Callaway Elyte, Elyte X, Elyte Triple Diamond, Elyte Max Fast drivers

Gear: Callaway Elyte drivers

Price: $599.99 (Elyte, Elyte X, Elyte Max Fast) with Project X Denali shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips; $649 (Triple Diamond) with Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black shaft

Specs: 460-cubic-centimeter titanium head and face with carbon fiber crown, moveable weights and adjustable hosel

Available: Jan. 24

Who they're for: Golfers looking for a balance of distance and forgiveness. The standard Elyte likely will fit most golfers, while the Triple Diamond is a spin-killer for heavy hitters, the Elyte X offers more stability and the Max Fast is ideal for moderate-speed and slower-swinging players.

What you should know: The four Elyte drivers feature updated faces that generate more ball speed and protect it on mis-hits, enhancing forgiveness across the lineup.

The deep dive: Heading into 2024, golf fans knew Xander Schauffele as a good player, but winning two majors and helping the U.S. team win the Presidents Cup elevated the San Diego native to “great.”

Callaway aims to achieve a similar leap in 2025 with its flagship driver, taking the family of clubs from good – like last season’s AI Smoke – to what it hopes is great with the new Elyte drivers (pronounced “elite”).

To get there, Callaway’s designers had to overcome a persistent challenge: Making drivers faster usually sacrifices forgiveness, and making them more forgiving can reduce ball speed.

To address this, designers concentrated on improvements to the head shape, introduced new materials and relied more heavily on artificial intelligence (AI). After investing over $2 million in a titanium 3D printer, Callaway created more than 75 hittable, titanium prototype drivers. The final design features a crown with a lowered heel side and an extended, slightly elevated toe, producing a head that moves faster on the downswing, particularly in the last few feet leading into impact. Callaway reports that with the same effort, golfers can generate up to 1.3 mph more clubhead speed with Elyte compared to last season’s Paradym Ai Smoke.

Callaway also designed the crown using a new material, thermo-forged carbon fiber, which requires less handwork and polishing and instead relies on automated processes. This leads to greater consistency from one piece to the next.

Finally, Callaway designers refined their AI process with more sophisticated supercomputers and introduced 10 times more control points on the face, which is why Callaway calls it the “AI10X Face.” Think of these control points as locations where the supercomputers directed Callaway engineers to make some areas thicker and others thinner. Working together, these zones maximize performance across the hitting area, adding spin here and reducing spin there, ultimately helping golfers hit the ball farther and straighter on every drive.

The combination of enhanced aerodynamics from better shaping and a hotter face increases ball speed by up to 2.1 mph compared to last year’s Paradym Ai Smoke driver. For most golfers, that translates to 5 to 8 more yards of distance. Callaway also said the Elyte has a 19-percent tighter dispersion, so shots should fly straighter.  Elyte drivers share those key technologies, and each comes standard with Callaway’s OptiFit hosel that allows golfers and fitters to change the club’s loft and lie angle, but each Elyte driver is designed with different players in mind.

• Elyte (9, 10.5, 12 degrees): The standard Elyte driver has a 460-cubic-centimeter head with three weight ports in the back, allowing players and fitters to move a 13-gram weight to create either a draw or fade bias. When the weight is in the middle port, it maximizes the moment of inertia for added stability. This blend of speed, adjustability and forgiveness makes this driver ideal for the broadest range of golfers.

• Elyte X (9, 10.5, 12 degrees): This 460-cubic-centimeter driver has the same shape as the standard Elyte but features two weight ports in the sole, one in the center and the other in the heel. Moving the 13-gram weight to the heel creates a larger draw bias for golfers who struggle with a slice, while placing it in the center location boosts stability. In the draw setting, this club creates more right-to-left shaping than last season’s AI Smoke Max D driver.

• Elyte Triple Diamond (8, 9, 10.5 degrees): This 445-cubic-centimeter driver is designed for accomplished golfers with fast swings who generate excessive spin. While the other Elyte drivers have a titanium sole, the Triple Diamond features a 360-degree carbon fiber chassis paired with adjustable weight screws for additional spin control.

• Elyte Max Fast (10.5, 12 degrees): This club is designed for golfers who benefit from a driver with a lighter shaft, lighter grips and higher lofts. Moderate-speed and slower-swinging golfers should create more clubhead speed, a higher launch and more carry distance (which should result in more overall distance) with this 460-cubic-centimeter driver. Like the Elyte Max, the Max Fast has a 13-gram moveable weight that can be positioned in a neutral or draw setting.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Callaway Elyte drivers deliver more ball speed, stability and options.