New Callaway drivers were added to the USGA and R&A’s Conforming Club lists on Monday, making them legal for play this week at the PGA Tour’s Sentry Tournament of Champions and in other official rounds of golf.
Callaway has not officially released the Epic Speed or the Epic Speed LS drivers, or announced when they would be made available to the public. However, based on the USGA photos published on its website, we can infer a few things about them.
The Epic Speed driver has an adjustable hosel mechanism, and behind four silver-toned dots positioned behind the leading edge, we can see the words, “Jailbreak AI Speed Frame.”
Jailbreak is a technology that Callaway has used in drivers for the past several seasons. It is a pair of bars that connect the club’s sole to the crown, directly behind the face, that helps to stiffen the chassis at the moment of impact and redirect energy that could be lost in the head’s deformation back into the ball for increased speed. Golfers could never see the bars, but they could see two dots on the sole that indicated where the bars were positioned.
Callaway has used artificial intelligence (AI) to design driver faces for three years. Harnessing the power of supercomputers to run thousands of simulations has helped engineers determine what shapes can help golfers achieve more distance. Perhaps artificial intelligence is now being used to help Jailbreak?
According to the notes that accompany the USGA’s photo, the words “FLASH FACE SS21” are found on the hitting area. Last season in the Mavrik drivers, Callaway used a Flash Face SS20 hitting area, so this is likely an upgraded version of that face.
A portion of the sole in the toe area appears to have a woven pattern, and while that could be cosmetic, that section could also be made from carbon fiber.
There is a single weight in the Epic Speed driver’s back, but the Epic Speed Version 2 and Epic Speed DS, which also now appear on the list, have a weight in the back and a weight in the front of the sole too. These weights could be moveable to shift the center of gravity (CG) location forward or backward.
It’s also worth noting that the Epic Speed Version 2 and Epic Speed DS have three small diamond shapes near the hosel that do not appear on the standard Epic Speed. They only have two Jailbreak dots on the sole, but both have the text, “Jailbreak AI Speed Frame.”
The Epic Speed LS driver also has a front and back weight, two dots near the words “Jailbreak AI Speed Frame” and three diamonds on the hosel. Under the diamonds, the letters LS have been added.
Many manufacturers have added LS to the names of drivers to indicate the club is a low-spin version, but Callaway has historically opted for the designation “Sub Zero” for low-spin clubs made for accomplished players.
As more details about the Callaway Epic Speed drivers become available, Golfweek will report on them.