2019 Callaway Apex Hybrid

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I have really enjoyed the limited amount of time I have had the the Apex hybrids so far. I currently am bagging a 2H in 18* and a 4H in 23* with Catalyst shafts. I did not see a big enough difference in distance between the 3 and the 4 so for optimal gapping my fitter decided to go 2 and 4. I don’t have any solid numbers to speak of but these are a little longer then my previous hybrid and iron replacement. I would not say these are pure distance machines like the berthas. These hybrids are much more of a players hybrid in my opinion.
 
It looks really good. I'll hit this one for sure considering how much I enjoyed the first version. I need something to replace my 3W and I'm stuck between a 2H and adjustable 5W.
 
I was fit into a Apex 5h as a 5i replacement. I like it so much I may either replace it with a 4h or take out one of my wedges to add a 4h just for gapping purposes leading into my 5w as I am getting so much more distance with that than my old 5w.
 
This thread will serve for reviews and discussion of the 2019 Callaway Apex Hybrids.

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I’m headed to EPC and will save judgement for when I have in hand. But based these pics I have to say I am EXCITED!! I love me some hybrid like a fat kid loves cake.
 
I’m headed to EPC and will save judgement for when I have in hand. But based these pics I have to say I am EXCITED!! I love me some hybrid like a fat kid loves cake.

Really looking forward to your thoughts. I feel the same way about hybrids, and this one is as good as any I'd put in play in my short time with it.
 
Thank you! Not as big of a size increase as I thought. This is good news!

Yup, agreed!


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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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any issues holding greens when hitting the hybrid? Are you typically a low spin player? Did the fitter say anything about the spin on the hybo? Off the top of my head I would think "normal" would be in the 5500ish range
 
I've been holding off getting a new hybrid waiting for this release. Looks like that was a good call. I'm mentally starting to build my bag and the Apex 4hybrid will have a spot.
 
I've been holding off getting a new hybrid waiting for this release. Looks like that was a good call. I'm mentally starting to build my bag and the Apex 4hybrid will have a spot.

It's definitely worth considering and testing!
 
@shanewu the og apex comparison pics are much appreciated. i get why they went with a gloss finish to blend with the flash fairways, but personally i would have preferred matte to maybe trick us visually and give an overall impression of a smaller profile. the pics so far make these look a little bigger than i was hoping, but not so big they're off the table. i definitely want to test these.
 
@shanewu the og apex comparison pics are much appreciated. i get why they went with a gloss finish to blend with the flash fairways, but personally i would have preferred matte to maybe trick us visually and give an overall impression of a smaller profile. the pics so far make these look a little bigger than i was hoping, but not so big they're off the table. i definitely want to test these.

Glad I’m not the only one! LOL

It’s definitely worth checking out in store when they are available to see what you think of the top line in person.


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any issues holding greens when hitting the hybrid? Are you typically a low spin player? Did the fitter say anything about the spin on the hybo? Off the top of my head I would think "normal" would be in the 5500ish range

I can only recall using the hybrid that one time into a green, and with the green sloped upwards it's hard to tell if the ball would have kept rolling on a flatter green, so I can't say for certain it would or wouldn't have held. Honestly don't know if I am a low spinning player as I am not too familiar with my spin stats, and don't remember if my fitter went over the spin on this club. Others that know more about their game may be able to chime in on the spinning of the hybrid. Sorry that's not really answering any of your questions.
 
I wanted to add that I'm seeing the lower, piercing trajectory like I saw from the original Apex. Feel off the face is dense power, which I love. I was fit into these clubs to be gap fillers, working off the irons. I need more data points but early results tend to indicate they gap quite nicely to the Apex Forged Irons (i.e., 5i, 4h)
 
Any of the guys who were fit to these remember what kind of peak and/or descent they were seeing with these?
 
I was fit into a Apex 5h as a 5i replacement. I like it so much I may either replace it with a 4h or take out one of my wedges to add a 4h just for gapping purposes leading into my 5w as I am getting so much more distance with that than my old 5w.

I’d be looking for these to be more iron replacements as well. I love my current Apex Hybrids and use the 4 and 5 as iron replacements. Would look to do the same with these if possible.

Wish they came in matte though.
 
Any of the guys who were fit to these remember what kind of peak and/or descent they were seeing with these?

I didn't get to spend a ton of time with these during my fitting but in testing in the local simulator I'm seeing just a slight decrease in launch by about a half a degree, so nothing drastic. It appears that I'm gaining a few yards in carry distance but again nothing huge.

Where I am seeing the biggest improvement is in the forgiveness. Mishits seem to be carrying further and not having as drastic of as hook as what I had seen from the original Apex hybrid.
 
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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To me this apex look more like rogue than OG apex (not saying that’s bad) is that true?


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To me this apex look more like rogue than OG apex (not saying that’s bad) is that true?


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I’ve never tried the Rogue but I did try the new Big Bertha and do not like that size / profile for a hybrid. I probably should have hit the BB better than the Apex but I didn’t. The 2019 Apex is still considerably smaller than the other Callaway hybrids to my eye.


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I’ve never tried the Rogue but I did try the new Big Bertha and do not like that size / profile for a hybrid. I probably should have hit the BB better than the Apex but I didn’t. The 2019 Apex is still considerably smaller than the other Callaway hybrids to my eye.


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This was me as well. I did not like the size of the Big Bertha and after three swings with it I said it's not for me. I hit the 2019 Apex much better. I've always been a high ball hitter (I didn't grow up and learn the game in Texas!) so I'm not seeing low launch like some have indicated but I get a nice high launch that just seems to carry and settles very nicely within a few feet when I use it to hit into greens.
 
Really looking forward to your thoughts. I feel the same way about hybrids, and this one is as good as any I'd put in play in my short time with it.

Do you want the good thoughts or bad?

The good is that the shape is very pleasing to my eye. The setup is percent to me. The look from the top screams hit it hard.

Now hitting it surprised the hell out of me. They launched high and long. I haven’t flushed hybrids like the way I did today in a long time. High boring flight that held its line so well. Flighting it down was zero problem and no need to try to launch it because the tech takes care of that.

The 5W will be replaces with the 3hybo and I may add a 2hybo with a low spin shaft for that lower ball flight that can get out and roll after it lands.

The bad........crickets, crickets....can’t say anything bad about the clubs.
 
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Some pics
 
Do you want the good thoughts or bad?

The good is that the shape is very pleasing to my eye. The setup is percent to me. The look from the top screams hit it hard.

Now hitting it surprised the hell out of me. They launched high and long. I haven’t flushed hybrids like the way I did today in a long time. High boring flight that held its line so well. Flighting it down was zero problem and no need to try to launch it because the tech takes care of that.

The 5W will be replaces with the 3hybo and I may add a 2hybo with a low spin shaft for that lower ball flight that can get out and roll after it lands.

The bad........crickets, crickets....can’t say anything bad about the clubs.

I think my favorite thing is how solid a good strike feels. I went to the driving range today and we had a pretty good cross breeze going and balls hit with these were just staying on their line.
 
Agreed these feel really good and I am also seeing an nice high ball flight.
 
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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Hmm. I will absolutely hit these but I'm actually a bit disappointed in the size. I'm such a fan of the original Apex head shape and size and to my eye these are quite a bit bigger.
 
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