Sport Atlet Metal

  Callaway FT-iZ Driver  $229.99 at Golf Clubs Sale

Beyond Long

In their never-ending mission to find more distance and accuracy for golfers, Callaway’s engineers used an entirely new design to once again produce a driver that’s longer and straighter than anything they’ve ever made.

Polar Weighting

Utilizes a heavy face and a heavy in-line power source in the rear, localizing weight at the front and back of the driver to provide stability, consistency, incredible feel and increased linear acceleration of the ball.

Chemically Milled Hyperbolic Face

Generates Callaway’s most consistently high ball speeds ever by using a chemical reduction process to selectively remove unwanted material for precision thickness control.

Aerodynamic Body Design

The progressive shape reduces drag in the downswing for higher impact speeds and produces Callaway’s most efficient high inertia clubhead ever.

Fusion Technology

Exploits extreme weight placement by utilizing cast titanium, compression cured carbon fiber, formed aluminum and cast steel for the optimal combination of performance, feel and looks.

This club is well above average in distance, and it’ss off the charts in technological kitsch.  I have a couple of drivers at home that are longer than this one, but they were built specifically for maximum distance, and do not sport anywhere near the forgiveness of this club. The distance owes a lot not only to the super hot face, but also to the excellent choice of shafts. The head and shaft are very well mated for each other, and I will explore that further  in the “BALANCE” category. Let’s just say that the shaft, the new technology, and the proper club weighting and length  play a huge part in netting this club very good distance.

For openers, Callaway was wise enough to keep the club at 45? overall length. Despite the latest trends of clubs coming in at 46-46 1/2?, Callaway realized that the average amateur can’t bring a club of that length back to square at impact with any consistency. Let’s face it. The guys on tour still play theirs’ at 44-44 1/2? for a reason. Overly long clubs have Joe Six Pack “REACHING” for the ball at impact, and usually giving up an easy 20+ yards to a slice.  The Aldila VooDoo shaft doesn’t need that type of help anyways. If the “Proto By You”  were a Shaft w/a BA in Business, this “VooDoo” has an MBA in STRAIGHT AHEAD BUSINESS. The kick points and torquing are well set so that a 90 MPH swing can get a “Stiff” flex to work well. Better yet–the kick point to torque ratio will have the shaft feel like a 100 MPH Swing loaded her on before the rather sweet feeling release at impact.

The face on the club sports what the company likes to call “Chemical Milling.” Basically it’s a new spin on an old trick. Do you remember when we were kids in the 60′s and 70′s? If you wanted that extra MPH out of a GTO or other exceptionally heavy car, you acid dipped the body to get some excess poundage off of that heavy gauge rolled steel that American Cars were once famous for. It removed weight from the dead spots, while adding performance to the dynamic ones. Callaway has engaged in a similar process withthe face of this club. Based upon what my eye could see during field testing we went ahead and put impact tape on the face of one and took it to a launch monitor with radar.The corporate claim that , “a full 12% of the face will get the ball within 2 MPH of it’s maximum speed off of the club’s sweet spot”  is legit. –WOW!–Usually I hate lines like that. They’re more often all about pure -d hyperbole rather than having any basis in fact.

Seems like if you put a half way good swing anywhere on the face of this club–it’s going to launch the ball well. Every shot felt good. That has a double edged sword to it, as even some fairly gnarly casting motions felt good, and provided respectable distance. What this club will not forgive is the deadly inside to inside motion (not to be confused with inside-square-inside.) Pull hooks and Duck Hooks are quite possible. There’s a built in draw bias somewhere. The club, however, looks only ever so slightly draw biased at address. Once again, –all shots felt good, and went more than a respectable distance; thus giving credence to the claim, “a full 12% of the face will launch the ball at speeds within 2 MPH of hitting it on the optimal sweetspot.” It’s amazing what that acid-dipping used to do for those old GTO’s too!

Callaway threw everything they had into this one. It’s a pretty amazing driver too. I’ve got clubs that are longer, but not as forgiving. I’ve got a club or two that are as forgiving, but not as long. This club is well balanced between distance, forgiveness, and actual balance of the club itself.  It comes in 9,10,11, and 13* lofts with the Lefties able to pick up a 10 or 11*. The shaft is a winner and allows for anyone with a 90 MPH+ Swing to hit a “Stiff Flex.” The Regular Flex is 65 grams with 4.2* of Torque. The Stiff moves up to a mere 66 Grams but drops to 3.5* of torque. The Extra Stiff Jumps to 68 Grams, and sports a low—but not boardy–3.2* of torque. This is a lot of club for the price. $399 isn’t cheap, but the fact that they may remain special order for a while tells you right away that a lot of R&D Money was spent on this baby, and that they are still taking  their time geting her from drawing board to production line.