About this review This review is my honest opinion of the driver, which I bought with my own money in August 2021.

My take

The Callaway Mavrik Max Driver is definitely a beginner to mid-handicap golfer club. It features draw bias via an extra weight in the heel, which helps prevent slicing. The Mavrik Driver lineup is lightweight with great control, which helps with faster clubhead speeds, fast ball speed, and ultimately, better distance. It is a distance machine, due to the jailbreak technology with great forgiveness. The lineup also includes the standard Callaway Mavrik driver, the Mavrik Sub Zero driver, and the Mavrik Max.

About the club I own

• Model: 2021 Callaway Mavrik Max Driver
• Loft setting: 9°
• Shaft type: Evenflow Riptide
• Shaft flex: Stiff (60g)

About me

• Average score: 76
• Handicap: 7
• Experience: 6 years
• Right/Left-Handed: Right-Handed
• Typical ball flight: Natural draw
• Club swing speed: 104mph

Test conditions

• When I bought the club: August 2021
• Days tested: 60
• Where I’ve used it: Range & Course at the Highlands Course, Callahan Golf Links, Governor’s club, and Fairways of Canton
• Weather and wind conditions: Windy, Calm, & Wet. The temperatures were typically between 50°F - 90°F. Most days, the ground was dry, but I experienced many times when it was damp and muddy.

How it performs

What I was looking for

Prior to the Mavrik Max Driver, I played an older Big Bertha driver. I was looking for a new driver that would help add more distance, had a slightly heavier weight in the clubhead (largest footprint of the Mavrik line) than other Callaway drivers, had a clean sole, and provided maximum forgiveness. I have high ball speed on my drives and a tendency to slice when I miss, and this driver helps to fight against a slice with the new face architecture that Callaway released—replacing more traditional materials in the club head with new strong materials and internal jailbreak bars that distribute the impact load to hit the driver across a more expansive area of the clubface more consistently. With my old driver, a slicing mishit would be a slice, but with the Mavrik, that mishit is a slight fade and not that horrible of a slice. The extra forgiveness helps me to generate optimal speed still at impact and not sacrifice power while delivering the maximum MOI and spin robustness to minimize my off-center hits.

Why I chose this club

I decided on this club because it felt the best in my demo and was the most forgiving driver I tried. The other drivers I tested had a head that was too heavy, and the Mavrik has a significantly lighter carbon crown for faster clubhead speeds. It also looks great from the top down. It had the best distance of all the ones I tried, including the standard Mavrik driver. The Jailbreak technology and flash face ss20 really help generate high ball speeds, which add distance while being forgiving.

I tried eight other drivers, and I went with the Mavrik Max because of the maximum distance and forgiveness that it offered. The head is really light, and that appealed to me because when I tested other drivers, the clubhead felt like it was lagging behind, and I wanted a faster head speed.

If the head is too light, there are two interchangeable weights, 14g and 2g, which can be adjusted to have an even lighter or heavier head. Check out this video to see a demonstration of the Mavrik Max being used with interchangeable weights in different positions to either promote a gentle draw or a strong draw.

What I love about it

• Distance: The distance offered by this club is to the max! I hit the ball longer and further with this driver. The Flash Face SS20 technology is the product of machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimize the face of the club. The result is that the Mavrik drivers produce the fastest ball speeds over the greatest area of the face. It's the generation of distance through science.
• Forgiveness: The goal of this driver is to be forgiving. It definitely is! My mishits right (I'm right-handed, so my slice goes right) are not as bad as they would be if I used a different driver. They put extra weight (grams) in the heel and sole of the club, which allows for greater forgiveness. In addition, the club has a large head, which means a larger sweet spot and plenty of forgiveness and stability for an off-center hit.
• Feel: The overall feel of the clubs is amazing! It has a great weight (two interchangeable weights in the sole), 14g and 2g and feels fluid from the grip to the head.
• Sound: This driver has a nice crisp sound off the face, not a dead, muted sound that other drivers make. The Mavrik Max driver also makes a different sound for mishits, so I know when I have hit the ball on the heel or toe, which helps improve my precision even in the middle of a round.
• Shaft Feel: My Mavrik Max driver uses the stock shaft option, which is the Evenflow Riptide shaft, 60g for the Stiff model. The shaft is exactly what I was looking for and feels great.
• Shaft Performance: The shaft is the Project X Evenflow Riptide, and it has mid-spin and mid-trajectory and performs well for what I need. It also helps with impact dispersion, so the head isn't lagging behind, so you have consistent performance.
• Aesthetic Appeal: I think the driver looks great with the clean carbon fiber top, the orange details in the sole, and the lighter carbon crown.
• Grip Feel: The grip feels great and high-quality.
• Launch Angle: I tend to have a high launch, but with the 9° head, it is perfect. There is a tremendous amount of high-speed surface area off the face of the club. Plus, the driver has an adjustable hosel, so I can change the loft of my driver by a degree or two in either direction.
• Spin: This is not a low spin driver. My spin rates with the Mavrik Max driver allow me to get the ball high, but not so high as to sacrifice distance. It was appropriate for my club head speed and the movable weight allows me to make my own adjustments on the range before a round.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Workability: The club isn’t super workable. It is made to have draw bias, because of the extra weight in the heel of the club. There are different face designs in the Mavrik line with Callaway's head flash face ss20 technology that is made to be more workable than the Mavrik Max driver.
• Spin: The Mavrik lineup came out one year before the Callaway Epic Max driver lineup, which included an LS model—Callaway's first lower spin max forgiveness model for players with high swing speed and low consistency off the tee. As such, this may be the best driver for slower swingers now that the Epic lineup has come out from Callaway. TaylorMade also got into this market for offset drivers with the Sim Max and began offering an LS model when Callaway did as well.

Best shot with this club

The best shot (most likely the highest MOI as well for fellow spec fans) with this club was a 300-yard bomb that I launched high over water and trees with a draw to hit the fairway perfectly! Looking down over the club, I feel super confident that I can absolutely crush the golf ball, and know that the draw bias will help me prevent a slice if I mishit the ball. I feel like I can take high-risk shots with the Mavrik Max driver that yield high rewards. Plus, I always feel like I'm achieving my fastest ball speeds while minimizing my slice.

Value for the money vs. other options

Overall, this driver was reasonably priced for how good it is, and in my opinion, is well worth the money. It is most comparable to the TaylorMade SIM 2 MAX, the Cobra LTDx Max, and the Cleveland Launcher XL. The latest Callaway Rogue St Max is very similar to the Mavrik, but the price of the Mavrik is far less expensive. The Mavrik Max draw-biased version also provides maximum draw-bias capability to help the cyclone aero design of the clubhead get through impact and minimize slice with max forgiveness. The higher MOI for the money is noticeable at impact as well.

As far as forgiving drivers for high handicappers go, this is one of the best models of golf clubs in recent memory to focus the design of the golf driver towards a large sweet spot and forgiving titanium face.

Callaway Golf has often made forgiving equipment and, in the category of equipment manufacturers, is known for creating low centers of gravity and low face angle loft options in drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids to help high handicap golfers by using offset to improve accuracy while still delivering a high MOI despite the higher launch.

Final verdict

Overall, the Callaway Mavrik Max driver offers everything a mid-higher handicap player will need to succeed on the course. Beginner golfers will benefit from the forgiving graphite shafts and adjustable loft features to help them start finding their swing. Even as a single-digit handicapper, this club helps me keep the ball in the fairway. The Mavrik Max is one of the best golf drivers for newer players to tend to slice, players with slower swing speeds, or advanced players seeking forgiveness off the tee. It helps eliminate slices, adds distance, and looks and feels great!