Is the Callaway FTI Driver Still Good? Is it Forgiving for High Handicappers?

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 “The Callaway FTI driver is one of the most uniquely-shaped drivers to ever come out of the Callaway factory.”

One need only take a quick glance at the Callaway FTI driver to see that it offers something a little different than most Callaway drivers.

It has a squared shape that you don’t see anymore – come to think of it, we’ve never seen it before the FTI driver either.

The Callaway FTI driver was released in 2007 and it’s very hard to find it in new condition these days. But we got our hands on one and went out to put it to the test.

Is the Callaway FTI still a good driver? Is it a good option for high handicappers? Let’s find out.

Is the Callaway FTI Driver Still Good?

“One of the most innovative things about the Callaway FTI driver was that it utilized a carbon composite material long before carbon fiber became a staple among golf club manufacturers.”

For those of you who don’t know, carbon fiber is a material that has a very favorable strength to weight ratio (it is very strong and resilient but also very light). In fact, carbon fiber is used for many performance auto and even aero-manufactured parts.

The Callaway FTI features a carbon composite construction which consists of carbon fiber strands and epoxy resin. This is a very light and strong material which allowed Callaway to take all that saved weight and move it to the perimeter of the club.

As you may be picking up on already, the construction allows for much higher forgiveness on errant shots because the club head is stabilized out around the perimeter. This equals straighter shots and better ball speed on errant strikes.

So from the innovative construction alone, we would absolutely say that the Callaway FTI is still a good club. On top of all that, the Callaway FTI driver has a titanium face to save even more weight.

These two features alone (certainly not the only two features this driver has to offer) make for an incredibly lightweight driver that still provides a lot of value in 2023.

Is the Callaway FTI Driver Forgiving for High Handicappers?

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“The Callaway FTI features something that Callaway called Hyperbolic Face Technology.”

This was a bit gimmicky of Callaway at the time because all “Hyperbolic Face Technology” really means is variable face thickness. Despite the needlessly ornate nomenclature, HFC really helps with forgiveness.

What Callaway did was increase the thickness of the sweet spot by 2.5mm and thinned out the face in the perimeter sectors.

This puts more force behind the balls that you pure and saves ball speed when you make contact away from the sweet spot.

This is a major forgiveness feature in the Callaway FTI and our testers noted that it really helped with distance on less than perfect shots.

There is also more weight placed in the perimeter of the club head so that it resists twisting on errant shots.

The result for our testers was not only more distance on heel and toe shots; but straighter flight on those kinds of drives as well. In this sense, the Callaway FTI does a great job of correcting your slice.

Now it should be noted that the head of the Callaway FTI driver doesn’t have a very large footprint so at address, it may seem a bit intimidating.

But after a few swings our high handicap testers got the hang of it and loved the distance it produced.

Callaway FTI Vs Callaway Mavrik

“The Mavrik driver is much more predicated on improving ball speed.”

Everything from the FS2S titanium face to the Jailbreak bars of the Mavrik driver was designed to allow the face to flex to a high degree.

And flex it most certainly does. In fact, the Mavrik produced better ball speed than the Callaway FTI.

That didn’t always mean more distance though. The problem with the Mavrik was that it produced erratic ball flight, considerable side spin and sliced on mis-hits very easily. The Callaway FTI was more stable and consistent despite the lower ball speed.

Callaway FTI First Impressions

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“Just look at it and you will share our first impression.”

It’s square. The Callaway FTI has a square body which is sure to be the first thing that anyone notices about this driver.

Callaway FTI Selling Points

  • Hyperbolic Face Technology
  • Carbon composite body
  • Titanium face
  • Perimeter weighting
  • Deep CG
  • Tapered body

Callaway FTI Key Features

“The features of the Callaway FTI driver were, and still are innovative.”

Carbon Composite Body: A feature way ahead of its time, carbon composite is extremely light and strong.

Hyperbolic Face Technology: More mass is put behind the sweet spot for more power and the face is thinned out near the perimeters to save ball speed.

Tapered Body: The crown bleeds into the rear of the club head seamlessly and the fins reduce drag.

What Handicap is it for?

“It would be ideal for mid to high handicappers.”

The great thing about the Callaway FTI is that the lightweight design would be welcome by both high and mid handicap players.

Callaway FTI Driver Options

  • Aldila NVS 55 graphite shaft
  • Fujikura Speeder 586 graphite shaft
  • Callaway Fujikura 60g graphite shaft
  • 9.5 degree loft
  • 10 degree loft
  • 11 degree loft

Who Should Buy the Callaway FTI Driver?

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“If you are looking for a good combination of forgiveness and a driver that will help improve your swing speed, the Callaway FTI would be a winner.”

In reality, there are a lot of players who could benefit from the features of the Callaway FTI driver. But from our testing, we concluded that the players who would get the best use out of it were ones who struggle with striking accuracy and club head speed.

While it’s certainly not as forgiving as modern Callaway drivers, most mid and high handicappers will still love the performance of the Callaway FTI.

Distance: 97/100

Forgiveness: 96/100

Feel & Control: 94/100

Value: 97/100

Overall Score: 97/100

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