wildly popular Callaway X Hot Fairway Woods, including the blazing ball speeds the woods have become known for. The key differentiator for this series of fairway woods, available as a 3-, 4- 5-, 7- and 9-woods, is the higher trajectory golfers are likely to experience.
“The FT Optiforce Fairways Woods are a powerful mix of the ball speeds of our X Hot Fairway woods and the trajectory of our RAZR Fit Xtreme Fairway Wood,” said Hocknell.
The new fairway woods have a Forged Speed Frame Face Cup made of high strength Carpenter 455 stainless steel that produces significantly hotter responses all across the face. The optimized center of gravity (CG) in the fairway wood, accomplished in part through a proprietary design called the Internal Standing Wave, delivers a higher launch with slightly more spin than the X Hot Fairway Wood, resulting in consistent distances from everywhere on the course — the tee, fairway or rough. The FT Optiforce Fairway Woods have a higher MOI as well, which contributes to the forgiveness and consistency that make these clubs easy to hit.
The FT Optiforce Fairway Woods is also available with two stock shaft offerings, a 53-gram Project X Velocity shaft and a secondary Misubishi Diamana S+ shaft.
The FT Optiforce Driver will be available for a new product introduction price of $399. The fairway woods will be available for a new product introduction price of $229.
For more information about these new clubs from Callaway, please visit www.CallawayGolf.com or shop at www.MortonGolfSales.com
To keep up with other Callaway original content, product news and Tour information please connect with Callaway on Twitter @CallawayGolf.
*23% less drag claim based on calculated energy loss due to drag throughout the downswing of the 440 FT Optiforce model (9.5-degree) versus a Callaway X Hot Pro 9.5-degree driver.
