Callaway FT-iQ driver: Now even more hip to be square
With its latest FT-iQ driver sharing the design styling of supercars and fighter jets, Callaway is hoping to broaden the appeal of square-headed models
Square drivers first hit the scene a couple of years ago, and the shape’s two chief protagonists – Callaway and Nike – are sticking with it for their latest top-of-range models. Nike’s is to be called the STR8 (straight, get it?), more of which in a couple of weeks, while Callaway’s latest is the FT-iQ, available in both standard and Tour versions from mid-October.
This must surely be the first driver inspired by a supercar - the Lamborghini Reventon - and the stealth fighter jet on which that car’s shape was based. The thinking is that while the original FT-i was highly effective at keeping you on the short stuff, its deep face and angular looks perhaps weren’t the most aerodynamically efficient.
The new FT-iQ addresses these criticisms with a more conventional face shape and a more streamline style that helps generate increased clubhead speed for extra distance. The head is a mix of materials - carbon composite, titanium, aluminium and a dense metal alloy - with 18% of its weight concentrated in a separate rear section to provide a lower, deeper centre of gravity.
This time, rather than offering different flight biases within each model, the differentiation comes via the two models – the standard with a draw bias to counter slice tendencies, and the Tour with the more neutral bias that better players might prefer. Some may still baulk at the impact sound, which is loud and audibly different to all-titanium heads, while the price tag is quite hefty too - not far shy of £400. But even so, assuming it ends up in a sufficient number of tour bags (and it must have more chance than the original FT-i) then Callaway will no doubt do very well with it. Player response was good when it was unveiled at the Scottish Open with Anton Haig wanting to put it straight into play and others like Graeme McDowell, Niclas Fasth, Oliver Wilson and Thomas Bjorn giving it an enthusiastic reaction. Find out what the GM team thought in our November issue.
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Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.
Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf
Jeremy is currently playing...
Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft
3 wood: Srixon ZX, EvenFlow Riptide 6.0 S 50g shaft
Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft
Irons 3- to 8-iron: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts
Irons 9-iron and PW: Honma TWorld TW747Vx, Nippon NS Pro regular shaft
Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts
Putter: Kramski HPP 325
Ball: Any premium ball I can find in a charity shop or similar (or out on the course!)
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