Callaway Rogue Hybrid Review

What truly makes the Callaway a go-to brand is that it never stops experimenting with their technology and design. In conjunction with Callaway’s 360 Hyper Speed Face Cup (Source), the Rogue hybrid succeeds to produce massive ball speeds, maximizes the distance and is versatile enough to suit almost any swing speed imaginable.

But you need more information than just that before you invest in a brand-new hybrid. The Rogue Hybrid is being branded as the most powerful hybrid of all time.

Throughout this review, we will try to find out whether it has really lived up to its hype.

Our Callaway Rogue Hybrid Review

Things We Liked

• The head has Callaway’s insanely famous Jailbreak technology fit into it.
• The new Forged Face cup provides more flex to increase the ball speed.
• Easy to launch.
• Best suited for low spin players.
• Taller head and wider toe.
• Weight pads at the bottom to help you achieve higher launch conditions.

Things We Didn’t Like

• Doesn’t provide a lot of feedback.
• Doesn’t feature Callaway’s OptiFit adjustable hosel.

Key Features

• Rogue Hybrid is the first-ever hybrid to feature the Jailbreak technology. It makes the head stiffer and returns more energy to the ball, thus boosting the ball speed.
• It features the 360 Hyper Speed Face Cup that acts as a distance maximizer and increases forgiveness manifold by providing more flex across a wider area of the face.
• The hybrid gets larger towards the toe. The wide toe helps you gain a decent distance on mishits.
• The rigid steel structure helps to blast the ball with more energy.
• The weight pad located at the bottom lowers the center of gravity, thus helping you achieve higher launch conditions.

Review of the Callaway Rogue Hybrid

Back in 2013, a major breakthrough in their experimentation was achieved when they first utilized their driver technology into their glorious fairway wood line up- X Way Fairway Wood.

Following this success, they introduced Jailbreak technology to their Epic series of drivers in early 2018 and soon enough, to their Rogue series hybrids. Using the Jailbreak technology in a Hybrid head was not an easy feat.

The Architecture (4.5/5)

Fitting the Jailbreak bars (source) in a hybrid head was a herculean task for Callaway, no doubt. But the hard work paid off and how! In this model, the two internal steel bars that join the crown to the sole run behind the face. This makes the head stiffer in the vertical direction.

The reason for doing so is to reduce body deflection which returns more energy to the face. There’s a lesser amount of loss of energy if the head vibrates vertically. That’s how more force can be returned to the ball which results in higher ball speed.

The new forged Hyper Speed Face Cup is 7% thinner and 12% lighter than the Rogue series drives. Even the radius and edge of the face are thinner in this model. What it precisely does is provide greater flex across a wider surface, thereby upping the ball speed and distance by a great margin.

It also helps to move the internal weight down without affecting your performance. The head is made from Carpenter 455 Stainless steel. Also, there’s an Internal Standing Wave of the weight pads fitted at the bottom to lower the center of gravity (source).

The shrewd redistribution of this extra weight aids in an easy launch and promotes an overall power-packed performance.

Sound (3.5/5)

It is very easy to mistake a Rogue Hybrid for a Fairway wood if you just listen to the sound on impact. The slightly muted, metallic “tink” doesn’t provide a lot of feedback, to be honest. There’s a minor change in sound on mishits, so you need to be quite careful to identify them.

Performance (4/5)

​If you are buying this hybrid to replace a fairway wood, this may be a good idea. But if you’re looking for a worthy replacement for your iron, you need to pay a lot of attention while fitting the club.

Thanks to the Hybrid’s impeccable ability to rev up the ball speed at low spin and mid-launch, it can be a great alternative to fairway woods.The Rogue Hybrid also features a high square toe. While this is standard for Callaway clubs, when paired with Face Cup and Jailbreak bars, it takes the overall performance of the Hybrid a few notches up.

Due to its larger aspect than most standard clubs, it is as accurate as anyone would expect. The larger head also makes the model as forgiving as the XR OS Hybrid. So far, I’ve only discussed the technologies included in the Rogue Hybrid.

Now let’s talk about a significant feature that it doesn’t include – an adjustable hosel. As it won’t allow you to fiddle with the loft settings, you need to be extra attentive with the fitting for proper gapping at the long end of your bag. Callaway included adjustable hosels in their Epic Hybrids and the Big Bertha OS.

However, it didn’t find a place in the Apex and Steelhead XR models. But I wouldn’t render the lack of adjustable hosel as a deal breaker as the makers had to make some compromise for cost-cutting.

Besides that, it keeps the CG low so it’s not all that bad. All the Rogue Hybrid models come packed with a lightweight Aldila Synergy shaft which lets you tinker with the weights.

How Does It Compare?

Rogue Hybrid Vs Epic

The faster and more energetic face coupled with a larger head makes the Rogue hybrid a much better option if ball speed and distance are your thing. It will also work better for low-speed swingers like me. The larger head is as forgiving as the Epic.

Moreover, you can use the Rogue Hybrid for shaping the ball better.

Rogue Hybrid Vs XR OS Hybrid

Not only that, the XR OS hybrid comes with a larger head but with an adjustable hosel as well. If you are the kind of golfer who likes to tinker with the loft for the perfect short, XR OS is tough to beat.

It also helps you launch pitch-perfect iron shots, something most hybrids, including Rogue Hybrid, are not capable of doing.