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.
Something something something about “lazied your way out of” some beautiful shots
Damn, I thought toe shots were insanely forgiving (for the profile) last season! Your expectations are probably slightly more demanding than mine though which is why these reviews are cool!
Yours are backwards and flipped!
I’m really happy with the performance of the Apex pros. I love the height I’m getting out of them and the distance and forgiveness is there.
What’s that app you’re using?
That’s the Shot Scope app. I use the V3 watch with shot tracking.
Glad to hear.
You swing well enough for those! I’ve found the regular Apex irons to be my favorite. I just want that forgiveness on my mishits.
When I put my 5-6 Pros back in the bag, it was jarring how different they feel. And not in a bad way at all for anyone wondering. The Pros still feel incredible, but the TCBs are just butter all around
Exactly. Not bad, just….different. My TCB 4i at 22 deg performances remarkably similar to my Apex Pro 4i at 23 deg with the exception of spin and height. TCB spins a bit more but flights lower. Just a different contact feel.
Lol at the thought of me hitting either of those 4i. That’s what my UT is for ?
I’ve been working with an instructor the last couple months. Swing changes were rough at first but have paid off iron contact is much more center and less toe. Seeing a high little draw instead of a slight fade.
With the height and distance you get out of your Apex I wouldn’t change anything. That descent angle should hold any green.
Congrats on the set!
You guys are making my want to take mine out!!
Nice! Super jealous! Can’t wait to hear how they work for you.
Hot damn. I have a set of these and pictures of others having them also just makes me happy. They are SOOOOOOOOO good, you’re going to love them
Why would you regret it?
You’re currently playing King Tours right? Why would you regret it?
They will be replaced at years end. Not much different than what I have.
Either way – pretty happy I went with the DCB’s. There was some regret early because the Rogue ST Max went really really far when I hit, but it almost seemed like too much. DCB’s check every box so far.
Looking forward to the latter part of the year when the kids activities die down and I do some range work with these. I think it’ll make a world of difference.
I got to California in December and was ready to hit the new hotness. I was coming from Apex Pros from 21 so my ball striking is decent even though the Pros are some of the most forgiving players distance irons I’ve ever hit. Now I say they are forgiving because I still use a whole lot of the face even though I am able to find the center relatively regularly too. I knew I needed that forgiveness but we are at ECPC and they actually had a fitting set of TCBs for lefties. I thought why not, I’m only here once, might as wells see how I can hit them. Turns out I hit them good enough to have Gerritt tell me that they would work for me. And that’s with a swing that was FAR from dialed. I was on cloud 9 hearing that. I knew I could hit them. Now it came down to hitting them well
Fast forward about three months in to our season and all I can say is I’m thankful I had a decent enough swing to be fit in to these that day.
I’ve mentioned it before but I’ll mention it again. These are relatively demanding irons. Yes, they still have forgiveness. They will keep the line but the distance suffers. I’m not mad about that at all though because what I lose in distance forgiveness, I gain in distance control on normal strikes. I know EXACTLY how far these go on good shots and can trust that distance 100% of the time. GIR percentage with even decent lies with these hover around 70%. That’s unreal and it comes from knowing my distance and trusting it. I’ve never been more comfortable with a 7-PW
Notice I didn’t say 5i or 6i. And that’s because of me. The whole set is demanding. I just struggle with long irons. Always have. My Nike Vapor Flys, my Cobra Forged Tec, my Apex Pros and the TCBs. It’s been something I’ve been working really hard on and it a bit of a mental block. Slowly but surely I’m getting out of that though. For a short time I put my Pro 5-6 in the bag and still struggled. TCBs are again back in the bag and I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with a bit of range work I’ve been doing.
Last thing I will say, and I think I’ve made a mention of it every time I post. The feel of these are unmatched. Any iron I end up hitting in the future will have a lot to live up to with these butter soft clubs.
Love to hear this man! I LOVE my Pros but TCBs are that freaking good that I can second that you won’t hit them again ? TCBs are addicting. Especially when you’re ON with them!
@xThor should be able to help you a bit with shaft options they have available! Also you could just swap shafts from your 16s to the 21s. Not sure if 16 pros were taper tip or not but they could be shimmed
Big thing I am liking right now is distances feel so predictable.
The PX IO would likely be what you want, specs may be different but it’ll be closest in characteristic feel.
it is readily in stock In reg and stiff, x will be ready by this weekend.
I’m a big proponent of going AW with the set due to the tech package and loft, with that being more of a full swing club nowadays.
That’s my guy!!
yw. I’ve fit several people in the apex that are the same way. Lots of 5 or 6 to AW. I myself dropped the 4iron
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You were hitting them very well. Now give me some of your peak height kthanksbye.
Got to the course today to find out they were punching, AGAIN. Something about the drought and getting the greens to hold moisture. Well, plans right out the window I realized I had the TCBs in my truck so I decided to throw them on and hit some comparison shots. I mostly forgot early on because I was Jaws Raw’ing and having a good time.
Had an uphill approach on 8, below my feet, and decided to hit both. It’s a tough approach. Hardest hole on the course imo.
Hit my 221 9i, fine, good. Hit the TCB 9i and was a tad more left but good again, felt good, and it looked like it carried a bit longer but can’t see them from there.
Here’s the shot.
And then get up there and
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and it kind of freaked me out how far it flew and I didn’t hit them again because of that until I was almost done. The other one, my actual ball, was a 170 carry that backed up about a foot, playing a good bit up hill. So the TCB was about half a club longer. . Like i said it freaked me out and I spent a while telling myself they were too hot right now.
Yeah, they’re just different lofts right now. Freaking idiot. So then I regretted not hitting any more and took them to the range after and made more sweet music with them. It was an enjoyable experience. . Going to have to take them out again soon
#ExtraSpecialDay
Looked down at the comparisons of the irons last night (should have taken a pic) but it was pretty interesting that the topline looks essentially the same to me. It’s the blade length that was surprising. They are compact but it’s still pretty noticeable how much longer the Pros are. Was quite confidence inspiring and after the weekend I just had, that’s very welcome right now!
So I need to talk about the Pro 7i for a second (this applies to the entire set of Pros though). I’ve spoken about how the TCBs are demanding yet forgiving. Super true. You don’t hit the center, you’re not going to fly off line but you’re going to lose distance. Well with my first shot (since I’ve had my TCBs) with the Pro 7i last night was something else.
Was struggling finding my iron swing last weekend so I didn’t have a ton of confidence last night. Pull up to a par 3 that has had my number this year. I had about 185 which should be my 7i plus some roll if I hit it well. Well I hit what I thought was a garbage shot, saw the line it was going on, which was just left of the pin, but didn’t keep watching since it felt awful. Put my club away while the ball was in flight and didn’t see it land.
Everyone else hits and we start our walk up to the green. There is a collection area short and left of the green that I’ve been at home in this year with a plethora of poor shots. I figured I’d be there but when I got up, no ball to be seen. My partner says your left of the green pin high. No way…sure enough there I am, pin high in the left rough. I honestly couldn’t believe it. The forgiveness and distance retention on the Pros is absolutely unreal and something I was singing it’s praises on last season.
I love my TCBs. I love that they are demanding. But if my swing is as bad as it was last weekend, it can get pretty punishing. Having a little bit more forgiveness in the bag in the 5-7 irons for a month or so is going to be something I think I’m going to very much enjoy!
Looks like I only missed 2 greens (didn’t realize that), which is pretty crazy for that course, especially in today’s condtions. Big 5i into the par 5 first and just rolling from there. Course is only 6500y but the layout varies so it’s not all wedges in for me. And there’s 5 par 3’s, which I played even with the TCBs. Those were the 2 I missed. Had a crosswind with a little help into a 160 pin on #7 so I hit a PW.. and somehow carried the entire green and marked it at 187 yards. Yeah. That happened. And the other one was a par 3 uphill and I was between clubs. Totally on me. Lost confidence in the partial and pulled it a few feet into the left rough. Par’d them both though thanks to some real slick Jaws Raw work and good putting.
I’m a little faster than when I played them regularly, even being a little banged up right now, and it was interesting. Good feel off the face. Definitely different than the blades I’ve been playing all summer. Soft but modern. I can hear them still when I hit them and when I catch a broadcast. Very distinct sound. Look great over the ball.
Actually. I’m gonna upload that ridiculous wedge shot, because the acoustics are TURRIBLE on that tee, which means good for hearing differences, and might be able to on that one.
Hm. Sounds pretty good. Just a little sharper than I’m used to lately. Call it crisp.
and again with an 8i into a 184 pin later, same direction
You can hear it’s a cool sound. Modern CB, little different pitch. Good. And both little draws held their lines great in that cross breeze and left me great birdie looks. I happened to miss both of those, but the irons were on their game all day.
I love the sound of them…so much
It’s always blown my mind how specific it is to them. I think I played them .. not very many rounds, and it was like instant recognition with them after that. *Hear shot on TV*. That was a TCB!Who was that?Rahm?Leishman? . Drove my wife mad. And they’re just really good. Tough duty out there in the breeze and those greens are intense, and they did great. Rhambo combo in full effect!
Love hearing you found something that works. Darts are a really solid shaft for so many I get the feeling.
Which flex did you go with in the Darts?
I play stiff in Driver, 3 wood, U Wood and hybrids. But regular in irons. It just seems to really work for me. They are super stable and im having no problem with the weight or flex . I got a 7 iron to try at my course before i got the set. I knew from the demo it was a good fit but it just keeps getting better.
My iron game was trash when I did my fitting when these came out. Really liked the look of the Pros, but didn’t get along with them much. Curious how that’d go now.
I’ve said it before, the forgiveness is shocking based on the compact appearance of the club. I’m a very inconsistent 9-10 handicap and the Pros just flat out perform for me. I tried X-Forged and TCB’s, but they were too demanding. The Pros really are fantastic!