” … we have been disappointed in our stock performance for some time.”
Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp. announced Wednesday that its board of directors intends to pursue the separation of its two primary businesses, Topgolf and Callaway, making them two independent companies.
In March 2021, Callaway Golf Co. acquired the remainder of Topgolf Entertainment Group that it didn’t already own, valuing the driving range chain at approximately $2 billion. The joint company was renamed Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp., but starting in March of this year, rumors began to swirl that a breakup could be coming.
In August, Topgolf Callaway reported that its second-quarter revenue was $494 million, while its first six months’ revenue exceeded $917 million. While those numbers represented increases, they came almost exclusively from the creation of new venues because the same-venue sales were down 8 percent. At the time, Topgolf Callaway reported that traffic to existing Topgolf locations slowed.
After that announcement, Topgolf Callaway CEO Chip Brewer said, “We remain convinced Topgolf is a high-quality business with significant future opportunity. At the same time, we have been disappointed in our stock performance for some time, as well as more recent same-venue sales performance.”
The Topgolf venue in Farragut, Tenn. (Brianna Paciorka/Knoxville News-Sentinel)
Topgolf Callaway Brands, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MODG, has seen its value steadily decrease since reaching a high of $36.92 per share in May 2021. On Aug. 30 it finished at a low of $9.94. On Wednesday it closed at $10.76 per share before the announcement was made.
In a release, John Lundgren, chairman of the board of directors of Topgolf Callaway Brands, said, “Today’s announcement is the result of a thorough strategic review conducted by the board of directors and the management team. The creation of two independent companies, each with a distinct focus and proven business model, is intended to drive continued momentum in both businesses and deliver value to all our shareholders.”
Callaway will consist of the golf equipment part of the business, along with Toptracer and lifestyle brands TravisMathew, OGIO and Jack Wolfskin.
Callaway’s Apex Ti Fusion and Apex Ai200 irons (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Topgolf will concentrate solely on its entertainment business, which includes more than 100 driving range-entertainment centers worldwide. Topgolf plans to reduce its new venue development for 2025 to a number in the mid-single digits, the release stated.
Brewer said on Wednesday, “We believe that separating Topgolf will best position both companies for success. Topgolf and Callaway have different operating models and capital needs, and this split allows each to maximize their potential.”
The company announced that it expects to spin off of the Topgolf business to Topgolf Callaway Brands’ shareholders in a transaction that is intended to be tax-free to both the company and its shareholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes. While the company expects that a spin-off of Topgolf into a stand-alone public company is the most likely separation path, the company will continue to evaluate other options for separation to maximize shareholder value.
The separation of the brands is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025.
Akshay Bhatia is considering some interesting equipment changes as he plays in his first Tour Championship this week at East Lake Golf Club. These include adding a mini driver to his bag and using a new golf ball.
According to an article written by Andrew Tursky for GolfWRX and PGATour.com, Bhatia, who will start the opening round at 2 under, eight shots behind Scottie Scheffler, plans to add a Callaway Ai Smoke Paradym Ti340 Mini Driver to his bag.
“I curve it a lot. I try to achieve as lot of curve with the driver, so any time I have restricted start lines, I can draw a driver,” Bhatia said. “But if I have this mini driver, I can turn it a lot easier, then it’s a nice option.”
Bhatia said that he can hit his 19-degree Callaway Apex UW about 260 yards off the tee, but his 3-wood can be erratic.
“(A) 3-wood for me can either be really good, or I can hit it off the heel one day, or I can get a hot pull. It’s just very inconsistent for me,” he said. “So, the mini driver gives me more options. It’s faster, but it spins a little more, so the consistency of the ball flight is tighter, and that’s what I need.”
The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The Callaway Ai Smoke Paradym Ti340 Mini Driver Bhatia may put into play has 13.5 degrees of loft, similar to a strong-lofted 3-wood. However, while most 3-woods for elite golfers have a volume in the neighborhood of 180-200 cubic centimeters, Bhatia’s mini driver has 340 cubic centimeters. That makes it about 70 percent larger than many 3-woods but 26 percent smaller than a typical 460-cubic-centimeter driver.
The Ai Smoke Paradym Ti340 Mini also comes standard at 43.75 inches in length, which is about 1.5 to 2 inches shorter than most modern drivers. For many elite golfers, the combination of a shorter shaft and smaller head can make it easier to hit a draw instead of a fade, which appears to be the appeal of the mini driver for Bhatia.
While it is not uncommon for pros to make course-specific changes to the clubs in their bag, one piece of gear Bhatia plans to change is rarely tinkered with: the ball.
The 2024 Callaway Chrome Tour. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
“I’m going to the softer golf ball,” said Bhatia, who typically plays a Callaway Chrome Tour X but plans to use a Chrome Tour at East Lake. “The greens are really firm this week. Softer for me, like, you want to win major championships, you need to hit it higher and softer. The golf ball I play is a lower-spinning ball, which is good, say, 16 weeks out of the year, but then you’ve got four majors, and then, obviously, some Signature Events play pretty firm. I’ve wanted to make this switch for a long time. I feel like there’s no better reason to do it than this week. I mean, it’s kind of a free-for-all, trying to get used to the golf ball and prep for the majors and some of the bigger events.”
Callaway released the Chrome Tour and Chrome Tour X in January. Both are four-piece balls that feature a large rubber core and a duel-mantle system encased in a soft urethane cover.
Gear: Callaway Apex Ai200, Ai300 irons Price:$200 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid steel shafts or UST Mamiya HDC Recoil Dart graphite shafts and Golf Pride Z grips Specs: Forged 1020 stainless steel body with forged 455 stainless steel face, internal urethane microspheres, and adjustable back weight Available:NOW
Who it’s for: Mid- and higher-handicap golfers who want more distance, feel, and consistency from shot to shot.
What you should know: Callaway enhanced the feel and updated the look of its game-improvement Apex irons, then used artificial intelligence to create iron faces that deliver more distance, along with spin and trajectory consistency.
The deep dive: When Callaway sold Ben Hogan Golf in 2012, it retained the naming rights to Apex, an iron family that had been synonymous with high performance, feel, and classic looks for well over a decade. The first Callaway Apex irons arrived in 2014 and were popular from the start. The standard Apex irons retained the classic looks while hiding game-improvement features, while Apex Pro and TCB irons blended feel, control, and consistency into clubs that could help amateur golfers win club championships and professionals like Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele win majors.
Yes, Callaway released an updated Apex Pro last year, along with the Apex CB and MB, but the standard Apex’s most recent update was in 2021. Now, however, Callaway has announced the release of the Apex Ai200 and Ai300, two new Apex irons that blend popular Callaway technologies and features with Apex heritage.
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Callaway has reorganized the names of the new Apex irons to make it easier to understand how they relate to each other. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
First things first: the new names. To make understanding the Apex line easier, Callaway has switched to a number system. The larger the number, the bigger and more forgiving the irons will be. Smaller numbered clubs will focus more on feel, precision, and control. Callaway hopes that even before they hit the new Apex irons, golfers will be able to easily understand how each club relates to the others in the Apex family.
The Apex Ai200 (which replaces the Apex ’21) and Ai300 (which replaces the Apex DCB) now cosmetically match the most recent Apex Pro, CB, and MB irons, even though both are hollow-bodied irons designed for mid- and higher-handicap players.
Callaway Apex Ai300 iron. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The Ai200 and Ai300 feature a forged 1020 carbon steel chassis that is attached to a thin, forged 455 Carpenter stainless steel cup face. Callaway injects urethane microspheres inside each Ai200 and Ai300 head to soak up excessive vibrations, enhance feel, and improve the sound created at impact.
While some of that may seem familiar, what is new is that the 455 Carpenter stainless steel cup face has been created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) in the same way Callaway used it to create the faces in the Ai Smoke drivers. Knowing they wanted to create more ball speed but maintain the spin rates and launch angle characteristics in the Apex irons, Callaway engineers programmed supercomputers to run thousands of simulations of impacts using different face patterns and designs. The result is a hitting area that should give golfers more distance, but also more consistency because the hitting area does not have hot spots or excessively rigid areas.
The faces of the Apex Ai200 and Ai300 irons were designed using artificial intelligence. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Callaway has added an adjustable weight plate to the back of the Apex Ai200 and Ai300. It is not meant for golfers to change, but it allows fitters to adjust the swing weight of the heads during fittings for extra customization.
The Ai200 has been designed for slightly more skilled golfers who tend to hit down on their iron shots and compress the ball. It has a thinner topline than the Ai300, along with slightly less offset and a narrower sole. The Ai200 should produce a lower initial launch angle and a touch more spin than the Ai300, but because it is larger, the Ai300 will offer more stability on mishits to go along with its higher ball flight.
Both the Ai200 and Ai300 have strong, modern lofts. The Ai200’s 5-iron has a loft of 23 degrees and a pitching wedge at 43 degrees. The Ai300’s 5-iron has 22 degrees of loft, and its pitching wedge is 42 degrees. Working with a custom fitter, golfers should easily be able to create blended sets of Ai300 long irons and Ai200 scoring clubs.
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Below are several close-up images of the Callaway Apex Ai200 and Apex Ai300 irons.
Callaway Apex Ti Fusion irons blend a soft stainless steel body with a titanium face.
Gear: Callaway Apex Ti Fusion irons Price:$300 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid Gunmetal steel shafts or Mitsubishi MMT graphite shafts and Golf Pride Z grips Specs: Forged 1020 stainless steel body with brazed titanium face, internal urethane microspheres, adjustable back weight, and diamond-like coating Available:NOW
Who it’s for: Low- to mid-handicap golfers who want more distance, feel, and consistency.
What you should know: Callaway Apex Ti Fusion irons blend a soft stainless steel body with a titanium face designed using artificial intelligence and internal urethane material to create more ball speed, a softer feel, and more consistency.
The deep dive: “Ladies and gentlemen, have fun.” Something like that must have been said to the club designers and engineers at Callaway before they created the new Apex Ti Fusion irons.
While the new Apex Ai200 and Ai300 are game-improvement clubs for the masses, the materials and technologies packed into the Apex Ti Fusion enabled Callaway’s club makers to elevate their design approach for a slightly-better set of players.
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The Apex Ti Fusion has a titanium face attached to a stainless steel body. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The story with the Apex Ti Fusion irons is all about the hitting area. The forged stainless steel body is similar in design to the new Ai200, although it is slightly smaller. However, the cup face given to the Apex Ti Fusion irons is very different. While the new Ai200 and Ai300 have forged stainless steel faces, the Apex Ti Fusion irons feature titanium faces.
Callaway is not claiming that the Apex Ti Fusion irons are the first titanium irons in golf, but the Carlsbad, California-based company developeda new way to bond titanium to stainless steel, a process that typically is not possible. The new manufacturing process allows the thin, titanium cup face to flex more efficiently at the moment of impact for increased ball speed instead of being slowed by the stiffer stainless steel that holds it.
To maximize the titanium face’s performance, Callaway designers used artificial intelligence to simulate and test different face patterns and designs, then determined which would produce the best performance for each club in the set. As a result, the long iron faces were optimized to enhance distance and forgiveness on mishits, while the short irons and scoring clubs feature more spin consistency for better distance control and accuracy.
The Apex Ti Fusion has a narrow topline and not much offset, so it should appeal to accomplished golfers. (David Dusek/Golfwek)
Historically, titanium-faced irons have been made for mid- and higher-handicap golfers who want more ball speed and distance, and the addition of a titanium hitting area certainly helps to do that in the Apex Ti Fusion, though the Apex Ti Fusion is geared toward a different audience. As the numbers in Callaway’s new nomenclature get larger, irons get bigger and more forgiving. For instance, the Ai300 is bigger and more stable than the Ai200, but the Ai200 has less offset, a smaller blade length, and aims to appeal to better golfers. The Apex Ti Fusion can be thought of as a 150, slightly smaller than the Ai200, and its dark finish makes it appear even slimmer. Golfers can expect the Apex Ti Fusion irons to perform more like the updated Apex Pro released last year. Still, thanks to the titanium face, the irons should provide more distance and better performance on mishits.
The Apex Ti Fusion irons’ lofts are modern, with a 5-iron at 23.5 degrees and a pitching wedge at 43 degrees. An attack wedge is available that comes standard at 38 degrees.
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Below are several close-up images of the new Callaway Apex Ti Fusion iron
The Callaway Opus and Opus Platinum wedges are designed for extra spin and greenside versatility.
Gear: Callaway Opus, Opus Platinum wedges Price: $179.99 (Opus), $229.99 (Opus Platinum), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid 115 Wedge shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grips Specs: Cast stainless steel with four sole grind options and lofts from 48 to 60 degrees (Opus). Cast stainless steel with internal tungsten weight, two sole grind options and lofts from 54 to 60 degrees (Opus Platinum). Available: July 19 (Pre-Sale), July 26 (Opus), August 16 (Opus Platinum)
Who It’s For: Golfers who want to maximize spin and shortgame versatility.
The Skinny: The Opus wedges have a redesigned shape that was driven by feedback from tour pros and feature a new face treatment that enhances friction and surface roughness to complement the grooves and boost spin.
The Deep Dive: Callaway lied to us. Well, lied may be a little strong, but the Carlsbad, California, brand was not especially forthcoming with golf fans when it said the 52-degree gap wedge that Xander Schauffele used to win the 2024 PGA Championship was a JAWS Raw wedge. In fact, it was a prototype Callaway wedge that was internally referred to as an S6. Yuka Saso had a prototype S6 lob wedge in her bag when she won the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open, too. Jon Rahm used a similar prototype Callaway wedge last season at the British Open and Ryder Cup. Rose Zhang had one in the bag when she won the LPGA Tour’s Founders Cup, and several other players have quietly had one in the bag for a while.
It turns out that for about a year and a half, Callaway has disguised a prototype wedge by labeling it as a JAWS Raw for tour players, showing different shapes and sole grinds to its staffers and taking their feedback home for refinement. The sixth shape (S6) is now being released as the new Callaway Opus and Opus Platinum wedges, making it one of the rare clubs that has won multiple major championships before hitting pro shop shelves.
Aside from having tour pros drive the look of the Opus wedges, Callaway developed a new technology to increase surface roughness and friction which it refers to as a Spin Gen Face. Astute golfers will notice that there are more grooves on the Opus wedges than there are on previous Callaway wedges, and the space between each groove has decreased. This should allow more groove edges to come in contact with the ball to create more bite with a lower launch angle.
Looking closely between the grooves, you can see angled microgrooves, which, looking at the face, slant from the top right to the lower left. When a golfer opens the face on a greenside shot, the microgrooves add another layer of spin generation.
However, you can’t see the new way Callaway blasts the hitting area. In the Opus wedge, quartz is sprayed at high pressure over the face to make the hitting area rougher.
All three of those elements — the main grooves, the microgrooves and the quartz-created surface roughening — combine to create about 500 rpm more spin on wedge shots from the rough than Callaway’s JAWS Raw wedges and about 1,200 rpm more spin in wet conditions. At the same time, shots launch about 1 degree lower on shots from the rough and 6 degrees lower in wet conditions. The result should be a more predictable, consistent spin rate across a broader range of conditions.
As Callaway refined the shape of the Opus wedge and worked to help it generate more consistent spin, designers also developed sole grinds and configurations to help Opus wedges handle a wider variety of conditions.
S Grind (48-60 degrees): This is a straight, all-purpose sole designed to work well on shots hit from a traditional, square-face position.
W Grind (50-60 degrees): This is the widest-sole option and comes in 12- and 14-degree bounce options, making it more forgiving and excellent in soft turf and fluffy greenside bunkers.
C Grind (58-60 degrees): With extreme heel and toe relief, this lob-wedge-only grind with 8 degrees of bounce should allow golfers the most versatility around the green.
T Grind (58-60 degrees): Designed with only 6 degrees of bounce, this new shape is for skilled golfers who take shallow divots and want to get the leading edge under the ball on tight lies.
In addition to the standard Opus wedges, Callaway is offering more premium Opus Platinum wedges.
The Opus Platinum has the same Spin Gen Face as the standard Opus wedges, but instead of casting the heads, Callaway used metal-injection molding (MIM) to manufacture the clubs. In the process, metal powder is superheated inside forms, so the shapes designers want to produce more accurately. Callaway also claims that the MIM process inherently dampens vibrations created at impact more effectively, so players should find the Opus Platinum wedges have a softer feel.
A 17-gram piece of tungsten has also been bonded to the topline of the Opus Platinum wedges, which elevates the center of gravity location and should help golfers create low-launching shots.
The Opus Platinum wedges are available in two sole grinds: the straight S grind with 10 and 12 degrees of bounce and the wide, low-bounce Z Grind (with 8 or 10 degrees of bounce). The Z Grind also has a pre-worn leading wedge along with trailing edge relief. Both the S and the Z grind come in even lofts from 54 to 60 degrees.
Below are several close-up images of the Opus and Opus Platinum wedges:
Callaway made the yet-to-be-released Opus wedges available to PGA Tour pros at the Travelers Championship.
CROMWELL, Conn. – For the past few weeks, a handful of Callaway staff players have used prototype wedges in PGA Tour events, and Tuesday marked the first day the brand allowed all its tour pros to test and put the new Opus wedges into their bags.
While the Carlsbad, California-based company has not released official details about the Opus wedges, several different clubs were made available to Golfweek for photos and in-hand inspection.
The word “opus” is typically used to describe a musical piece, oftentimes a masterwork or large-scale composition, and it is also commonly used to describe someone’s greatest work or achievement.
Unlike woods, which often have technologies that are visible, wedges (and irons) can be made with new technologies and features that are not visible. But it is still interesting to study the shape and sole configurations to see what Callaway might be trying to do.
In the address position, the Opus wedges appear to have no offset. On close inspection, there appear to be microgrooves and milling marks between the main grooves in the hitting area. While most of the wedges are chrome-plated, the hitting area has a different finish. It could be raw steel or simply a non-glare treatment added in place of the chrome.
Golfweek was shown four sole configurations: S, C, T and W.
The S grind has a straight design with a small amount of heel relief, while the C grind has heel and toe relief with the lowest portion of the bounce set back from the leading edge. The T grind appears to have some heel relief, significant toe relief and a slightly wider sole than the C, while the W has the widest sole width – likely making it ideal for use in greenside bunkers – and no visible seam in the bounce.
Below are several close-up images of the yet-to-be-released Opus wedges.
Jason Finley is Callaway’s global director of brand and product management for golf balls, but even with that lofty title and decades of experience in the golf industry, he has no idea which ball you should play. However, when Finley talks with recreational golfers, which he does often, there are two things he hates to hear, and they might surprise you.
“The worst thing I can hear when I ask someone what golf ball they play is, ‘Oh, whatever I find,'” Finley said recently. “I don’t even care if it’s a Callaway ball or not, the best thing you can do for your game is to find a ball and play it every time.”
The other thing that drives Finley crazy is when golfers don’t pay attention to the ball being used during their club fitting. Even for tour pros, different balls react in different ways, even when you hit them using the same clubs.
“If I go in and you fit me for irons at some place today, and you fit me using a SuperSoft golf ball, and I walk in tomorrow, and you fit me with a Chrome Soft X golf ball, if you fit me into the same golf clubs, you’re a horrible fitter,” Finley said.
His advice is the get fit using the ball you play and do your best to practice with the same ball you play. Pros like Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm and Rose Zhang certainly do.
But what ball should you play? With pro shops and specialty stores loaded with different types of golf balls, how are you supposed to find the ball that can deliver the best performance for your game? In this article, we will take a deep dive into the Callaway offerings, including the new offerings for 2024, and explain what makes every ball a little different and help you better understand Callaway’s golf ball stable.
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The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver is a new driver alternative.
Gear: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver Price: $449.99 with Project X Denali shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip Specs: Forged titanium face and chassis with carbon fiber crown, movable sole weights and adjustable hosel. Available: June 27
Who It’s For: Golfers who only use their 3-wood off the tee and who want an alternative to their driver.
The Skinny: Designed with all the technologies of Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke drivers, the Ti 340 Mini driver is designed to be used off the tee for extra control and shot-shaping without sacrificing too much distance.
The Deep Dive: As analytics and stats become more engrained in golf, it becomes apparent to some players that they don’t use their 3-wood anywhere except off the tee. So, if you are only using your 3-wood off the tee on holes when hitting your driver could bring hazards into play, or you find it easier to hit a draw with a fairway wood instead of a driver, a mini driver could be a smart club to add to your bag.
Callaway has offered mini drivers and strong-lofted fairway woods in the past (remember the Phrankenwood from back in 2013?), but none has been more exclusively for use off the tee than the just-released Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver.
The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver has a titanium Smart Face, carbon fiber crown and adjustable hosel like the standard Ai Smoke drivers. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
At 340 cubic centimeters in volume, it’s 26 percent smaller than a typical 460-cubic-centimeter driver, and it comes in two loft options, 11.5 and 13.5 degrees. It also comes standard at 43.75 inches in length, which is about 1.5 to 2 inches shorter than most modern drivers. So the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver is a little smaller, a little shorter and has more loft than the driver, but in nearly every other way, it is a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke driver.
The Face: Callaway gave the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver an Ai Smart Face that was created using artificial intelligence after computers studied how real golfers swing. As with the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers, it is optimized to perform better on the most-common mis-hits.
The Crown: The carbon fiber crown reduces weight on the top of the head and allowed designers to shift the center of gravity lower.
Moveable Weights: Like the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond, the Ti 340 Mini driver has a forward and back weight. If comes with a 12-gram weight in the back and a 4-gram weight in the front, but players and fitters can swap them to fine-tune the spin rate and ball flight.
Adjustable Hosel: Like other Callaway woods, the Ti 340 Mini driver has a hosel that lets players and fitters independently change the loft and lie angle.
With a deep-face design and large volume, skilled players could use the Ti 340 Mini driver off the fairway on long par 5s, but it is designed to be played off the tee when using a driver could bring hazards into play or when golfers want more control.
Below are several images of the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver.
