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This is a comprehensive review of the Callaway Elyte fairway wood.
The Elyte introduces several new technologies including an Ai10x face, Step Sole and Tungsten Speed Wave, all of which are designed to deliver the most forgiveness and distance of any Callaway fairway wood. The club is also engineered to produce smoother, more effortless turf interaction than ever.
How does the Elyte fairway wood wood actually perform? How does it compare to other models? Who is it best suited for? Is it worth putting in the bag?
Here’s what will be covered in the review:
Read on to learn what you need to know to make an informed purchase.
Note: Unless otherwise indicated, stock shafts and stock grips are used when evaluating clubs and the 3W is evaluated in the case of fairway woods. In most cases, the golf clubs reviewed on Golfstead are acquired temporarily for testing purposes and are not purchased. The review that follows is based on the personal experience and research of the author. Because everyone’s swing and body are different, results with a particular club may differ from person to person.
What are the reviews like?
The Elyte fairway wood won a gold medal on the Golf Digest 2025 Hot List and enjoys wide praise from critics and consumers, with a 5/5 (100% recommended) rating on the official Callaway store.
What People Like
- amazing turf interaction
- launches high and flies straight
- super long
- forgiving
- balanced feel
What People Don’t Like
- the look doesn’t suit some people’s tastes
The Features
The Elyte is the balanced model in the Elyte family of fairway woods, designed to deliver a blend of distance and forgiveness with low spin, high launch, and a neutral ball flight.
Tungsten Speed Wave
The Tungsten Speed Wave is a special 35g weight suspended in the head of the 3-7 woods that has an innovative bridge-like shape.
The effect of it is to shift the CG low and forward for high ball speeds, high launch and low spin. In addition, it improves performance low on the face, which is a common mis-hit area for most players.
Step Sole
The sole of the Elyte fairway wood follows a unique “step” pattern where the middle and back portion drops off from the front of the sole.
This sole design, developed based on extensive studies and input from Tour players, is designed to minimize contact with the ground at impact. In fact, it makes 57% less turf contact than a traditional sole design, resulting in cleaner, smoother turf interaction with minimal drag, minimal skidding, and more consistent, solid strikes.
Ai10x Face
This new face technology is the most advanced of any of Callaway’s previous AI faces. It delivers ten times more control points than the Ai Smart Face of the previous generation, further enhancing performance across the face — higher ball speeds, tighter dispersions, and better optimized spin and launch.
This face tech works with a C300 Face Cup, a wraparound cup face made of C300 maraging steel, to enhance speed and spin consistency across the face.
Stock Info
The Elyte fairway wood is available in 3W, 3 HL, 5W, Heavenwood, 7W, 9W, and 11W at lofts 15°, 16.5°, 18°, 20°, 21°, 24°, and 27°, respectively.
An included Optifit hosel in the 3W and 3 HL allows you to adjust loft and lie. The loft settings are -1, +1, 0 and +2 (a range of 3°). The lie settings are N (neutral) and D (draw), giving a total of 8 possible configurations.
The stock graphite shafts are the Mitsubishi VANQUISH PL 40 & 50 and Project X Denali Charcoal 50 & 60. The stock grip is the Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360. Custom shafts are available.
If you’re interested, full information on the fairway wood, shafts, grips and their specs can be found here.
Below are the specs of the Elyte fairway wood. Click or zoom to enlarge.
The Performance
In the sections that follow, I’ll talk about my experience with the Elyte fairway wood and I’ll compare it to the TaylorMade Qi35 which I just tested recently and is still fresh in my mind.
Distance
Based on my field test, the Elyte appears to produce about the same ball speeds as the Qi35 Max. However, spin is a good deal lower by at least 300 RPMs on average.
In my case, I was seeing a modest carry distance advantage of around 4-6 yards, but your distance results may vary.
All things considered, the Elyte certainly puts out a ton of distance and is competitive with the latest models of other reputable OEMs.
Forgiveness
I found the Elyte fairway wood to be a little more forgiving than the Qi35 (slightly above average in absolute terms) based on my testing.
Retention of ball speed on mis-hits is solid, but not as good as it is with the Elyte X. Stability through the impact zone and dispersions are also good.
Particularly impressive is the mis-hit performance on thin shots where the ball makes contact low on the face. Many shots I purposely struck in this area had trajectory and speed that rivalled or surpassed minor mis-hits to the left and right of the sweet spot.
Playability/Trajectory
The Elyte fairway wood tends to produce low spin. While Callaway classifies the launch as being mid-high, I found it to be pretty high in my experience. The flight bias is more or less neutral.
I found it easy to get the ball airborne in practically any situation, and I imagine most high handicappers would have little trouble with launch.
The club is extremely playable off the deck, and moreover, the adjustable hosel can be used to change the loft and flight bias of the club. Workability is good.
The Look
Keeping with the theme of the Elyte drivers, the Elyte fairway wood distinguishes itself with green accents surrounded by various monochrome shades. The sole aesthetic has good contrast with a cohesive colour scheme and logoing that pops.
The two-tone matte Thermoforged Carbon Crown looks very attractive at address, and as with Callaway’s previous generations, there’s a chevron on the top line to help with alignment and inspire confidence at address.
The footprint of the Elyte is certainly not excessively large and the shape is quite symmetrical. The fairway wood is considerably smaller than the TaylorMade Qi35, and the face is on the shallow side which enables versatility and great playability off the deck.
The Sound & Feel
The Elyte fairway wood feels crisp with an ideal blend of solidness, power and responsiveness at impact. The sound is a somewhat muted “clink” that is medium in loudness and pitch. There is great compression off the face.
More than anything, the overall feel/sound experience is well-balanced, although it’s not as consistent across the face as other models.
Mis-hits sound noticeably more metallic than center strikes and don’t feel as solid, which gives you good feedback as to when your ballstriking is off and how you can address it. Thus, feedback is informative, but it’s also not overly punishing through the hands.
Then, of course, there’s the turf interaction. The new Step Sole really does make a significant difference, resulting in smoother and more effortless movement through the impact zone. The reduced drag really comes in handy when hitting out of the rough and first cut.
Where To Buy This Fairway Wood Online
The natural place to go to order an Elyte fairway wood with custom specifications (loft, length, shaft, grip, etc.) is this page on the Callaway store.
If you want to save some money, you can find discounts on eBay.
Optionally look at what’s available on PGA TOUR Superstore, Global Golf or Amazon. The first two vendors may offer club trade-ins, performance guarantees, and/or financing plans to help you minimize the financial hit.
Final Thoughts
The Callaway Elyte fairway wood launches high and flies far with impressively low spin considering it’s the standard model in the Elyte family.
The club is also forgiving, playable, and has the best turf interaction of any fairway metal I’ve tested this season. Plus, the feel is nicely balanced, and the look should appeal to a wide range of golfers.
I recommend the Elyte for single-digit or teen handicappers who are looking for well-rounded performance and versatility.
Are you interested in the Elyte fairway wood? Have you played it? What’s your experience? Tell us about it in the comments below.
