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°
I went and hit it again along with the super hybrid. Only conclusion I came to was I can’t hit indoors.
Hey, I made you an offer. Get a tee time Saturday somewhere down in Utah County and I will even make the drive down and you can hit both. I have both of them in 21. That is, if I remember correctly that you live in Happy Valley.
Let’s do it. I’m happy to come up your way. I’d love to hit the 17°
I hit everything from shaped serves to stickums to huge knuckle chasers with this thing today, on. command. Bring me ALL the UDub shots, all the time. I’m addicted.
That’s going to be fun to follow
I went into a store to try these and see what they were all about.
Boy oh boy are they good. For me personally, the stock RDX Black is an almost perfect fit (learned this from actual fitting with my fitter at CC) so seeing it as the stock option, was a pleasant surprise.
After some cuts on tracman, and this club feeling so good, like a comfortable broke in pair of old jeans. A thing was done.
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I can’t wait to get it on course ?
I’ll try to get out on Saturday with my Heavenwood and Apex 4 hybrid to compare to the UW. Love the look at address.
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Apex Pro 4 hybrid. 17 Apex UW and Epic Heavenwood. Looks like it fits nicely between them.
Also interesting is how they they diverge.
This thread is mostly about experiences with the UW.
The Golfwrx one is mostly about a glitch at PGASS that allows you to get the LAGP Trono shaft (normally a $350 upcharge) free.
That said I have joined the gang and ordered a 19* UW. With the Trono because why not.
I’m hoping to simplify the top of my bag.
Currently I have a 21* Epic Flash 4 hybrid which I adore. It is truly magic. Straight or slight draw. The most consistent club in my bag after the driver.
Then a 19* Ping G410 which theoretically goes somewhat further and is set up to fade but which I suspect doesn’t go much further.
Then a 17.5* Cobra F6 Baffler opened to 16.5* which goes further again and which I draw. It is the longest lived club in my bag.
But I feel there is one club too many in that group.
Now that I am old I can’t realistically go for par 5s in two. Instead I need something I can consistently hit further than my magic 4 hybrid on long par 4s.
So I’m hoping the UW can replace the G410 and the Baffler.
Hoping to come home to some new clubs today!
How does turf interaction compare with the 3?
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The Smoke Black RDX is fairly stout, certainly similar to other Project X shafts. It is low launch and spin. I am sure that I could play a 5.5 easily, although the 6 is working great for my driver speed that hovers around 98 to 100 mph.
How long do you think the carry is on it for you not counting for elevated tee (you mentioned downhill)?
Where I’m at, the elevation is about 5500. So downhill and elevation was 270. Flat where I’m at is about 235-240 carry for me. It carries every bit as far as my previous hybrid that was 19*.
The consistent distance is very good!
Were these purchased from a club champion like store or ordered from callaway with the LA shafts?
That’s really good. Awesome for you…
That is something that Callaway touted (at least Mickelson mentioned it in his video) and that I have noticed. The north/south dispersion is incredibly good.
That’s been my experience so far as well. Hit it off the deck from a tee box on another hole and was a beautiful baby fade. Loved it. Definitely has more height than my hybrid or UT iron.
Purchased through PGA Superstore. For some reason PGA let’s you build a custom club online for the UW
I hadn’t seen LA Golf available until today when I looked on Callawaygolf.com. Can’t wait to hear how you hit them.
Just left my indoor session and after 1 round I can’t make any conclusions/ assumptions.
Shaft feels nice. Plays stiff to flex but also quite smooth.
I don’t love the head without any alignment aid on top. Relatively easy to hit and saw the same flight window which is encouraging. Speed wise it’s nothing impressive to my PXG Gen4 18* hybrid w/ Ventus blue 9x. Maybe it’s familiarity but Gen4 was giving me more repeatable numbers and consistency
Indoors. First time hitting. Overall not bad but not blown away. Time will tell if I keep these or not
Love hearing this from someone like you, and glad you’re getting some people set up with it. ?
Got the chance to test out this bad boy today. Hit the first ball and my reaction was WOW! This club has some serious pop! Ball speeds were consistently in the mid 150’s. Very forgiving too! It seems to favor a little bit of a draw, but very consistent in terms of carry distance and easy enough to hit a high fade if needed. Actually went a little farther than I was hoping, but I can still try the 21 degree in the future, which may be perfect since the 19 degree went about 15 yards too far for what I need in terms of gapping. ZERO trouble getting this to launch in the air and compact enough that I think it would be pretty reasonable to hit out of the rough too. GREAT CLUB!!
Carry numbers for me with this were pretty similar to the Epic Super Hybrid. The Super Hybrid rolled out a little more, which was expected. I did find the UW easier to hit off the mat tonight than the Super Hybrid. I jumped on the Super Hybrid train early. I still think the 2H meets my needs, but I totally see the appeal of the UW.
I didn’t have a ton of luck with the RDX Blue in some drivers this year, but the Black pairing here worked pretty well for me. Well enough I could game it with no hesitation.
And there’s no upcharge for the Trono
Yea glitch on the PGA website. Thats the only reason I bought them. Figured it was worth a shot to try the shaft. Its been 2 weeks now im surprised they’ve done nothing about it bc Callaway’s site is $345 upcharge
This excites me. I like the idea of a 3 wood or superhybrid in the top of the bag for when I just want distance / a safe backup choice off the tee. But in the position I envision this fitting I want to have consistent distances as this will help me with long approaches where I don’t want that random hot ball which can get me in trouble.
From what you have described about your game, I really think this would be an awesome addition to your bag.
Based on what all you guys are saying I strongly agree. Loved the look in hand, but didn’t want to hit it indoors. Outdoor shop doesn’t have one to demo yet, and fairly expensive to buy blind (not that its stopped me before).
I personally believe that this is as neutral as you could ever find for a club that is either a wood or a hybrid. Thus, I think most good ball strikers will find the ball flight that they hit naturally to come pretty consistently with head.
But what loft….
sound wise they nailed it. I’m not great describing the sound, but it would be what I call crisp and felt very compact (in a good way) at impact. This one reminds me a lot of the divine 9 experience I had a few years back.
I’ve been up and down with my hybrid and I’m in serious ponder mode adding the 21* and dropping the hybrid.
I added the 21 in place of my 4 hybrid and am not looking back.
I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THE GAPS!?
Shaft options are meh for me.
You always have a nice selection waiting around for just such an emergency.