Callaway legitimately revolutionized irons when they first introduced the APEX lineup way back in 2014, the blending of forgiveness and all-out performance had never been done like that before. Not only that, but with each subsequent release the accolades have grown as has the amount of tech the company continues to pour into them.
What that has led to is an incredible amount of anticipation each time we edge closer to the unveil of the next iteration. Well, the Callaway Apex 21 lineup is coming, and it’s bringing a new friend with it.
The New Apex Family
Callaway has taken full advantage of the two-year lifecycle of the Apex lineup to not just bring forth two irons worthy of the family name, but they have brought a third to the party as well. Yes, a third.
This go-round the Apex and Apex Pro will be joined by their little-big brother, the DCB (deep cavity blade) which they believe makes their lineup reach more players than any other generation before it. But more on that very soon.
The Apex irons continue to be the crème de la crème of the Callaway iron umbrella, and with that it is no surprise that they continue to feature the best of all their iron technology developed over the years and rolled into each new version. This is after all the iron series that defined forged irons meeting true forgiveness and playability, literally blurring the lines of classification like never before.
This year the goal was to stretch the tech even more to hit an even broader player profile, while also in their minds not just retaining but increasing their hold as the “#1 Irons in Golf”. Performance and consistency of performance is the goal, and by implementing things like Flash Face Cup, Tungsten Energy Core, and Urethane Microspheres in all three irons, they definitely look poised to accomplish that.
Callaway Apex 21 Irons
It’s only right to start with the flagship iron, right? The Apex 21 is being hailed as a “21st Century Forging” by Callaway, and continues to be a shape and size that will fit the eye of a broad range of golfers. The shaping continues to let them put forgiveness into the iron, but without getting too big nor losing the shot-making potential that has endeared the line to so many over each release.
The goal was to further entrench the Apex as offering leading distance, launch, speed, feel, and most importantly consistency in all of those aspects. To do that they have implemented a “Big Three” of tech, if you will.
First, A.I. Flash Face Cup is here, and it is the first time that Callaway has implemented AI into a forged iron. It was a natural progression given the success A.I. has allowed them in the past couple of years, but it took a lot to implement it into these three sets of irons. This means more distance, but also with more forgiveness all while maintaining spin numbers better than previous iterations. It is also worth noting once again, each iron has a unique face design, both loft for loft as well as compared to the other two Apex sets.
Added to that is a “Massive” tungsten core with a unique split application system low in the iron with heel, toe, and center sections. The unique split placement allows for the increased MOI blended with a lower CG. In all, there is 5-times the Tungsten compared to the Apex 19 irons, ranging from 34g to 64g in the 3-9 while only 14 in the PW and AW to tune in the desired flight through the set. Rounding it out, the 1025 Carbon Steel with Urethane Microsphere technology that continues to be revolutionary compared to anything else on the market for performance and feel.
Callaway is claiming higher peak ball speed compared to the Apex 19, but more importantly the “sweet spot” is much larger and more centered as well as lower than previously which matches where most golfers tend to miss much better. The set will play off a 30.5° 7-iron and 43° PW, but Callaway notes that the A.I. design is allowing them to generate and retain more spin loft for loft than previously possible.
The Apex 21 will be available in 3-AW and paired with all new premium shafts in True Temper Elevate ETS 95’s (R, S) for steel and UST Mamiya Recoil Dart 75’s (L, R, S) for graphite. They are rounded out with Golf Pride Z-Grip Soft for the stock grip options.
Callaway Apex Pro 21 Irons
The Apex Pro irons have long thrived on being a unicorn of sorts, making a more players style iron impressively more playable for a wider range of golfers. Since they have been infinitely successful, Callaway did the only natural thing, they totally and completely redesigned them from the ground up. These are not like any Apex Pro before. Truly.
Welcome the Apex lineup to the age of the hollow body design.
The Pro’s are now a forged hollow body design that Callaway calls a player’s performance iron. For golfers from scratch to single digits who want performance mixed with forgiveness, this may be the ticket, fitting between the Apex 21 and the X-Forged CB.
Hollow is popular right now, but Callaway believes they have done it differently. They liked the hollow body design because it affords more stiffness in the rear of the club but allows a lot to be done internally with the application of the aforementioned A.I. Flash Face Cup, 1025 Carbon Steel with Urethane Microspheres, as well as a massiveamount of Tungsten.
The Flash Face cup is unique to this specific set as well as club for club within the set. When blended with the “Tungsten Energy Core” which has placed 53g to 90g in the 3-7 of the set you have an iron design primed for more speed, more forgiveness, and more spin consistency. Callaway also believes that thanks to the huge amount of Urethane Microspheres both low and higher in the club, and their ability to collapse and rebound without sacrificing energy transfer, they have produced a hollow body with feel like a one-piece forging. Now that is something that will perk up some ears.
The Apex Pro 21 will be available in 3-AW and the set plays off of a 33° 7-iron and 45° PW. Additionally, the premium stock shaft offerings are the all-new True Temper Elevate ETS 115 (R, S, X) in steel as well as the Mitsubishi MMT (R – 85, S – 95, TX – 105) in graphite and paired with the Golf Pride Z-Grip.
Callaway Apex DCB Irons
Rounding out the Callaway Apex 21 irons lineup, the new kid on the block, the Apex DCB.
DCB stands for “Deep Cavity Blade” and the name says it all, this is an even more forgiving forged iron that Callaway wanted to create in order to allow golfers who need a wider sole, longer blade length, and a bit more offset a way to still be part of the Apex family.
All of the above traits meet up with the A.I. Flash Face Cup, 1025 Carbon Steel with Urethane Microspheres, and Tungsten Energy Core just like the other two irons in the lineup, simply in a more forgiving and easier launching package. Though they feature a progressively large sole than the rest of the Apex offerings, they look a lot like the Apex 21’s and visually blend well enough to make a golfer happy when looking down at the clubs.
The Apex DCB will be available in 4-AW and playing off of a 30° 7-Iron and a 43° PW with the set being practically the same as the Apex 21 other than the long irons. Premium shaft offerings for the DCB are True Temper Elevate ETS 85 (R, S) as well as UST Mamiya Recoil Dart 65 (L, R, S) and finished with the Golf Pride Z-Grip Soft.
Combo Time!
Some of you were reading along and wondering, so this is for you…
YES, Callaway will be offering a combo sets for the Apex 21 lineup.
The main option will be the same we saw last time around blending the Apex 21 3-7 with Apex Pro 21 8-AW through the use of unique tooling in the Pro’s to make the set flow as seamlessly as possible. However, they are fully anticipating the possibility of other combo’s created by the consumer or during fittings with the “Apex Sweet Spot” having DCB 4-5 and Apex 21 6-AW, the “Apex Triple Play” with DCB 4-5, Apex 21 6-9, and Apex Pro 21 9-AW, as well as the “Apex Player” featuring Apex Pro 21 3-7 and Callaway Apex MB 8-AW.
The Details
The Callaway Apex 21 irons lineup will begin fitting on 1/28/21 and have a retail date of 2/11/21. Pricing will be $185 per club for steel and $200 per club in graphite.
Be sure to keep an eye on THP for a lot more to come on the entire Apex 21 lineup.
It is a nice Xforged CB iron. Did you also hit any Apex irons?
They didn’t have them in yet. Probably within the next few days. I’ll be back
I’ll talk about the Apex DCB first first as I only hit it a few times. It’s bigger with more noticeable offset. It’s easy to get the ball going left but to be fair I was able to hit it straight as well. It has the most draw bias built into it. The sound was a little techy but soft
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I spent a lot of time with the Apex Pro. (I should mention they only have the 7 iron head of each). They didn’t have the modus 105 stiff shaft which I know fits me but the guy who runs the shop recommended the new elevate 95 stiff flex shaft.
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The pro looks incredible behind the ball. When I caught it out of the center it had a soft feel with a light click. If you missed the center there was a louder techy thwack sound.
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Out of the center the ball flight was perfect. If you missed the center there was a drop-off in distance but the left to right dispersion was really good. This one flew very straight for me with a handful of balls that fell slightly to the right. It was a neutral to slightly fade biased head for my swing. I was able to easily draw the ball with it as well. I went into the shop with it thinking I could play the pros. I didn’t love the sound/feel from the mishits but it wasn’t terrible either.
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I then threw the standard Apex 7 iron head on the same shaft and that’s where the problem started. Behind the ball there’s slightly more offset but not terrible.
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I hit the ball and it went dead straight with a very pleasant and soft feel and sound. And I hit 8 straight balls like that. It just wanted to go straight. The balls were going consistently longer than the pros. The mishits still felt and sounded soft, though a but higher pitch, but retained more ball speed and seemed to go almost as far as the good hits. It could just be that I timed it better for some reason but I could not hit a bad ball with it. If I did get active with my hands it resulted in a nice draw. There were no big hooks but once again it could have been my swing. I even went aggressive with a couple swings and got a nice draw. If I held my hands off I could hit a slight fade. I expected it to have a bigger draw bias but I didn’t see it. It had a neutral to slight draw bias and was the more playable iron. The feel, sound, and performance are too much for me to ignore. I may still try out the shorter pro irons which don’t have the Tungsten but honestly if I get a set they will be apex all the way.
Up until now I haven’t found a shaft that performs as well as the nippon modus tour 105 stiff for me. I’ve tried steel and graphite yet nothing has taken its place. Tonight the pairing of the Apex with the Elevate 95 felt automatic. The feel and ball flight were really good but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. It was hitting range balls on a cold wet night. I was impressed enough though that I intend to put this head to head with the modus 105 in the Apex head on a launch monitor with the CSX ball to see which wins..
I had the opportunity to play the Apex 19s for only a couple rounds (they were my friends set). I remember liking them but my swing was in a much different place and I’ve played a couple different sets of irons since then so I’m not a good person to compare them. I could better compare them to the Cobra Forged Tec black irons if that would help anyone as I’ve played those for nearly 2 years.
Great notes and photos, thanks for posting!
The 95 Recoils that I play now in my ‘19 Apex Pros were going to be an extra $500 plus CAD$ so no brainer. Sold my Srixon Z565/765/965 combo set last night (sad moment) but have to make room and wasn’t playing them as the ‘19 Pros were so good. Once I receive the new Pro’s I’ll be moving the ‘19’s….have given up on having an extra set just gathering dust.
Very nice!
Great feedback! Not helping my willpower re a set of Apex 21s though!
Lol exactly.
I’m seriously jealous of you guys who have enough game for them. They are just so good looking.
If they’re anything like the previous iterations, you don’t need to be the recommended handicap to game them. I was a 20 when I got my combo set in 2013 and the Pros were the best part. I’m still terrible, and had a full set of 19 Pros i was able to pay just fine. Don’t sleep on them because you don’t think you’re good enough.
I’m glad I’m not the only one, I’m taking pictures and getting ready to sell my new haven’t even seen outside Mizuno jpx 921 forged set. As crazy as that is I can’t get these pro’s out of my head!
You should spend some time in my head. The Grandmama guys have been razzing me for 2 weeks now about how much I have been flip flopping. Straight pro’s? Apex/Apex pro combo? Straight Apex? Don’t buy at all? ( Ignore that last one….that was stupid ) I think I changed my mind 5 times yesterday alone. And I haven’t even hit them yet.
Did you test them in the Elevate X?
Is that you go-to steel shaft option?
Getting really excited to hit them with all the pictures and awesome @93civiccpe feedback, but start of the week is likely to be my busiest in quite a while so I’m trying not to think about it too much.
Probably best to just avoid this thread, really. But I won’t.
Funny…was thinking the same. The black text in the tungsten would get the first attention. Otherwise I’m ok with the rest.
Didn’t test them, this was a release article. Will hit them at the Showcase this next week though
If I, with a current HC somewhere north of 40, am considering the standards, maybe you, with your HC, might reasonably consider the Pros
Some (?) might think me off the reservation for considering the standards with my HC, but here’s my thinking: 1. I’m doing off-season work with True Motion which I expect will have my HC significantly lower by spring and, 2. My current irons, TaylorMade CB clones that are probably 20+ years old, work well for me when I do my part–at which I’m already increasingly able to do. So I’m thinking a modern iron with all that Callaway has built into these might just be fine for me.
FWIW I think it goes beyond handicap. Not all handicaps are built the same way. I have a substandard iron game. Maybe I could go with a blended set. Maybe. There isn’t much reasonable hope that a full set of Pros would be a smart move. Similarly, based off what I’ve seen from the ‘19 Apex line the ‘21 Regular Apex could easily be rock solid for you, even with the higher handicap, depending on your game. I’ve played a lot of different irons over the past decade. IMO the Apex line is very accessible to a wide range of players.
I switched to graphite after hitting the Mavrik’s based on a quick range session and a Callaway tent. The Mavrik’s just felt okay but not great when I got to the course. I don’t know if it was the stock graphite shaft or head or some of each and/or me but during the impromptu fitting I was hitting it about 20 yards farther and straight. I know stronger lofts but still I do like the graphite shafts in my irons. I am going on 58 years old and just don’t seem to get the distance in irons. Since I wasn’t able to enjoy the Mavrik’s, Callaway was gemerous and gave me store credit (gift cards) and at that time the rep told me that new irons were coming out so I was pretty excited to see if it was an iron that I would like. Looks like the Apex 21’s with take care of that and my gift cards!
I hope the local golf store is open during this covid deal and will have some to hit with graphite shafts sometime here soon! Not a huge hurry since it is winter but would still like the irons to get here so I can look at them every day til Spring! lol
And this is exactly what they had in mind. Make the pros more forgiving and easier to launch to broaden the range of players that can game them. Then come out with the DCB to give those that struggle with irons a forged option. Then make the standard apex fill the gap. And, after all that, make some combo sets to help some transitions between. They have pretty much everyone covered with this release.
Maybe I will get to hit them off grass next Sat. we will see if there is some magic to be found.
Of course. This was discussed a few posts back, also in response to one of my posts.
Fair enough, but ISTM it can’t be all that bad, your HC being what it is.
Look, being the inexperienced n00b I am, I’m arguably in no position to be making even SWAGs on what will suit even me, much less anybody else. All I’m saying is if they’re calling to you I wouldn’t necessarily count them out. I guess I’m just saying I’d try hitting them–with the expectation they’d work for me.
Heck, IIRC, there was somebody somewhere around here with a high HC that got fitted for forged player’s irons–much to his astonishment. Conversely: Somebody else who thought he should be swinging either a regular or stiff shaft and got fitted for senior. In both cases they realized improvement in their games. From these recountings I’ve learned never to make any assumptions
Okay, so color me crazy, but I didn’t get from any of the pictures I’d seen, just how white the Pro label is in real life. I wasn’t expecting bright white.
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Also wasn’t expecting a little taller heel.
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Sole shape seemed well represented and makes some sense with the design.
I hit more than I should have today. I was hoping not to like them, and they were everywhere I went. Could have swore I saw a hitting bay at Whole Foods..
I don’t like it.
Must hit again.
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Oh hell yes.
I think having the multiple sets is such a killer move to have available as a lot of folks like to create their own blends. A “triple play” is very intriguing and one I’m curious to see if many guys on here end up going with.
Oh yeah! Let’s go
bahahahah everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face (mike tyson bahahah) I feel like Callaway is the fist of reckoning for pretty much all of my golf purchases over the last 5 years. Each time I consider going in another direction, they release something that works really really well for me.
This really is an interesting option, pre-packaged and ready to go. I will certainly hit all three in the line with the triple in mind. ?
The backs of the standard and DCB are a bit busier than I’d like, but it wouldn’t be a show-stopper for me. More important to me is how they look at address. And, of course, how they perform.
And, heck, when they’re in the bag I can always put iron covers on ’em
1- my fitter expecting apex components in this week
2- THP showcase is going to be ???