Callaway Apex Pro Series Irons - Review

Imagine, for a moment, a scenario where you could pick and choose who was in your family.

Your curmudgeonly old aunt could be dispatched for a much kinder and friendlier one, while that tightarse uncle could be instantly booted next time he turns up to a family function empty-handed.

Interstate or overseas in-laws? Trade them in for local ones and start enjoying the benefits of last-minute babysitting.

That entire branch of the family who are always the first to arrive and last to leave, yet never lift a finger? Move them all on and draft in more helpful relatives.

Unfortunately, the ability to make family member substitutions remains as elusive as a calorie-free cronut; however, you can determine the make-up of your Callaway Apex iron family.

The Apex line-up has three irons — the MB, CB and Pro — and they’re designed to be played as a blended, and highly functional, family.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

If you are the type of morally upright human who doesn’t care about appearances, then Callaway’s new Apex irons probably won’t have the same initial impact as they had on me.

The Apex family reminded me of the DNA-lottery winning Hemsworth family; fortunate enough to avoid being beaten by the ugly stick yet retaining a down-to-earth and pragmatic appeal.

I had the muscular Apex MB blade pinned as Chris Hemsworth, while the user-friendly, tech-laden Apex Pro model seemed more like Liam.

And the Apex CB would be the other Hemsworth (I googled it, his name is Luke and apparently he’s an actor, too)  because it’s the most forgiving model, and the other brother seems to have made peace with the fact he’s the third best actor in his family.

Much like the Hemsworths, each of the three Apex models has its own identity but there’s a common link running through the bloodline: a tungsten back weight.

Borrowed from the Apex TCB iron, the black, trapezoidal rear weight is the strong familial trait that defines the Apex range, kind of like those families you see with noticeably large noggins or severe monobrows.

Also evident was a shared sole design across the Apex line-up.

While the width of the sole differs — the MB is the narrowest, the Pro the widest and the CB lies somewhere in between those two — they all have a similarly sharp leading edge and a trailing edge bevel that is designed to boost feel at impact and through the turf.

All three irons are replete in the now standard satin chrome finish that minimises glare, while the MB and CB irons had vertical scorelines around the hosel that are somehow absent from the Apex Pro model.

THE APEX IRON FAMILY

The Apex family consists of a muscleback blade called the MB, a tour-level cavity-back iron known as the CB, and the Pro, a hollow-bodied player’s-distance iron.

Designed for better players, the blade lengths across the entire Apex range are on the shorter side (the game improvement Apex DCB is now kaput) while all three irons offer forged faces and bodies.

Like all blade irons, the MB is clearly aimed at purists while the CB is an update of the TCB iron Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele are currently wielding on the PGA Tour.

Meanwhile, the Pro is the most radical of the trio, equipped internally with a phalanx of distance-and-feel-enhancing technology.

And in the new Apex range, double digit irons are back.

The Apex MB and CB both feature a 10 and 11 iron in the set rather than the standard PW and AW that normally follow on from the nine iron.

But in a confusing U-turn, the Apex Pro iron sticks with the regular PW and AW.

HOW’D THEY PERFORM?

Testing all three Apex models at the same time was a bit of sensory overload but it was an excellent way to get a feel for how they would blend together in a set.

While the MB is aimed at elite ball-strikers, there is a certain type of golfer who willingly takes up the challenge of playing an entire set of blade irons.

Rusted-on devotees of the classic blade usually grew up playing them before dabbling in an iron with a cavity on the back, simply because everyone else was, before eventually returning to a blade because it turns out it really was what they wanted to play.

I can sympathise with the true believers because nailing a strike out of the Apex MB’s sweet spot was predictably pure and life-affirming.

However, I was surprised by how forgiving the MB was when the strike was off centre; while you could discern a less-than-perfect strike through the hands, distance didn’t wither as much as anticipated.

What was expected, however, was the Apex MB’s capability to shape the ball, with the narrow sole and minimal offset offering plenty of freedom.

Meanwhile, the Apex CB pulled off the perfect balancing act between feel and forgiveness.

There wasn’t much difference in distance between the CB and the MB (they feature identical lofts), but the CB was more forgiving — particularly out of the rough where it felt like it had more pop and launched higher than the Apex MB iron.

The sole of the CB has more bounce than the MB, which no doubt helped performance out of the thick stuff, but it didn’t hinder its flighting and shaping credentials significantly.

Off the face, the MB and CB felt soft and precise, but it was the Apex Pro that produced some truly tongue-wagging performance.

Positioned in the player’s-distance iron category, the Apex Pro is Callaway’s response to TaylorMade’s immensely popular P790 iron.

Although it was longer than the MB and CB, the Pro didn’t quite max out quite like the new P790; however, I thought it offered superior feel and feedback in tandem with some extremely impressive workability for a player’s distance iron.

The Pro felt hot off the face and when the ball was sprayed all over it, it did a very plausible job of mopping up the mess.

While the Pro did offer slightly duller feedback compared to the MB and CB (probably due to Callaway’s urethane microspheres inside the hollow-bodied head), it did a more than passable impression of an iron with a blueblood player’s pedigree.

THE FINAL WORD

I must admit, Callaway have done an excellent job making the three Apex models look uniform.

The rear weight and sole design do much of the heavy lifting on that front and I doubt there is a more seamless looking combo set in the game.

But is the Apex line-up better together or does its strength lie in its three defined performance bands?

In an Apex combo set I think the transition from the Apex MB to a CB or Pro iron will be harder to make than the jump from the CB to the Pro.

It would require some sort of neuroses to notice the minuscule difference in offset between the CB and Pro (around 0.1mm) but the reduced offset of the MB iron creates a bit of a thorn in any combo set’s side.

As proper blades I get the reasoning behind the MB’s minimal offset, which sits at around 1mm less on average in comparison to the CB and Pro. But while that doesn’t sound like much, it was noticeable at address.

With that in mind, I think a merged set of the CB and Pro is probably going to be a more seamless combination, and undoubtedly more popular anyway. 

Opting to play Apex Pro long irons in a mixed set is going to be especially hard to resist, simply because they were so fast, long, high launching and easy to hit.

Most golfers will arguably be best served playing an entire set of Apex Pro irons, but for a more workable solution and superior feel, a set of Apex CBs will appeal to better golfers.

While Apex MB irons were more forgiving than I was expecting, they will still probably be only found in the bags of a blade aficionado, simply because there are more functional options in the Apex line-up. And it’s particularly difficult to see an MB long iron will appear in anyone’s bag apart from the most avid of blade believers.

The great thing about the Apex family is it doesn’t ask you make any compromises because it covers a decent portion  of the performance spectrum.

The burning question really is: which combination of Hemsworths will suit your game best?

THE VERDICT

Written by Jamie Martin Jamie Martin is currently locked in a battle to keep his handicap hovering around the mid-single digits. Despite his obvious short-game shortcomings, Jamie enjoys playing and writing about every aspect of golf and is often seen making practice swings in a mirror.