About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the golf club, which I have tested several times over spring and summer of 2022.

My take

The Callaways Rogue ST LS Fairway Wood offers extreme forgiveness within a compact clubhead shape that makes it easy to control shot shape and trajectory. This club is suited for golfers with faster clubhead speeds who need additional forgiveness without sacrificing workability while shaping shots.

About the club I tested

• Model: 2022 Callaway Rogue ST LS Fairway 5 Wood
• Loft setting: 18 Degrees
• Shaft type: Mitsubishi Tensei AV White 75 Graphite
• Shaft flex: Stiff

About me

• Average score: 75
• Handicap: 1.2
• Experience: 10 years of golf
• Right/Left-Handed: Right handed
• Typical ball flight: I prefer to hit low knockdown shots to control ball flight
• Golf ball used: Mizuno’s New RB Tour X, Titleist’s Prov1x, and Srixon’s ZX Star
• Club swing speed: My average clubhead speed with the driver is around 115 mph

Test conditions

• When I tested the club: My golfing friend bought the Rogue ST LS Fairway wood in the spring of 2022.
• Days tested: I was able to test the clubs out for multiple rounds, simulator rounds, and demo days when the clubs were released.
• Where I’ve used it: Talking Stick, Arizona, and simulators
• Weather and wind conditions: Mostly cold weather conditions outdoors and indoors quite a few times

How it performs

What I was looking for

My golfing friend was looking for a forgiving option that could handle his clubhead speed. I think anyone looking into low-spin, forgiving clubhead options should start out with Callaway—they do a great job of catering to both beginners and long time golfers.

Why my friend chose this club

My friend bought this club because it felt the best to him. The softer feedback, sweet spot, and the distances on mishits were major stand outs. Since then, he has considered upgrading into the TSR2 Fairway Wood, or a utility wood at 18 degrees. That loft has quite a few options as far as utility clubs, woods, and irons, so it’s best to talk over one’s options with a golf Expert.

What I love about it

• Forgiveness: This club is extremely forgiving. Mishits are not as noticeable as previous generations of fairway woods. I see much better distances on shots not struck in the center of the face thanks to new technology designed by artificial intelligence.
• Workability: It is easy to shape shots how I intend with the weight design towards the face.
• Shaft Feel and Performance: Although the clubhead features a low-spin design, there are plenty of shaft options that could change the performance based on preference. The golfer’s ideal launch angle should be considered when lowering spin rates.
• Aesthetic Appeal: This is a great looking club. It does not have any glare, is easy to align, and is not a sight for sore eyes.
• Launch Angle: With this club, it is much easier to control launch angle and achieve a consistent launch than other low-spin fairway woods on the market. Callaway does spend more than any manufacturer on research and development, and the consistent launch fits with the forgiving build.
• Spin: This club does a great job at offering the ideal spin rate for faster swing speeds. With a 105+ mph clubhead speed with fairway woods, I was seeing 4,000+rpm on some fairway woods. That is going to make it tougher to keep the ball rolling out in the fairway, and is going to limit my distance.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Distance: This club does not offer quite as much distance as other options on the market. I see only 8–10 more yards compared to other options.
• Feel: The feel is not a stand out. The club seems to get the job done and produce numbers that are appealing to me, but I expected a better feel than what was offered. As a scratch golfer, I am always trying to manipulate my gear to produce different outcomes that will show different numbers on monitors. Launch angle, spin rates, carry distance, total distance, peak, descending rate, side spin, efficiency, etc. All of these do not matter if the club doesn’t feel how I’d like it to.
• Sound: The face feels very soft, and the sound is muted. I prefer a sound that is a bit more unique in order to tell where my mishits are located.
• Adjustability: Not having an adjustable hosel is not ideal on a low-spin head. It does not fit well with the club design and doesn’t offer a ton of workability.

Best shot with this club

The best shot I’ve seen from this club was a 300-yard simulator rocket from my friend. We both are wondering if he will be able to recreate it’s greatness. How the shot was hit is a mystery: he had a 120 mph clubhead speed on that shot, which is quite fast for a fairway wood.

Value for the money vs. other options

I would compare this club to Titleist's TSR2, TaylorMades Stealth Plus, and Tour Edge's C722. The Rogue series will fit the majority of golfers, but I would consider one of the other options listed above, as well as a shaft upgrade, if feel is the main priority, followed by performance.

Final verdict

The 5 Wood LS head is an interesting club. It’s extremely versatile, and one can hit it as far as a 3 wood when needed. It also gets better accuracy with the 18-degree loft. The Rogue LS Fairway woods offer a ton of accuracy and control for skilled golfers, or golfers with faster swing speeds. Recent technology has allowed more workable clubheads to offer forgiveness on mishits as well. Callaway is a stand out forgiveness-wise.