Callaway reveals new Optiforce woods

Callaway has unveiled its lightest and most aerodynamic woods to date. The new FT Optiforce driver is made from lightweight forged composite and has been designed with an aerodynamically enhanced head shape to reduce drag by 23 per cent. A 43 gram PX Velocity shaft, the lightest shaft Callaway has ever produced, reduces the weight even further.

It also features an advanced OptiFit hosel that allows golfers to adjust the loft and directional bias from draw to neutral. Golfers can adjust loft and lie to optimise their launch conditions.

“Our tests showed that many golfers struggle to convert their potential added head speed into distance consistently,” Dr Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s Senior Vice President of R&D, told TG. “So it was a balance to get the product absolutely perfect. With a total club weight of 290g, the FT Optiforce is engineered to give golfers the greatest level of consistency to turn a head speed advantage, gained from aerodynamics, into a ball speed advantage and therefore, into distance.”
 
The FT Optiforce driver, which comes in both 440cc and 460cc head sizes, was born from an aggressively aerodynamic prototype that Callaway tested while exploring the complex variations in aerodynamic flow during a driver’s entire downswing.

Just like other 2013 Callaway drivers, the FT Optiforce features Speed Frame Face Technology, which distributes stress across the titanium face for a larger, more consistent sweet spot and increased ball speed. The Speed Frame Face also saves weight that is redistributed in the clubhead to improve the CG position and maximise MOI, which leads to optimised ball flight and forgiveness.

A secondary stock shaft, a 62-gram Mitsubishi Diamana S+, is also available, keeping the overall construction under 300 grams.

Also hitting the shelves is a full line-up of FT Optiforce Fairway Woods, which share a similar construction to the Callaway X Hot Fairway Woods, the key difference being a higher trajectory golfers are likely to experience.

“The FT Optiforce Fairways Woods are a powerful mix of the ball speeds of our X Hot Fairway woods and the trajectory of our RAZR Fit Xtreme Fairway Wood,” said Hocknell.

The new fairway woods have a Forged Speed Frame Face Cup made of high strength Carpenter 455 stainless steel that produces significantly hotter ball speeds across the face. The optimised CG, accomplished in part through a design called the Internal Standing Wave, delivers a higher launch with slightly more spin than the X Hot Fairway Wood, resulting in consistent distances from everywhere on the course – the tee, fairway or rough.

The FT Optiforce Fairway Woods have a higher MOI too, which contributes to the forgiveness and consistency. They are also available with two stock shaft offerings, a 53-gram Project X Velocity shaft and a secondary Mitsubishi Diamana S+ shaft.

Callaway’s new FT Optiforce Drivers will be available from 12th July across Europe.

Driver: RRP £329. 440cc head 9.5° only, 460cc head in 10.5° only.
Fairway woods: RRP £179. 15°, 17°, 19°, 21° and 24° (RH). 15°, 19°, 21°, 24° (LH). 
www.callawaygolf.com