Gear: Callaway Epic Speed, Epic Max, Epic Max LS drivers
Price: $529.99 with Project X Cypher, Project X HZRDUS Smoke IM 10 or Mitsubishi MMT shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align Black grip
Specs: Titanium chassis and face with moveable weight (Epic Max, Epic Max LS), carbon-fiber crown and sole panels, and adjustable hosel
Available: Feb. 4
Four years ago Callaway said it was able to advance the ball speed generated by its drivers with the addition of Jailbreak technology, a set of bars that linked the sole and the crown inside the head. Then the company made a significant investment in artificial intelligence and allowed supercomputers to design and test thousands of various driver faces to determine which would provide golfers with the most speed.
Now, for 2021, Callaway has applied the same artificial intelligence techniques that created the Flash faces to develop a new Jailbreak, and it is at the heart of the Callaway Epic Speed, Epic Max and Epic Max LS drivers.
The Jailbreak A.I. Speed Frame bonds the sole and crown of the club together, but instead of connecting in just two places, the supercomputer told Callaway to make it into a rectangular, frame-like structure that extends across much of the topline and the leading edge. It stiffens the titanium head both vertically and horizontally, and it can do a better job of taking energy that would have been lost in the head’s deformation at impact and redirecting it into the shot.
Callaway said the Jailbreak A.I. Speed Frame reduces crown deflection by 20 percent compared to previously designed drivers. As a result, golfers will get more distance, especially on shots hit toward the heel or toe.
The three Callaway Epic drivers for 2021 each feature the new A.I. Speed Frame as well as other key technologies, such as aerodynamic body shapes and lightweight carbon-fiber crowns that help lower the center of gravity. Each also has an adjustable hosel that allows golfers and fitters to increase or decrease the club’s stated loft by as many as 2 degrees.
However, even with all those similarities, there are significant differences between the three clubs.
The Epic Speed driver has the smallest look in the address position, and while it has the same forward center of gravity as last season’s Mavrik driver, it has a higher moment of inertia and should be more forgiving. The Epic Speed also will produce a slightly higher launch angle than Mavrik.
While the Epic Speed lacks the Mavrik’s sliding weight in the back of the head, Callaway gave the Epic Speed a slight draw bias by replacing the titanium with carbon fiber in the sole’s toe area.
The 460-cubic-centimer Epic Max is the highest launching and the most forgiving Epic driver because it has the highest moment of inertia. The Epic Max has a sliding 16-gram weight in the back of the head that allows players and fitters to create a large draw bias or encourage a fade. However, in any setting, the stability remains high because so much weight is concentrated in the back of the head.
While there is no low-spinning Sub Zero version of the Epic driver, the 460-cc Epic Max LS could appeal to accomplished golfers because its sliding 12-gram weight can create the most fade bias. However, it still has a high moment of inertia for enhanced forgiveness.
