It will come as no surprise that on release day of Callaway’s new Apex Pro Series lineup, the irons will garner the foremost share of focus and attention, but for some of us, the inclusion of a brand new Apex UW could turn that on its ear. You see, if you have read along on THP at any given time over the past almost two years then you know, the Apex UW has achieved cult status and then some.
However, the club went much further than being praised by amateur golfers. It continues to be in the bag of many Callaway Tour players, and some not on staff too. The decision to follow it up with a new version is both welcomed and met with some trepidation, as this is a tough act to follow. However, isn’t that always the story for Callaway and the Apex lineup? They release absolute performance driven designs, get questioned on how they could possibly improve them, and then prove the doubters wrong.
Is the new Callaway Apex UW going to continue that trend? Let’s dive into what we know so far.
2024 Callaway Apex UW
When it was originally released, the Apex UW was a bit of a unicorn, it was driven by some then staff players merging all the good traits of hybrids and fairway woods into one bridge-like design. Well, it achieved that and then some by offering shocking speed at a controllable length in a head that remained versatile and extremely neutral biased. So, it should be no surprise that they aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel with the ’24 version.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if we would ever see a follow up to the UW. Sure, it has had Tour success and been in many winning bags, but it was at the time a bit of a niche club. Since then, there has been a movement on Tour away from hybrids, and that has opened the door for the multi-purpose UW to walk through.
This time, Callaway looked to staff phenoms Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm for a lot of feedback in order to create the newest Apex UW. That message was to try and make it even more multi-purpose than before. So, while externally the shape and size profile is very similar at address, there are some notable additions inside and out.
For the inside, we now see Jailbreak with Batwing tech make its way to the 2024 Callaway Apex UW along with the C300 A.I. Face Cup to make for more speed potential as well as retention on all strikes to keep the speed potential the first version, and then some. The CG remains very neutral for those who want nothing to do with draw bias in this type of club, here it remains neutral to fade which will make many happy. On the outside, there is a new application of Callaway’s Cutwave sole form Paradym which they claim will make the UW more versatile from all lies than the first version.
The Details
Where some golfers might come away wanting a bit will be when finding out that Callaway is not currently planning on expanding the loft options as the Apex UW ’24 will keep the same 17, 19, and 21 degree options (17/19 available in LH). The standard shaft will be Mitsubishi Chemical MMT in 70 or 80 paired with Golf Pride Z-Grip Firm. The price point is $299.99 with pre-sale on 8/18/23 and hitting retail on 9/8/23.
