First Look: Callaway Apex 21 Irons

First session with the Pros is in the books. Was just going to do a small bucket, but too excited and went with a large. First impressions are that I couldn't be more pleased with these. I have hit one bucket in 3 months prior to today, so it was a good test of forgiveness. Was hitting a little low and out towards the toe, for the first 10 or 25 balls but was still getting good results. These irons went about half a club further than my Apex Pro 19s once I started hitting the sweet spot. You could say that was due to range balls, etc... but I've hit at these targets hundreds if not thousands of times and know the distances and these clubs just performed. The feeling of these are a great improvement from the 19s. Very consistent. Cannot wait to get my swing in better shape and really see what these clubs can do. Worth the wait it took to get them.
 
I got the same grips. They are awesome. Enjoy those fantastic irons!

Yeah they are sweet. Used the MCC Plus 4 align last year, but have been a tour velvet guy most of my life. These grips check all the boxes for me.
 
First session with the Pros is in the books. Was just going to do a small bucket, but too excited and went with a large. First impressions are that I couldn't be more pleased with these. I have hit one bucket in 3 months prior to today, so it was a good test of forgiveness. Was hitting a little low and out towards the toe, for the first 10 or 25 balls but was still getting good results. These irons went about half a club further than my Apex Pro 19s once I started hitting the sweet spot. You could say that was due to range balls, etc... but I've hit at these targets hundreds if not thousands of times and know the distances and these clubs just performed. The feeling of these are a great improvement from the 19s. Very consistent. Cannot wait to get my swing in better shape and really see what these clubs can do. Worth the wait it took to get them.
I have been extremely pleased with the irons with respect to my miss, which is usually thin. These irons perform better than most of a similar profile on thin misses.
 
Yeah they are sweet. Used the MCC Plus 4 align last year, but have been a tour velvet guy most of my life. These grips check all the boxes for me.

I wish they would ditch the white bottom on the MCC aligns.
 
Ok first round out with the 21 Apex Pros today. Initial impression was fantastic. Felt amazing when pured. To say that, I say this. When you miss, it lets you know feel wise, but the forgiveness is absurd! I couldn’t get distances dialed in today due to high 30s in temp and gusty winds but I will say I saw zero distance loss from my standard Apex 19 in the same conditions. I thoroughly enjoyed my first round with these. Even the long irons. I love the 4 iron! The irons are a little more clicks than my standard Apex 19 but the sound is good to me. I am back to my normal shot shape too, which is a baby fade. Looking forward to getting some more time with these in warmer weather!
 
i have a questions. I have a single callaway X 20 pitching wedge. Its pretty good, i like it. But the design confuses me, it has those two edges that also appear in the apex and i havent heard much about why they designed it that way. It made my think the design doesnt matter much, that they just wanted weight at the front and back.
 
Very excited as the DCBs that I was told would be a 3-4 week order are already at the store to be picked up tomorrow. Think I’ll go straight from there to the range...can’t wait.
 
Got my clubs today and had a quick 11 holes today, Pro P/W is a dream till waiting on my A/W and hit a lot of good shots with the 7/8/9 standard Apex,thinned a few 6 irons and caught a couple nice, will likely do for a 5dcb. First impressions really like these clubs upgrade on the 19s 😀 feel nicer and lovely ball flight
 
so much love for the apex 21 lineup, and for good reason! callaway seems to really take the apex name seriously, and won't release anything in that line unless it is a top-level performer. they crushed this release. it is impeccable.
 
so much love for the apex 21 lineup, and for good reason! callaway seems to really take the apex name seriously, and won't release anything in that line unless it is a top-level performer. they crushed this release. it is impeccable.
Genuinely I was concerned when I first heard the Pros were going hollow body. Far too many companies create them and don’t pay attention to the sound (looking at you Taylormade and Ping) while creating solid performers that look good.

I was told that wasn’t an issue and they were right. Both @Canadan and I were talking about how well they got the sound right in a set that is quite a departure.
 
Genuinely I was concerned when I first heard the Pros were going hollow body. Far too many companies create them and don’t pay attention to the sound (looking at you Taylormade and Ping) while creating solid performers that look good.

I was told that wasn’t an issue and they were right. Both @Canadan and I were talking about how well they got the sound right in a set that is quite a departure.
It's definitely not as dense as the full body options like the X Forged CB, but I think it's insanity to expect it to not have a sound presence outside that full body realm.

That in mind, I think it's awesome. It's vocal in a way that says "damn, I hit that" not "damn, that's loud/weird/gross/like-smashing-a-dumpster-with-cats-in-it"
 
17 greens again today with the Players Combo. One big mistake that was all on me, but my comfort level with the Pro irons is really growing. Distance when needed, forgiveness, and dialing up little fades and draws on command has been effortless. Haven't really noticed any bias or face manipulation issues I fight in some heavily tungstened ones, which is great.

Put the standard 3i in play today and hit it mostly well. Lost the first one right a bit, but it got up really easily, and felt pretty good.

I think a couple of my Pro short irons to match my others showed up today. Really curious to see how well they flight with my shafts in them.
 
Yep, 8 & 9 Pros are here, and also have the wrong grips. Had expected that and talked to Callaway about it today. They're going to get me sorted out on the 6 that are already built, and switch it on the 4 that aren't.

20210305_211255.jpg20210305_211516.jpg

Difference in the Pro and MB 8i's.
 
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Pros finally saw real grass tonight! That grass might have been wet and soggy but it was real grass regardless. My only experience so far before this was on a simulator and a super tight lie turf mat. I know that the ground was soft, but I'm even more in love. Was only about 40* out but these are going exactly how far I was wanting them to go and I could increase or decrease that at will it seemed like.

As a bunch of you guys have also said, toe side on these is insanely forgiving. I was hitting multiple balls on the par threes tonight to just see the consistency. On one hole in particular, I flushed two of them and they ended within two yards of each other. Then I hit one really toe side (totally on purpose for science :ROFLMAO:) that only ended up four or five yards short of the flushed ones. It's just outrageous to see in person.

More to come of course, but first time outside was a huge success. So glad I jumped in on these
 
 
3-PW 1° up, Apex Elevate Tour stiff +1/2"

For some reason, everything was going left on the monitor today, and I haven't been able to make a ball got right to left in years. Kinda taking that with a grain of salt. Ive never done well hitting indoors, and I think alignment might play a part in it. The monitor had about 90% of my shots starting left of the target line. Tried a few different shafts and tried the Pro head, but didn't really feel like I got along with it. The lighter Elevate Tour just went more offline. They'll call Monday to see what kind of lead time there is and if we need to make a grip change, I'll do so then.

Since I had my own 7 iron in there, decided to try it out and it was also going left. Also had them check the loft and lie on it since I don't think its ever been checked, lie was 62° and loft was 36°. That's one degree flat and one degree weak from standard. I wish that was enough to explain my distance loss and inability to hit a draw anymore.
 
Picked up most of my DCBs today - apparently the 9 iron head is a hold-up - and took them to the range. Started really well and can tell I’ll ultimately be happy with them...but then out of the blue, the sh&$@ks started happening. Time to break out the voodoo doll.
 
woof, rough day with these irons today. not the irons fault at all, i just didn't have much which was a bummer. definitely hit some good shots, but lots of bad. the misses were way out to the toe, and came up short every time. it was also windy and a little below temp, so club selection may have been off too.
 
My Apex Standard were waiting for me yesterday so I took them and spent an hour at the only range I can hit off grass that has no sand and wow. These things are very impressive. I got some spin data as well and they do everything I need and want at the same time. The shape is very impressive with the amount of forgivness. I had P790s previous to these and so much more appealing to look at from address. Much more compact. I used a few cheap range balls that makes everything feel rather harsh, but when I switch to quality balls I was in love. I like the feel just as much as the Srixon Zx5 my buddy has. I could feel mis hits more with the Apex which is great that the face is so responsive and every shot DOESN'T feel the same no matter where you hit it and pured shots felt just as good maybe a fraction louder "maybe" but more feedback from the Apex. If that makes sense. Very impressive. And the Ets Elevates with the firmer tip make my dispersion so much tighter. Will give more feedback soon.
 
golf has been sidelined past few weeks until today. Finally got my Apex Pros out to the range for a quick session. First hits since delivery. It was off a sh**y mat but nice to get out and swing regardless.
The Pros are what I was looking for in terms of forgiveness in comparison to the MB's. Good flight and feel with the right distance I'm looking for...especially in the longer irons. With the MBs, I felt like I was hitting the 4through6 all the same distance. More to come tomorrow as I'm back to my regular morning 9 schedule.
 
Another range day today and swing was Gawd awful.... Apex didn’t mind at all... honestly I think I found the center of the club made 15/50 swings and you’d never have known based on distance and peak height. Just unbelievable how forgiving these irons are on mis hits. Clearly need some additional time with the swing but knowing how forgiving these irons are, I feel like I could play tomorrow and score decently regardless of not swinging a club since September 2020 (bar the 1/2 swings and 2 previous 3/4 sessions)!
Oh, DCB should be renamed to deep cavity beast
 
Round 1 in the books.
While I’m going through a swing change, I’m trying to figure out distances. Plus being still a bit cold, I was about 1/2 to full club short of my normal from last year. So missed a few greens.

That said, these are the easiest to hit irons I have ever tried. Every shot today was effortlessly straight. But on the 3-4 shots I needed, I was able to work the ball exactly as intended. A high draw around a tree, slight fade to a back right pin. The triple play irons are exactly what I needed this year. I remember hitting a 6 iron and felt the strike high off the toe. Thinking “oh that was so bad”, only to see it just miss the green left, but not nearly as short or bad as the result felt like it should be.

I can’t wait for the next chance to play.
 
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