Callaway FT Optiforce 460 Driver Review – Good for Handicappers & Forgiving?

“The Callaway FT Optiforce 460 may not be the newest game improvement driver on the block; but if your long game can benefit from tried and true lightweight technology, then pay close attention to the following review.”

The Callaway FT Optiforce Family

“When the Callaway FT Optiforce driver first came out, it was available in two different head sizes.”

As you can imagine, the Callaway FT Optiforce 460 is a 460cc driver. There is also a 440cc version though.

Most of the technology is the same between these two drivers. The obvious difference is that the Callaway FT Optiforce 440 has a smaller head.

When you compare the heads though, you see that the Callaway FT Optiforce 440 has less markings on the crown.

The Callaway FT Optiforce 440 doesn’t have any alignment markers while the Callaway FT Optiforce 460 does.

Both drivers were designed with the Speed Frame Face which essentially makes the sweet spot larger; but the Callaway FT Optiforce 440 offers a lower launch.

With that in mind, it’s easy to think that the Callaway FT Optiforce 440 is better for players with faster swing speed that could benefit from a more penetrating launch.

Is it Good for High Handicappers?

“The Callaway FT Optiforce 460 in particular has a high launch angle but above all, was designed to be lightweight.”

When the Callaway FT Optiforce 460 was released, a special new shaft was released along with it – even a new grip was introduced. All of the parts were designed to be super-lightweight.

The idea being that if the driver is lighter overall, you will swing it faster – and if you swing it faster you will make the ball go further.

But Callaway took it a small step further by adding the Speed Frame Face to an exceptionally light driver.

The Speed Frame Face works well with the 460cc head to give the player a large sweet spot – perfect for high handicappers.

Callaway also added draw bias to the Callaway FT Optiforce 460 so it is even better for players who tend to fade the ball too much (note that the Callaway FT Optiforce 440 doesn’t have any draw bias).

Is it Forgiving?

“The Callaway FT Optiforce 460 is surprisingly forgiving for a driver that has pretty basic features.”

At the end of the day, we weren’t exactly sure what to contribute the tight shot dispersion of the Callaway FT Optiforce 460 to.

Maybe it was just finding its way into the hands of the right testers who have slight fade bias. But whatever it was, the Callaway FT Optiforce 460 flew straight for almost all of our testers.

Even when you hit out towards the toe or inward towards the heel, you don’t get punished as much as you would think you would.

That all being said, it was fairly easy to send your ball ballooning upward with the Callaway FT Optiforce 460.

For most high handicap players, this won’t be a problem. The Callaway FT Optiforce 460 launches high; but just be careful.

The Callaway FT Optiforce 460 also produced fairly high spin rates in the 2700 RPM range. So most of the yardage gains are going to come from increased club head speed and tighter shot dispersion.

Difference Between the Callaway FT Optiforce 460 and the Rogue ST Max

“The Rogue ST Max is a newer driver with updated features.”

The ST Max has a 26-gram tungsten weight in the back of the head so as you can imagine, it is not as light as the Callaway FT Optiforce 460.

However, it does have a nice low CG which is something the Callaway FT Optiforce 460 actually lacks.

Available Shafts

• Optiforce Project X shaft

Is the Callaway FT Optiforce 460 Worth it?

“If you have a slow swing speed, you may benefit mightily from this driver.”

Overall, we wouldn’t say that every high handicapper would benefit from using the Callaway FT Optiforce 460.

In particular though, high handicap players with swing speeds under 85 MPH would find the Callaway FT Optiforce 460 well worth it.

It would also be a good choice if you tend to miss the fairway on your drives.