President of Callaway Golf Glenn Hickey breaks down 2025 Elyte Drivers & Golf Tech with | Ep. 407
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Executive Vice President & President of Callaway Golf, Topgolf Callaway Brands
Search every verified Glenn Hickey interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote β each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a podcast interview published on April 17, 2025, Glenn Hickey discussed Callaway Golf's 2025 product lineup, including the new Elyte drivers. Hickey stated that the company invested over $50 million annually in R&D and used a new titanium prototyping machine to produce over 75 prototypes of the Elyte driver. He claimed the driver achieved increases in club head speed up to 1.3 mph and ball speed up to 2.1 mph, equating to about eight yards more total distance compared to the previous AI Smoke model, and improved dispersion by over 19%. Hickey described four Elyte driver models tailored for different golfer needs: the standard Elyte, Elyte X for draw bias and lower spin, Max Fast for club speed challenges, and Triple Diamond for better players. Hickey also highlighted other 2025 products, including fairway woods with new Stepso technology that he said improves turf interaction by about 57%, and a new Triple Diamond version of the Chrome Tour golf ball aimed at better players seeking more speed and less spin. In the putter category, he noted that Odyssey is focusing on the zero torque trend, having introduced the Square to Square putter in November 2024 with plans for new models in spring 2025. Hickey emphasized the importance of custom fitting and stated that in 2024, each model in the AI Smoke family was the number one selling model in the United States in their respective categories, according to Golf Data Tech information.
“In 2024, each model in our AI Smoke family was the number one selling model in the United States in their respective categories, including drivers, fairways, hybrids, and irons, according to Golf Data Tech information.”
“We invest over $50 million a year in our R&D team, and this year we spent $2 million on a titanium prototyping machine that allows us to print prototypes on the spot, enabling us to produce over 75 prototypes of the Elite driver and test them rapidly.”
“With the new rapid prototype machine, we focused on creating a faster driver shape without sacrificing forgiveness, resulting in increases in club head speed up to 1.3 mph and ball speed up to 2.1 mph, equating to about eight yards more total distance compared to AI Smoke.”
“We improved dispersion by over 19% with the enhanced AI 10x face, tightening the shot pattern both left to right and front to back, resulting in more consistent distance and accuracy.”
Welcome to another exhilarating episode of the Worldwide Golf Insider podcast, where golf enthusiasts get the scoop straight fromΒ ...
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