In this video Joe Ferguson, Golf Monthly gear staff writer, casts his verdict on the new Callaway Apex iron range for 2024 and explains the subtle differences between the models aimed at the lower handicapper.
The Callaway Apex MB and Apex Pro replace the previous models while the Apex CB is a completely new model, so it will be interesting to see where this fits in.
Hopefully by watching this video, you'll have an idea as to which one is best suited to you if you're in the market for a new set.
The Callaway Apex MB and Apex Pro replace the previous models while the Apex CB is a completely new model, so it will be interesting to see where this fits in.
Hopefully by watching this video, you'll have an idea as to which one is best suited to you if you're in the market for a new set.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:01 Right, today I want to talk to you about
00:02 the new Apex line from Callaway.
00:04 We've got three different models.
00:05 We've got the MB, the CB, and the Pro,
00:07 all designed for slightly different golfers.
00:09 So I'm going to do some testing
00:10 and find out which model's going to suit you.
00:12 (upbeat music)
00:15 Right, so first up, I wanted to talk about
00:18 the looks of this Apex range.
00:19 And it's very difficult not to fall in love
00:22 with what Callaway have done here.
00:23 I love the finish.
00:25 It's kind of a brushed steel, satiny finish.
00:28 It doesn't have that harsh chrome look
00:30 that a lot of the irons do.
00:32 And there's a real, what I think is a real feature
00:34 of these irons is there's a real cohesion
00:36 between each model.
00:37 We've got the MB, the CB, and the Pro.
00:40 And when you zoom in, there's real nods to each model
00:43 within the other model.
00:44 So comboing a set, if you want to go with some MBs
00:47 in the short irons and some CBs,
00:49 or even three-way combo Pro further up.
00:52 So I'm going to take a look at the MB.
00:55 And straight away, when you put it up
00:56 against the other head,
00:57 you notice it is smaller.
00:59 There is definitely a smaller footprint.
01:00 It's a very traditional kind of bladed shape
01:04 and size and footprint.
01:06 It is a little bit longer heel to toe
01:08 than its predecessor,
01:09 which can give you a little bit more confidence
01:11 down by the ball.
01:12 It does instill that little bit more confidence.
01:14 But when you do put it down behind the ball,
01:17 you've got a really, really very thin top edge,
01:20 which you'd expect from an iron of this ilk,
01:22 but a very angular, pointy finish.
01:25 There's not sort of the soft curves
01:27 that you would associate with a blade
01:29 down this end of the market.
01:30 It is kind of more of a harsher, more angular feel.
01:34 Okay, and onto the CBs.
01:36 Now, probably shouldn't say this early in the video,
01:38 but certainly visually, this is my pick of the bunch.
01:41 It's just got the perfect blend for me.
01:43 It's perfect size.
01:44 It's got lovely soft edges.
01:46 I love the subtlety of the Callaway logo.
01:49 They've even sort of embossed that in silver
01:51 rather than in black.
01:52 So whilst it's still visible,
01:54 it's a bit more subtle.
01:55 When you put it down by the ball,
01:57 it's a very, very different shape to the MB.
02:00 It's got a much more rounded and soft toe area,
02:04 but a similar heel to toe length,
02:05 and arguably a similar top line thickness.
02:09 It's not much thicker than the bladed version.
02:12 Minimal to no offset, which I really, really enjoy.
02:16 And like I said, visually for me,
02:17 I think this is probably the pick of the bunch of the range.
02:20 Okay, and lastly, the Apex Pro model.
02:22 So this is the hollow body construction iron they've got.
02:25 So it offers a little bit more flex in the face,
02:26 a little bit more pop, and a little bit more ball speed.
02:29 But it's all wrapped up in a really subtle
02:31 kind of better player package.
02:33 It's not giving you the feel you've got
02:35 something that's giving you too much help
02:36 or game improvement here.
02:38 That said, when you do put it down behind the ball,
02:41 it is noticeably a little bit larger in its profile.
02:43 It's got a thicker top line,
02:45 and you're starting to see the introduction
02:46 of a bit more offset.
02:48 But it's really subtle.
02:49 It's not in your face game improvement.
02:52 It's just little nods to know
02:54 you've got a little bit more help.
02:55 The head's just a touch bigger.
02:56 You've got that little bit more offset
02:58 to give you a little bit more time to square the blade.
03:00 And you've got a thicker top line,
03:02 giving you the indication
03:04 you've got a little bit of assistance here.
03:06 (upbeat music)
03:08 So I want to talk to you a little bit
03:10 about the feel of these different models.
03:12 I'm here in the 18th fairway
03:14 at the beautiful Northamptonshire County Golf Club.
03:16 And I'm going to hit a couple with each
03:17 and just talk you through my feelings
03:19 that I get at impact and what I feel about the club
03:22 from a sound and feel perspective.
03:23 So I've got the MB first.
03:25 I've got about 175 yards into the 18th.
03:28 I'm going to hit a couple with each.
03:29 So predictably, that felt buttery soft.
03:36 I mean, it's a lovely soft forged blade.
03:40 There was a real depth to the strike,
03:41 and I don't know whether that's something to do
03:42 with the positioning of this weight
03:45 that sits directly behind impact.
03:47 It's interesting.
03:48 It's buttery soft, but it also feels
03:50 there's a depth and a solidity to the strike.
03:53 I really enjoy that.
03:54 Let's get another one.
03:55 Little bit cleaner that one.
04:00 A little bit more off the bottom of the face,
04:02 but it still made the distance.
04:04 Something I have noticed, and I've tested these before,
04:06 is the turf interaction with the new
04:09 Dual Champ for Soul that Callaway have.
04:10 They've worn off a little bit, pre-worn.
04:13 A lot of the leading edge made that a little bit softer
04:15 and a little bit of the back edge,
04:17 which a lot of people don't do and have forgotten.
04:19 So the leading edge tends to help
04:20 with the entrance into the turf,
04:22 makes that a little bit smoother.
04:24 But softening this back edge helps the exit from the turf,
04:27 so it doesn't feel like the club gets caught up in the turf,
04:30 which is actually a really nice, smooth feeling at impact,
04:33 which I really enjoy.
04:34 So I'm just going to move on to CB
04:35 and see if there's any noticeable difference.
04:37 That was noticeably more lively.
04:43 It's not a hot feeling you get off a distance iron
04:47 that's got a springy face,
04:48 but it's just got a little bit more energy to the strike
04:53 than it feels on the MB.
04:55 Certainly not a jumpy one,
04:57 certainly not anything too poppy,
04:58 but there's just a little bit more energy,
05:00 which is a really interesting feel
05:02 and one that I really like, actually.
05:04 It's got the softness that the MB has,
05:09 but it just gives me the feeling, like I said,
05:11 a little bit more energy's being transferred into the ball
05:14 or a little bit more life in the strike.
05:16 I really, really like that.
05:18 I'm going to go move on to the Pro.
05:19 So really nice turf interaction again there.
05:26 No sense of snagging up or catching.
05:29 That's probably my closest shot, actually.
05:30 It's a little bit left of the other two,
05:33 which is something you would expect,
05:34 a little bit more offset in the Pro.
05:36 Really good turf interaction again.
05:41 You can definitely feel, again, a little bit more pop
05:43 and a little bit more energy in strike.
05:45 Real subtle differences between these irons,
05:48 but a nice symbiosis in there as well,
05:51 which knows you're hitting things from the same range,
05:53 which is great.
05:53 So now I want to talk to you about the performance
06:05 of these individual models,
06:06 because there are some subtle differences
06:08 between the models, as you'd expect,
06:11 but it is worth being aware of these
06:12 before making your decision on
06:14 which model you're going to go for
06:15 or which combo set you might put together yourself.
06:18 So I'm just going to hit a couple away
06:19 and talk to you about those differences.
06:21 So I've got the MB in my hand,
06:24 and we've got about 175 yards to this green.
06:26 Came out a lovely window,
06:32 exactly the launch I would expect to see.
06:34 It wasn't climbing too much.
06:36 I'll pop a little bit of data on the screen now
06:38 so you can see the comparison between the models,
06:40 but it's a very familiar launch and spin window for me
06:43 for what I'm used to.
06:44 So somewhere around just under the 7,000 revs per minute mark
06:49 which produces pretty much a good flight for me.
06:52 Okay, so that'll be interesting.
06:57 That's a little bit lower on the face.
06:58 What I really did like about that
07:00 is immediately upon mistriking it somewhat,
07:03 I could tell you pretty much exactly where on the face
07:05 that that came from.
07:06 That was some really good feedback.
07:07 So that's a really nice feature of the MBs.
07:10 So moving into the CBs now.
07:13 Again, I'll pop the data up for the CBs
07:15 so you can have a little look at where this comes from.
07:16 And from my previous testing,
07:19 you'll see the actual performance
07:21 in terms of distance and spin
07:23 almost identical to the MBs.
07:25 They're the same in loft,
07:28 pretty much a similar construction
07:29 in terms of there's no hollow body
07:31 giving us a little more ball speed or anything like that.
07:33 So the windows are very, very similar.
07:36 It's just the feel really I found
07:37 between these models that is different.
07:39 That'll be a nice comparison.
07:44 Actually, that was, again, a little bit low on the face
07:47 and probably a bit heely,
07:48 but that's pretty much pin high actually.
07:51 I've just seen where that's landed
07:52 and that looks, it's made it past the bunker
07:54 that the MB dropped into.
07:56 So that would suggest that I'm getting a lot more
07:59 or certainly a significant amount more forgiveness
08:01 out of the CB than I am out of the MB.
08:04 Okay, so now I'm going to hit a couple
08:05 with the Apex Pro Iron.
08:07 And this is a slightly different proposition
08:09 to the other two.
08:10 Obviously, we know it's a hollow body construction.
08:12 And again, I'm going to pop up the data for you
08:13 to have a little look at for what we can see on screen
08:15 and be interesting to see if it carries through
08:17 into a real life situation here.
08:19 But what I saw was marginally higher launch,
08:22 but a bit less spin.
08:23 So almost a bit more of a driver flight.
08:25 So I was getting a significant amount more distance
08:28 from the Pro Irons than I was from the MB and the CB.
08:33 (air whooshes)
08:35 Yeah, that was absolutely flushed and that's on it.
08:37 So from I here, I'd say five or six yards
08:40 past where my good strike with the CB and the MB
08:43 has ended up.
08:44 That's just past pin high and fractionally left of it.
08:47 And that's something I have noticed with the Pros.
08:49 And I think for me, it would be attributed
08:53 to just that slight more offset.
08:55 So obviously when we get a little bit of offset on the iron,
08:58 it has, the face has that little millisecond extra
09:01 to close through impact,
09:02 which if you do struggle with a right miss,
09:04 might be something that's really beneficial for your game.
09:07 And that's something that I do notice.
09:09 All of my patterns with the Pro versus the other two
09:12 have just been that five to six yards further left,
09:15 which is really interesting.
09:16 And that is very useful for testing purposes
09:22 because that's a very similar strike
09:25 to the miss here I had with the MBs and the CBs.
09:27 So there is a lot more assistance there with those,
09:30 even on the miss hits,
09:31 I'm still looking probably five or six yards
09:34 further up the fairway.
09:36 And yeah, again, even the miss hits
09:38 that would normally fall a bit right for me off the low heel,
09:41 it's still a little bit further left,
09:43 which would suggest that offset is doing its job.
09:46 So I'm really impressed with that.
09:48 So I have to say, I am super impressed.
09:51 I think Callaway have absolutely nailed it
09:53 with this Apex range.
09:55 There's something for absolutely everyone.
09:57 The blend of the aesthetic from the MB, CB,
09:59 all the way through to the Pro.
10:01 You'd have to look pretty hard in someone's bag
10:03 to know the difference between the models.
10:05 And I think that's a really nice touch
10:07 Callaway have introduced to help
10:08 those combo sets this year.
10:10 So for me, I think these will fly off.
10:12 Really, really, really impressed with the performance.
10:15 Something for everyone.
10:16 They've got all bases covered.
10:18 So to read the full review, head over to golfmonthly.com
10:21 and do comment below,
10:23 which model do you like the look of
10:24 and which do you think would suit your game the best?
10:26 Also check the description in the link below
10:29 for the best deals in your region.
10:31 (upbeat music)
10:33 (upbeat music)
10:36 (upbeat music)
10:38 [APPLAUSE]