Top-Secret Callaway Driver Head?
We got this interesting email the other day…only thing is don’t really know if it is real or not. When I say real…I don’t mean that I think this is a counterfeit…in this case I am suspicious that this image has been doctored to cover up something about the name of the head. But other then the “mag” lettering on the head being possibly photoshopped…the rest of the story we think is legit. And we hope it is for Callaway…because it could mark a major change in the future of driver head design for the coming years.
That’s because if these pictures are real and this thing does actually go in to production it will mark a huge change in the way Callaway makes their FT drivers. This prototype was supposedly made almost entirely out of Magnesium.
No…Magnesium is not some new high-tech metal and no this is not the first magnesium driver ever to be made. Dick DelaCruz which we wrote an article titled “One Of The Most Important Men In Golf Club Design?” had designed the MagCruzer long before this driver…which is still ahead of its time. (Pictured Below) This driver was also constructed from Magnesium. And a few others have used Magnesium over the years as well. So no it is not a top-secret metal being used only by NASA or the military (but there is some pretty cool stuff that might be coming out soon that is from these industries though that has magnesium in it)…but in this case the metal known as Magnesium might just be “in the right place at the right time”.
So What Is The Big Deal About Magnesium?
Well for one it is a very versatile metal for making golf clubs and is super cheap to produce. An entire head can be cast in magnesium in the $4-8 range. Yes…you read that right $4-8 Bucks! Secondly…it is extremely light (about 60% lighter than Titanium). This is very important…because the average head weighs about 200 grams. So if you want to have 30 grams of weights to redistribute around the head like almost every other driver has nowadays…your head will needs to start out weighing 170 grams. This way you have that extra 30 grams to play with. Which can be done…
But if you really want to be able to move the Center of Gravity (CG) around and be able to allow golfers to move the ball almost anywhere they want then Magnesium is the metal to do it with. And that is why this is such a big deal now with the whole Adjustable Weight Technology that is available. I actually had a design 10 years ago that incorporated many of these same adjustable weight technologies that are used today but could not be produced because at that time none of the foundries overseas could make a head light enough to allow all the adjustable weight I had incorporated into the design.
But Magnesium changes all that…because an almost all Magnesium head can get the raw head weight down in the 120-140 gram weight range. Which allows for 60-80 grams of extra weight to play around with. And that amount of weight can actually allow you to move the ball not only left to right but up and down as well. So sorry to tell you…but all those 4 and 8 gram weights on your drivers that golf companies have been telling you can supposedly fix your slice or give you that draw you have always been looking for…really is just a bunch of hogwash.
It does have a couple downsides though…for one you typically have to use adhesives to connect it to different types of metal like titanium and when it catches on fire it is about impossible to put out.
The Callaway FT-MAG Driver?
An anonymous source who happened to get a peak at what is allegedly the replacement for the Callaway FT-Tour driver line sent us the pictures you see below.
Not a whole lot of details and specifics about this Super Top-Secret Prototype just yet…but we will give you what we have so far:
- MAG = stands for Magnesium
- Head Size 420cc
- Made almost entirely of Magnesium (75% or so)
- Production model will be more appealing in the looks category our source said…this is just a prototype
Phil Mickelson Was Allegedly “Blown Away!”
Hard to say if this rumor is true…but the quote we got from our source was the driver was designed to “enable golfers to control and shape shots like nothing on the market today!” And that Phil Mickelson was “Blown Away!” Guess we will just have to wait and see fellow GolfSpies!
Join in on the conversation and have your voice heard…let’s hear what you think!
s&w magazines
9 years ago
Many thanks for sharing this fine write-up. Very interesting ideas! (as always, btw)