Callaway Epic Max Star woods and irons
Professional golfers such as Phil Mickelson and Xander Schauffele typically use heavy, control-oriented equipment built to maximize feel. They have powerful, repeatable swings, so they don’t need gear that increases power and distance above everything else.
Most recreational golfers, especially older and slower-swinging players, do not practice like the pros, and their swings are less consistent. They need woods and irons that boost clubhead speed, encourage more carry distance and enhance forgiveness.
Callaway has addressed this part of the golf market for the past several seasons by making lighter, longer and easier-to-hit versions of its flagship clubs and given them the moniker Star. That trend continues in 2021 with the release of the Epic Max Star drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons.
Epic Max Star driver
The Epic Max Star driver has a lighter moveable weight in the back of the head. (Callaway)
Price: $699.99 with UST Mamiya ATTAS Speed RT1100 shaft and Winn Dri-Tac Lite grip.
Specs: Carbon-fiber crown, internal stiffening bars in the titanium chassis, and a moveable titanium sole weight.
Several of the technologies and design features Callaway built into the Epic Speed and Epic Max drivers can be found in the Epic Star, but they have been trimmed down.
The crown is made from triaxial carbon fiber to save weight, and in the back of the sole Callaway added a 9-gram titanium weight that can slide in a track to create a draw or fade bias while boosting the moment of inertia. In the Epic Max, that weight is 16 grams.
The Epic Max Star also has Callaway’s Jailbreak A.I. Speed Frame, a frame-like structure that extends across much of the topline and the leading edge to bond the sole and crown together. It stiffens the titanium head both vertically and horizontally, so the energy that would have been lost in the head’s deformation at impact can be redirected into the shot.
The Epic Max Star comes standard with a UST Mamiya ATTAS Speed RT1100 shaft that weighs just 36 grams – most shafts in drivers weigh 65 grams or more – and a Winn Dri-Tac Lite grip that tips the scales at a scant 25 grams.
Overall, the Epic Max Star is 52 grams lighter than the Epic Max, which should allow golfers to generate more clubhead speed with the same effort, which should translate to more distance off the tee.
Epic Max Star fairway woods and hybrids
Callaway Epic Max Star fairway woods (Callaway)
Price: $429.99 for fairway woods and $349.99 each for hybrids with UST Mamiya ATTAS Speed RT1100 shaft and Winn Dri-Tac Lite grips.
Specs: Carbon-fiber crown with stainless steel bodies and internal tungsten weights.
Callaway followed the same recipe in the Epic Max Star fairway woods and hybrids that it used in the drivers.
The fairway woods and hybrids have weight-saving carbon-fiber crowns and chassis-stiffening A.I. Velocity Blades to stiffen the heads at impact and redirect energy into the ball for more distance.
Both clubs also have a cup-faced hitting area designed with artificial intelligence. Supercomputers created and tested thousands of face designs to determine the ideal blend of thick and thin areas to maximize ball speed and enlarge the sweet spot. The result is better performance on well-struck shots and ball-speed protection on mis-hits.
Callaway Epic Max Star hybrid (Callaway)
The fairway woods and hybrids also feature an internal tungsten weight to lower the center of gravity and encourage a higher launch and more spin. They’re ideal for golfers who struggle to hit high-flying shots that stop quickly on the green.
The Epic Max Star fairway woods come standard with a 12-gram and 5-gram weight in the sole that can be swapped. With the heavier weight in the back, stability is increased and more lift is created. When the 12-gram weight is in the front, ball speed increases, the flight is lowered and spin is reduced.
Epic Max Star irons
Callaway Epic Max Star irons (Callaway)
Price: $349 per iron with UST Mamiya ATTAS Speed RT1100 shaft and Winn Dri-Tac Lite grips.
Specs: Forged 1025 mild-carbon steel body with internal tungsten weight and cup face
To give the Epic Max Star irons more pop and help slower-swinging golfers generate distance, Callaway designed the face of each club in the set differently using artificial intelligence. For example, the Flash Face Cup design of the 5-iron is different than the 8-iron, but each has been optimized to deliver more ball speed and spin.
The chassis of each club is hollow, then filled with a soft urethane material that is packed with microscopic spheres. At impact the face flexes and the urethane microspheres absorb excessive vibrations to enhance sound and feel without stopping the face from bending.
The urethane microspheres also support and surround an internal tungsten weight added to each head. The weight lowers the center of gravity to promote a higher ball flight.
