Reading up on this these this morning & im fairly certain these will be in the bag come December. I adore the looks of the pro, but knowing how well I got along with the Apex, it SHOULD be an easy transition.
Callaway Apex CF 16 Irons Review Thread
Harvmp28
Active member
Been on Callaways website on and off today and watching all the videos on their page for the entire Apex line, but these are just screaming my name I cannot wait to hit these! The #ZooCrew should be worried that #TeamRedemption might be swinging these in order to take home the Belt!
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Nebgolfer
Active member
Been slammed by meetings this morning, but love reading the excitement for these irons. I don't want to set anything in stone, but I can easily see me putting these irons to good use in December.
These look awesome (and I have seen them in person) and the 360 cup face is intriguing, but man at that price I hope I can get another couple years out of my original Apex as I would like to stay in Graphite.
Found this little bit of information from Doc Hock... Interesting details
The original Callaway Apex irons were targeted at mid- and lower-handicap golfers who wanted forged feel with a boost in distance. The new Apex CF 16 irons try to give those same players more distance and feel with a different design and materials.
“My mantra for the line is to push the limits of forged iron design,” said Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s senior vice president of research and development. “Since the first Apex irons came out, you’ve seen Callaway working on the development of cup faces in irons, so it may not come as a surprise to learn that the new Apex irons feature cup-face technology for the first time.”
Face cups originally were designed into Callaway’s woods, then the distance-oriented Big Bertha irons and XR irons.
To make the Apex CF 16 long iron heads, Callaway forges two pieces – a body that comprises the hosel and the back of the club, and a face – then uses lasers to weld them together. However, the face part is not flat. It has a lip encircling the perimeter, which makes it look like a shallow cup or bowl.
Irons with a flat faceplate are welded near the topline and leading edge, but the cup-face design joins the two pieces together farther from the edges. Callaway said this let designers forgo the 455 Carpenter steel in the original Apex irons and go with softer, 1025 carbon steel. Hocknell said Callaway is getting more strength from geometry, so it doesn’t need as much strength from the material itself.
Thin faces can create sounds at impact that many golfers don’t like, so Callaway tuned the Apex CF 16 irons with a thermal plastic urethane piece affixed to the back of the head to dampen vibrations.
The final result of these new design elements and materials, Callaway said, is a club that has forged feel and provides more distance, especially on mis-hits.
“A regular iron with no face technology would have a COR (coefficient of restitution, a measure of spring in the face) of about .78, and the original Apex iron had a COR around .80. Using the face cup, we get a COR up to about .82,” Hocknell said. “There are no other forged irons that have that ball-speed capability.”
The cup face is designed into the 3- to 7-irons. Because loft mutes the cup-face benefit, the 8-iron though pitching wedge are designed similarly to the previous Apex irons.
The original Callaway Apex irons were targeted at mid- and lower-handicap golfers who wanted forged feel with a boost in distance. The new Apex CF 16 irons try to give those same players more distance and feel with a different design and materials.
“My mantra for the line is to push the limits of forged iron design,” said Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s senior vice president of research and development. “Since the first Apex irons came out, you’ve seen Callaway working on the development of cup faces in irons, so it may not come as a surprise to learn that the new Apex irons feature cup-face technology for the first time.”
Face cups originally were designed into Callaway’s woods, then the distance-oriented Big Bertha irons and XR irons.
To make the Apex CF 16 long iron heads, Callaway forges two pieces – a body that comprises the hosel and the back of the club, and a face – then uses lasers to weld them together. However, the face part is not flat. It has a lip encircling the perimeter, which makes it look like a shallow cup or bowl.
Irons with a flat faceplate are welded near the topline and leading edge, but the cup-face design joins the two pieces together farther from the edges. Callaway said this let designers forgo the 455 Carpenter steel in the original Apex irons and go with softer, 1025 carbon steel. Hocknell said Callaway is getting more strength from geometry, so it doesn’t need as much strength from the material itself.
Thin faces can create sounds at impact that many golfers don’t like, so Callaway tuned the Apex CF 16 irons with a thermal plastic urethane piece affixed to the back of the head to dampen vibrations.
The final result of these new design elements and materials, Callaway said, is a club that has forged feel and provides more distance, especially on mis-hits.
“A regular iron with no face technology would have a COR (coefficient of restitution, a measure of spring in the face) of about .78, and the original Apex iron had a COR around .80. Using the face cup, we get a COR up to about .82,” Hocknell said. “There are no other forged irons that have that ball-speed capability.”
The cup face is designed into the 3- to 7-irons. Because loft mutes the cup-face benefit, the 8-iron though pitching wedge are designed similarly to the previous Apex irons.
I keep thinking these with some Recoils/Steelfibers or my trusty Tour Vs will be good. Luckily I will have numbers to help me choose!
Very interesting....cant wait to hear the results from in-hand use!
Wow. That is pretty cool to read. Im familiar with the grade of steel too. Similar to the 8620 used for the MD3, the 1025 Carbon Steel is soft yet has a very strong chemistry to it. The materials used to make the steel give it its soft characteristics yet it is cooled in a way to help it build strength. Some really neat stuff
Cdpkook132
Active member
Love metallurgy talk.
Out of curiosity, I compared the Apex '14 and Apex CF16 spec pages and everything is identical...lofts, lies, lengths, offset, swing weight. Obviously the cup face and exact steel versions are the differences, but glad to see the specs all stayed the same.
I was contemplating the Pros, but I am addicted to Cup Face technology. I'm guessing it's time to abandon ego and go with what I know works. It'll be these with either Tour V or AMT if they make them available.
- Staff
- #114
I'm even pondering a 3 iron. Although the smart play is the 18* Apex Hybrid.
Agent Jay
Grandaddy Alumni
Might need a new combo set with these...wow, they both look just as nice as the last model.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #117
I think you would be happy with either one of these sets honestly. I will say, call it whatever you want, the forgiveness I have seen out of their recent releases is fantastic.
The CF and the Apex Pro 16 are on the callawaygolf.com club fitter now and FWIW, i was suggested the CF16 4-PW and the price was $750. May be wrong, may be right, but thats what its showing me
Wake
Active member
Since putting the Apex in play prerelease 2 years ago(thanks to THP and Callaway) I haven't hit any iron that makes me think even for a second about moving on from them. These obviously have the capability to do that.
I'm interested in giving these a swing, they look to have improved quite a bit since my xhot pros
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #122
I certainly can, although it will only be 7 irons, since that is what I have in XR Pro right now.
tpluff
I <3 GAWLF
Couldn't stop thinking about these at work. Wondering what shaft combo I could use in it, since everything steal is open! Project X, KBS Tour V or C-Taper? Maybe I wait til January or February for AMTs? Whatever it is, I'm ready to get me some Face Cup.
allsportscoach
Active member
Love both have the apex now not the pro and hit them well, wanting the new apex but I love chrome I still my Adams A4 forged chrome, may try the pro and see if I can handle them, either way both look great but first I want to try all the new drivers and buy one for Christmas and irons for spring. Unless I win the lottery first then I'll get them all the same time.