By ED TRAVIS
Callaway Golf’s top-of-the-line club family—drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons—for 2025 is called Elyte and replaces the Paradym Ai Smoke series of 2024. Drivers feature reshaped heads, a carbon crown and Ai10x Smart face.
Fast Facts
Elyte (standard) Driver
Game-improvement category
460cc clubhead
Ai10x Smart Face
13g three position skirt weight—neutral, fade, draw
Front sole weight
Thermoforged Carbon crown
Adjustable hosel
Stock shafts: True Temper Project X Denali, Mitsubishi Vanquish PL
Stock grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360
Pre-Sale: Jan. 17, 2025
At retail: Jan. 24, 2025
$600
Elyte X Driver
Game-improvement category
460cc clubhead
Ai10x Smart Face
13g two position skirt weight—neutral, draw
Thermoforged Carbon crown
Adjustable hosel
Stock shafts: True Temper Project X Denali, Mitsubishi Vanquish PL
Stock grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360
Pre-Sale: Jan. 17, 2025
At retail: Jan. 24, 2025
$600
Elyte Max Fast Driver
Super game-improvement
460cc clubhead
Ai10x Smart Face
13g two position skirt weight—neutral, draw
Thermoforged Carbon crown
Adjustable hosel
Stock shafts: Mitsubishi Vanquish PL 40
Stock grip: Winn Dri Tac 2.0
Pre-Sale: Jan. 17, 2025
At retail: Jan. 24, 2025
$600
Elyte Triple Diamond Driver
Better player category
450cc clubhead
Ai10x Smart Face
Interchangeable front & back weights
Thermoforged Carbon crown
Adjustable hosel
Stock shafts: Aretera EC1 Blue, Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black
Stock grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360
Pre-Sale: Jan. 17, 2025
At retail: Jan. 24, 2025
$650
WYNTK
Callaway had the bestselling driver in 2024 the Paradym Ai Smoke and hopes to repeat that in the new season with four Elyte models. Pleasantly, the pricing is the same as last year with the exception that the Triple Diamond model for better players has increased $50.
As is the norm now days large amounts of time and money was done in research and development to move the needle further towards drivers that will help players at every level from sweet swinging seniors and ladies to aggressive swinging pros and elite amateurs.
For example, the Max Fast has the lighter weight components slower swing speed golfers like to enhance their distance with a 20% lighter shaft than the Elyte standard and a 25g grip compared with the standard on the other Elytes of 50g. The Elyte family uses a new artificial intelligence designed face, the Ai10x, Callaway says has ten times the number of control points compared with the Ai Smart Face of last year.
Elytes also have undergone a rework of the head shape to reduce aerodynamic drag on the downswing since lower drag is a sure way to gain clubhead speed and thus distance regardless of a player’s skill-level. Callaway made an investment in 3D titanium printing which allowed many more head prototype shapes to be tried, an unheard of 75 said the company. The goal was to maintain the forgiveness recreational players need even though the shape was “slicker.”
Callaway points out that making a driver with less aerodynamic drag usually means the head must be smaller and that hurts off-center impact performance however the Elyte head has lower drag “without hurting MOI or forgiveness.”
The reshaped crown and hosel area especially contributed and Callaway said, they “changed air flow for a pickup in speed swing of up to 1.3 MPH which can translate into 5 to 8 more yards off the tee.” If users see the same results, it will be the easiest five yard gain of their careers.
