Callaway's Elyte Triple Diamond Max driver, Elyte mini driver: What you need to know

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Until recently, you needed a tour card to access Callaway's Triple Diamond Max driver. Thanks to consumer demand, the Elyte Triple Diamond Max — along with the Triple Diamond Tour Draw — are bound for retail shelves.

The latest release also includes Callaway's Elyte mini driver for golfers who need a more forgiving secondary option off the tee.

PRICE: Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond Max driver ($650; 9 and 10.5 degrees). Elyte Triple Diamond Tour Draw driver ($650; 9 and 10.5 degrees). Elyte mini driver ($450; 11.5 and 13.5 degrees). Available at retail on April 4.

3 Cool Things

1. Spin to win. There's a belief you need to spin the ball at 2,000 RPMs to unlock game-changing distance with the driver. For pros, living around that number can spell disaster, particularly on a miss.

It's better to live around 2,500 RPMs and have the ability to work the ball. In some cases, Callaway's Triple Diamond head didn't offer enough spin to make it a viable option for tour pros, so the R&D department went to work coming up with a solution.

Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max was quietly released on tour, but it didn't take Callaway's tour department long to notice a promising trend.

"On the dashboard, we could see this gradual upward trend in usage," said Jacob Davidson, Callaway vice president of tour operations. "Before we knew it, [Triple Diamond Max] was our most played driver on tour."

The latest Elyte Triple Diamond Max follows a similar recipe: the compact shape screams Triple Diamond, but the forgiveness is more in line with the core head.

Golfers will notice an uptick in forgiveness on mishits, along with a slight bump in spin compared to Triple Diamond. The head shape, however, remains identical to the Triple Diamond.

2. Driver DNA. At 340cc's, the Elyte mini driver has a generous profile that should appeal to those who want something more closely resembling a driver than a 3-wood.

Beyond the head size, Elyte mini offers an abundance of driver-esque adjustability in the form of three ports along the perimeter. The fade, neutral and draw ports accept a single weight that can dial in shot shape. (It's an identical weight setup to what's currently on the standard Elyte driver head.)

The same Ai10x face and thermoforged carbon crown on the Elyte drivers can be found on the mini as well.

3. Tour draw. For better players who'd prefer to hit a draw instead of a fade, Elyte Triple Diamond Tour Draw offers something unique — a compact Triple Diamond head shape with the internal weighting of a draw-biased model.

More weight is positioned heel-ward to help turn the ball over. According to Callaway tour reps, pros at slower swing speeds were struggling to execute a draw shape with the Triple Diamond, which led to the creation of a specialized version that retained the same profile but made it possible to hit a draw on command.