WARNING! PSA about Rogue ST max 24 Scam

[cardia10]

Start trading them in back with Callaway getting credit for the originals. If they are calling them the same club, how should we know the difference.

[JMB3]

Dick’s has real deal Rogue ST for $350??

 

 

[BYK]

24 minutes ago, JMB3 said:

Dick’s has real deal Rogue ST for $350??

 

 

lol even better. 
the real one is cheaper than the Knock off 

[BallerNate]

3 hours ago, scott406 said:

Note to self:

DO NOT buy a Callaway Rouge ST Max Driver off of eBay

No matter what the description says

 

 

I am sorry for those that ended up buying these and I thank you for posting about this and giving everyone a heads up

I play regularly and buy equipment all the time and this is the 1st time I have ever heard of Callaway doing this

This should be sold at Dick's or Academy not a golf store like Edwin Watts or PGASS

 

This is super shady IMO

 

 

Yeah, it’s super slimy, and I’ve lost a ton of respect for Callaway over the last 24 hrs.

 

Not only should it not be sold at major Golf retailers, but it shouldn’t have been manufactured to look EXACTLY like a real Rogue ST Max…it’s false advertising, and it’s a cash grab…brutal.

[BallerNate]

3 hours ago, JMB3 said:

Dick’s has real deal Rogue ST for $350??

 

 

Unless it’s a picture of the real Rogue ST Max, but once you get it in the mail, it’s the crappy tin-can replica…SMH!!

 

Shady, shady stuff man…it’s disgusting.

[BallerNate]

Just letting you guys know that Callaway Canada called me back yesterday.

 

The rep I spoke with doubled down and basically said, "Callaway is not marketing the Rogue ST Max 2024 as being comparable to the original Rogue ST Max". Their position is that it's a totally different club designed for the entry-level market.

 

He put it on the retailer (Golf Town here in Canada) to advise customers that the Rogue ST Max 2024 doesn't have the technology and features of the original Rogue ST Max, and that Callaway made this club to reach a different part of the market that wouldn't be in the premium market of the A.I. Smoke, Elyte, or original Rogue ST Max.

 

I let the rep know that if that's what their intentions are, they should make a totally different-looking club, like the Edge that is sold at Costco, and to manufacture a club that looks identical to the original Rogue ST Max, and is being sold in high-level Golf shops alongside premium products is misleading, and that the average buyer will have no idea that they are buying an inferior stripped down product.

 

So now I understand that Callaway basically has 3 classifications:

1) Entry level mass consumer market

2) Premium level consumer market

3) Tour only products

 

All 3 tiers of clubs are designed to look identical, but only knowledgeable and discerning gear-heads can tell the difference. And they cash in on all of it.

[BallerNate]

How do we make a request to a Moderator to move this thread back to the main Equipment thread?

 

This topic is too important to be buried in the “Deal or No Deal” section, which with all due respect, I had never even heard or until yesterday.

[BallerNate]

Just to wrap up the situation with Callaway and let you guys know what happened.

 

I called Callaway the last 2 days and asked to speak to a Manager. Both days they said the Manager would call me back, and yesterday the Rep actually told me that the Manager was right next to him walking down the hallway.

 

Both days the Manager wouldn’t accept the call being transferred, and he wouldn’t take the 5 mins to call me back.

 

So not only is Callaway taking advantage of consumers by selling a clone/knock-off of the Rogue ST Max, they also don’t have the decency and respect to call a customer that has bought EIGHT Drivers, SIX 3-Woods, and SIX Hybrids over the last 4 years.

 

I will officially never buy another club from Callaway, and I’ll be trying to phase out their equipment from my bag as fast as possible due to lack of Ethics, and not caring about their Customers.

 

Edited February 2 by BallerNate

[Kibbles]

Wow, this is beyond shady from Callaway. I was possibly in the market for a CPO Rogue ST Max, and noticed the “Rogue ST Max 24” on their website. I was considering buying it direct from their website, but now Im glad I never did. Like everyone else, when I saw the Rogue ST Max 24 on their website I figured they were just saying “hey we still have the rogue st max for sale in 2024 since it was a great driver” and never would have guessed or realized it was actually a cheap clone.

Just yesterday I was in Golf Galaxy comparing the new QI35 line and the Elyte line. Im looking to buy a driver, a fairway wood, and a hybrid. I was leaning towards the Taylormade but now Im definitely not considering the Callaway products. I wont support grimey stuff like this 👎🏻

[Negncic]

13 minutes ago, Kibbles said:

Wow, this is beyond shady from Callaway. I was possibly in the market for a CPO Rogue ST Max, and noticed the “Rogue ST Max 24” on their website. I was considering buying it direct from their website, but now Im glad I never did. Like everyone else, when I saw the Rogue ST Max 24 on their website I figured they were just saying “hey we still have the rogue st max for sale in 2024 since it was a great driver” and never would have guessed or realized it was actually a cheap clone.

Just yesterday I was in Golf Galaxy comparing the new QI35 line and the Elyte line. Im looking to buy a driver, a fairway wood, and a hybrid. I was leaning towards the Taylormade but now Im definitely not considering the Callaway products. I wont support grimey stuff like this 👎🏻

Just wondering, and by no means defending Callaway.  Is there much of a difference between what Callaway is doing and what Taylormade did with the non Velocore Ventus shafts?  The non Velocore shafts are cheap made for shafts that Taylormade slapped the Ventus name on. Both companies are grimey. 

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, Kibbles said:

Wow, this is beyond shady from Callaway. I was possibly in the market for a CPO Rogue ST Max, and noticed the “Rogue ST Max 24” on their website. I was considering buying it direct from their website, but now Im glad I never did. Like everyone else, when I saw the Rogue ST Max 24 on their website I figured they were just saying “hey we still have the rogue st max for sale in 2024 since it was a great driver” and never would have guessed or realized it was actually a cheap clone.

Just yesterday I was in Golf Galaxy comparing the new QI35 line and the Elyte line. Im looking to buy a driver, a fairway wood, and a hybrid. I was leaning towards the Taylormade but now Im definitely not considering the Callaway products. I wont support grimey stuff like this 👎🏻

Exactly...the "Rogue ST Max 24" is extremely misleading and if Callaway wanted to add a budget entry-level Driver to the market, it just should've had a different name, and a different design.

 

And the fact that they are being sold in Premium Golf shops alongside the Elyte, A.I. Smoke, and Premium Drivers from other OEM's is again extremely misleading.

 

Shady, shady business all around, and I will definitely never buy another Callaway product.

[ggee6887]

That’s pretty shady.  I really like my AI Smoke drivers but this is something I’ll have to keep in mind when I get fitted again

[BallerNate]

4 hours ago, ggee6887 said:

That’s pretty shady.  I really like my AI Smoke drivers but this is something I’ll have to keep in mind when I get fitted again

Yeah, very shady and misleading indeed.

 

Now that I’ve done more research, it sounds like this is common practice with TaylorMade and Cobra as well, we’re just finding out about it…Smh.

[Lemonde]

On 1/24/2025 at 4:33 PM, radiman said:

I mean, the 2 grams, from a perspective that they call it a weight and it has weight to it.  It is shady as heck, but just trying to view this as if they were trying to defend their stance.  

The carbon though, that's pretty terrible and if that were the case, they should absolutely be roasted.  

 

Not the first go around with these.  As others have said, Mavrik 22, Sim Max, and maybe the SLDR-C? Can't remember if that was a mass release or retailer specific.  Other models have been done dirty the same way.  I never paid much attention to them in the past, just assumed they kept making a similar club.  

The SLDR-C.  That one brings back memories.  The old Bobcat who used to post and rave about it, haven’t seen him post in years.  In fairness to TM, it had a different etched name if ever so slightly and actually looked different and so will give them a pass on that one. 

Edited February 4 by Lemonde

[Lemonde]

On 2/1/2025 at 6:52 PM, BallerNate said:

How do we make a request to a Moderator to move this thread back to the main Equipment thread?

 

This topic is too important to be buried in the “Deal or No Deal” section, which with all due respect, I had never even heard or until yesterday.

I agree with you on this. 

[BallerNate]

2 hours ago, Lemonde said:

I agree with you on this. 

Yeah, should be something that’s at least up for discussion in a more public section of the forum. 
 

Not sure why this would be buried when the whole purpose of WRX is to exchange information and opinions on Golf equipment?

 

@GolfWRX

[JMB3]

On 2/2/2025 at 8:26 PM, Negncic said:

Just wondering, and by no means defending Callaway.  Is there much of a difference between what Callaway is doing and what Taylormade did with the non Velocore Ventus shafts?  The non Velocore shafts are cheap made for shafts that Taylormade slapped the Ventus name on. Both companies are grimey. 

The year after TaylorMade did it, Callaway followed suit.  I think the OG Rogue ST had the Fentus shafts as stock options.  Both companies are slimey for these practices.  

[Celeras]

On 2/2/2025 at 11:08 AM, BallerNate said:

Just to wrap up the situation with Callaway and let you guys know what happened.

 

I called Callaway the last 2 days and asked to speak to a Manager. Both days they said the Manager would call me back, and yesterday the Rep actually told me that the Manager was right next to him walking down the hallway.

 

Both days the Manager wouldn’t accept the call being transferred, and he wouldn’t take the 5 mins to call me back.

 

So not only is Callaway taking advantage of consumers by selling a clone/knock-off of the Rogue ST Max, they also don’t have the decency and respect to call a customer that has bought EIGHT Drivers, SIX 3-Woods, and SIX Hybrids over the last 4 years.

 

I will officially never buy another club from Callaway, and I’ll be trying to phase out their equipment from my bag as fast as possible due to lack of Ethics, and not caring about their Customers.

 

 

Good for you. I took a similar stand with Taylormade some years ago with their M2 irons. Won't rehash it all here but the short version is that the faces had a cave-in defect that they didn't acknowledge officially (and only unofficial when the next years models added "Ribcor technology" to brace the problem areas.. turning the fix for a defective product into a marketing gimmick) and just kept replacing defective clubs with more defective clubs. I went through 3 replacement sets in one season and caved in the last set during the first range session.

 

Looks like I should add Callaway to my list.

 

[BallerNate]

5 hours ago, JMB3 said:

The year after TaylorMade did it, Callaway followed suit.  I think the OG Rogue ST had the Fentus shafts as stock options.  Both companies are slimey for these practices.  

 

2 hours ago, Celeras said:

 

Good for you. I took a similar stand with Taylormade some years ago with their M2 irons. Won't rehash it all here but the short version is that the faces had a cave-in defect that they didn't acknowledge officially (and only unofficial when the next years models added "Ribcor technology" to brace the problem areas.. turning the fix for a defective product into a marketing gimmick) and just kept replacing defective clubs with more defective clubs. I went through 3 replacement sets in one season and caved in the last set during the first range session.

 

Looks like I should add Callaway to my list.

 

Very interesting.

 

These are definitely all things we should be discussing in the the main “Equipment” forum, not “Deal or No Deal”.

 

Manufacturers mass producing clone/knock-off Drivers, shafts, and Irons, is directly related to Golf equipment, not some shady individual selling a couple of damaged/fake clubs etc on BST.

 

The “Rogue ST Max ‘24” also contains a clone shaft as well…it had a “Tensei CR Series 50 S”.

 

Never heard of a “CR Series”, or Tensei making a 50 class shaft other than the 55 S shafts in Titleist Drivers with the SFT Technology (Straight Flight Technology).

 

Edited February 4 by BallerNate

[BallerNate]

I started a thread on the Equipment section of the forum just to be able to have discussion about it in a section that discusses topics specifically about Clubs and Equipment:

 

https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/2037119-oem’s-producing-clone-clubs-and-shafts…how-do-you-feel-about-it/

[straightshot7]

On 2/2/2025 at 8:26 PM, Negncic said:

Just wondering, and by no means defending Callaway.  Is there much of a difference between what Callaway is doing and what Taylormade did with the non Velocore Ventus shafts?  The non Velocore shafts are cheap made for shafts that Taylormade slapped the Ventus name on. Both companies are grimey. 

the Velocore graphic is pretty noticeable though, no?

 

The differences on this rogue knock off are so subtle that people bought them not realizing they weren’t the original. 

[Negncic]

11 minutes ago, straightshot7 said:

the Velocore graphic is pretty noticeable though, no?

 

The differences on this rogue knock off are so subtle that people bought them not realizing they weren’t the original. 

Noticeable or not, still pretty crappy.  And that is dependent upon the listers photos and the buyers knowledge. 

[rukahs]

On 2/2/2025 at 4:08 PM, BallerNate said:

 

 

I will officially never buy another club from Callaway, and I’ll be trying to phase out their equipment from my bag as fast as possible due to lack of Ethics, and not caring about their Customers.

 

 

 

Always looking for excuses to buy new gear aren't ya pal 😄 😄 😄 haha. Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

I'd do the same TBH... bad move from Callaway.

 

Get yaself a Qi10 cheap... you won't regret it 😉 

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, rukahs said:

 

 

Always looking for excuses to buy new gear aren't ya pal 😄 😄 😄 haha. Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

I'd do the same TBH... bad move from Callaway.

 

Get yaself a Qi10 cheap... you won't regret it 😉 

🤣🤣🤣 Bahaha!! Yup, new Driver and 3-Wood on the way, and will never buy another Callaway club again. 

[bogieboy]

On 1/31/2025 at 9:34 AM, BallerNate said:

Correct…that’s the shady part.

 

The club is designed to look identical to the real Rogue ST Max, and there is no signage that lets people know it’s a stripped down replica without the same features and performance.

 

If it’s similar quality to their Edge sets in Costco, then they should be sold as Edge, not put in costume to look like a Rogue ST Max that is in discussions as the best Driver released in the last 5 years.

Not for nothing, but one quick glance at it, and you can see it doesn't have the carbon sole, so if that's missing at a quick glance, you can just about assume all the other high-dollar Tech features are not going to be there either, so classic case of buyer beware in my opinion... I don't feel bad about it, Callaway has done it before, with the X Hot Irons that they released in 2019 at a much lower price with slightly different visuals, they've done it with other drivers in the past, so it doesn't really surprise me, and it doesn't change the opinion that I have on callaway, currently own four of their drivers, and 3 iron sets and going to pick up a fifth one tonight, it's called business, buyer beware, do your freaking research, simple as that. There's a reason why I spend months researching clubs before I actually go buy something, and not impulse buy when I go in for a regrip, just saying

Edited February 6 by bogieboy

[bogieboy]

Also, here's my question, you've got posts in multiple threads and multiple threads themselves started on this topic, moaning about how deceptive it is and how bad it is, did you actually hit the driver? How did it perform? Did you lose 40 yards of distance? Did you duck hook it? Or don't we even know because you were so pissed off that you got swindled? Did they maybe design a new style face for a lower price market, that works as well as the original technology in the Rogue St Max? Or will we never know, because you never hit it?

[BYK]

6 minutes ago, bogieboy said:

Also, here's my question, you've got posts in multiple threads and multiple threads themselves started on this topic, moaning about how deceptive it is and how bad it is, did you actually hit the driver? How did it perform? Did you lose 40 yards of distance? Did you duck hook it? Or don't we even know because you were so pissed off that you got swindled? Did they maybe design a new style face for a lower price market, that works as well as the original technology in the Rogue St Max? Or will we never know, because you never hit it?

In one of these threads, I believe the other one, it was great that someone took the time to hit both and post their numbers.  And yes to save you the suspense, they were different.

 

And to be fair to the OP, he posted this second thread in the equipment section so it would get more views, and for whatever reason it was moved into the section.

[bogieboy]

1 minute ago, BYK said:

In one of these threads, I believe the other one, it was great that someone took the time to hit both and post their numbers.  And yes to save you the suspense, they were different.

 

And to be fair to the OP, he posted this second thread in the equipment section so it would get more views, and for whatever reason it was moved into the section.

It was moved because the mods said this is where it belonged before THE MODS even posted the first thread (pulled the off topic posts from the other thread and created this one) and was spamming the what did you buy today thread... 

 

I will have to go see what the numbers were, bottom line is not news in the callaway land, they have done it for years, and will continue to do it... guess some people just havent paid close enough attention in the past

[BallerNate]

44 minutes ago, bogieboy said:

Not for nothing, but one quick glance at it, and you can see it doesn't have the carbon sole, so if that's missing at a quick glance, you can just about assume all the other high-dollar Tech features are not going to be there either, so classic case of buyer beware in my opinion... I don't feel bad about it, Callaway has done it before, with the X Hot Irons that they released in 2019 at a much lower price with slightly different visuals, they've done it with other drivers in the past, so it doesn't really surprise me, and it doesn't change the opinion that I have on callaway, currently own four of their drivers, and 3 iron sets and going to pick up a fifth one tonight, it's called business, buyer beware, do your freaking research, simple as that. There's a reason why I spend months researching clubs before I actually go buy something, and not impulse buy when I go in for a regrip, just saying

Where are we supposed to do research on the Rogue ST Max 24 exactly?

 

Callaway doesn’t have it listed on their website, we’re not allowed to have threads about it in the main Equipment section, and many retailers are promoting it as if it were the same as the original Rogue ST Max.

 

My research was that I owned an original Rogue ST Max for 1.5yrs, have bought 8 Callaway Drivers, 6 Fairways, and 6 Hybrids over the last 4yrs, and spend 1,000’s of hours on WRX, OEM websites, and You Tube watching reviews and gathering information/knowledge on Golf equipment.

 

But now we have to be detectives and bring magnifying glasses to Golf shops, and not buy anything online because we won’t be able to scrutinize the item first?

 

No thanks, I just won’t do business with companies that release clone clubs that are being sold side-by-side with Premium clubs.

[bcjim]

CPO has (interestingly) tons of LS and TD models (with good prices it looks like) but very few Max.  I would think they sold way more Max than the others leading to more in the used market.   I wonder if that is not the case or if they are just keeping used "real" Max models off their market to not undercut this, um, new Max?

 

Agree with most, this is distasteful behavior.