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Callaway Apex CF 16 Irons Review Thread

SuperStroke
I tried posting this from Tapatalk, but the forgiveness low on the face saved my (and my partners) bacon today. In alternate shot format I could not get in a rhythm and hit several low on the face and still ended up on the green.

When I did strike it well (maybe twice sadly) the feel is phenomenal. I loved the original Apex, but these are an improvement IMHO.
 
I recently tested at hot stix and the cobra forged tech with Paderson shaft beat everything else in every category for me.
 
mancest said:
I tried posting this from Tapatalk, but the forgiveness low on the face saved my (and my partners) bacon today. In alternate shot format I could not get in a rhythm and hit several low on the face and still ended up on the green.

When I did strike it well (maybe twice sadly) the feel is phenomenal. I loved the original Apex, but these are an improvement IMHO.
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Agreed on them being an improvement, and easily my favorite irons on the market, by a good bit.
 
I was fitted for a set of these at the PGA superstore in Florida last week. Should have them in hand next week ! I tried many irons, many times but nothing ever compared to the CF16 on the scope. Hopefully it translates to the course !
 
CAA_Beat said:
On course update:
So I had the chance to get in some golf last week on the bookend of the PGA Show, only 13 holes on Tuesday AM and 9 holes Friday afternoon. However, both outings were my first real on course use of the irons, other than a few holes of practice at my course the week they came in.

Looks:
Many have seen the pics, so not a whole lot to say about them, other than some personal observations. They look really nice at address, not super thick and so thin I get uncomfortable. I love the brushed metal look of the recoil shafts, many people thing they are stell shafts when they first see them. The Green grips, just really stand out on these and are a nice contrast to the shaft.


Feel:
Is a topic that draws a lot of conversation. I'll admit right up front, as a higher cap (20) I don't focus on feel as much as results and forgiveness. That said, like anybody I do like a club that feels soft or solid on impact with the ball, not clicky or hard. These fit the bill perfectly there. On the pure hits, I don't know how to describe it, you don't really feel it, but the sound and sight of the ball jumping off the face, leaves know doubt you hit it on the sweet spot and compressed it nicely.

On the not so perfect strikes, you do notice more of a contact, but not in a harsh way. My miss with irons tends to be low on the face, as my big swing fault is early extension/coming out of a shot. I had heard a lot about the forgiveness on these on that low face impact, and I definitely witnessed it a few times. In none of those cases was the shot horrible or costly, in two cases I still ended up on the front fringe, and another time, I ended up short of a green-side bunker to the right, which left me with a chance to still chip up for a par or bogey.


Distance:
Ok the final verdict of these is still out, but the early returns based on these two "rounds" are that I'm seeing two clubs more than my previous iron (Wilson D200) which is going to shock a lot of people. But I'm convinced that Callaway has something here with the CupFace technology.

In my demo of this iron last fall with Emarts, I hit a 5 iron 165 yards pin high on a par 3, normally that would have been a 4 hybrid for me. So naturally when I faced a shot of similar distance last week, I went for the 5, and it was one of the above shots I mentioned where I didn't have a great swing, but fell just a few yards short and left me in a good spot.

Later I teed the 5 iron up on a 185 yard par 3, I knew I wouldn't get there, but I wanted to see just how close it would be, a good swing resulted in a shot that was straight at flag and about 10 yards short of green. So that would be about on par with the 165 yard's I had previously seen.

They were consistently longer through the set. I ran into Chad Coleman (who I've know for a few years) at the show on Thursday and getting caught up I told him I had picked these irons up. He went on about how great they were, and that a lot of people were seeing 1 to 1.5 clubs more in distance. When I told him I was probably seeing closer to 2, he just smiled and said, I love it!!

I'm an old guy and have lost a lot of distance over the past 7 years due to age and injuries. It actually made me feel good to be hitting a 7 iron 150 yards again. Not a huge distance for some, but something that I can live with as very respectable.

Shorter Irons
Not a lot to say here, as honestly, Berumuda Grass can bite my A$$, oh wait a minute, it did!! I struggled a lot with the gap wedge and PW when I tried to hit a few bump and runs or short pitches around the green, with the club getting stuck in the grass. I know Bermuda is a different animal than i'm used to, so I can't really give a fair thought here. I will say, I like the feel of the 9 and PW and will work a lot this spring on using those for chipping and bump and run, as opposed to my 54 that I had been using for all green side shots.

Conclusion
So obviously there is a lot of golf to be played this spring and summer with these, I'm sure I'll have my ups and downs, mainly due to my HC level, and there will probably be days where I can't hit a solid shot (although I do have a much more indepth practice plan in place this year) but I'm very confident that these will really help me drop some strokes with the added distance and the incredible ability to just go straight.

Overall I'm very pleased with the early returns and will continue to update my thoughts here.
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There you go, do it.
cornerjunkie said:
I have these irons, along with a set of MD3 wedges sitting in the cart on the website waiting for me to pull the trigger... Someone push me over the edge!
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Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
I have these on order... Cant wait to get my hands on them!
 
I'm just a few hours from getting out on the course. Really gonna be putting the forgiveness to the test because I'll be wearing layers haha not sure I'll be making many good swings
 
Today was about as good of a ball striking day as I've had in a long time. I hit a lot of good approaches and tee shots on par 3s and my confidence is growing each round with them.
Perfect example of the forgiveness was on a par 5 I had 211 to the hole but it was downhill about 5 yards. So I know that if I hit a clean 5 iron I can get there. I ended up getting way too steep and caught it really chunky. The grass ball mark was at the very top of the iron face. It landed just five paces short of the green and unfortunately plugged. But it still went every bit of 190. I'll take that drop off on a miss that bad
 
Good stuff PhillyV. I'm excited to go hit these again.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk
 
Well, you guys did a good job pushing me over the edge. I've got a 4-PW set along with MD3 50, 54, 60 wedges ordered. Can't wait!
 
cornerjunkie said:
Well, you guys did a good job pushing me over the edge. I've got a 4-PW set along with MD3 50, 54, 60 wedges ordered. Can't wait!
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Enjoy them CJ. Looking forward to your thoughts once you get them in hand.
 
Was hitting these on the simulator this weekend, and I still cannot get over how forgiving the long irons are. Was playing around with the 4 iron and seeing 195ish consistently. These cf16 fly high when struck well, and are easy to get up in the air. Had a couple thinish toe shots travel about 188 and on target. I'm getting forgiveness similar to the rocketbladez long iron but without the harsh sound/feel and in a smaller, sexier package. And once again, the AW in the set is just so good. I feel very confident in shots from the 90-110 range. It will be a mental challenge to not want to hit this AW instead of the 54* md3 in certain spots... and that is saying something!
 
JB said:
Enjoy them CJ. Looking forward to your thoughts once you get them in hand.
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Thanks! I am anxious to get these in my bag. Weather doesn't look great for the coming weeks, but at least I have a heated range to go to.
 
im convinced the best iron in this set for me is a tie between the 5 iron and the A wedge. I love them both and both are weapons for me. I had an approach on a par 5 yesterday that was 205 all carry over water with an alley between two trees. Pace was awful and we were waiting for the green to clear so this had bad shot written all over it. I ended up hitting it perfectly through my window and would have stuck the green had it not been frozen. But it was still a 210 yard 5 iron that i barely had to swing at. CF is legit and it is my friend
 
PhillyV said:
im convinced the best iron in this set for me is a tie between the 5 iron and the A wedge. I love them both and both are weapons for me. I had an approach on a par 5 yesterday that was 205 all carry over water with an alley between two trees. Pace was awful and we were waiting for the green to clear so this had bad shot written all over it. I ended up hitting it perfectly through my window and would have stuck the green had it not been frozen. But it was still a 210 yard 5 iron that i barely had to swing at. CF is legit and it is my friend
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210 yard 5 iron? Can I have that?
 
PhillyV said:
im convinced the best iron in this set for me is a tie between the 5 iron and the A wedge. I love them both and both are weapons for me. I had an approach on a par 5 yesterday that was 205 all carry over water with an alley between two trees. Pace was awful and we were waiting for the green to clear so this had bad shot written all over it. I ended up hitting it perfectly through my window and would have stuck the green had it not been frozen. But it was still a 210 yard 5 iron that i barely had to swing at. CF is legit and it is my friend
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Im the 7 iron. Its like it is cheating for me for some reason. I have viewed so many sets as equal, but when I get to that 7 iron range, this club seems to do the work for me. I think it comes down to getting the most out of the miss however.
 
JB said:
Im the 7 iron. Its like it is cheating for me for some reason. I have viewed so many sets as equal, but when I get to that 7 iron range, this club seems to do the work for me. I think it comes down to getting the most out of the miss however.
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Since you now have the C200 and the CF16's, how would you compare the two? It might be a pretty open ended question, but I am pondering both sets with the Apex being in the lead by a hair.
 
Golds said:
Since you now have the C200 and the CF16's, how would you compare the two? It might be a pretty open ended question, but I am pondering both sets with the Apex being in the lead by a hair.
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Both really good clubs. At the same time both very different clubs.
I find the C-200 to be some of the best pure distance clubs I have found to date, and they are in a great looking more compact package.
I find the Apex CF16 to be just oozing perfection in feel and looks while offering substantial forgiveness not seen before in a package this size.

Hit them both is what I say, and you will know pretty quickly which one is right for you.
 
JB said:
Both really good clubs. At the same time both very different clubs.
I find the C-200 to be some of the best pure distance clubs I have found to date, and they are in a great looking more compact package.
I find the Apex CF16 to be just oozing perfection in feel and looks while offering substantial forgiveness not seen before in a package this size.

Hit them both is what I say, and you will know pretty quickly which one is right for you.
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Although distance is always nice, the complete package is what I am after. Not being able to get my hands on the C200's yet is a problem, especially this time of year in upstate NY to compare them. I can hear the Apex calling my name with recoil 110's.
 
All I really want this year is a driver,golf balls and some hats, I love my irons Callaway Apex but reading all these great comments I'm going to have to try these and compare to my apex irons.
 
Golds said:
Although distance is always nice, the complete package is what I am after. Not being able to get my hands on the C200's yet is a problem, especially this time of year in upstate NY to compare them. I can hear the Apex calling my name with recoil 110's.
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My plan was to hold out and test them both against each other, but after loving the original Apex and hearing all the great reviews I bailed on waiting for the C200s and ordered these.

I am 99.99% happy with them, but that 0.01% wonders how I would have got on with the C200s and what I could have done with the extra dough. If you can hit them both to remove any doubt, go for it, but if not I will be very surprised if you don't love these.
 
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allsportscoach said:
All I really want this year is a driver,golf balls and some hats, I love my irons Callaway Apex but reading all these great comments I'm going to have to try these and compare to my apex irons.
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They improved on the original Apex with these. I had original Apex and loved them. But these are definitely an improvement, which is saying something. Why sticks out most for me is forgiveness on the bottom groove and also towards the toe.
 
Misike said:
They improved on the original Apex with these. I had original Apex and loved them. But these are definitely an improvement, which is saying something. Why sticks out most for me is forgiveness on the bottom groove and also towards the toe.
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The cupface in the long irons is just so good. BTW, I saw you put your old apexes on ebay a while back. My buddy showed them to me and asked if I thought that they were legit. I saw misikeonthebeach from stow, and I assured them they would be the real deal... small world
 
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