2019 Callaway Apex Hybrid

mpeterson

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This thread will serve for reviews and discussion of the 2019 Callaway Apex Hybrids.

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Damn I love the profile of that. Looks nice small and compact. The colors are


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How large is it relative to the Rogue or new Big Bertha hybrids?
 
Think i found my new hybrid for 2019. Wow. Hopeful we can get some great comparisons from the original Apex to this one. And Jailbreak!
 
Apex hybrid – during my fitting I took about three swings with the Big Bertha hybrid and wasn’t enamored with the feel. Additionally, I like a smaller, iron-like head in my hybrids and the Apex hybrid felt good, looked good aesthetically and size-wise, and seemed to give me exactly the ball flight and distance I was looking for. I like the polished look of the crown as it blends in nicely with the Epic Flash woods. I discussed my current bag set up at length with my fitter, Jason, which was 4w, 5w, 4h, 5-AW. He suggested, and I concurred with him, that replacing the 5i with the 5h might be the way to go so that is what I did. Then jumping directly to the 5w would leave room at the bottom for an additional wedge.

On the course I have found this club easy to launch off the fairway and I am getting a nice high ball flight (no ballooning) that settles nicely on the green with minimal roll out. Distance is just a tad more than I would expect to get from the 5i in the new irons which is a good thing for gapping up into my 5w.

The only thing missing from the Apex hybrids is adjustability.
 
Original Apex hybrid was the first hybrid I really liked. Now with the introduction of jailbreak to the head, this is a must try.
 
Ooo man I just got my used Apex 20* hybo in the bag a few months ago and now they added jailbreak to it.. will have to heavily consider this club!

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That is the nice classic Apex shape that I loved, but now it has Jailbreak?!?! I’m a fan!!!
 
Anyone who was following along with the Grandaddy thread ahead of the event would have seen a bunch of posts from me talking about the importance of the hybrid in the bag for me. The hybrid in that 20 degree range is a club I reach for a lot during the round - it's the club I pull when I absolutely need to hit a tight fairway, and it's probably the club I hit for approaches into par 5s when I can get on in two. Prior to this event, I'd been playing the same hybrid since 2014, and nothing had come close to kicking it out of the bag. It's a club I clicked with immediately and have hit some memorable shots with. So, I'll admit there was a bit of apprehension about filling that spot in the bag going into the fitting.

Well, it turned out those fears were unfounded. I like the look of a slightly smaller hybrid at address, and the Apex felt "right" for me the second I put it down. I think it took one swing for me to put the Apex in the bag. I didn't have my greatest swing at the fitting, but when I grabbed the Apex 3h, my first swing was perfect content, straight down he middle. My apprehension had turned to excitement. One more swing with similar results and I settled on the 3h and the 4h to gap with my irons, and I was good to go. The stock Catalyst 70 shaft is a great pairing, in my opinion. Feels great through the swing, and I think even guys who take an aggressive swing at the ball will see good results.

What I saw in the fitting translated to the course - over the course of play I hit these clubs a bunch and was really happy with what I saw. On day one I hit a few shots that were just as crisp as could be, keeping us in holes that had started off a bit sideways. The profile gave me confidence off of some uneven lies, which is where I haven't really liked larger, wood-like hybrids in the past. On day two I took the hybrid off the tee a bunch - my swing wasn't great, and I was thinning everything. Well, I learned quickly that jailbreak works well in this head. I was living practically below the bottom groove a few times and I was in the fairway in position to par the hole or better.

The club that kept coming back to my bag for nearly 4 years is now sitting in the office, and this is the first time I don't see it coming out of there anytime soon. And I couldn't be more excited. I'll continue to update with some more hard numbers as I get on the monitor during lessons and winter practice, but in the meantime I'm excited to answer any questions you guys have.
 
Hit this a couple of times one at a Demo day and one on course.

Fantastic, paired with the PX catalyst shaft, the hybrid is a beast - nice mid flight, great turf interaction and super smooth feel, weight feels great in the loading zone and just feels easy but powerful exploding through contact.

Head looks fantastic at address not too compact and not too big very comforting feel.
 
anyone who was following along with the grandaddy thread ahead of the event would have seen a bunch of posts from me talking about the importance of the hybrid in the bag for me. The hybrid in that 20 degree range is a club i reach for a lot during the round - it's the club i pull when i absolutely need to hit a tight fairway, and it's probably the club i hit for approaches into par 5s when i can get on in two. Prior to this event, i'd been playing the same hybrid since 2014, and nothing had come close to kicking it out of the bag. It's a club i clicked with immediately and have hit some memorable shots with. So, i'll admit there was a bit of apprehension about filling that spot in the bag going into the fitting.

Well, it turned out those fears were unfounded. I like the look of a slightly smaller hybrid at address, and the apex felt "right" for me the second i put it down. I think it took one swing for me to put the apex in the bag. I didn't have my greatest swing at the fitting, but when i grabbed the apex 3h, my first swing was perfect content, straight down he middle. My apprehension had turned to excitement. One more swing with similar results and i settled on the 3h and the 4h to gap with my irons, and i was good to go. The stock catalyst 70 shaft is a great pairing, in my opinion. Feels great through the swing, and i think even guys who take an aggressive swing at the ball will see good results.

What i saw in the fitting translated to the course - over the course of play i hit these clubs a bunch and was really happy with what i saw. On day one i hit a few shots that were just as crisp as could be, keeping us in holes that had started off a bit sideways. The profile gave me confidence off of some uneven lies, which is where i haven't really liked larger, wood-like hybrids in the past. On day two i took the hybrid off the tee a bunch - my swing wasn't great, and i was thinning everything. Well, i learned quickly that jailbreak works well in this head. I was living practically below the bottom groove a few times and i was in the fairway in position to par the hole or better.

the club that kept coming back to my bag for nearly 4 years is now sitting in the office, and this is the first time i don't see it coming out of there anytime soon. And i couldn't be more excited. I'll continue to update with some more hard numbers as i get on the monitor during lessons and winter practice, but in the meantime i'm excited to answer any questions you guys have.

speaks volumes
 
This thread will serve for reviews and discussion of the 2019 Callaway Apex Hybrids.

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b67ee06546b53d87f5f64624b1bc84e7.jpg
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Would love to test this puppy.... we be following along!!!!


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my heart just skipped a beat. I love the Apex hybrid. Add in the Jailbreak tech.........swoon.
 
Oh hello Apex with Jailbreak. I’m liking this
 
How large is it relative to the Rogue or new Big Bertha hybrids?

Smaller than both.


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2019 Callaway Apex Hybrid

This past year I finally put a hybrid back into my bag, replacing my 4i. I was having issues with hooking all the time and figured out the proper placement of the ball to use that club. It worked out that it was my 195-205 club the majority of the time. The loft was 25*, but also with a shaft that wasn’t fit for me (yet another hand me down from my dad many years ago), but I hit it very well in 2018, so I was excited to see if I got fit into the Big Bertha Hybrid, or the new 2019 Apex Hybrid.

I was fit into the irons right before a hybrid so we first started with matching the hybrid to the iron set if the numbers worked out. I was needing a gap in the 205-220 range due to my 5i going nearly a club longer (more to come on that). Jason gave me a 23* and the first few shots felt like rockets were launched. Managed to get my 3rd shot out there 215 carry with 230 total, BINGO!! Gap filled!!

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Adding the Jailbreak technology into the Apex hybrid gave me more forgiveness and also hits that didn’t feel center still allowed the ball to flight farther than I expected. This is something I have noticed with other clubs that utilized Jailbreak in them. The club profile is smaller than I’m used to, bur not necessarily a bad thing. Would have preferred a Chevron alignment aid but it wouldn’t be a deal breaker if I was in the market for one. Pairing this with the Catalyst shaft in stiff flex adds more weight than my prior club, which helps me keep my swing more stable. I can sometimes try to overswing and this extra weight helps stop me from “forcing” a shot.

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This club also has a special place in my heart, as it was the first club I swung during official Grandaddy competition. Played the 17th on Dye as my first hole, about 215 yard par 3 with water all along the left! Perfect, it my hybrid distance, and I have a tendency to hook hybrids. Wouldn’t you know I hit the best hybrid shot all year with the smallest draw right to the center of the green. Even got the Zoo Crew joking about my cap!

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There are a lot of holes at the course I frequent the most locally that call for a 225ish shot, which used to be a 5w for me. Now that the Apex hybrid is pretty close to that yardage, I feel like this might be a go to club more frequency than in the past. I’m excited to see how the extra yard out of a hybrid will help my game.

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This might be the callaway club I’m most excited about this year.


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Definitely looks bigger than the last iteration, anyone have an OG apex they can take a side by side of?
 
Smaller than both.
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Agreed.

Definitely looks bigger than the last iteration, anyone have an OG apex they can take a side by side of?
It is ever so slightly taller and deeper than my Hogan VKTR, which was very similar (IIRC) to my original Apex hybrid.
 
Definitely looks bigger than the last iteration, anyone have an OG apex they can take a side by side of?

I would say it’s a streamlined version of the OG apex. Better contours and framing of the ball and the all ball is


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Definitely beefier than the previous version, will have to give it a try to see if I like it as much as the OG
 
2019 Callaway Apex Hybrid

Apex is Noticeably smaller and more of a traditional hybrid shape compared to the bertha. To me Bertha looked like a small fairway wood.
@Tenputt
 
Definitely looks bigger than the last iteration, anyone have an OG apex they can take a side by side of?

that's what i was thinking too... maybe just the glossy paint?
 
2019 Callaway Apex Hybrid

Callaway 2019 Apex Hybrid Initial Thoughts / Review / Feedback

Introduction

A little bit about my golfing self before diving into the hybrids. I am currently around an 11-12 handicap. I'd consider myself an average ball striker who struggles to hit lower lofted irons like 4i and 3i, so hybrids definitely appeal to me. I swing my driver around 95-98 mph and my 7i around 82-83mph according to my most recent fitting at the ECPC. Before gaming the new 2019 Apex 3h and 4h (which I was extremely fortunate to receive at The Grandaddy brought to us by the incredible folks at Callaway and THP), I had been playing the previous Apex 3h and 4h for about 2 years. During that time, I played both hybrids paired with the Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 hybrid shaft in stiff flex. My good misses with the previous Apex hybrids are typically straight pushes. Over time, I liked these clubs more and more, and my confidence with them peaked a couple months ago. Like many other Apex users, I really like the smaller profile (compared to many other hybrids) and matte black finish along with the performance and sound, so it was exciting to think Callaway may have improved upon the design.

Technology & Looks

I remember seeing a leaked photo of the new Apex with Jailbreak and being really excited to learn more about it. It was surprising at first that Callaway squeezed Jailbreak in such a small footprint, but I think they did have to increase the size of the Apex a little to make it work. This size increase could have actually been for other reasons too, and it's worth noting that the slightly bigger footprint is more noticeable at least to me when you compare the old and new soles than when comparing the top lines. As a matter of fact, I thought they were the same size until I started taking side-by-side photos for this review (photos at bottom of thread).

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You'll have to look elsewhere (such as the new Big Bertha hybrids) if you want adjustability, but that doesn't bother me at all. I doubt I'd ever adjust mine after a fitting anyway.

Overall, these are great looking hybrids. While I would love to see a matte version, I have no doubt I'll get used to these beauties rather quickly.

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Performance & Forgiveness

My fitting concluded with me having the same setup as my previous bag, and for hybrids that meant a 3h and a 4h. The shafts I was fit into are the Project X Catalyst 70 in stiff flex. Unfortunately, I don't have my numbers from the fitting, but I know the 3h was hitting a good distance for me to gap well under my 3 wood. I haven't confirmed on a monitor, but based on what I've seen so far, I'll be playing the 3h as my 205-210 yard club (carry) and my 4h as my 195-200 yard club (carry). If these distances hold true for me, they'll be around 5 or so yards longer than the previous Apex hybrids.

Based on my experience so far, I believe golfers will be happy with the level of forgiveness these hybrids provide in such a small profile.

More feedback on the performance and forgiveness to come as I get more rounds and range time (and hopefully some launch monitor time) in.

Feel / Sound / Feedback

Unfortunately, I feel like I haven't paid adequate enough attention to the feel and sound of these hybrids to report much yet, but I can say I haven't noticed anything annoying or harsh about them. I'll make sure I pay closer attention and report back soon.

Durability

I've only seen normal wear and tear with the 3h and 4h during my initial testing. Initial product quality seems to be solid.

Previous Apex hybrid compared to 2019 Apex hybrid

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Definitely looks bigger than the last iteration, anyone have an OG apex they can take a side by side of?

Just edited my post and added them above.
 
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