Callaway Ai-Smoke Drivers: 2024 Forum Review

[poprocksncoke]

Triple Diamond Max will be available on 5/28.  

 

[JAYER38]

4 hours ago, KC Golf said:

In a forgiving head, it’s nice to see that the weights can make a meaningful difference.  Usually with Max type heads the weights are less heavy to maximize overall forgiveness, so it’s good see that you can tune it up well.

I agree very much.  My current gamer did not see as big of a different when changing out weights it was more of just a feel thing at that point.

 

3 hours ago, Berg Ryman said:

Man, seeing the new reveal of Triple Diamond Max today on the blog and knowing that I could use the forgiveness and consistency maybe with lower spin makes ya wonder! 

Ah well, hoping to get a round out this week before heading south... but that might be difficult with the storms coming in after this heatwave breaks tomorrow

I was honestly wondering how the TD MAX would compare to the TD or the Max D honestly. 

Wish you luck on hitting the course and having some fun!

[RickM71]

I'm not the most artistic person, so I recruited my 13 year old daughter to help try to get a few photos of the Triple Diamond. She also rates each of my new clubs on appearance. Things she specifically commented on were liking the smoke look on the sole, and also the carbon fiber top, commenting, "Isn't that the stuff you see in fancy sport's cars?" She also commented on the Denali shaft, wondering if that was a deliberate pairing on Callaway"s part with similar smoke like look on the shaft. 

This club got her highest "appearance" rating so far, at a 9.75/10. I'm not sure what she deducted the quarter point for, but knowing her, it is likely because there wasn't any pink. 

[JAYER38]

Quick update...

First scramble was a success until I got tired and lost my swing with the big clubs... We then pushed everything RIGHT... into trouble lol. Sadly not even the Callaway Ai SMOKE MAX D can fix swings that arnt even close haha

The MAX D performed awesome as it has for me the entire test. We used most of my drives. Honestly most of my long shots so happy about that. 

ADJUSTMENTS!!!

I moved the hosel sleeves from what I have been using +1/D to S/D while also removing the stock 7 grams weight for a 10 gram weight. This has upped my spin enough to allow the hosel adjustment and help me with carry yardage. Course was soft yesterday evening so most driver just hit with a divot/plug and bounced within a yard or so. I must say the heavier weight has also given me more confident to in the club feeling like I can get after it when needed. We will keep adjusting just to see what happens so more to come here...

 

Now for the photos which is what everyone wants!

  

 

[GolfSpy_BOS]

Love seeing these AI-Smoke driver's out on the course.  I'm having a hard time knowing the white Terra Forza shaft would compliment the Ai-Smoke color scheme really well... and that TD Max coming out seems to slot in nicely where my Epic Max LS would be...  I might just have to go find one to try out!

 

Keep it up testers.  Looking forward to seeing some more stuff from you all! 

[Berg Ryman]

Heard y'all were looking for some shots... The missus and I have got you covered. Last prep round before the MGS trip in this weekend

[EasyPutter]

I think Ryan has some great photos of the Max there!

I had a few minutes at the PGA HOPE session tonight to get a few of the club head.

    

[EasyPutter]

This image would not upload last night or this morning.

[russtopherb]

18 hours ago, Berg Ryman said:

 

My guy says "I will roll right from the office, smoke you off the tee (pun intended), and take ALL your money."

He's a bad, bad man on the course  

[JAYER38]

Just some photos from a quick trip to course where i walked 3 holes and  then got rained on. Took the wife & our 3 month old out. He slept the entire time haha

Edited May 24 by JAYER38

[Berg Ryman]

Prep round completed. First good driving round of the year. AI Smoke continues to be a fairway finder, maybe not a bomber but a finder.

I will be making some adjustments to the setup though before play at Kingsmill Resort, and I'll explain why... Tomorrow

[EasyPutter]

PGA HOPE session #4 today at Southern Meadow GC in Rush NY where I was doing my usual volunteer as a Graduate Mentor, helping out in whatever way is needed plus helping the Veterans keep it light and helping the new-to-golf guys (all men in this group).  Towards the end they were stepping off the range tee boxes feeling well exercised after starting with putting (with a competition), chipping, irons on the tee boxes, then drivers.  So since I had noticed they had been hitting for a while, grabbed my Smoke Max D and had just enough time to hit a few (perhaps) but first shot went like an angel off the clubface, straight with barely a draw, didn't see exactly how far it went because even in the bright sunshine I can see to about 170 before I just know it went thataway.  That was it, one good drive, lots of eyes watched it go.  Kenny Rogers's The Gambler says it all, gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them.  That was good 

Edited May 27 by EasyPutter

[TylorJudd]

Just a quick update for everyone regarding the Triple Diamond, I have gotten about 10 rounds in with it, and it is f****** impressive. It’s a significant improvement over the first generation. Here’s some photos from the round. Generally, it’s longer, more controllable, more forgiving, and an absolute monster.

[KC Golf]

34 minutes ago, TylorJudd said:

Just a quick update for everyone regarding the Triple Diamond, I have gotten about 10 rounds in with it, and it is f****** impressive. It’s a significant improvement over the first generation. Here’s some photos from the round. Generally, it’s longer, more controllable, more forgiving, and an absolute monster.

Looks really awesome!  

[TylorJudd]

30 minutes ago, KC Golf said:

Looks really awesome!  

It is a really great looking driver, and it isn’t really fair to compare it looks wise to the original Paradym now that I have had both. They’re both really beautiful side by side but so different. Both colour schemes are really well done. 
It is much nicer that the Ai Smoke has the lines on the face for setting up, but with the original not having them gave it such a more sleek look

[TylorJudd]

So here’s what I have so far, my carry distance as per the track man has gone up 9.2 yards and my overall distance has gone up by 13.6 yards. 
The Ai Smoke is so much more forgiving off the toe, almost like the 10k claims, and the heel hits are controllable. I’m generally getting between 47-62% fairways hit, which isn’t a ton higher the the original Paradym TD but still something. The face is more elongated and I think better suited for more players.

 

One stat that is hard to measure is its ability to play in the wind. I’m a member of a mountain course and the winds will hit 30-50 kmh consistently but the Ai Smoke has zero issue putting that to rest and still getting 280-300 with low piercing stingers. Callaway has really put something special together here. I didn’t know how they could make improvements over the Paradym but man they knocked it out of the park. Big kudos to making the Tensei 1k Black a stock shaft especially in TX flex. 

Edited May 27 by TylorJudd

[Berg Ryman]

On 5/26/2024 at 4:39 PM, Berg Ryman said:

Prep round completed. First good driving round of the year. AI Smoke continues to be a fairway finder, maybe not a bomber but a finder.

I will be making some adjustments to the setup though before play at Kingsmill Resort, and I'll explain why... Tomorrow

Ok, adjustment time. First, to remind everyone here's the current setup

 

So, the round on Sunday was a solid one driving the ball, but there wasn't a lot of pull fade going on. It was just primarily pull, which I know is a path issue, but admittedly, I don't have time the practice as much as I like or pay for lessons, I swing my swing and live with it. Here's the good news, the ball isn't pull hook or always going left. It's a straight path, it's just left of target with driver right now.

Therefore, we've got a couple of options. First, take the driver from the D setting and putting it to S, keeping the weight the same. Admittedly, this was the suggestion of my fitter at Golf Galaxy as the season went on. Second, keep the driver in the D setting, but move the clubhead weight closer to dead center if not a little on the fade side.

Here's I think at this point I'm going for option 2. First, I haven't played with the weight yet since receiving the driver and I think it will be a better test of the claim at to discretionary moveable. Second, I like the way the club sits in my hands right now and I feel as if moving it flatter might screw with that, or it could make it better.

Good news, we'll have 4 rounds over 5 days to prove it out. Very excited to see

[russtopherb]

46 minutes ago, Berg Ryman said:

Second, keep the driver in the D setting, but move the clubhead weight closer to dead center if not a little on the fade side.

I owned two Callaway drivers with the sliding weight, and I can say it makes more of a difference than I would have expected. I wouldn't be surprised if that went a ways towards helping you change that ballflight out. 

[Berg Ryman]

21 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

I owned two Callaway drivers with the sliding weight, and I can say it makes more of a difference than I would have expected. I wouldn't be surprised if that went a ways towards helping you change that ballflight out. 

I'm sure of it. I'm just looking for the expected fade so maybe just keeping that toe a bit more open might get that movement, even at the cost of maximum distance

[RickM71]

I was lucky enough to get 18 holes in yesterday morning.  We had lots of rain over the last week.  The course was in surprisingly decent condition given all the rain, but it was wet.  My driving distance with the Triple Diamond this week was a bit shorter than the prior two rounds, likely from the lack of roll.  It was also pretty windy and I did have two mis-hit drives trying to flight it low.  I also miscalculated carry when taking advantage of the wind, landing in fairway bunkers a few times where I was sure I'd carry.  

Top line was my long drive of the day of 262 yards, my p-average of 255 yards and the bottom line is the average including all drives at 232 yards.  The short drives were near the middle of the fairway, so played just fine.  The only two times I got into trouble off the tee was because I drove through the fairways.  The fairway bunkers actually didn't hurt me as I made decent shots out of the sand.  Driving through the fairways to land behind trees was the problem.  Interestingly, when I choked up an inch on holes I didn't need the distance, I caught it fully flush and crushed it.  

The round itself was a strange one.  I felt lucky to have my final score of 84 (44-40).  Three 3-putts on the front nine, combined with making a few putts over 10 feet. On the back 9, I put both par three tee shots within 10 feet. 

I'm new to the idea of Strokes Gained, but for the season, I think my driving seems to be the strongest part of my game.  Compared to a 10 handicap, here's what Shot Scope data shows:

I'm loving the Ai Smoke Triple Diamond.  Extremely happy with everything about it.

 

[TylorJudd]

14 hours ago, RickM71 said:

I was lucky enough to get 18 holes in yesterday morning.  We had lots of rain over the last week.  The course was in surprisingly decent condition given all the rain, but it was wet.  My driving distance with the Triple Diamond this week was a bit shorter than the prior two rounds, likely from the lack of roll.  It was also pretty windy and I did have two mis-hit drives trying to flight it low.  I also miscalculated carry when taking advantage of the wind, landing in fairway bunkers a few times where I was sure I'd carry.  

Top line was my long drive of the day of 262 yards, my p-average of 255 yards and the bottom line is the average including all drives at 232 yards.  The short drives were near the middle of the fairway, so played just fine.  The only two times I got into trouble off the tee was because I drove through the fairways.  The fairway bunkers actually didn't hurt me as I made decent shots out of the sand.  Driving through the fairways to land behind trees was the problem.  Interestingly, when I choked up an inch on holes I didn't need the distance, I caught it fully flush and crushed it.  

The round itself was a strange one.  I felt lucky to have my final score of 84 (44-40).  Three 3-putts on the front nine, combined with making a few putts over 10 feet. On the back 9, I put both par three tee shots within 10 feet. 

I'm new to the idea of Strokes Gained, but for the season, I think my driving seems to be the strongest part of my game.  Compared to a 10 handicap, here's what Shot Scope data shows:

I'm loving the Ai Smoke Triple Diamond.  Extremely happy with everything about it.

 

How are you finding the triple diamond in terms of forgiveness compared to your last driver?

[RickM71]

2 minutes ago, TylorJudd said:

How are you finding the triple diamond in terms of forgiveness compared to your last driver?

My previous driver was a Cobra LTDx. Even though it wasn't the low spin model, it turns out to be slightly lower spin than the Triple Diamond. The Triple Diamond seems more forgiving on off center strikes, which I was not expecting at all.

The bigger difference is that I would tend to over-draw or hook the LTDx. I rarely do that with the Triple Diamond. I'm not sure how much is the way the face looks at address and how much is just the way the head is weighted, but it works much better for me. I have the 10.5 turned down to 9.5 which probably causes the face to sit slightly more open at rest, although it isn't really obvious. 

What is your typical shot shape and does the Triple Diamond affect shape much for you? 

[JAYER38]

The Callaway Ai SMOKE MAX D has proven once again to be consistent unless you like myself butcher a swing haha. Something I've grown to enjoy is the audible difference and feedback this club gives you on strikes yet the ball seems to always have good flight characteristics. 

Some results from this past Sundays 9 hole round. I hit the center of the face twice and 1 didn't clear the water like planned and the other I did not aim far enough right to cut the corner so neither counter as fairways hits

  
 

I really got after these next 2 that didn't end as planned… Hole 8 caught the left rough as I didn't aim right enough to cut the corner and continue rolling out. Hole 6 I tried to clear the kick out on the water and missed it but least I know the limits

 

Edited May 30 by JAYER38

[TylorJudd]

Threw 9 down this afternoon for Men’s night, and for what it worth won long drive… by 23 yards. This Ai Smoke is very long. It has the most repeatable baby fade. Only used it 4 times on the front, 337/344/309/318. It’s has so much in the tank and the Tensei 1k Black is such an incredible stock offering. I can’t say enough good things about this driver. It is truly a marvel of engineering it’s so crazy 

[Berg Ryman]

So, got to play with @EasyPutteryesterday and the Smoke was heavy and thick.

Seriously though, he was hitting some solid shots and I was finding center really regularly. Last hole today on the trip we ripped one 290. I made a 5 from 30 yards in front of the green... But man was I finding the center of that club face.

[TJ Hall]

Got the privilege of playing with @Berg Ryman on the Kingsmill Plantation Course today…can honestly say he was smoking some drives with the Callaway!

[IndyBonzo]

On 5/30/2024 at 11:31 PM, TylorJudd said:

Threw 9 down this afternoon for Men’s night, and for what it worth won long drive… by 23 yards. This Ai Smoke is very long. It has the most repeatable baby fade. Only used it 4 times on the front, 337/344/309/318. It’s has so much in the tank and the Tensei 1k Black is such an incredible stock offering. I can’t say enough good things about this driver. It is truly a marvel of engineering it’s so crazy 

Do you find the Smoke TD face as hot as the OG Paradym, and does it have that same sweet compression feel as the OG on center strikes?

[Berg Ryman]

So, an update after the MGS get together and my moveable weight experimentations.

The weight move has proven beneficial for the ball flight I was looking for. The fade was working with the shift in the head weight position. If we call where it was 8:00, we shifted it to 10:00. That brought the fade back pretty easily. I might try to find it more midway between 9 and 10 to make take a touch out, but I'm happy to report the shifting weight does what you hope it would.

Second, there were moments on this trip where the Smoke was the best club in the bag. I got me to third place in the 'call your shot' competition we did where I was 1.5 yards off with driver carry guess to actual distance. I hat a decent amount of fairways and got away with some bad swings, but it also produced some bombs. Final hole from the tips on Plantation was measured around 290 to get to the green, I had 35 yards in after my driver. I used the Smoke to set up my best hole of the trip, a birdie on the 14th at The Woods with a 270 yard bomb over a bunker that really impressed @sirchunksalot, almost as much at the gap wedge to a foot.

Simply put, The Smoke was on full display and looks like it's getting closer to a permanent spot in the bag. I hope to get in maybe a couple more rounds and maybe some sim time before the final review goes up in a couple of weeks.

[JAYER38]

Have a rather busy week this week that includes lots of golf!

Dropping the wife and kid off tomm morning till Sunday evening so plans are to get some golf in each day and keep on testing the Callaway Ai SMOKE MAX D! I'm going to try and play a 9 hole round and bring the BLP with me to record some drives on course vs the range or sim.

Have a 9 hole mixer Wednesday evening, 18 hole round Thursday, Range session Friday(if needed), 18 hole scramble Saturday morning. Possibly some sort of round before I snag the family form the airport.

 

Here is a little shaft porn while we wait for more photos to be posted! I've grown to really love the matte look of the new Mitsubishi Tensei Blue shaft. The blue doesn't stand out as much as it previously did tho. Very sleek

[RickM71]

Spending time with family at Kohler Golf Academy wanting the kids to learn to play golf. Had a great morning on a beautiful range. Was smoking the Triple Diamond.