The Utility Iron has long been a part of our modern golf vernacular, it’s a club that blends ideas together to make it more playable for a variety of skills.
But what about a Utility…Wood?
Curious? You and everyone else.
As the newest release from the minds behind Callaway Golf, this is another specialty club focused on doing things differently, and after months of whispers as well as Tour players like Phil Mickelson having it in the bag, its finally time to discuss this club.
Say hello to the new Callaway Apex UW.

What is in a name?
If you haven’t figured it out by now, Callaway will not simply slap the Apex name on just any club. They have shown us time after time that they will even push the entire release of the newest Apex irons a cycle if they aren’t demonstrably different and live up to what that Apex title stands for.
So, after working with their Tour staff to create something different, they have come up with a bridge club of sorts that takes the pluses of higher lofted fairways and blends them with the strongest performance benefits of low lofted hybrids. Take that concept and throw in all the tech that has made Callaway an industry leader, and they believe they had created something worthy of the name.
Callaway Apex UW
Yes, UW stands for Utility Wood. Is this a totally new concept? Not generally speaking, but there for sure hasn’t been anyone who has thrown this kind of design tech at this spot in the bag for a bridge club of sorts. The root of it all is simple, make a 5-Wood have a baby with a hybrid. Well, maybe it isn’t that simple, but it’s a pretty solid way to think about it.
The focus here is tee, turf, and rough. Callaway wanted a club that hits the trifecta for better players as usually for them it becomes a choice of only one, maybe two, of those things.

According to Callaway, the Apex UW has a higher launch and steeper descent angle which is more like a fairway wood than a hybrid. This means it becomes a point and shoot option from the tee but will hold the green when it’s being unleashed on a Par 5. However, the center of gravity is much more neutral in the Apex UW compared to Callaway’s 5-Woods which have some inherent draw bias, taking that away opens up comfort and confidence for the better player. Rounding it all out is spin, this isn’t meant to be a low spin monster like the Super Hybrid, rather, here the goal is for it to sit right between a hybrid and 5-wood.

While the concept is cool, a lot of clubs that have tried to establish themselves in this realm have suffered in technology as well as overall aesthetics. Frankly, most don’t look good, but that is something Callaway paid a heavy focus to through their Tour staff, and according to them, they are all raving about the UW. The shaping isn’t awkward, instead it is more compact than most will expect.

Internally, the three different lofts (17°, 19°, 21°) all feature the A.I. Flash Face SS21, all unique for this design to optimize speed generation and retention across the face. The same Jailbreak A.I Velocity Blades that were put into the Apex Hybrids are here as well to ensure maximized energy transfer through impact. Now, add in 18g of MIM’d tungsten on average to help create a neutral CG location and overall bias, you have the first players Utility Wood on the market.
While that is a lot to digest and get excited about, the performance will be most interesting to follow along with, and rest assured, THP will have a lot for you all on that front when the time comes. Is this a club that interests you? Do you have a spot in the bag for a design such as the Apex UW? Let us know below as well as on the THP Community!
The Details
Availability: 10/7/21 Pre-Order and 10/14/21 Retail
Price: $299.99
Shaft: Project X Smoke RDX
Lofts: 17°, 19°, 21°
Hi. I’m @OldandStiff . Apparently we’ve never met.
#NotYourGuyForThat
My gamer 3w is at 15.5 and I hit it well as a tee option if I need to keep the driver in the bag. However from the fairway it is a different story as I can’t get great strikes with it. A lot of thin or low in the face and some control issues.
Pondering whether the UW in 17 may be a good replacement.
Not too familiar with the characteristics of the stock hzrdus smoke black shaft. I have the Ping Tour 75g stiff in my 3w. Any feedback welcome. Thanks!
I’m just concerned I’m giving up too much by dumping the 3 wood and having my longest non-driver club be the 17° UW.
I ended up dropping my 3w when I added the 17deg UW. I don’t feel that I’ve lost anything at all. The 3w was maybe a touch longer on really well struck shots on teed up balls, but not by enough to outweigh the utility and forgiveness and ease of use the UW brings everywhere else. The positive aspects of the UW, and the near identical length off the tee has made my old 3w just a space killer in my garage. I have no regrets and feel like I’ve lost nothing by binning my 3w.
I have been using mine for everything.Today i used the 17 off the tee and It was perfect. My favorite shot of the day though was a par 5 into about a 15 mph wind. I left the tee shot way short then the second was hit well but not long and I had 195 into the green. With the wind I used the 17 and got myself on the green! Walked away with a par after a not so good drive!
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Looks like serious stopping power with the 17° too!
I was surprised to see that also!
Lots of versatility! Looks like I will have to find some time to get over to PGA SS to find a demo club and get some swings with this. You in the standard HZRDUS smoke black or did you customize the shaft?
I have a Fujikura NX speeder shaft in both.
The club was truly an amazing performer. I hit a couple of par fives into hitting it close to 215 yards in the air. This is essentially the club to replace my TSI to 7 wood. I was looking for a club in the 215 carry 220 total range to bridge my three wood and my four hybrid.
It is easy to hit easy to work yet wants to go straight if you don’t try to do anything fancy.
Sent from my SM-S908W using Tapatalk
I use it everywhere. It’s the most versatile club I’ve ever used, and earns the utility in its name.
It also remains one of the most fool proof clubs I’ve ever tested, played, or put into the hands of strangers to see their minds broken.
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This is one of the tee shots that you go right at the dark green trees in front of the power pole. It gets very narrow and slopes down to the right the farther you go. I put the ball right at the 150 marker right side of the FW which I would take every Time!
The tinkering never ends!
Apologize for the ignorance but are you able to bend a club like this? Familiar with bending irons but didnt know it was possible with a wood that didnt have an adjustable loft sleeve.
I have read of people bending them so I’m assuming an experienced club guy could bend it.
If it’s lie angle you’re looking for the easiest thing is just order it how you want it. Loft will take special machinery, experience, and trust.
My beloved UW. That I got way back in this thread on Oct 9, 2021 and has never left my bag since (I’m not even sure my putter can say that), developed rust. It was well loved and played nearly 350 rounds with me, being a total badass in nearly all of them. But yeah, rust.
And after talking to Callaway about it they sent me a replacement!!!
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Little weight swap and we are back in action! ?. Big shout out to them on this. Big.
Edit: Oh and about the post just above this, it’s 1 flat just like my last one.
Wow! 350 rounds in that timeframe…I could only dream!!!!
@OldandStiff is stiff for a reason. ???
Just bumped it up a few grams for swing weight mostly. Probably real minimal effect on spin. It’s pretty mid-flat regardless. I just use it in a lot of ways and it helps me have a feel for it when I really go after it. Which is fairly often because it’s the lone club that bridges my driver and my 20.5* UT.
That will be my planned setup as well. It will be the only bridge from D to 21* 7w.
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Seems like a fair assessment ??
Wish I could bottle that swing up
Sometimes a club just doesn’t work for your swing. Nothing wrong with that. I don’t get along with hybrids so I threw in the towel with them. UW’s are great clubs for people can make them work. But they aren’t for everyone.
You moving back to hybrids?