The New Hotness
Today Callaway announces the “heart” of their 2014 line up, the new X2 Hot clubs. These clubs will replace the X Hot, obviously, and the line up will include drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, and irons.
If you want to check out the full press release, we’ve posted that below. If you want the Cliff Notes, here they are.
Drivers
The biggest change from X Hot to X2 Hot is the hosel: the X2 Hot will use the Advanced Optifit Hosel that the FT Optiforce has. This means you’ll be able to change the loft (down 1° or up 2°) and the lie.
Like the X Hot, the X2 Hot will feature standard and Pro models. The differences are all the things you would expect. The Standard will be available in 9.5° and 10.5°, the Pro only in 8.5°. The Pro head will be smaller (440cc vs. 460) and will have a different stock shaft (Aldila Tour Green vs. Tour Blue). The Pro version will retail for $349, the standard for $299.
Fairway Woods
Two important notes here: a new face means even more ball speed than the original X Hot and a HUGE number of options. The X2 Hot will be available in 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 woods. The Pro model will come in 13.5°, 15°, 17°, and 19°. If that’s not enough fairway woods for you, Callaway is expanding the Deep series with the X2 Hot Pro 2Deep, 3Deep, and 5Deep (check back in next week for a 3Deep review to learn why you should be excited about this). The stock shafts here are the same as in the drivers, and they will come out at $229.
Hybrids
Callaway claims that the hybrid will be the biggest change from X Hot to X2 Hot. The hybrid will have the same new Hyper Speed Face as the fairway wood which Callaway says will lead to a sweet spot 13 times larger than X Hot. CT is also up 22% on center hits and 30-40% on off-center hits. The most noticeable change will be the look, which Callaway calls more contemporary. I’d just call it more awesome. Again, these will be available in both standard and Pro models.
Irons
The iron story appears pretty similar to last year’s: the X2 Hot is going to be even longer and more forgiving than its predecessor, the X2 Hot Pro will offer more distance to the discerning player.
The one number that did jump out at me is the 40% accuracy improvement Callaway is claiming for the X2 Hot.
Callaway Golf Announces X2 Hot Line Up
The New Drivers, Fairway Woods, Hybrids and Irons Emphasize Distance and Speed
CARLSBAD, Calif., November 12, 2013 – In a year that saw market share gains for Callaway
Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) in the woods and irons categories, the golf club and ball
manufacturer today announces a full new line of distanced-focused woods and irons products for
2014. The X2 Hot™ products, including drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons — each with a
Standard and Pro version — have been developed to be longer, faster and more forgiving for a
broad range of golfers. The X2 Hot line of products will be available on January 17, 2014 at golf
retailers worldwide and on www.CallawayGolf.com.
“With the X2 Hot line, we challenged ourselves to reinvent each product to meaningfully
improve distance, speed and forgiveness across every category,” said Dr. Alan Hocknell, Senior
Vice President, R&D, Callaway Golf. “We worked hard for every extra gram of discretionary
weight, every thousandth of an inch of metal, to increase ball speed and overall distance while
improving total performance, especially on off-center impact.”
The X2 Hot line sits in the heart of Callaway Golf’s 2014 product lineup, and each club has
distance, speed and forgiveness in common. Additional context on these products and others, as
always, can be found in various multimedia formats on the Callaway Media Productions page:
www.CallawayMediaProductions.com
X2 Hot Drivers
Emphasizing the focus on distance, the X2 Hot Drivers debut the Company’s Hyper Speed Face
technology, with a large overall design based on player impact probability and stress distribution
across the face, resulting in high average balls speeds and a lighter weight construction. Players
can independently adjust the driver’s loft and lie with the Company’s Advanced Optifit Hosel.
Loft can either be decreased by 1-degree or increased by up to 2-degrees to help optimize the
launch angle and backspin. The lie angle can also be adjusted between Neutral and Draw, which
will influence the directional bias. Eight total settings are available to help golfers adjust their
trajectory and shot shape and unearth maximum distance gains for their game.
There are many recipes for distance — no singular clubhead shape, size, loft, CG position, head
weight, club length or swingweight optimizes performance for everyone. So Callaway is bringing
options in the X2 Hot line to promote optimal distance gains for all swings. The standard version
of the X2 Hot Driver is 460cc, available in 9°, 10.5° and 13.5°HT lofts, and comes stock with an
Aldila Tour Blue shaft. The Pro version, available in an 8.5° offering, is 440cc, features a lower,
more neutral center of gravity, and includes a 7 gram external weight. The Pro model will be
available with the Aldila Tour Green shaft as the stock offering. The new product introduction
retail price for both models is $349.99.
X2 Hot Fairway Woods | X2 Hot Pro Fairway Woods
The Company’s fairway wood market share doubled in 2013. To keep pace in 2014 with X2 Hot,
the team added the new Hyper Speed Face Cup technology that incorporates a thinner face for
added ball speed, particularly on impacts low in the face. The addition of a 455 carpenter steel
face cup changed the paradigm in last year’s wildly popular fairway wood, yet initial testing has
shown the new Hyper Speed Face Cup is adding 1.4 mph average ball speed over its predecessor.
The team also improved the Internal Standing Wave, a weighting system that gives Callaway
engineers an ideal CG position for distance from all impact locations on the face, and allows them
to position weight close to the face without reducing its flexibility.
Callaway will offer a host of options in the X2 Hot Fairway Wood, expanding the distance and
versatility offerings for various player types and playing conditions. This includes new options of
the Deep Fairway Woods, which gained notoriety with Phil Mickelson’s incredible birdie on the
Par 5 17 en route to his 2013 Open Championship victory. Options include a 3-, 4-, 5-, 7-, 9- and
11-wood in the Standard model; a 13.5°, 15°, 17° and 19° in the Pro model, and Callaway will
add to its Deep series with an X2 Hot Pro 2Deep, a 3Deep and a 5Deep offering. Stocks shafts are
the same as the driver. The new product introduction retail price is $229.99.
X2 Hot Hybrids | X2 Hot Pro Hybrids
The X2 Hot Hybrids represent a huge leap in technology, performance and contemporary looks
from its predecessor. Taking cues from the success of Callaway’s explosive fairway woods and
the staggering distance they introduced in 2013, the X2 Hot Hybrids add the Hyper Speed Face
Cup and an Internal Standing Wave in a hybrid for the first time. These technologies and others
have resulted in a sweet spot that is 13 times larger than its predecessor’s (not a misprint), CT that
is up to 22% higher on center hits and up to 30-40% higher on off-center hits. A new, more
contemporary head shape, largely based on Tour feedback, complements the performance and
distance technology. The X2 Hot Hybrids feature a larger face area, a straighter, flatter leading
edge and less offset.
Callaway will offer a 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-Hybrid in the Standard model and a 16°, 18°, 20° and 23°
Hybrid in the Pro model. Same stock shafts as the other woods products. And the new product
introduction retail price is $199.99.
X2 Hot Irons | X2 Hot Pro Irons
The Standard X2 Hot Iron, ironically, sets a new standard in distance irons. These clubs have a
new Deep Central Undercut that increases the face compliance to boost ball speeds and – you
guessed it – distance. A stabilizing arch optimizes the stiffness distribution across the face for a
great sound and feel, while moving the hot spot lower on the face (and therefore more in line with
a player’s impact location). Distance and ball speed are a huge part of the X2 Hot Iron story, but
why stop there? High MOI along with a repositioned center of gravity and improved turf
interaction have helped improve the downrange consistency by as much as 40%, easily making
these the most accurate long distance irons Callaway has ever designed.
The Pro model, with a thinner face and a uniquely designed stabilizing arch that moves the
weight low and central – retains high ball speeds and distance advantages, but without an undercut
cavity and in a compact shape that is more appealing to discerning players. The X2 Hot Pro Iron
is further differentiated through a greater progression in offset and CG height, which helps retain
some forgiveness in the longer irons while making the short irons more controllable and more
appealing to the eyes for better players.
In the Standard model, the stock steel shaft is a True Temper Speed Step 85; the new product
introduction retail price for a steel set is $799.99. The stock graphite shaft is a lighter-weight
offering than has been offered before, and the new product introduction retail price is $899.99. In
the Pro model, the standard steel shaft is the Project X 95 Flighted shaft and the new product
introduction retail price is $899.99.
Pro driver
Callaway X2 Hot (1)
Callaway X2 Hot (3)
Callaway X2 Hot (4)
Callaway X2 Hot (5)
Callaway X2 Hot (6)
Callaway X2 Hot (7)
Callaway X2 Hot (8)
Callaway X2 Hot (9)
Callaway X2 Hot (10)
Callaway X2 Hot (11)
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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