Callaway Rogue Driver Review (Our Honest Feedback)

Your golf experts: Jordan Fuller & John Marshall.
Updated May 6, 2024. This article was thoroughly audited by multiple golf experts and coaches for its accuracy. You can read more about our rigorous testing protocol here.

Callaway Rogue Driver release date: February 23, 2018

Right from the moment we picked up the Callaway Rogue Driver, its sleek design and promising features hinted at something special.

As we swung away, the Rogue Driver impressed us with its advanced technologies like Jailbreak and lightweight carbon construction.

Every shot felt controlled and strong, with consistent ball flight even on off-center hits. Taking a closer look, it’s clear that this driver isn’t just talk—it’s a dependable choice for golfers aiming to improve their game.

In our Callaway Rogue Driver review, we’ll take a deeper look at what makes this driver so appealing to golf enthusiasts and how it can help boost your overall game off the tee box.


Callaway Rogue Driver

Best Value For Money

Callaway Golf 2020 Men's Rogue Driver, Right Hand, Alidila Synergy 2.0 50gr, Regular Flex, 10.5 Degrees , Black
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KEY FEATURES

  • Increased Distance
  • Exceptional Forgiveness
  • High MOI
  • Optifit Hosel

The Callaway Rogue is a workhorse of a driver. Made to increase swing speed and maximize ball flight, the Rogue features several of Callaway’s top features including the Jailbreak technology, X-Face Variable Face Thickness (VFT), and a optifit hosel to customize shot shape.

Also available in a Rogue Draw edition, the driver boosts ball speed due to its wide sweet spot that provides forgiveness and keeps drives on the fairway to help you lower your scores.

Increased Distance

The club, the Callaway Rogue driver, offers exceptional distance through its sleek clubhead and innovative technological advancements.

Like its Epic Driver, the Rogue is designed to get the ball down the fairway as far as possible and with its inviting sweet spot and strong crown, the driver is very successful in adding yards to your average.

Exceptional Forgiveness

When looking for tighter shot dispersion that finds the fairway more regularly, the Callaway Rogue driver offers forgiveness that ranks high among other drivers at this price point.

This Callaway driver doesn’t offer weight adjustability, but its low center of gravity and low spin help produce the carry and distance, with accuracy, that most amateurs need.

High MOI

In our review of this driver, we found through the impact zone, the Rogue stays balanced due to the club’s high MOI.

You won’t have to worry about the club twisting as it hits the golf ball, but instead, we found in our review that the Rogue’s stability is unmatched among its competitors.

Optifit Hosel

The Rogue’s adjustable hosel allows you to adjust the loft of the face by another full degree. If you like a higher loft, then you can easily adjust the hosel to increase angle. The same holds true if you prefer a lower ball flight.


Our In-depth Callaway Rogue Driver Review

Key Feature #1: Stock Info

The Callaway Rogue driver has a forgiving 460cc clubhead, Jailbreak Technology, a larger address compared to the Epic driver from the company, and top-tier MOI, center sweet spot area, and a wide sole that glides easily across the turf.

The Rogue driver is available in 9, 10.5 degree options with stock shaft or aftermarket upgrade shafts available.

Key Feature #2: Boeing Aero Design

With the help of the aerospace engineers at Boeing, Callaway set to redesign the head of the Rogue driver.

The company wanted to reconfigure the carbon composite crown of the Rogue’s head to reduce drag and increase distance, while maintaining a high level of forgiveness in the club.

Even in their draw edition of the Rogue, Callaway wanted Boeing’s help in lowering spin for straighter shots off the tee.

The two companies came up with the Speed Step technology. The innovation helped improve airflow around the club head for higher MOI, increased distance regardless of loft, and greater golf ball speed after impact.

Key Feature #3: Triaxial Carbon Crown

The head features a Triaxial Carbon Crown that ranks as a top feature in this review. This advanced innovation from Callaway increases ball speeds, balanced weight, premium sound and wonderful forgiveness.

With a carbon composite as its foundation, the crown is incredibly light and strong, helping the Rogue save weight that helps lower spin after impact for straighter drives.

The advanced crown also helps stabilize the Jailbreak Technology behind the center of the hitting area, making it a model for how amateurs can use equipment to increase distance and club speed.

Key Feature #4: Jailbreak Technology & X-Face VFT

Jailbreak Technology provides two hourglass shaped titanium bars behind the center of the face.

The Jailbreak effect with the Rogue driver takes these two titanium hourglass shaped bars to stiffen the head to increase MOI, launch, and carry.

Along with the lightweight Triaxial Carbon Crown that we talked about earlier, the Jailbreak effect helps produce the staggering power of the Rogue.

The X-Face VFT increases ball speed across the entire face of the Rogue driver. For golfers that need faster ball speed off the tee, the head of the Rogue delivers a solid weight distribution that is forgiving and helps produce the carry on each swing of the club.

Key Feature #5: Premium Shaft Selection 

For golfers that like premium shaft options, the Callaway Rogue driver offers several choices at various weights and styles.

Regardless of the loft you choose, whether it be 9, 10.5 degree lofts, you can customize the shaft for your Rogue driver.

Aftermarket shafts are available in 40g to 70g weights. For golfers struggling with swing speed, a lighter shaft utilizing the design innovations can help the club move faster through the impact zone.

Alternate shafts that Callaway offers include the Aldila Synergy Project X, Project X EvenFlow, Aldila Quaranta, and Project X HZRDS Yellow.

Each shaft offers premium ball speeds, along with a first-rate design to enhance the performance of your Rogue driver.


Performance

Simply put, the performance of the Callaway Rogue driver is quite good for golfers looking to upgrade their driver.

Even with a stock shaft and without a sliding weight, the Rogue still shines on the course, producing the ball speeds that most amateurs crave.

While accuracy is nice to have on the course, without distance, a golfer will struggle to post a low score.

So drivers, like the Callaway Rogue drivers, offer advanced design, along with dynamic sound and feel, to increase golf ball speed but help the amateur create tight shot dispersion that provides reliable shots that find the fairway.


Look

The look of the Rogue driver is sleek and confident. The clubhead of the Callaway Rogue driver is black with a small triangle on the crown to indicate where the center of the face is at address.

When looking at the sole, you can easily see how the club has been minimized to create balance, reduce weight, and give a little bit of uniqueness to the driver’s appearance.

When compared to the Epic Sub Zero model, for instance, you’ll find that the Rogue offers a cleaner, more compact appearance, even though at 460cc of volume, it packs the punch that amateurs want off the tee box.


Sound and Feel

The driver offers outstanding sound and feel that will instill confidence with each swing.  The club’s high MOI prevents the club from twisting, keeping the driver stable through the impact zone.

Even on off-center strikes where the golf ball might sneak out toward the toe, the club produces an exceptionally solid feel that offers tremendous forgiveness that lesser drivers won’t even begin to touch.


Alternatives to Callaway Rogue Driver

Callaway Epic Flash

Best Driver For Low Handicappers

Callaway Golf 2019 Epic Flash Driver, Right Hand, Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue, 60G, Stiff Flex, 10.5 Degrees , Black
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KEY FEATURES

  • Flash Face Technology helps provide more forgiveness and distance when compared to Rogue driver.
  • Callaway Epic Flash uses Artificial Intelligence to create the ideal clubhead shape
  • Epic Flash Utilizes adjustable sliding weight to craft customizable shotmaking

The Callaway Epic Flash is ideal for advanced golfers that want more control over their shotmaking from the tee box.

Featuring the company’s Flash Face Technology and A.I.-aided design, the Epic Flash is a premium driver for golfers ready to take the next step in their game.

When compared to the Rogue you can see that the Epic Flash driver offers more distance and forgiveness.

With the other driver, Callaway Rogue, you’ll certainly be impressed with the length and shot dispersion, unless you are an advanced golfer wanting more shot-shaping options from your driver.


Callaway Mavrik

Best Distance Driver

Callaway Golf 2020 Mavrik Driver (Right Hand, Project X Evenflow Riptide 50G, Regular, 10.5 Degree)
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KEY FEATURES

  • Cyclone Aero clubhead design produces staggering ball speeds and reduced drag
  • Deeper, more satisfying sound and feel with each strike of the golf ball
  • Clubhead made from lightweight titanium that optimizes speed and forgiveness

The Callaway Mavrik is a great driver to review when comparing it to the Rogue. Offering a smoother appearance, the Mavrik is great for mid and low handicappers looking to increase the speed of their swing.

The driver’s lightweight, but strong, titanium architecture powers the ball down the fairway with authority.

On off-center strikes, the Mavrik maintains low spin with high launch, a perfect combination for any golfer hoping to increase the number of fairways hit.

When comparing it to the Rogue in this review, the Mavrik offers more sophistication, but with similar performance, although it features a sleeker appearance.


Verdict

Ranking high over last year as a best golf driver for mid handicappers, the Rogue is for any golfer looking to increase distance and produce faster ball speed.

For a Callaway driver, the Rogue driver boasts the company’s desire to increase performance along with enhancing the golf experience of every amateur that plays their drivers.

While we would like to see a weight track with a sliding weight in the Rogue, like with the Epic Flash, it is hard to deny that there is not much lacking in this exquisitely made driver.

Callaway always offers length and accuracy with their drivers, and the Rogue is no exception.

Our verdict in this Callaway Rogue Driver review is that the driver is well worth your consideration if you are looking to upgrade your driver.