Best drivers 2024 – Syndication Server

Cleveland HiBore XL, HiBore XL Lite drivers

Cleveland developed the HiBore XL’s unique shape using artificial intelligence.

Gear: Cleveland HiBore XL, HiBore XL Lite drivers
Price: $399.99 with Aldila Ascent shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip
Specs: Titanium face and chassis with adjustable hosel
Available: Dec. 6

Who it’s for: Mid- and higher-handicap golfers who want a blend of distance and forgiveness off the tee.

What you should know: Cleveland used artificial intelligence to develop a triangular head shape that optimizes forgiveness, ball speed, and sound.

The deep dive: In the late 2000s, Cleveland HiBore drivers were easy to spot at PGA Tour events for two reasons. First, stars like Vijay Singh and David Toms played them, and second, in a few cases, those HiBore drivers looked nothing like the other drivers. Several models featured a dramatic downward swoop in the crown that drastically lowered the center of gravity (CG) location at a time when carbon fiber was scarcer in golf equipment than golfers who weren’t intimidated by Tiger Woods.

Over time, and with the introduction of new technologies and materials, the HiBore drivers’ look toned down, but now Cleveland is announcing the HiBore XL and HiBore XL Lite drivers and designing them for recreational players who want a blend of distance and forgiveness.

Cleveland HiBore XL — The HiBore XL’s triangular shape was developed using artificial intelligence. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

While artificial intelligence has been used to create many drivers’ faces and hitting areas, Cleveland designers turned to A.I. to create a chassis shape that would create the ideal blend of forgiveness, distance and enhanced sound. So, instead of seeing a swooping crown, the first thing golfers will notice when they set the HiBore down is the triangular shape and extended back portion of the crown.

The face and hitting area of the HiBore XL drivers are also 19 percent larger and look significantly taller. The variable-thickness MainFrame XL design and enlarged shape broaden the sweet spot and help golfers who struggle to consistently make center-face contact by protecting ball speed on mis-hits.

To help golfers make solid contact more often, Cleveland also added ActivWing, an aerodynamics-enhancing feature to the heel portion of the crown. ActivWing does not make the driver go faster on the downswing but instead acts like an airfoil and helps to keep the head more stable as it approaches the ball. The two notches in the crown make the air move around the head in a way that encourages the face to square through the hitting area, which should result in better performance.

While ActivWing is not designed to help golfers swing the HiBore XL driver faster, the Action Mass CB shaft design might make the club feel lighter. With an 8-gram weight at the top of the shaft, it counterbalances the weight of the head, so with the same effort, the club should feel lighter.

The 12-gram weight in the back of the head helps to pull the CG down and back, away from the hitting area. The weight can be adjusted by custom fitters who want to change the club’s swing weight.

For players who want even more clubhead speed or who battle a slice, the HiBore XL Lite features the same technology as the standard HiBore XL but is designed with a draw bias and comes standard with a lighter shaft and grip. It generates slightly more spin than the standard HiBore XL driver to help slower- and moderate-speed players create more carry distance.

Both the HiBore XL and the HiBore XL Lite feature Cleveland’s new hosel sleeve that allows players and fitters to increase or decrease the loft by up to 1.5 degrees.

Here are several close-up images of the Cleveland HiBore XL and HiBore XL Lite drivers:

Tour Edge Exotics E725, C725 drivers

The Exotics E725 is the first driver from Tour Edge to eclipse the 10,000 total MOI mark.

Gear: Tour Edge Exotics E725, C725 drivers
Price: $399.99 with Project X Cypher or Denali Blue shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips
Specs: Titanium chassis and face with carbon fiber crown and adjustable hosel.
Available: October 15 (pre-order); November 1 (in-stores)

Who it’s for: Golfers who want to maximize forgiveness and stability (E725); Golfers who want a lower-spinning driver that offers more ball speed with enhanced stability.

What you should know: The Exotics E725 is the first driver from Tour Edge to eclipse the 10,000 total MOI mark, making it the most stable driver the brand has ever made. The C725 produces a lower flight and less spin, but it also boasts more stability.

The deep dive: Earlier this year, Tour Edge released an updated version of its Hot Launch wood lineup for budget-minded players who still want modern technologies and performance, but the Exotics family has always been where the Batavia, Illinois-based brand has showcased its most-advanced gear. With the drop of the Exotics E725 and C725, the Tour Edge is keeping that tradition intact.

The newest Exotics drivers are crafted with distinct player types in mind. As it has done in the past, Tour Edge has made the E driver for golfers who want extreme levels of forgiveness and stability, while the C driver is for competitive players who typically swing faster and need more spin reduction. However, the Exotics E725 and C725 drivers are built around shared technologies and a greater emphasis on forgiveness.

Tour Edge Exotics 725 drivers — Shifting more weight to the back of the Exotics E725 driver elevates the MOI and boosts stability. (Tour Edge)

Enhanced Stability

Despite being tailored for different player types, the Exotics E725 and C725 share some core elements, but the most significant point of emphasis has been on increasing the moment of inertia (MOI) and boosting stability.

The E725, which has a volume of 460 cubic centimeters, has the higher MOI of the two drivers and is the first Tour Edge driver with a combined MOI above the 10,000 g-cm² threshold. That makes it more resistant to twisting on off-center hits, so shots should fly straighter.

To achieve that, Tour Edge created a weight system in the Exotics E725 it refers to as Flight Tuning. It’s an 18-gram weight that is in the trailing edge that can be shifted to a draw, neutral or fade position, but in every setting, it pulls the center of gravity (CG) location back and down, which elevates the MOI while also creating a shot-shaping bias.

The Exotics C725, which has a volume of 445 cubic centimeters, also has a Flight Tuning system, but it comes standard with a 10-gram weight that stays in a center-back location. It still boosts stability, in fact it MOI is five percent higher in the C725 than it was in the C723, which it replaces, but not as much as the Exotics E725. However, the combination of a smaller volume and a more forward CG location should help to produce a lower ball flight and less spin.

Other Shared Technologies

Both the Exotics E725 and C725 also feature 360-degree Ridgeback technology. the original Ridgeback system had a titanium beam that extended from the topline to the back of the chassis, and was flanked by carbon fiber panels. The new, updated version of Ridgeback has a supporting brace that encircles the crown, allowing it to be made with 22 percent more carbon fiber to save weight while maintaining strength.

Both drivers have also been made with an updated version of Tour Edge’s 3D Diamond Face technology. On the inner-facing side of the titanium face, Tour Edge has added 61 diamond-shaped areas of various thicknesses, and working together, they enlarge the sweet spot and protect ball speed on off-center hits.

E725 or C725: Which is right for you?

The best way to tell which driver is ideal for you is to hit both alongside a training fitter who has a launch monitor and then study the data.

That said, if you’re a golfer who values straight drives above all else or are someone who wants to minimize the impact of mis-hits, the Exotics E725’s high MOI and more forgiving design could make that club ideal for you.

For golfers who seek to shape shots and who prefer a more traditional driver profile, the C725 offers lower spin, more workability, and more forgiveness than many other control-oriented drivers.

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max, Triple Diamond, Max D, Max Fast drivers

Studying thousands of shots from real golfers helped Callaway design the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers

Gear: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max, Paradym Ai Smoke Max D, Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond, Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast drivers
Price: $599.99 with Project X Cypher 2.0 shaft, Project X Denali Black shaft or Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip
Specs: Forged titanium face and chassis with carbon fiber crown, carbon fiber sole and adjustable hosels for most of the models
Available: Feb. 2, but available via pre-order NOW

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Who They’re For: Golfers who want more ball speed and forgiveness on mis-hit drives.

The Skinny: After studying hundreds of thousands of shots, Callaway designers used artificial intelligence to create different faces for each of the four Paradym Ai Smoke drivers so they are optimized to enhance distance and protect ball speed.

The Deep Dive: Callaway purchased its first supercomputer in 2009, back when A.I. stood for Allen Iverson and no one had ever heard of ChatGPT. By 2016, engineers were using it to study impact dynamics, develop prototype iron faces and more. In 2019 the Epic Flash driver was released with a hitting area designed using artificial intelligence. More woods and irons followed, but there was a shortcoming with the data used by the computers in developing those clubs: It was collected with the help of swing robots, and robots don’t play golf.

So Callaway captured swing data on more than 250,000 real players’ swings and collected over a million data points to create a dataset the supercomputers could use to develop the Paradym Ai Smoke Max, Ai Smoke Max D, Ai Smoke Triple Diamond and Ai Smoke Max Fast drivers.

By instructing the supercomputers to study how real golfers of various abilities swing and hit the ball, then directing the system to create faces that maximize performance for fast-swinging players, golfers who tend to slice the ball, slower-swinging players and golfers who need extra forgiveness, Callaway developed different faces that are optimized for various players in the four Paradym Ai Smoke drivers.

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Each has a unique series of thick and thin areas in different places, creating what Callaway refers to as microdeflections, and they act like tiny sweet spots. The result is enhanced face performance for specific players.

Callaway said that thanks to the microdeflections and customized faces, the standard Paradym Ai Smoke Max is 12 yards longer on mishits in the toe, 11 yards longer in the heel and 9 yards longer on shots hit high in the middle of the face over last season’s Paradym.

Like last season’s Paradym drivers, the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers feature a forged fiber crown that wraps around the toe and heel areas and forms the sole, removing significant weight from the middle of the head. Most of the models also come with adjustable hosels that allows players and fitters to increase or decrease the loft by as many as 1.5 degrees and make the lie angle flatter or more upright.

The Paradym Ai Smoke Max likely will fit the broadest number of players and is the only Smoke driver with a sliding weight in the back of the head. The 14-gram weight allows golfers and fitters to shift the center of gravity to create a draw or fade bias. The Smoke Max also has a weight behind the leading edge in the sole, allowing fitters to increase or decrease the club’s swing weight. It is available in 9-degree, 10.5-degree and 12-degree versions.

The Paradym Ai Smoke Max D comes in the same lofts but lacks the moveable weight found in the standard Smoke Max. However, this club has a significant draw bias to help golfers who tend to swing from out to in and hit the ball with an open face. The Paradym Ai Smoke Max D can’t cure a slice, but its center of gravity location can decrease the severity of the shot’s curvature, resulting in straighter shots that fly farther.

The Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond has a forward weight and a back weight in the sole and comes in 8-degree, 9-degree and 10.5-degree heads. With the heavier weight forward, it has the most forward center of gravity in the A.I. Smoke family, resulting in shots with the lowest spin and launch angle. This likely will be the most popular Paradym A.I. Smoke driver on the PGA Tour.

Finally, the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast, which replaces the Paradym Star driver, only comes in 10.5-degree and 12-degree versions. It has been made for slower-swinging golfers who need to maximize carry distance and spin to increase overall distance. It comes standard with lighter components, such as a 40-gram Mitsubishi Tensei Silver shaft and Winn Dri-Tac Lite grip. To save weight from the upper portion of the head, Callaway opted to design the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast driver with a bonded hosel instead of an adjustable hosel.

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Check out the following images of the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke drivers.

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke drivers added to USGA Conforming Driver List

Callaway’s new drivers for 2024 have hit the USGA Conforming Driver Head list.

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Early Monday morning, as 2024 was being ushered in across the United States, Callaway’s newest drivers were being added to the United States Golf Association’s List of Conforming Driver Heads. That means the USGA has tested the heads to ensure they meet equipment standards and comply with the Rules of Golf. Once added to the list, a driver head can be used by anyone in a competitive round or official event like this week’s PGA Tour event, The Sentry at the Kapalua Resort in Hawaii.

Callaway has not made any official announcement about the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers yet, and there are 11 versions of the Paradym A.I. Smoke drivers now on the list, so some are almost assuredly going to be Tour-only models. However, based on the photos displayed on the USGA’s website, the descriptions and notes of the of the clubs and technologies Callaway has used in the past, we can make some educated guesses about the Paradym Ai Smoke family.

Forged Carbon. Callaway has been making drivers with carbon fiber crowns and sole panels for years, and in 2023’s Paradym drivers, the brand created a 360-degree forged carbon chassis that wrapped the material completely around the center of the head. Forged Carbon is printed on the sole of each driver, so it appears the Paradym Ai Smoke will have a similar construction.
Ai SMART FACE. We can’t see this in the USGA photos, but it is noted in the description of each club that on the face are the words “Ai Smart Face.” A few weeks ago, Odyssey, Callaway’s putter arm, released the Ai ONE and Ai ONE Milled putters, and in those clubs, Ai standards for artificial intelligence. Callaway has used artificial intelligence to help its designers create driver faces for years, so this could mean there is a new or updated face technology in the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers.
Triple Diamond = Low Spin. Starting several years ago, Callaway designated its low-spin drivers with Sub-Zero, but recently the company has used three diamonds or the Triple Diamond designation to signify that a product has been made for fast-swinging, elite golfers. Among the drivers now on the conforming list are the Triple Diamond, Triple Diamond +, Triple Diamond S and Triple Diamond Max. All of them except the Triple Diamond + appear to have two moveable weights, one forward and another back weight in the sole. In the past, this two-weight system has allowed players and fitters to be able to increase or decrease the spin rate and launch angle by swapping a heavy and a lightweight in the ports.
Max = standard. There is no club simply labeled Paradym Ai Smoke, each of the new offerings on the USGA list is labeled with an extra name, so it stands to reason that Max is the base model. We can clearly see a sliding weight in the back of the Max driver that should allow players and fitters to create a draw or a fade bias. The weight in the front of the sole is a different shape, so it won’t be swappable with the weight in the track. It is likely there to help fitters adjust the swing weight of the club.
Max D = Draw. This club lacks the sliding weight in the back of the head that the Max has, but any time brands put a D on the end of a club’s name, it means draw. This driver has likely been designed to help golfers who slice.
Max Fast. If the standard Max is a base model and the Max D has a draw bias for golfers who slice, the Max Fast is probably for slower-swinging players. Why do we think that? In the USGA notes it states that this club is offered in 9.5, 10.5, 11.5 and 12-degree options. Those higher lofts will not be practical for faster-swinging golfers, but players who struggle to generate speed often choose high-lofted drivers to maximize carry distance. Like the other Paradym Ai Smoke drivers, the Max Fast has an adjustable hosel and unless it is different than other Callaway hosel systems, it will allow players to increase the loft by up to 2 degrees so that a 12-degree head can play with as much as 14 degrees of loft!

Here are several close-up looks at the different Paradym Ai Smoke drivers.

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