A Lay Man’s Callaway FT OptiForce Driver Review
You’ve seen the TV ads, Callaway have a new driver, the FT OptiForce. There are two versions, a 440cc head for the good guys who bang it low and hard, and a 460cc head for mere mortals who want forgiveness and height. 
The Optiforce heads are shaved to glide through the air as efficiently as a 13 year old Chinese Olympic diver and they are just as light. The OptiFit hosel has more ticks than an itchy cat allowing golfers to adjust the loft and lie as needed. Gone are the adjustable weights that nobody ever adjusted anyway. And gone from the 440cc version is the alignment aid on the crown. That, by the way, is a bad thing. The stock shafts however are quality; that’s a good thing.
But is the Optiforce any better than any of its Callaway predecessors? Probably not, but it’s new, it’s quality, and millions of Callaway fans won’t risk missing out on the chance of a few extra yards.
Callaway as a company is losing money hand over fist and it’s up for sale. That’s a fact. What’s also a fact is that the big boss there, Chip Brewer, is a potentially great manager; he’s a man with a plan, a golfing Moses set to the lead the company to the promised land where incidentally TaylorMade live already. Part of Chip’s plan at Callaway is to encourage innovation, that’s why they are releasing the OptiForce mid-season. If the Callaway X Hot driver were a Ford Mondeo, the OptiForce might be a Ford Focus; nearly as good, but lighter.
In Callaway speak the Optiforce has Speed Optimized Technology, which is a combination of a lightweight aerodynamic head, light shaft and grip, designed to produce more ball speed and distance. In lay man’s terms, the Optiforce looks like it has been on a diet but it still gets it a long way off the tee; kind of like Charles Howell.
What is nice about the OptiForce is that Callaway don’t try to short change us with crappy shafts. The 460cc head has a 43gram Project X PXV shaft that spans 46 inches. The smaller 440 head, has a 64 gram Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana S+ shaft in the retail version. They are both serious shafts and as always come in a range of flexes.
The OptiForce driver has an idiot proof new system to adjust loft and lie which involves lining up ticks on the hosel. And this one might buck the trend that sees 99.9% of all people who buy a club ever changing the setting off N for Neutral!
This loft system however is one thing that could discourage some people from buying the OptiForce. The 460cc head comes with a 10.5 degree head that can be adjusted down one degree or up two degrees in one degree steps. The 440 cc head comes with a 9.5 degree and can also only go down one and up two degrees. There’s adjustability just not that much of it if you know what I mean!
I’ve hit both OptiFit drivers over an hour on the range. The 460cc version hits it very high and long, even when the loft is turned down. This is super when it’s calm but I wouldn’t be quite as confident with it on a tight links. I have to admit, I ballooned a few Angel Ticklers with it too. The bigger head however is very forgiving and it looks very sexy.
The smaller 440cc head was as expected, not liking being hit off centre but when I caught it flush, I got that low strong bullet from a gun trajectory that is just so satisfying. As I mentioned earlier I don’t like that there are no crown graphics to help line up the sweet spot; maybe they just forgot it in all the excitement.
In summary, I would say the FT OptiForce drivers are quality, easy to adjust but not so discernably different from other previous Callaway drivers that I would be rushing out to change. But many will and it’s well worth testing.
Expect to retail around $350, €270 and £230 GBP
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