Callaway Apex 19 and Apex Pro 19 Irons

[CobraX51]

Another great weekend of ball striking, more so Saturday since I played 27 including a Birdie Skin and Closest to the Pin.

I am a LITTLE underwhelmed that my 9i is now my 125-130 club when that was once my PW. My PW is now my 115-120 club when that was my AW, and so on and so forth. But at the end of the day I'm hitting more greens and am content with these numbers. It is what it is.

I know I gloss a lot over these irons but damn. 20/20 on the rating scale.

 

[Snickerdog]

Another great weekend of ball striking, more so Saturday since I played 27 including a Birdie Skin and Closest to the Pin.

I am a LITTLE underwhelmed that my 9i is now my 125-130 club when that was once my PW. My PW is now my 115-120 club when that was my AW, and so on and so forth. But at the end of the day I'm hitting more greens and am content with these numbers. It is what it is.

I know I gloss a lot over these irons but damn. 20/20 on the rating scale.

I'll take accuracy over distance any day.

 

[shanewu]

Pured a 9i on a par 3 playing 153 IIRC last Sunday. Pin on the higher left side shelf and aimed at the right side meat of the green and pulled off exactly what I meant to do, leaving less than 25 feet and an uphill right to left putt. No doubt one of the best 9i's I've ever hit and I may have let out a disturbing audible noise.

 

[mikeg_74]

Another great weekend of ball striking, more so Saturday since I played 27 including a Birdie Skin and Closest to the Pin.

I am a LITTLE underwhelmed that my 9i is now my 125-130 club when that was once my PW. My PW is now my 115-120 club when that was my AW, and so on and so forth. But at the end of the day I'm hitting more greens and am content with these numbers. It is what it is.

I know I gloss a lot over these irons but damn. 20/20 on the rating scale.

Think it's a shaft issue? I have the pros in the 8-p

Another great weekend of ball striking, more so Saturday since I played 27 including a Birdie Skin and Closest to the Pin.

I am a LITTLE underwhelmed that my 9i is now my 125-130 club when that was once my PW. My PW is now my 115-120 club when that was my AW, and so on and so forth. But at the end of the day I'm hitting more greens and am content with these numbers. It is what it is.

I know I gloss a lot over these irons but damn. 20/20 on the rating scale.

how far off on the distances before? Change your golf ball maybe?
I ask because on good swings my 9i is 135-140 and I know everyone’s miles will vary, but for the pros, that’s a long 9i for me.

 

[CobraX51]

I'll take accuracy over distance any day.

Think it's a shaft issue? I have the pros in the 8-p

how far off on the distances before? Change your golf ball maybe?
I ask because on good swings my 9i is 135-140 and I know everyone’s miles will vary, but for the pros, that’s a long 9i for me.

Good question Mike. I don't think it's a shaft issue, personally I love the Tour Elevate, I hit the ball high and straight, just not as far as I used to. Now I did switch from Stiff to Regular for Driver and it's been nice. Hybrids, irons, and wedges are still Stiff Steel.

I am 100% on the Z-Star for over a year now, no change on that, love it tee to green. I'm down about 10 yards per club from about early April.

Now I was a 12 handicap and now I'm a 10 with this loss of distance. I have a pretty deliberate swing, but it's been at least 4-5 rounds since I've thinned or chunked an iron(knock on wood).

With the loss of distance also means I switched tee boxes to the whites and/or blended, no longer the blues. 6000-6400 and I'm scoring.

I think it's more of a swing "issue" if you will. It's just a comfortable swing. When I used to try and step on a Wedge from 130 here comes the dreaded thin, now when I step on an iron it's a pull, which is fine with me.

I do have a free GolfTec Swing Evaluation which could be nice, obviously their main goal would be for me to signup for a lesson plan which I have no interest doing, but it might not be bad to get the free consultation.

The other options would be to get more of a GI iron, but I have zero interest in doing that. I'm playing my best golf with these Forged irons and I've dropped 2 points on the cap in 3 months, so I'm pretty content and happy.

It's just a small annoyance that my 9i is now 125-130, but also I can't stress enough that I'm #PlayingItForward while my buddies play a tee box behind me. I accepted it, it sucks in a way lol don't get me wrong, but it's more fun than anything.

 

[mikeg_74]

Good question Mike. I don't think it's a shaft issue, personally I love the Tour Elevate, I hit the ball high and straight, just not as far as I used to. Now I did switch from Stiff to Regular for Driver and it's been nice. Hybrids, irons, and wedges are still Stiff Steel.

I am 100% on the Z-Star for over a year now, no change on that, love it tee to green. I'm down about 10 yards per club from about early April.

Now I was a 12 handicap and now I'm a 10 with this loss of distance. I have a pretty deliberate swing, but it's been at least 4-5 rounds since I've thinned or chunked an iron(knock on wood).

With the loss of distance also means I switched tee boxes to the whites and/or blended, no longer the blues. 6000-6400 and I'm scoring.

I think it's more of a swing "issue" if you will. It's just a comfortable swing. When I used to try and step on a Wedge from 130 here comes the dreaded thin, now when I step on an iron it's a pull, which is fine with me.

I do have a free GolfTec Swing Evaluation which could be nice, obviously their main goal would be for me to signup for a lesson plan which I have no interest doing, but it might not be bad to get the free consultation.

The other options would be to get more of a GI iron, but I have zero interest in doing that. I'm playing my best golf with these Forged irons and I've dropped 2 points on the cap in 3 months, so I'm pretty content and happy.

It's just a small annoyance that my 9i is now 125-130, but also I can't stress enough that I'm #PlayingItForward while my buddies play a tee box behind me. I accepted it, it sucks in a way lol don't get me wrong, but it's more fun than anything.

I think maybe moving up a tee box might have you adjusting your swing without realizing it? Like you are swinging more within yourself and not trying to maximize distance each shot because there is a yardage you are trying to cover?

The Elevates will get the ball in the air so it could be a little ballooning in play, so maybe pay attention next time out.

 

[CobraX51]

I think maybe moving up a tee box might have you adjusting your swing without realizing it? Like you are swinging more within yourself and not trying to maximize distance each shot because there is a yardage you are trying to cover?

The Elevates will get the ball in the air so it could be a little ballooning in play, so maybe pay attention next time out.

To simply answer the bolded part, yes. I'm not off balance after I swing, I'm controlled.

I like the ballooning, I've always liked a high ball flight. Now when I hit into the wind it's tough.

 

[robrandalgz]

Anyone have these with ESX460 recoils? Moderate swing speed here looking for a little help (launch, feel, distance). Suitable for mid teens HC?

Don't sleep on the Elevate 95 shaft. I seriously considered going graphite with this set and I'm really glad that I went with the 95s instead. Nice high ball flight and super forgiving as far as feel at impact (the VSS system is legit).

I will say that, if I'm not "deliberate" in my downswing, I pull hook the living sh!t out of this combo. I know that it's just as much of a swing flaw as anything else but when I'm measured and smooth in my downswing transition, these shafts are the engine to absolute rockets.

 

[Kenomikes]

Don't sleep on the Elevate 95 shaft. I seriously considered going graphite with this set and I'm really glad that I went with the 95s instead. Nice high ball flight and super forgiving as far as feel at impact (the VSS system is legit).

I will say that, if I'm not "deliberate" in my downswing, I pull hook the living sh!t out of this combo. I know that it's just as much of a swing flaw as anything else but when I'm measured and smooth in my downswing transition, these shafts are the engine to absolute rockets.

Love this post. I have the Apex 19 Forged with Tour Elevate 95 stiff shafts and couldn't agree more. I'm coming from graphite and tried the Elevate with my tennis elbow issues and can say have no problems at all now. I play 4 rounds a week too. Awesome shafts, my handicap has dropped 3 full shots so far this year with these irons and shafts.

In my club championship semis today, all even on 18 and had 165 to middle and 175 to back pin. Can't go over, take my 7 iron and stripe it, after I hit it I don't even watch it I'm walking to my cart. Lol. 15 feet, match over. Playing for club championship next Saturday. Great irons.

 

[DNice26]

Will say.....I miss my Apex Pros. They were fun for me.

My ONLY wish is a redesigned 7 iron. Is has a funky setup to it.

 

[robrandalgz]

So, I had a bit of an epiphany with these irons today. Since I put these clubs in the bag, I've been lured in by the intoxicating elixir of just smashing the living sh!t out of these clubs. I don't care who you are, when you start hitting your sticks a full club longer than your previous set, it's hard to dial it back. It's just so damned fun. However, I've been finding that my dispersion has gone to hell ever since I put these in the bag. Now, I'm a high cap and I KNOW that my problems are (a lack of) skill related. I started to get really frustrated on the range today before my round. I started to wonder "Is this infatuation with the added distance actually making me swing harder to get even a little more"? As I swatted away at balls I came to the realization that I was swinging so hard, now, that I had absolutely no awareness of the clubface in my swing at all. One swing would be an overcooked draw and the other a straight push.

At that point I started to wonder, what the hell is all this distance worth? So, I remembered the post by @CobraX51 about his disappointment in the fact that he's lost a little distance but his accuracy was improved and the response by @Snickerdog that he would take the accuracy over the distance all day. And, I literally asked myself out loud "What the f*** are you doing here, dude"? So, I cleaned all my clubs (just for something to do to "wipe the slate clean" and to put myself into a "reset" state of mind). When I was finished, I put all of my balls back in the bucket and proceeded, from that point forward, to pull them out one at a time to force myself to get out of the bang, bang, bang routine of just blasting balls.

I slowed everything down. What seemed like, WAY down. Miraculously, I regained my clubface awareness. And hey, (what do you know?) I'm hitting the ball at my OLD distances with (what seemed like) 75% effort. And hey, those balls are actually going to the zip code that I'm aiming at! I'll be damned. To be continued, but I really like where this is going, right now.

 

[rogt]

Will see where Callaway goes with there release this year or I might be looking for another set of standard Apex19 just for back up. Still the deadliest part of my game. Have a new set of pros in shop bag also. My set isn’t stock spec, all lofts have been weakened and they are $$

 

[mpeterson]

Will see where Callaway goes with there release this year or I might be looking for another set of standard Apex19 just for back up. Still the deadliest part of my game. Have a new set of pros in shop bag also. My set isn’t stock spec, all lofts have been weakened and they are $$

I've got a combo set in the bag but I'm toying with the idea of going back to the standard Apex. They're just really good, and I don't feel like I'm losing much in the way of versatility. I had to hit a punch 6i into a green during a tournament this weekend and ended up pin high. They're hot, but they are consistent.

 

[Flipit]

So, I had a bit of an epiphany with these irons today. Since I put these clubs in the bag, I've been lured in by the intoxicating elixir of just smashing the living sh!t out of these clubs. I don't care who you are, when you start hitting your sticks a full club longer than your previous set, it's hard to dial it back. It's just so damned fun. However, I've been finding that my dispersion has gone to hell ever since I put these in the bag. Now, I'm a high cap and I KNOW that my problems are (a lack of) skill related. I started to get really frustrated on the range today before my round. I started to wonder "Is this infatuation with the added distance actually making me swing harder to get even a little more"? As I swatted away at balls I came to the realization that I was swinging so hard, now, that I had absolutely no awareness of the clubface in my swing at all. One swing would be an overcooked draw and the other a straight push.

At that point I started to wonder, what the hell is all this distance worth? So, I remembered the post by @CobraX51 about his disappointment in the fact that he's lost a little distance but his accuracy was improved and the response by @Snickerdog that he would take the accuracy over the distance all day. And, I literally asked myself out loud "What the f*** are you doing here, dude"? So, I cleaned all my clubs (just for something to do to "wipe the slate clean" and to put myself into a "reset" state of mind). When I was finished, I put all of my balls back in the bucket and proceeded, from that point forward, to pull them out one at a time to force myself to get out of the bang, bang, bang routine of just blasting balls.

I slowed everything down. What seemed like, WAY down. Miraculously, I regained my clubface awareness. And hey, (what do you know?) I'm hitting the ball at my OLD distances with (what seemed like) 75% effort. And hey, those balls are actually going to the zip code that I'm aiming at! I'll be damned. To be continued, but I really like where this is going, right now.

The thing about the APEX is you don’t have to swing hard. Let the club do the work. They are amazing irons and really reward good solid contact. I had to learn this the hard way.

 

[CobraX51]

At that point I started to wonder, what the hell is all this distance worth? So, I remembered the post by @CobraX51 about his disappointment in the fact that he's lost a little distance but his accuracy was improved and the response by @Snickerdog that he would take the accuracy over the distance all day. And, I literally asked myself out loud "What the f*** are you doing here, dude"?

I slowed everything down. What seemed like, WAY down. Miraculously, I regained my clubface awareness. And hey, (what do you know?) I'm hitting the ball at my OLD distances with (what seemed like) 75% effort. And hey, those balls are actually going to the zip code that I'm aiming at! I'll be damned. To be continued, but I really like where this is going, right now.

The toughest part was accepting it, but after Saturday, a decent Saturday 43-43-40, I found myself "meh" with my iron distances, It was AWESOME hitting my 7iron 170 into a slight breeze pin high, but the underwhelming not being able to hit my 9iron 140 on a certain shot, it happends, it's ok, I didn't flush it, but whatever, how often do us amateurs honestly flush it? Hint...Not often.

Take the accuracy all day man. I'm gonna go have someone look at my swing and if the tweaks make sense then I'll work on that.

 

[robrandalgz]

That's where I'm at at, too, brother. I'm just going to keep a manageable pace on my swing and (hopefully) work my way back up to a higher swing speed. But I've got to groove this path and clubface awareness thing out before I even think about adding speed to this whole thing. I can live with the distances for now. My last two rounds have been my best two rounds this season (87-88) so it's not like my scores are suffering.

The toughest part was accepting it, but after Saturday, a decent Saturday 43-43-40, I found myself "meh" with my iron distances, It was AWESOME hitting my 7iron 170 into a slight breeze pin high, but the underwhelming not being able to hit my 9iron 140 on a certain shot, it happends, it's ok, I didn't flush it, but whatever, how often do us amateurs honestly flush it? Hint...Not often.

Take the accuracy all day man. I'm gonna go have someone look at my swing and if the tweaks make sense then I'll work on that.

 

[Elmave]

The thing about the APEX is you don’t have to swing hard. Let the club do the work. They are amazing irons and really reward good solid contact. I had to learn this the hard way.

I went to the Pro combo set and with the pro irons i have really focused on contact and trying to hit the center of the face. I find that this focus has carried over into the standard irons as well. A well struck pro iron just has such an incredible feel or almost no feel just smooth. Im also really focusing on a smooth swing not trying to kill it but using my core and turning and finishing in balance and all the wqy through. Although it feels like im slowing it down im sure in reality this results in more clubhead speed and much better contact. I havent lost any distance with this approach and have gained accuracy. Had some great rounds this weekend. These irons have really helped me focus on contact and the results are there.

 

[Drumdog]

The thing about the APEX is you don’t have to swing hard. Let the club do the work. They are amazing irons and really reward good solid contact. I had to learn this the hard way.

I completely agree. I am in love with these irons. When I don't try to overswing the clubs, the contact and distance are great.

 

[mikeg_74]

I’m not sure what the next version of the Apex will look like, but they have a lot to knock the pro combos out of my bag. I’m really settling I to a groove with these now that the fixes to my irons are starting to take place. Confidence is starting to grow with the longer irons and anything from 7-PW hit the distances I need

 

[HarryPotter]

Is there an echo in here? I’m really digging the looks of the new Srixons and mizunos and I’m sure the next ping i iron will interest me, but it would have to be something damn special to bump these out of the bag.

 

[Jimmy3864]

Called Callaway CS 3 weeks ago as my Apex Pro PW purchased after end of last season developed a case of the rust markings behind the emblems. Called back yesterday to get shipping update and was told heads are backordered until October! Wow! So glad I didn’t ship the damaged one back with the label provided....must be going all out on building stock for next year but 4 month wait for replacement sorta sucks. Doesn’t impact performance but looks like crap in bag.

 

[Flipit]

Called Callaway CS 3 weeks ago as my Apex Pro PW purchased after end of last season developed a case of the rust markings behind the emblems. Called back yesterday to get shipping update and was told heads are backordered until October! Wow! So glad I didn’t ship the damaged one back with the label provided....must be going all out on building stock for next year but 4 month wait for replacement sorta sucks. Doesn’t impact performance but looks like crap in bag.

With little to no inventory due to shipping delays, and the influx of people purchasing new clubs I think many company’s are dealing with this. Mizuno ran out of some models 3 months prior to their new release. It’s crazy time. Golf Galaxy near me has many many empty club racks in the store. At least you have the original until than.

 

[mpeterson]

Called Callaway CS 3 weeks ago as my Apex Pro PW purchased after end of last season developed a case of the rust markings behind the emblems. Called back yesterday to get shipping update and was told heads are backordered until October! Wow! So glad I didn’t ship the damaged one back with the label provided....must be going all out on building stock for next year but 4 month wait for replacement sorta sucks. Doesn’t impact performance but looks like crap in bag.

I think it's actually epoxy stain, and not rust - the short irons on my pro have it as well. Like you said, doesn't affect anything but not the greatest look.

Still love the clubs though.

 

[JonD]

I’m not sure what the next version of the Apex will look like, but they have a lot to knock the pro combos out of my bag. I’m really settling I to a groove with these now that the fixes to my irons are starting to take place. Confidence is starting to grow with the longer irons and anything from 7-PW hit the distances I need

Skim alert for sure, but what fixes? Did they come misconfigured? I've been pondering the top end of the combo set to go with my existing set, but I'm concerned I'll have a huge gap in the 6-7-8 area.

 

[mikeg_74]

Skim alert for sure, but what fixes? Did they come misconfigured? I've been pondering the top end of the combo set to go with my existing set, but I'm concerned I'll have a huge gap in the 6-7-8 area.

sorry.. i should have said swing fixes. My irons have been a liability and I started to work on some things to fix my swing. Now that the changes are starting to take place these irons have come alive.