Callaway is Back with Black

Another seriously attractive iron from Callaway

By Tony Dear

You wouldn’t say they were all the rage, but black irons have become increasingly popular these last few years.

In fact, few manufacturers haven’t put out a black model at some point.

Callaway, TaylorMade, Bridgestone, Srixon, PXG, Cobra, Titleist, and Tour Edge all have—as did Nike before it closed down its hard goods operation. It seemed Mizuno and Ping were the only clubmakers among the elite without a black iron…until a quick Google search and a synapse firing somewhere deep within my head summoned Mizuno’s rare black MP-15 and MP-4 irons—leaving Ping as the only outlier.

 

Choosing black irons over conventional steel/silver is simply a matter of taste. They provide no more forgiveness, ballspeed, accuracy, precision, playability, or muscle than what you (probably) already have, but they do look sleek and elegant with a silent assassin appearance.

Callaway, fueled by the success of its previous black issue (Apex, RAZR X, Epic, Steelhead XR, X-24, X-Forged, etc.), recently introduced its latest black iron—the Rogue Pro, which boasts the same tech as the original Rogue. That club hit stores in January and has proven to be another in an increasingly long line of Callaway hits.

All the good stuff is here: the 360° Face Cup and VFT (Variable Face Thickness) combine to increase ballspeed across a larger area of the face; Metal Injection Molded (MIM) Internal Standing Wave—a dense, tungsten weight that enables Callaway to precisely locate the Center of Gravity (CG); and Urethane Microspheres, which were developed alongside 3M and dampen the vibration of impact without reducing the club’s Co-Efficient of Restitution (COR).

“Urethane can be used to dampen vibration to improve sound and feel,” says Jeff Newton in the company’s Global Communications department.

“But it can also greatly reduce the face’s ability to flex, lowering its COR and, consequently, ball speed. Our elastic-urethane microspheres provide the sound and feel benefits of urethane without compromising COR or ball speed.”

In addition, the Rogue Pro Black also possesses a number of design features favored by better players—compact head, thin topline, thin sole, shallow cavity and minimal offset—and the club comes fitted with the True Temper XP 105 Shaft, a black medallion, and a Lamkin Z5 grip.

$825 (5–PW)
$1,099 (4-AW)
callawaygolf.com