First Look: Callaway Apex 21 Irons

Based on something you said once about the 747v, this actually doesn't surprise me. It's a fair bit taller in the heel to my eye, so seems more scoop-y. Doesn't typically bother me, but I did notice the shape change between the PW and AW seems less.. gradual. I know you thought that 747v PW seemed big (or bigger than the others) for a similar reason.

You might be spot on there. Funny how the shaping can mess with you. I’m just not hitting it nearly as consistently and well as I am the PW and 9. Will def double check the loft and lie.
 
Just curious whether there are any single digit indices playing a full set of DCBs.
I’m not a single digit, current GHIN is a 10.0... I’m playing a full set of DCBs.

@JB & I discussed this at length, and my thought process evolved to why not go for maximum forgiveness?

I miss all over the face with irons, iron play is probably the weakest part of my game, play an iron that gives me the best chance on misses.

I saw this theory pan out yesterday as I wasn’t having a great ball striking day, but the DCBs helped cover for it. I hit 50% GIR yesterday.

Note* I shot an 87 (due to the egregious 37 putts in the round & and a couple of blow up holes). 79% FIR & 50% GIR shouldn’t have = 87 lol
 
I’m not a single digit, current GHIN is a 10.0... I’m playing a full set of DCBs.

@JB & I discussed this at length, and my thought process evolved to why not go for maximum forgiveness?

I miss all over the face with irons, iron play is probably the weakest part of my game, play an iron that gives me the best chance on misses.

I saw this theory pan out yesterday as I wasn’t having a great ball striking day, but the DCBs helped cover for it. I hit 50% GIR yesterday.

Note* I shot an 87 (due to the egregious 37 putts in the round & and a couple of blow up holes). 79% FIR & 50% GIR shouldn’t have = 87 lol
I thought you hit the irons pretty darn well. A few blow up holes from tough tee shots and 80 was possible.
 
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@Canadan & I reppping Apex Nation today...
 
@Canadan gonna need some feedback on the two nines with these different iron sets. Which ones performed better?
 
Played another round with the DCBs today and something with me and them are a bit off. I am hitting a lot of shots pretty fat. Distances are good when I don’t hit them fat and it really doesn’t seem to make any difference where I hit them on the face which is great. Keep playing them for sure as I assume it is swing not club, but certainly not a miracle worker.

The one glowing comment I will make about them is that the forgiveness across the face did allow me to still hit greens a couple of times when the swing didn’t warrant it.
 
So, got my second round with the Apex TCB yesterday. While my swing is still rusty. The irons performed amazingly well. The modus 120 seems to be settling into my swing too. The greens are firm to the point where I can hardly find my pitch mark after a full 9 iron into the green. The ball is dropping doing a one hop and stopping on a dime. So that tells me my spin is getting closer to where I want to see it.

I’m so glad I was able to score a set of these. I think these could be a set that stays in the bag for a long long time.
 
Played another round with the DCBs today and something with me and them are a bit off. I am hitting a lot of shots pretty fat. Distances are good when I don’t hit them fat and it really doesn’t seem to make any difference where I hit them on the face which is great. Keep playing them for sure as I assume it is swing not club, but certainly not a miracle worker.

The one glowing comment I will make about them is that the forgiveness across the face did allow me to still hit greens a couple of times when the swing didn’t warrant it.
There are club fitters who would tell you that sole design can contribute to strike quality, depending on how the player delivers the club to the ball. I watched a video once by one of the foremost club fitters in the world. He is well known to many on this forum and has a growing YouTube channel. Anyway, in this video, he compared his strikes with a game improvement iron to the player profile he was used to and he definitely was more efficient with the player profile. His point to the video was that not everyone is meant to hit an iron with a wider sole profile, at least that was my takeaway.

We all are so different in how we strike the ball and it is far too easy to generalize. I keep going back and forth with it, particularly when I am not swinging with as much speed as I would like and need the distance, but my very best ball striking days over the past year have been with a player cavity that has a thinner sole. That is just me, though. I think many of us, including myself at the front of the line, are way too quick to move on from something if it is not working immediately.
 
There are club fitters who would tell you that sole design can contribute to strike quality, depending on how the player delivers the club to the ball. I watched a video once by one of the foremost club fitters in the world. He is well known to many on this forum and has a growing YouTube channel. Anyway, in this video, he compared his strikes with a game improvement iron to the player profile he was used to and he definitely was more efficient with the player profile. His point to the video was that not everyone is meant to hit an iron with a wider sole profile, at least that was my takeaway.

We all are so different in how we strike the ball and it is far too easy to generalize. I keep going back and forth with it, particularly when I am not swinging with as much speed as I would like and need the distance, but my very best ball striking days over the past year have been with a player cavity that has a thinner sole. That is just me, though. I think many of us, including myself at the front of the line, are way too quick to move on from something if it is not working immediately.

I appreciate your thoughts above. I have kept my previous original Apex irons until I make sure that these work at least as well as those, so I do plan to at least try them on grass back to back to make sure the issue is swing and not something specific to the setup of these, either the slightly longer length or the sole design. Definitely something to thing about going forward.
 
@Canadan gonna need some feedback on the two nines with these different iron sets. Which ones performed better?
Let me put my thoughts together - and I think it's super important to lead with: This is a VERY personal perspective haha
 
Alright, let me sink my teeth into this...

First of all, I played two awesome sim rounds with the Apex pros this weekend which spurred my desire to get them out on the course to showcase what they can do. I think the little extra confidence they introduce with the design is very welcomed, but it's so easy to forget it's even there as you look down at address. Just a clean, sharp looking profile in the 'gamer' tier.

I didn't have the best results with the shaft pairing, and I found that my results were maybe a bit hindered by the amount of swings I took this weekend, because I was losing them a bit right more than i wanted. I made the switch at the turn to throw away any excuses and I'm glad I did - but it wasn't to the X forged CBs it was to the irons I gamed for most of last year (so I only had me to blame for the rest of the round).

They promote great flight, and I would argue sound better on course than in the sim, which i thought was cool. You'd have to work pretty hard to validate the hollow body profile unlike some of the other hollow options out there. I'd like to give them another shot sometime, when I've got more confidence in my swing and more into season shape.

As to the super personal part, I think both the X Forged CBs and the Apex Pros are that kind of 1a/1b style experience, where guys will go out there and pick one based on something little. For me, it's how richly dense the feedback is in the X Forged CBs, with all that extra material behind the strike location. They have become one of my favorite iron sets to hit, and I think I am consistent enough to give up on the little bit of extra forgiveness across the face (my issue is way more face angle than face location).
 
Let me put my thoughts together - and I think it's super important to lead with: This is a VERY personal perspective haha
Thanks @Canadan appreciate your thoughts. Looking forward to getting the Apex Pro 21's so I can determine which set is going to perform best for me. I only ordered the Apex Pros because the discussion was saying they tend to launch higher and have a tiny bit more spin than the X-Forged CBs.

Thought I might see them this week but this morning Callaway has moved them back yet another week :(:rolleyes::unsure:. The bad news is that I am hitting the X-Forged so nicely right now. Iron shots with them are "intoxicating" :D:cool:.
 
There are club fitters who would tell you that sole design can contribute to strike quality, depending on how the player delivers the club to the ball. I watched a video once by one of the foremost club fitters in the world. He is well known to many on this forum and has a growing YouTube channel. Anyway, in this video, he compared his strikes with a game improvement iron to the player profile he was used to and he definitely was more efficient with the player profile. His point to the video was that not everyone is meant to hit an iron with a wider sole profile, at least that was my takeaway.

We all are so different in how we strike the ball and it is far too easy to generalize. I keep going back and forth with it, particularly when I am not swinging with as much speed as I would like and need the distance, but my very best ball striking days over the past year have been with a player cavity that has a thinner sole. That is just me, though. I think many of us, including myself at the front of the line, are way too quick to move on from something if it is not working immediately.

It's been about 5 years now that I've come to realize how critical the iron's sole profile is to my golf swing. I'm not looking for a better players sole, but the vast majority of these game improvement soles just do not work for me... poor turf interaction, loss of distance, less accuracy, a loss of feel and touch. That's why the CF16's remain in my bag.

For the first time ever I'm looking at possibly doing a combo. However, without hitting the DCB's I'm not sure where to transition from DCB to Apex 21. If I really get along with the DCB's I can potentially see a full 5-A setup, but I doubt that because the help I'm really looking for is only in the longer irons. This could be 5i, 5-6i, 5-7i in the DCB's, again depending on how well I get along with the DCB's.

It's also very likely that in the end my iron set will consist of 6-A in the standard Apex 21 irons, and adding another hybrid to cover off the 5i duties.

Here's my rub... a good fitting session should give me all the answers. But... I've recently developed a hernia which should be manageable if I don't overdo things, and the purchase of "special underwear" for when golfing. Until the operation is done, which is still unknown at this time, I'll just continue to play my existing irons and further delay the fitting process.

Sorry for the rant and welcome to being 66 years old. :(
 
Looks like the Apex TCB's are now available in the US.
Got an email from People's Golf about availability
 
Only got 9 holes in this weekend, but better than none! These irons remind me of why I loved the CF19s so much. I have another nearly brand new set sitting in the basement and I'm honestly not sure when they'll get played next.

The low/mid irons are rocket launchers. Had a downwind par 3 that I lasered at 207. Took a nice easy swing with the 5I flew just short of 200 and ended up pin high, letting me two putt for par. A rarity for me on that hole. Distances so far have been where I expect them to be and I've even been able to shape a few shots here and there. The pros are excellent as well. I've hit some really great shots with them, but I feel like I'm just a touch shorter with them than expected so far, but based on the good shots that's definitely me being a little too inconsistent. I really do love the profile though and have no complaints. I feel like once I get back into season shape with my swing they're going to be some real weapons.

MMTs so far seem to be holding up pretty well for me. I wanted to go all graphite this year and so far it's been ok. Not sure if these will be the final solution for me, but I'm sticking with them until I get some more time to take a realistic evaluation. Hoping to get out to the range with these tomorrow to keep working with them.
 
I’m having so much fun with these irons.

I think the difference between these and the XForged I played previously is most noticeable in the 5 iron. I thought the XForged were forgiving enough but the Apex Pros are on another level. It has a similar look to more intimidating players irons but there is a psychological effect knowing what the iron is and having seen it in action that leads to a lot of confidence standing over the ball.

I also don’t get misses like I did with the CF16 5 iron, where a low or out on the toe strike could lead to a low spinning missile that could miss way long. I haven’t had a single shot like that.

On the other end of the bag, say comparing the AW of the Apex Pros to the XForged CB AW I can’t say it is any better. For me it is only the longer clubs that I can say are definitely better. Fully recommend for someone who is looking for control with consistency.
 
I’m having so much fun with these irons.

I think the difference between these and the XForged I played previously is most noticeable in the 5 iron. I thought the XForged were forgiving enough but the Apex Pros are on another level. It has a similar look to more intimidating players irons but there is a psychological effect knowing what the iron is and having seen it in action that leads to a lot of confidence standing over the ball.

Boy isn’t it the truth. Easier to hit & much less side spin than I had w/ the X’s.
 
Boy isn’t it the truth. Easier to hit & much less side spin than I had w/ the X’s.

Yes. So I am seeing more spin with these but they go straighter, less side to side movement. They seem to be a very straight biased club.

There have been have been a couple of shots where I have been behind trees and really wanted to draw or fade the ball hard and have been able to, for those shots I have had to be very intentional and exaggerated in my setup. You can shape them if you want It just takes more effort.

The other side of that is a par 3 that is safer on the right that I aim for the right edge with a 6 iron and try and draw it back in. A couple of times now I’ve tried that and hit it right where I was aiming didn’t get the left movement. It tells me I need to adjust where I aim a little.
 
Alright, let me sink my teeth into this...

First of all, I played two awesome sim rounds with the Apex pros this weekend which spurred my desire to get them out on the course to showcase what they can do. I think the little extra confidence they introduce with the design is very welcomed, but it's so easy to forget it's even there as you look down at address. Just a clean, sharp looking profile in the 'gamer' tier.

I didn't have the best results with the shaft pairing, and I found that my results were maybe a bit hindered by the amount of swings I took this weekend, because I was losing them a bit right more than i wanted. I made the switch at the turn to throw away any excuses and I'm glad I did - but it wasn't to the X forged CBs it was to the irons I gamed for most of last year (so I only had me to blame for the rest of the round).

They promote great flight, and I would argue sound better on course than in the sim, which i thought was cool. You'd have to work pretty hard to validate the hollow body profile unlike some of the other hollow options out there. I'd like to give them another shot sometime, when I've got more confidence in my swing and more into season shape.

As to the super personal part, I think both the X Forged CBs and the Apex Pros are that kind of 1a/1b style experience, where guys will go out there and pick one based on something little. For me, it's how richly dense the feedback is in the X Forged CBs, with all that extra material behind the strike location. They have become one of my favorite iron sets to hit, and I think I am consistent enough to give up on the little bit of extra forgiveness across the face (my issue is way more face angle than face location).
@HuddieJ has both sets (Apex Pro 21 & X-Forged CB), maybe he can chime in on his thoughts on the 2 sets...
 
Yes. So I am seeing more spin with these but they go straighter, less side to side movement. They seem to be a very straight biased club.
Interesting, my X’s were bent 2 degrees stronger at Callaway to help w/ my spin numbers. So far it seems the Pros are going as far as the bent X’s. 😳
 
I was amazed when I handled the Apex Pro 21s on Saturday how much offset there was vs. the equivalent Taylormade/Mizuno offerings - for those who have played or swung both, has that been noticeable on course or affected you?
 
Interesting, my X’s were bent 2 degrees stronger at Callaway to help w/ my spin numbers. So far it seems the Pros are going as far as the bent X’s. 😳


When I demoed them together on a launch monitor with the same shaft and same ball the XForged spun a few hundred rpm more.

It could very well be my swing, the shaft change I made or both.

I’m judging the spin based on what I am seeing on the course. How the flight looks, how it is effected by the wind and how much it rolls out or spins back when it lands. I believe I am spinning them more, the distances are very close to the same.

I think if I do end up putting the PX into these I would see a touch more distance.
 
Apex DCB Update:
I played 36 holes this weekend, and walked away impressed. I hit some really good iron shots. They are as forgiving on the course as they are in the sim.

My GIR over the weekend was 42% (2020 average- 35%). I hit several iron shots that surprised my playing partners.
Example- The par 3 13th hole on Sunday was playing 176 yards to the pin & 183 yards to the back. The wind was slightly across and in, I hit 6 iron to 7 feet. One of the guys we were playing with said, “Wow that’s a great shot!!”. @Canadan asked if they were surprised by that? (They were surprised).

Looking forward to getting more rounds in with these...
 
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