Callaway Rogue ST Max Vs. Taylormade M4 Irons Comparison Overview
Taylormade and Callaway have become renowned in part for their game-improvement clubs.
It seems like every year they come out with some new innovation that helps more golfers lower their handicaps. Case in point: the Callaway Rogue ST Max and the Taylormade M4 irons.
Irons are notoriously hard to learn but with the Callaway Rogue ST Max and M4 irons, beginners and high handicappers can significantly improve their performance on the fairway. Let’s take a look at how each set can help.
Callaway Rogue ST Max Irons Overview
The Callaway Rogue ST Max irons are the latest offering from Callaway in terms of game-improvement irons.”
They are marked by a new 450 grade steel face that drastically increases stability over the last Rogue class. The Callaway Rogue ST Max irons in particular have pronounced offset, strong loft and wide soles to promote optimal launch angles and a high degree of forgiveness.
We tested these irons and we can attest to their ease of use. The sweet spot is expansive and flexes to a high degree so more players will be able to generate good ball speed. While the Callaway Rogue ST Max irons aren’t very accurate around the pin, they help out in the rough.
The wide sole helps to cut through tough turf and allow even novice players to launch the ball high in the air.
Taylormade M4 Irons Overview
Taylormade M4 irons are no secret. They have been around for a while and have helped many a newbie golfer.
The Taylormade M4 irons are your traditional cavity back irons. As such, they generate a high level of MOI or energy transference. That means that more of the energy form your swing is transferred to the actual ball.
It also increases forgiveness. The cavity back design allows the swing energy to essentially spread out to more areas of the face. Overall, the M4 irons weren’t as long as the Callaway Rogue ST Max’s; but forgiveness was on par with them.
More importantly though, we noticed better spin control in the Taylormade M4 irons so if you are working on your short game, these irons will be more helpful.
We would say that the Callaway Rogue ST Max irons would be better for pure beginners while the Taylormade M4 irons would be better for players on the cusp of single-digit handicaps.
Callaway Rogue ST Irons
Category: Game Improvement – Player’s Performance
Taylormade M4 Irons
Category: Game Improvement Irons
Callaway Rogue ST Irons First Impressions
The first thing we noticed about the Callaway Rogue ST irons is that they felt incredibly stable on full swings.
While high handicappers may not fully appreciate that benefit at first, it will certainly spoil them as they get better. The large head sizes of the Max models will be a bit off-putting for lower handicappers; but that is what the Pro line is for.
All of the Max models have a wide sole that you can see from point of address. Again this will look more comforting in the eyes of a beginner or high handicapper. Our testers also noted the near-effortless launch of almost all the irons in the set.
Key Tech
The clubs are packing all the latest technology too:
We’ve now got urethane microspheres up to the 6th groove which helps give a smoother feel and nicer sound.
A.I Optimized flash face to give a solid connection anywhere on the face and optimization for launch, spin and distance.
The Tungsten weighting is in the extremities of the head and allows for the sweet spot to cover more of the face, up to 260% more Tungsten than the Mavrik irons.
Taylormade M4 Irons First Impressions
The Taylormade M4 irons have a clean, cavity back design with an extended sole in the rear which looks very comforting for beginners.
This feature also made them play very well in the rough. It is very easy to launch the ball high (and far) even from the rough. We were very pleased with the feel when we struck the ball right in the sweet spot.
However, the feel gets a little thin and the sound gets a little hollow unless you are dead-center on the sweet spot.
Callaway Rogue ST Selling Points
- Up to 62 grams of tungsten weighting
- 450 grade steel faces
- Pronounced soles
- I. designed Flash Face Cup design
- Layers of urethane
- Strong lofts
Taylormade M4 Selling Points
- Ribcor design
- Speed Pocket
- Thick sole
- Plenty of offset
- Premium shaft options
- Strong loft
Who are the Callaway Rogue ST Irons for?
The Callaway Rogue ST irons are mostly for high handicappers. The three different Max models are certainly for beginner to intermediate players while the Pro model would be better for single-digit handicappers.
But don’t get the wrong idea. The three Callaway Rogue ST Max irons aren’t as beginner-friendly when compared to some other irons. Just like we explained when we compared them to the Big Bertha’s, the Callaway Rogue ST irons are just a bit more refined than your average distance/game-improvement irons.
While most of the Callaway Rogue ST iron family is focused on upping the ball speed of high handicap players, the Pro model has a lot to offer more skilled players. Speaking of the different Callaway Rogue ST models…
The Callaway Rogue ST Iron Family
Callaway Rogue ST Max
The Rogue ST Max irons have the heaviest tungsten weight (62 grams) of any other Rogue ST iron. The head is not quite as big as the other Max models so it sits somewhere between the Rogue ST Pro and the other two Rogue ST Max models.
Callaway Rogue ST Max OS
If you need a little bit of draw bias in your irons, the pronounced offset of the Max OS irons will be helpful for you. Compared to the Callaway Rogue ST Max irons, the Max OS’s also have slightly stronger lofts. As a result the Max OS irons are more forgiving out near the toe.
Callaway Rogue ST Max OS Lite
As you can imagine, the Callaway Rogue ST Max OS Lite model is almost identical to the Callaway Rogue ST Max OS model. The key differences are lighter shafts and lighter swing weights.
The Callaway Rogue ST Max OS Lite irons also have the lightest tungsten weights (46 grams in the longest iron) and produce the highest launch angles thanks to an incredibly wide sole.
Launch is also helped with stronger lofts compared to the Callaway Rogue ST Max OS irons and the fact that these irons come standard in only graphite shafts should reiterate the emphasis on light weight and easier swinging.
Callaway Rogue ST Pro
The Callaway Rogue ST Pro irons are the most unique of the bunch. They feature the smallest head sizes and muscle backs. They also have a hollow body design. The spirit of the Rogue irons is still alive even in the Pro models though.
For instance, the Callaway Rogue ST Pro irons feature split weighting in the toe and heel to increase MOI and improve ball speeds on shots away from the sweet spot. So while they offer better spin dynamics, they are still pretty forgiving.
Ball speed is still there in the long irons as well – you’ll just have to be a lot more accurate.
Distance: 96/100
Accuracy: 93/100
Forgiveness: 95/100
Feel & Control: 94/100
Overall Score: 96/100
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Who are the Taylormade M4 Irons for?
There’s no question that the Taylormade M4 irons would be great for anything struggling with distance on the fairway.
At the end of the day though, these irons do much more for beginners than play long. Beginners, who will often find themselves in the rough, will benefit from the beefy sole and strong lofts of these irons.
Even intermediate players who don’t quite have their swing speeds where they would like it to be would benefit from these irons. Even if you are mixing and matching and only using the longer Taylormade M4 irons, they could be great assets as purely distance irons.
The Taylormade M Family of Irons
The Taylormade M family of irons also includes the M2 irons. The first thing we noticed about the M2 irons compared to the Taylormade M4’s is that the M2’s don’t do as good a job at dampening harsh impact vibrations.
On full swings, the M2’s feedback gets muddied by unwanted vibration. The M2’s do have the same lofts as the M4 irons though so the flight trajectory is very similar with these two iron sets.
It should also be noted that the M2 irons don’t feature the same Ribcor design as the Taylormade M4 irons. The main difference this makes is lesser distance – or at least, harder distance.
In other words, you will have to have good accuracy and a fast swing speed to get the same kind of distance with the M2’s as you would with the Taylormade M4 irons. As such, the M2 irons are better in the bags of low handicappers.
Distance: 95/100
Accuracy: 91/100
Forgiveness: 94/100
Feel & Control: 92/100
Overall Score: 93/100
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