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°
@Tenputt so what is your yardage gap between your 3W and the 17° UW? I ordered the 17° UW and thinking will taking out my Mavrik 4W and 18° Apex Pro Hybrid, so basically go from driver directly to the 17° UW.
It could work, particularly for those who are bombers. We have seen several reporting 260 to 275 yards with the 17*. It would not work for me. I have about a 25 yard gap between my 3 wood and the 17*. I then have about a 15 yard gap between the 17* and the 21*. So, for me, the 17* fits right in that 4 or 5 wood slot distance-wise. It is simply more versatile for me, though.
Thanks for the insight. I’m going to test out my 4W, 2H & 17° UW on my buddy’s skytrack this winter which should give me a good indication. I currently hit my Apex Pro 2H on course about 5-10 yds further than my 4W so hoping the 17° UW is longer than the 2H so I can take 2 clubs out of my bag.
I see the 17 and the 21 as being a good combo too.
The 19 is probably a solo, mostly.
But at 17, 20, and 23—those are numbers that appeared on the Original Pittsburgh Persimmons of the 1980s– 1990s Titleist PTs also—
they may have sold all three to somebody. But I’m sure they’re good just as they are according to their own market research.
I really like the overall scale of the club as a nice match with TaylorMade’s smaller 307cc driver.
For my style of play, I could easily see…
13.5º 307cc driver.
driving iron
UD 17 and 21º
24° 4-iron to 42° 9-iron [ my set’s actual published loft specs ]
48, 54, 60° wedge set
putter.
I wouldn’t need a fairway wood stronger than 17° [ perhaps should say I wouldn’t hit it well ]
and I like a dedicated [ tee only ] driving iron on my home course instead.
one shot that stands out was a shot out of the rough to spin about 222 or so away. I pulled the 19* and I never felt the ball leave the face. The ball landed right at the front of the green so I got a 210 out of this one. Very happy with the results.
the 21* was hit a couple of times and while the results we mixed, the confidence was good and once I get into a groove I’ll be ok.
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Feather cut. Boom. Eagle. Great end to a round.
The fact that I would even try that shot with the UW says everything to me. No thoughts of left bias or a deadly double cross even entered my mind. I just do not do that with similar clubs. Hand, meet glove.
I don’t know that it will beat out my current 7W (22*/42") but figure it will be a fun one to test out.
I was able to finally hit the 21 in the wild, and it did not disappoint. I’m in total love with this club, and can’t wait to see what, or how, this spot in the bag can get better when the Callaway guys get their hands on me.
How far do you hit the 21* vs the 5i?
I think the 17* is perfectly capable of eliminating either a 3w, 4w, or 2H…… I played driver, mini driver 13.5*, and 2h 18*. Right now the plan is to drop the mini and 2h in favor of the 17* and 21*
For me after 2 sessions ive seen the 17* have 9 yards more carry and 12 yards more overall over the 2h. Like @Tenputt mentioned I think its capable for longer hitters to go driver straight to 17 UW. I’m getting 260+ out of the 17* so theres really no need for me to carry anything stronger than that
If you decided to stay with 4w then id recommend going to 21* but also depends loft of your 4i / 4h. My 4i is a 24* blade so the 21* blends perfectly. If you play a stronger 4i or hybrid then the 19* might be the way to go
Outdoors at ECPC with real Chrome Soft sounds like a pretty good place to try it out.
Takes standard .335 wood shafts
Thank you.
I have not received any updates from PGA SS since ordering on 10/27. I reached out to Callaway customer service yesterday and they confirmed that my order shipped out Tuesday.
Posting this as an example as just how dang easy this thing is to hit. I really do feel like there’s a lot of forgiveness in it.
So my miss is heel side, typically, but a combination of trying to hit a big sweeping draw to position between the trees and a tired body made me do about 12 things wrong and I toe’d the crap out of it. I mean really not good contact at all. Besides the fact that it still managed the big sweeping draw to perfect position instead of going all ducky on me, it went impressively far for really soft (flooded) conditions. I didn’t gps anything, and there was a slightly helping breeze, but I had 82 left to the pin in the exact spot I would have wanted it. I went from going ‘OH SWEET JESUS’ right after I hit it to ‘Oh, that’s actually pretty good’ when it landed.
It’s a good club.
Also, we put one together for a friend of mine with some unique needs and he hit the heck out of it today. Easy launch, didn’t spin anything up in the wind really, and just had a great time hitting it well.
Just saw it! Cool shot with a UW, and love that he’s playing it. I could pretty much play his whole bag and love it. Ventus Black on a Speed, the UW, TCBs, … I’ve enjoyed watching his equipment this year.
I ordered from PGA and didnt get any updated info. First email I received was a FedEx tracking email from Callaway. Sure enough the UW’s showed up 2 days later. Got an email from PGA superstore probably a week after they were already delivered that they shipped
Likewise, I got email with FedEx tracking and less than an hour later another saying was delivered ?.
So are you setting up your bag with Driver, 3w, 17* UW, and then into 4i?
I keep thinking this could be a good one for me. I like my Mavrik 18* hybrid because it flat works off both the tee and deck, and I find it easier to hit/more forgiving and than a narrower more iron like "Pro" hybrid model. Might have to go browse the LGS sometime.
No, I don’t carry a 3W. And that thing is basically a 4W for me, but more useful. I’ve been doing the 2 driver thing, UW, 4i a lot, but with one driver down I’ve been doing my summer versatility setup of Driver, 17* UW, UT, 4i and that’s been really nice.
That’s one of the things I like about it. It does really well in the rough like one of the pros or peanuts without being that little and feeling so hard. The plate-ish front and step to some trail relief really does have something imo over a flat bottom hybrid of similar size.
taking the STZ, 300 and UW out for the tourney today…4H instead of 4i, tho
Going to get out to the range tomorrow with the rapsodo to get some data compared to the 7W I currently have in the bag.
That is a really nice shot shape.
Incumbent: Taylormade Sim Max D 22*, 42" long with graphite design 65S shaft.
– one of my favorite clubs, easy to hit, only issue is sometimes I hit it further than my 4W and worried with swing changes about the Draw bias in the head.
Challenger: Apex UW 21* 41" long with UST Mamiya Linq Purple 6F4 (65 gram stiff flex)
I expected the Apex to be more consistent in distance, but probably a touch shorter because of the 1" shorter shaft length. That was not the case…. I hit the UW 9 yards longer on average and was more consistent with it….. now this is only about 8 shots with each club, but the results were really consistent between both clubs.
Think I will throw the UW in the bag for the next couple rounds and keep doing some testing on the launch monitor. Want to try them both on quad with my gamer ball to see if those numbers hold up.
I’m going to have to cancel. Guess I can go the eBay route. ?
You definitely need it before then. eBay all the way.
Ouch. That sucks!!
It be, what it be. I’ll find one. Haha
Are you close enough to anywhere to go the brick and mortar route? i.e. PGA Superstore?
Our local GG didnt have any last I checked. Probably save a few bucks on the Bay too.
Hahaha! That GIF is all the feels
Oh, it be happenin!
Can’t confirm on specs, but Budget says on the website ships tomorrow…
CALLAWAY APEX UTILITY WOOD | Discount Prices for Golf Equipment
http://www.budgetgolf.com
Oh SNAP!
And lets be honest, specs are whatever because I’ll internet golf it as soon as it gets in and swap the shaft out.
What options did you go with? I was amazed when mine got out in less than a week.