We've launched the new forums! Read more here

The Fitting Room - Callaway Golf Apex Combo Sets

Nippon Shafts
I'm surprised this thread didn't get more traction. I love the idea of a combo set, and this deserves a bump. Nearly a year later, and I still contemplate an Apex combo set because of the thought Callaway put into making the set blend. Different tooling for the Combo set irons, vs non-combo, is fascinating. The R&D, attention to detail, and changes like 1/2 a degree of loft give me comfort that the Combo set was well planned. So I ask:

Who has gone with a combo, Callaway or non Callaway? Are you glad you did?

If you haven't yet, do you think you will? Why or why not?
 
gkeller813 said:
I'm surprised this thread didn't get more traction. I love the idea of a combo set, and this deserves a bump. Nearly a year later, and I still contemplate an Apex combo set because of the thought Callaway put into making the set blend. Different tooling for the Combo set irons, vs non-combo, is fascinating. The R&D, attention to detail, and changes like 1/2 a degree of loft give me comfort that the Combo set was well planned. So I ask:

Who has gone with a combo, Callaway or non Callaway? Are you glad you did?

If you haven't yet, do you think you will? Why or why not?
Click to expand...


I went Apex21 Triple Play and played them all of last year, and absolutely loved them. It was a perfect blend of distance, forgiveness, workability, and looks. I was very very happy with them last year, and would definitely consider a combo set in the future based on how much success I had last year!
 
gkeller813 said:
I'm surprised this thread didn't get more traction. I love the idea of a combo set, and this deserves a bump. Nearly a year later, and I still contemplate an Apex combo set because of the thought Callaway put into making the set blend. Different tooling for the Combo set irons, vs non-combo, is fascinating. The R&D, attention to detail, and changes like 1/2 a degree of loft give me comfort that the Combo set was well planned. So I ask:

Who has gone with a combo, Callaway or non Callaway? Are you glad you did?

If you haven't yet, do you think you will? Why or why not?
Click to expand...
I was never really in the market but the Sweetspot combo would have been my choice.
 
xThor said:
I went Apex21 Triple Play and played them all of last year, and absolutely loved them. It was a perfect blend of distance, forgiveness, workability, and looks. I was very very happy with them last year, and would definitely consider a combo set in the future based on how much success I had last year!
Click to expand...

On my short list is the triple play or the mixed set!
 
xThor said:
I went Apex21 Triple Play and played them all of last year, and absolutely loved them. It was a perfect blend of distance, forgiveness, workability, and looks. I was very very happy with them last year, and would definitely consider a combo set in the future based on how much success I had last year!
Click to expand...
I can dig the Triple Play. Forgiveness where you need it in the long and mid irons, workability and precision in your scoring clubs. Plus, this way, you can get a little bit of everything in the Apex lineup. I liken it to a combo platter at a restaurant, get a little bit of each, because they all have something good to provide!
 
thewilderside said:
I was never really in the market but the Sweetspot combo would have been my choice.
Click to expand...
clarkgriswold said:
Can confirm. Great setup. Very happy with mine
Click to expand...
Sweet spot I think makes a lot of sense, especially if you struggle with the longer irons. I think this covers a lot of golfers, and what intrigues me about combo iron sets.
 
gkeller813 said:
Sweet spot I think makes a lot of sense, especially if you struggle with the longer irons. I think this covers a lot of golfers, and what intrigues me about combo iron sets.
Click to expand...

I'm really interested in these! Plus, Callaway adjusted the lofts so you aren't worried about huge gapping issues as well. Awesome they did that on all their combo sets you can buy online.
 
hadi05 said:
I'm really interested in these! Plus, Callaway adjusted the lofts so you aren't worried about huge gapping issues as well. Awesome they did that on all their combo sets you can buy online.
Click to expand...
They adjusted lofts, but also have a lot of fine tuning in the combo sets. Different tooling for the Combo vs the regular heads. The video from @vgolfman explaining it all is fascinating. Lots of R&D went into it.
 
gkeller813 said:
They adjusted lofts, but also have a lot of fine tuning in the combo sets. Different tooling for the Combo vs the regular heads. The video from @vgolfman explaining it all is fascinating. Lots of R&D went into it.
Click to expand...

Yep! So, true! Not sure how many sets they sold, but they really should have sold a bunch. @vgolfman is such an awesome guy. Pretty cool all the effort Callaway went into for the golfer with these sets.
 
Thinking about it now, it would be tough not to go with the Triple Play, but the Sweet Spot looks great too. Love that the Apex goes 4-7, and Pro 8-PW in the Sweet Spot. I feel like a good break for me, from a mental standpoint and how I hit the ball, is a break at the 7i.

Either way, a combo would have to include a Pro, because they look so good!
 
gkeller813 said:
Thinking about it now, it would be tough not to go with the Triple Play, but the Sweet Spot looks great too. Love that the Apex goes 4-7, and Pro 8-PW in the Sweet Spot. I feel like a good break for me, from a mental standpoint and how I hit the ball, is a break at the 7i.

Either way, a combo would have to include a Pro, because they look so good!
Click to expand...

TBH, I'm torn between them too.
 
gkeller813 said:
I'm surprised this thread didn't get more traction. I love the idea of a combo set, and this deserves a bump. Nearly a year later, and I still contemplate an Apex combo set because of the thought Callaway put into making the set blend. Different tooling for the Combo set irons, vs non-combo, is fascinating. The R&D, attention to detail, and changes like 1/2 a degree of loft give me comfort that the Combo set was well planned. So I ask:

Who has gone with a combo, Callaway or non Callaway? Are you glad you did?

If you haven't yet, do you think you will? Why or why not?
Click to expand...
I’ve gone combo set my last two. First it was the Apex 19 combo and really loved those clubs. I current have a Mizuno combo (HMP 5-7 forged 8-GW) and it’s literally the best of both worlds. With my long irons I went HMP for the forgiveness on mishits as I tend to struggle with those clubs. On the 8-GW for some reason they set up better and inspire confidence. I think checking lofts is absolutely necessary, but it’s something that unless I become a better ball striker with my irons I don’t see moving away from
 
mikeg_74 said:
I’ve gone combo set my last two. First it was the Apex 19 combo and really loved those clubs. I current have a Mizuno combo (HMP 5-7 forged 8-GW) and it’s literally the best of both worlds. With my long irons I went HMP for the forgiveness on mishits as I tend to struggle with those clubs. On the 8-GW for some reason they set up better and inspire confidence. I think checking lofts is absolutely necessary, but it’s something that unless I become a better ball striker with my irons I don’t see moving away from
Click to expand...
It's funny how I feel the same way with the more demanding irons in a combo set. When I look down, with what I consider a scoring clubs (8-PW) I like the thinner topline. I feel like I have a bit more accuracy right to left, and if I hit it well it's going to go on it's intended line.

Now from 4-7, give me the forgiveness, because from these distances I'm usually shooting to get it on the green. 7i is always the in between club, depends on lie, hazards, etc to whether or not I want to get it on the green vs wanting to be close to the hole.

In the end, I prefer an iron to a hybrid so getting more forgiving irons in the long irons spots, just makes sense. I've played one combo set, the Srixon 565/765's and loved them. A few opportunities from THP came about so I've been away from a combo set for a while, but would love to try another one out.
 
I think the combo sets are getting traction from more and more manufacturers also, but I think Callaway still leads the day with them. I considered getting a combo last Spring. I was contemplating trying to go Regular Apex, Pros, TCB's, but the TCB's weren't out in time. Overall, I am very happy to have a bag full of pros. I think the decision on the face technology was very good. The 8-P have great feel.
 
Cruskater said:
I think the combo sets are getting traction from more and more manufacturers also, but I think Callaway still leads the day with them. I considered getting a combo last Spring. I was contemplating trying to go Regular Apex, Pros, TCB's, but the TCB's weren't out in time. Overall, I am very happy to have a bag full of pros. I think the decision on the face technology was very good. The 8-P have great feel.
Click to expand...

In the same boat a bit now after the fact. I went full Apex Pro's originally and played them all of last year. Now that I have TCB's, I've been spending some time looking at full TCB's or a home-brewed combo set using the Pro 4 and 5 matched to the TCB 6-PW. The issue so far is that at least indoor, I hit them about the same. I did some testing on teh 4 iron ( Pro with Recoil Proto 110F5 and TCB with the Steelfiber i110cw XStiff ) and came away with 2 things: 1) The recoil's feel smoother and seem to launch a bit differently and 2) I get more variantion in ball speed with the TCB's due to strike location than on teh Pro with higher max speed on the TCB but also a larger tendency to drop speed when striking not centered.

#2 is not a huge shock and is what I expected but I didn't expect the ball speed champ to be the TCB and the consistency champ to be the Apex Pro. A different day may end up in a different result ( better or worse striking day will play a huge part ) which is why I need to hit them more and put some outdoor turf tests in play, which I can do with 18" of snow on the ground. :D
 
Tevenor said:
#2 is not a huge shock and is what I expected but I didn't expect the ball speed champ to be the TCB and the consistency champ to be the Apex Pro. A different day may end up in a different result ( better or worse striking day will play a huge part ) which is why I need to hit them more and put some outdoor turf tests in play, which I can do with 18" of snow on the ground. :D
Click to expand...
Really? I am surprised! Although I loved the look of the TCB's one of my concerns was maintaining ball speed especially on the mid and short irons. I generally am consistent with ball striking (path has always been my nemesis!) and liked how the Pros seemed to offer ball speed AND forgiveness through the 7i. I do lose some distance when I inevitably hit an 8i off the toe. Which had better misses? Like if I were to hit an 8i Pro off the toe vs 8i TCB off the toe, would the Pro still be better? I liked the lofts of the Apex line coming from the Rogues. I struggled with distance control on the Rogues and as well as trying to hit a baby anything (it was either straight or a yuuuge draw/fade.
 
Cruskater said:
Really? I am surprised! Although I loved the look of the TCB's one of my concerns was maintaining ball speed especially on the mid and short irons. I generally am consistent with ball striking (path has always been my nemesis!) and liked how the Pros seemed to offer ball speed AND forgiveness through the 7i. I do lose some distance when I inevitably hit an 8i off the toe. Which had better misses? Like if I were to hit an 8i Pro off the toe vs 8i TCB off the toe, would the Pro still be better? I liked the lofts of the Apex line coming from the Rogues. I struggled with distance control on the Rogues and as well as trying to hit a baby anything (it was either straight or a yuuuge draw/fade.
Click to expand...

I think you'll get better forgiveness with the pros but better spin / launch consistency in the TCBs.Here's my 7 iron comparison. 2 caveats: different shafts so not apples to apples and 2 or 3 bad shots with the TCB tanked the average speed and spin consistency. If I excluded those bad shots, the spin was less than 200 distribution at 6100 and ball speed was within .7 mph at 117.2 mph.

IMG_20220122_103151.jpg

The 4i was even closer together. More testing is definitely needed but so far it looks like even though the intention wasn't to match the Apex Pros and TCBs, they will make a really good seamless combo set if someone is in that ball park.
 
Wish the fitting room was still going. Call away had some great podcasts. I don’t think any are still active.
 
Davidhibler said:
🤷‍♂️

I struggle with combo sets. Never owned one but struggle with the concept.

I still need to listen to the episode. Will report back in like an hour :D
Click to expand...
Here's a link to the options for more visuals. If you scroll down a bit you'll find the combo sets.

Golf Irons & Iron Sets | Callaway Golf

Shop golf irons and combo sets at www.callawaygolf.com! Browse all golf irons and iron sets at the official Callaway online store.
www.callawaygolf.com
 
gkeller813 said:
Here's a link to the options for more visuals. If you scroll down a bit you'll find the combo sets.

Golf Irons & Iron Sets | Callaway Golf

Shop golf irons and combo sets at www.callawaygolf.com! Browse all golf irons and iron sets at the official Callaway online store.
www.callawaygolf.com
Click to expand...

Definitely going to be in my future this year. @Davidhibler, I say we both take the plunge this year :ROFLMAO:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top