About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the iron set, which I purchased with my own money in May of 2022.

My take

The Callaway Rogue ST Max Iron Set is well-suited to golfers of all skill levels. Golfers can expect to see an increase in their yardages and a ton of added forgiveness. Approach shots will continue to see good spin along the greens.

Callaway really helped me gain some extra yards with these irons. They have provided a tremendous amount of forgiveness, and with that some added confidence when I am addressing the ball. For me, they look as good as they performed!

About the clubs I own

• Model: Rogue ST Max Irons 2022
• Loft setting: Stock lofts
• Shaft type: Steel
• Shaft flex: Stiff

About me

• Average score: 80–84
• Handicap: 12
• Experience: 10+ years of golf
• Right/Left-Handed: Right-Handed
• Typical ball flight: Slight fade
• Golf balls used: Callaway ERC Soft, TaylorMade Tour Response
• Club swing speed: 85 mph

Test conditions

• When I bought the club: May 2022
• Days tested: 10 days
• Where I’ve used it: Ironhorse Golf Course, University of Illinois Orange Course, and multiple simulator sessions
• Weather and wind conditions: Very dry and hard

How it performs

What I was looking for

My main goal was to improve my distance and control. While maintaining those, I also wanted to shape my shots as needed without having to look into a blade iron. Lastly, I wanted clubs that would provide me with excellent feedback — I want to know when a ball has been mishit.

Why I chose this club

Callaway has a reputation for providing golfers with excellent distances, control, and great green-side spin; the Rogue ST Max Iron set was advertised as checking all those boxes. Another enticing quality was the advancements that have been made via the high-density tungsten weighting to promote that added ball spin and launch.

What I love about it

• Distance: The distance possible is incredible. In creating these clubs, Callaway used their Flash Face technology, which was developed through artificial intelligence. The result is a clubface that promotes considerably more ball speed.
• Feel: These clubs provide a pure and enhanced feel at impact due to Callaway’s patented urethane microspheres club construction.
• Sound: I love the crisp clap sound I get from these clubs when I catch it flush on the club face. This comes from the clubs’ urethane microspheres design in the clubface.
• Aesthetic Appeal: A great-looking clubhead with slightly less of an offset than the Mavrik Irons. It’s very easy to align the ball with the double white score lines behind the leading edge.
• Launch Angle: These clubs were designed with stronger lofts to help promote a better feel and spin around the greens. While doing this, Callaway also managed to provide some excellent launch angles.
• Spin: The Rogue ST Max Iron uses stronger-lofted clubs to promote exceptional spin around the green. Among its many benefits, Callaway’s A.I. technology has also managed to maintain a consistent spin rate that allows golfers to routinely get the ball to sit down on the greens.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Forgiveness: On mishits, I found these clubs to be a bit worse than expected. If I caught the ball on the toe and got the clubface wrapped around a little too much, the ball would pull hard left. This is in comparison to some of the game improvement sets like the TaylorMade Stealth or Cleveland Launcher, which would better accommodate these mishits.
• Workability: These clubs do show some good shot shaping and workability, however, I have struggled to be consistent with these aspects. At times, when needing a 10-yard draw, I would end up with a 20–30-yard draw instead. When needing to hit a fade, the ball just pushes hard right. Even when getting these clubs to do what I needed them to do, I still struggled with the consistency in shaping them.
• Launch Angle: For stronger-lofted clubs, I would expect to see a low-launching shot. However, these continue to provide high-launching shots. For golfers looking for a line drive instead of a high-arching shot, this could be frustrating.

Best shot with this club

While playing my home course during league night, I was about 250 yards out on a par 5 and had zero expectations to reach the green. I just wanted to leave myself 40-50 yards short to have the right approach shot for eagle. The group in front of me was still on the green when I addressed the ball. I caught the ball clean and launched it high. A few seconds later, I see the group in front of me throw their hands up as my ball rolled 10 feet from the cup! I couldn’t believe it: a 4-iron for 250 yards!

Value for the money vs. other options

For golfers specifically looking to increase their distances, then these clubs are an incredible value. They are priced right around $1,000 depending on the set makeup. Compared to the other distance-demanding irons out there, such as the TaylorMade Stealths or Cobra LTDx irons, these are right on par with their price.

Final verdict

The Callaway Rogue ST Max Iron Set did meet most of my expectations. The increase in my yardages was huge, but I do wish I would have been able to see more workability and consistency. Still, I would recommend these to golfers interested in seeing more forgiveness and distance.