19th Hole
Highlights from GolfWRX’s Callaway Rogue Q&A
Callaway’s Rogue line is already the No. 1 driver, No. 1 fairway wood, and No. 1 hybrid in the U.S., according to Golf Datatech.
Needless to say, there’s been plenty of chatter about all things Rogue in the GolfWRX forums. Yesterday, in our very forums, GolfWRX members got the opportunity to talk with company experts about the new technology.
To expand on “company experts,” here’s who WRX members got to talk to.
Dr. Alan Hocknell – SVP, Callaway Research & Development
Evan Gibbs – R&D Woods Director
Ian Barrett – Sr. Marketing Director
Steven Sourigno – Brand Product Manager
Scott Manwaring – R&D Irons and Hybrids Director
Quite a lineup. Here’s a quick roundup of the most interesting questions and answers.
Gprubes asked
‘With the Rogue fairway woods, is there a noticeable difference in how they perform between the regular and subzero models??’
Evan Gibbs – R&D Woods Director replied
“The launch angles should be similar between the two models but the subzero will have a lower spin profile and a flatter trajectory as a result. It will also have more of a neutral to fade biased shot shape, making the standard model a little easier to turn over. If you have a higher head speed and/or you use your 3w mostly off the tee and looking for the most distance, I’d probably recommend the subzero. If you have a lower head speed and/or you use your 3w a lot off the fairway, then I’d probably recommend the standard model. Hope that helps!’
Tj7644 asked
“I think I understand the Jailbreak bars, and variable face tech, but was exactly is the “X-Face with VFT” And how does that interact with the jailbreak bars to make such a total jailbreak effect?’
Dr. Alan Hocknell – SVP, Callaway Research & Development replied
“Epic had Jailbreak for the first time but we were still learning about the interaction of a ‘Jailbreak body’ with the face. The X-Face VFT is the first time we have tuned the face to really take advantage of Jailbreak and work with it for more ball speed. The face is named because of the thickness pattern on the inside. The thicker regions form the approximate shape of an X. Overall the face is more flexible and the Jailbreak bars are stiffer. This combination is the key to more speed.”
Littlered1212 asked
“I just bought an Epic Red driver. Why should I buy the new Rogue driver?’
Ian Barrett – Sr. Marketing Director answered
“Our Rogue Drivers have all the great ball speed that Epic had with Jailbreak (in fact a little more ball speed than Epic), but more forgiveness. So more consistent distance when you don’t always hit it out the middle of the face. Rogue is really long, and really forgiving.”
Rory4Pres asked
“Probably a dumb question but what’s different/improved about the Rogue compared to the Epic SZ?”
Evan Gibbs – R&D Woods Director answered
“Great question. A couple of key differences on the drivers: (1) a little lower spin, (2) higher ball speeds due to improved face + Jailbreak, and (3) a little easier to turn over. Hope that helps!
Kobes31 asked
“Do you have MOI numbers available for the current Rogue driver lineup? I’m really very interested in this line but obviously need to test/ get fitted to answer any other questions more relevant to me.’
Dr. Alan Hocknell – SVP, Callaway Research & Development answered
“We won’t be sharing the specific MOI numbers. They are over 8500 if you combine the loft-deloft direction with the open-close direction. These are good numbers but remember MOI is not the only measurement of forgiveness. Your also need to consider total weight, center of gravity draw bias, center of gravity height, aerodynamics to get a fuller picture of forgiveness. In Rouge we have high levels of performance in all these areas.”
TheBaggerVance asked
“If you were going to play 18 holes, let’s say it’s an executive course to make it easier, and you could only play with 1 club, which club would you choose and why?
Ian Barrett – Sr. Marketing Director answered
“Lets make some assumptions. Executive Course. Longest hole is 180 yrds. We’re playing in Colorado at 5000+ ft elevation. Easy. Its a Rogue Pro 8 iron. Goes really long…can eak out 175 at a push… can blade it to putt…and open it up for sand… lets do this!”
You can find the full Q&A thread here
Also, the folks from Callaway stuck around to answer a few more questions via Facebook Live on our page. Check it out.
19th Hole
‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish
An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.
However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.
Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.
Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”
Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish
— Jenny Shin (@JennyShin_LPGA) August 3, 2025
Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.
Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.
Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.
Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.
Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.
Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.
“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course. Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”
According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.
“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”
Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.
Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.
Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.
The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.
Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”
“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”
Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.
However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.
“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”
Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.
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