About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the golf club, which I purchased with my own money in June of 2022.

My take

The Callaway Rogue ST Max D is perfect for players who want to hit their fairway woods higher and longer. I believe this wood will help players hold more greens and hit more fairways to lower their scores.

About the club I own

• Model: 2022 Callaway Rogue ST Max D
• Loft setting: 16 degrees
• Shaft type: Ventus Black
• Shaft flex: X-Stiff

About me

• Average score: 70
• Handicap: +2
• Experience: 5 years of golf
• Right/Left-Handed: Right-handed
• Typical ball flight: Mid-high
• Golf ball used: TaylorMade TP5x
• Club swing speed: 105 mph

Test conditions

• When I bought the club: June 2022
• Days tested: 40+
• Where I’ve used it: Trackman simulator and various golf courses
• Weather and wind conditions: Wind, rain, and clear conditions

How it performs

What I was looking for

I was looking for a 3 wood that would help me hit the ball higher to land softer on greens and help me find the fairway on a narrow hole. I also wanted a club that would help me eliminate a far-right miss.

Why I chose this club

I chose this club because it launched really high to help land softly on a green and not skip through. This club also goes extremely far to provide me with a club to fit the gap between my 3 iron and driver.

What I love about it

• Distance: This club goes really long compared to the TSI and Stealth fairway woods. This club helped me fill a gap between my 3 iron and 3 wood. This increase in distance is helpful when I play long golf courses. It also helps me to not sacrifice too much distance if I chose to hit this club off the tee rather than my driver to find the fairway.
• Forgiveness: This fairway wood is extremely forgiving to help hit more fairways and greens. I have hit the ball off of every spot on this club face and it has been extremely forgiving. I have hardly lost a ball or gone out of bounds with this club because the forgiveness is so high. This really helps me lower my scores because I can hit this club anywhere on the club face and hit it straight.
• Feel: This club feels great throughout the entire face—extremely fast and explosive. I always feel like the ball is jumping off the club face, even out of the rough.
• Shaft Feel: The Ventus Black shaft is designed to feel extremely stiff and firm; many players commonly refer to it as a “2x4 board”. I personally love this firm feeling because of my fast swing speeds. It allows me to swing as hard as I want without feeling like the club head is rotating too much.
• Shaft Performance: This shaft is great for players who have high swing speeds and need to minimize spin to help hit the ball as far as possible. I also love the combo of this low-launch shaft with the high-launch club head to provide me with the best launch angle in the mid-high category. It also allows me to manipulate how high or low the ball launches.
• Grip Feel: I have the Golf Pride Z-Grip cord on this club and it is my favorite grip. This grip has the cord feature, which helps to repel moisture to maximize grip in all conditions. It is also a firmer-feeling grip rather than soft, which helps me keep a consistent grip pressure to hit the ball the best every time.
• Launch Angle: The Max D in this club stands for “maximum draw”, which is crucial for many amateur golfers. Many golfers struggle with getting the ball up in the air as well as performing a slice. This club helps to maximize a player's launch angle, allowing me to effortlessly hit very high golf shots with this club. This has been great for me when hitting my second shot into a par 5 because I can launch the ball really high so that it will land softly and stay on the green.
• Spin: The spin on this club is great due to the low-spin shaft if features. The Max D spins a lot to help launch the ball higher and be more forgiving, which results in very high spin numbers. I was able to combat this by choosing a low spin shaft to find the ideal spin rate to launch the ball high while also maximizing distance.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Sound: When hit well, the club sounds just like it does when professional golfers hit the ball. However, the Max D also sounds really dead and dull when hit out of the toe and heel.
• Workability: The Max D version of the Rogue ST Fairway Woods is the least workable. This club increases spin and launch, which is great for straight shots as well as slight draws and fades. However, on shots I needed to create a lot of curve for I felt limited in my ability to do so. This club stays very straight, making it hard to work the ball a lot.
• Adjustability: There is no adjustability with this fairway wood. The only option would be a complete reshaft or regripping, but there is no loft sleeve for easy loft and shaft changes.

Best shot with this club

The best shot I hit with this club was on a par 5 at my home course. I was 273 yards from the green with a center pin directly behind a bunker. The bunker was just short of the green and right in the center where the pin was. Most of the time I try to hit to one side or the other of the bunker to avoid going in it, but this time I chose to hit the ball right at the pin. I hit a baby cut off the left edge of the bunker to cut back at the pin. Because this club launches so high, I was able to land the shot just over the bunker, but it landed softly so it did not roll through the green. The ball ended up eight feet below the hole with an uphill putt for eagle, which I thankfully made.

Value for the money vs. other options

The Callaway Rogue ST Max D Fairway Wood costs roughly the same price as its close competitors, which include the TaylorMade Stealth HD and Titleist TSI 2. The Stealth HD, however, is in my opinion the best model for high launch and eliminating a slice. Therefore, the TaylorMade is the best-value due to its design and performance. Although, golfers looking for a cheaper club should definitely look at the Sim 2 Max Draw, which does a lot of the same things as the Stealth HD.

Final verdict

The Callaway Rogue ST Max D fairway wood is great for golfers who want to increase their launch and eliminate the right mishit. This club will help golfers hit the ball further and straighter to help lower scores.