Equipment

Tech Talk: Callaway Apex Pro Irons

Published

13 years ago

Nov 5, 2013

The ingredients that go into tour-quality “players” irons are usually about the same. They need to have short blade lengths, thin top lines, narrow soles and a minimal amount of offset to meet the needs of the most accomplished golfers.

Callaway’s new Apex Pro irons are no exception, at least at address, where they look nearly identical to the company’s forged players iron from last year, the 2013 X Forged. But when they’re viewed from the back, the irons tell a very different story.

Above: Callaway’s Apex Pro irons (left), look nearly identical to the company’s 2013 X Forged irons (right) at address. The sole designs are also roughly the same.

The Apex Pro irons are forged from the same 1020 carbon steel as the 2013 X Forged, but their multi-material construction and new 37WV grooves bring modernity to the former one-piece design.

In the long irons, for example, Callaway engineers added high-density tungsten to the soles, which lowers the center of gravity (CG). That accentuates the irons’ CG height progression, a weighting scheme that gives the long irons a lower CG that launches the ball higher, and the short irons a higher CG that launches the ball lower.

Evan Gibbs, Callaway manager of performance analysis, says the lower CG of the long irons adds about 1 mph of ball speed to the clubs (compared to 2013 X Forged), and the higher launch it creates makes them more forgiving as well. But in the short irons, where better players tend to create too much spin, the CG was moved higher to help golfers control their trajectory.

The discretionary weight needed for the new mass placement was made possible by the extensive milling of the iron’s cavity, which allowed the faces of the irons to be made 17-percent thinner than those of the 2013 X Forged. But according to Gibbs, that change won’t negatively affect sound and feel, which was tuned with a polymer insert added behind the impact area that helps eliminate the harsh frequencies golfers associate with bad feel.

Above: The 37WV grooves on the Apex Pro irons are wider and not as sharp as the 20-degree V grooves the company used for the 2013 X Forged irons. They’re also duller than the 30WV grooves used on the company’s Apex irons.

Maybe the most intriguing part of the Apex Pro irons is their new groove design, which is the result of extensive testing done with Callaway tour players in 2013. Last year’s X Forged irons had the company’s 20-degree V grooves, which were spaced closely together. But Callaway received feedback from its tour players that the grooves actually spun the ball too much from the rough, causing the ball to launch too low.

Tour players prefer to hit what Gibbs called a “controlled flyer” from the rough, which allows them to hit the ball higher to carry obstacles such as the tops of trees, and a farther total distance as well. But they didn’t want to hit the shot at the expense of consistency.

After much testing, Callaway found that wide-spaced V grooves with 37-degree side walls were the most consistent from the rough, and they offered the additional launch that tour players wanted. While the 37WV grooves will be the only grooves offered at retail on the Apex Pro irons, tour players will have their choice between the 20-degree V grooves, 37WV grooves and even duller 45WV grooves, which launch the ball higher and with even less spin.

Above: Callaway’s Apex Pro irons (left) have slightly shorter blade lengths, thinner top lines, less offset and narrower soles than the Apex irons (right).

They Apex Pro irons hit shelves on Jan. 17, and will sell for $1099 with KBS’ new Tour-V steel shaft, $1299 with UST Mamiya’s Recoil 600 Series graphite shafts. Check out the specs and additional photos in the gallery below.

Click here to see more photos and what GolfWRX Members are saying about the irons in the forums.

Click here to see more photos and what GolfWRX Members are saying about the irons in the forums.

Related Topics:Callaway irons

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29 Comments

Rafael

Jun 18, 2014 at 8:07 pm

I read these post and wonder how many have truly tried the Apex pros. I own and love my titleist 714 MB’s. I bought a set of apex irons because they are really excellent clubs. I had longer distance and more good shots than with my MBs. I averaged 10-15 yards more depending on the club over my MB’s irons. The clubs are great deal more forgiving than the MB’s. I was amazed at the high ball flight with the apex irons. I can hit a 6 iron 190-200 yards consistently with the apex irons and with my MBs I would struggle with pure shots and distance. I was more in the sweet spot with the apex irons and so I bought them ASAP. I’ve never hit a gap wedge 135-140 yards. I was flying the ball over the greens with the extra distance. I’m having to re-learn the carry distance of my irons. I could always hit them far but now it happens more often. Don’t get me wrong. They are not beginner clubs and still require good contact. But they are awesome! I’m not selling the titleist I love them too.

Reply Report comment
Steve

Mar 27, 2014 at 2:31 pm

After 8 years enjoying my Titleist 755’s I decided to go buy some AP2’s. While getting fitted the fitter brought out some other clubs and we hooked up to the launch monitor and then went out for some real world results on the range. Hitting of both mats and grass I was amazed that the clubs I wanted were not the APs! The Apex Pro irons were a bit longer, but more importantly the dispersion was much tighter, the feel was butter and the control was great. I can move these around a bit, not as much as the APs, however the big factor was ball speed – consistently 5 to 6 MPH faster. The ball just leaps off the face. I walked out and ordered up my Apex Pros. I’ve played them for two weeks now and wow, what a blast these are to play! Anyhow, I’ve never purchased anything Callaway and had no interest in their products before…after this I’m glad I was open to trying out some different clubs to see which one was going to truly fit and benefit my playing style and swing.

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Golfer great

Dec 13, 2013 at 11:39 am

Interesting to hear the back insert does not reduce shock. Has anyone hit the Apex pro and Pings new 55 to compare the impact feel?

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nick

Nov 20, 2013 at 5:52 pm

Great feel on these. Definitely will be replacing the long irons in my xforged set with these.

Reply Report comment
MWP

Nov 10, 2013 at 10:37 am

I’ve hit them and they’re very nice. However, I play the Callaway Prototype irons and was surprised that the polymer insert in the Apex didn’t really make anything feel softer or more forgiving than my fairly traditional musclebacks.

This leads me to the question: CALLAWAY when will you release another true blade?

– A loyal consumer

Reply Report comment
- KK
  
  Nov 14, 2013 at 12:04 am
  
  When more golfers can actually hit them consistently…..which is never going to happen. I think there is a market for “true blades” for people like you and the other 0.00001% of non-professional golfers. I know just as much as anyone who plays the game frequently, golf is hard. Manufacturers, golf course designers, the USGA, need to make the game easier for golfers, not harder. All club companies are in the business to turn a profit, not satisfy the <0.01%. Sometimes, it doesn't make sense to make a club that is only going to account for a very very small percentage of their total sales. If you want "true blades", go buy Mizuno, Miura, Titleist. On the other hand, if you think about it, no club design is advancing less than the "true blade" so go on eBay, buy a used set of Tony Lema blades and you'll never have to buy another set of irons for the rest of your life.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - RDM
    
    Jan 23, 2014 at 10:39 am
    
    I still have my Ben Hogan Apex irons which are eight years old now and it’s great to see Apex back in the mix. I’m sure they will keep evolving and might even loose the plastic backing.
    I have been happy playing Mizuno irons, but will buy a set of Apex irons as soon as they get closer to their original form. Ill certainly check out the latest version!
    
    Reply Report comment
Lee

Nov 7, 2013 at 3:18 am

Callaway can stick them as far as I’m concerned. I shelled out £675 of my hard earned 4 months ago on a set of X forged only now to find them being cleared in the UK for circa £350. Thus my used clubs are worth very little if I was crazy enough to invest another £700 ish on the latest and greatest which frankly wouldn’t make me play any better. I’m so disgruntled I might go and by the new AP2’s and bin the X forged!

Reply Report comment
- Joe
  
  Nov 12, 2013 at 10:13 am
  
  They all do the same. At least they do lower the prices, with the anticipation of the latest and greatest…unlike Titleist who gives nothing a price break…even with the newness rightness to the old.
  It certainly helps people upgrade at a discount. This is especially good with wedges and irons, where the tech doesn’t really change all that much from model to model.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Nick
    
    Nov 12, 2013 at 4:06 pm
    
    This is a big reason I was happy I got fit into Titlist. They and Mizuno roll out new lines less often so your sticks seem to keep their “newest and greatest” luster a little longer. With TMAG and Callaway I feel like you will be playing “old news” clubs within six months. Not that I have to have the latest and greatest. I’m still playing 712’s and will pass on the 714’s but when you do get to buy new clubs, you’d like to enjoy that feeling of having the latest and greatest a bit longer than a few months, no? Lord knows, you pay for it though.
    
    Reply Report comment
- Wade
  
  Jan 7, 2014 at 12:15 pm
  
  AP2’s cost the same as Apex Pros. Nonsense. You are just sour that you could have waited a year to buy what you have. That’s the way technology works. The older a product is, the more it goes down in cost. How can you not know this?
  
  Reply Report comment
Paul

Nov 6, 2013 at 10:58 pm

pretty!

Reply Report comment
JS

Nov 6, 2013 at 4:32 pm

Take away the Apex name, they’re no Hogans!

Reply Report comment
- Gaz
  
  Nov 7, 2013 at 5:11 am
  
  Mate, they are Callaway clubs. Marketing people use the Apex or Hogan name…….Callaway. That is the manufacturer. Not Mr Hogan, he is no longer with us.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Barry
  
  Nov 7, 2013 at 9:44 pm
  
  Hogans were great in their day……that was many many days/years ago.
  Those Hogans couldn’t compare to today’s clubs.
  We have better technology, better forging & better shafts than yesteryear.
  I will reiterate what Gaz said, it is not a slam on the man, I think it honors him.
  These look amazing!
  
  Reply Report comment
- be_right
  
  Nov 9, 2013 at 9:56 am
  
  +1
  
  Reply Report comment
Gaz

Nov 6, 2013 at 3:53 pm

As a Callaway Icon Professional, I have hit both clubs and the feel is very soft. In fact quite a bit softer feel provided through the apex head……these will be a winner

Reply Report comment
scott dalrymple

Nov 6, 2013 at 1:04 pm

The Apex name seems that Callaway is at least trying to reintroduce the Hogan line. The Hogan Apex and Apex Pro were awesome clubs. I found it odd that Callaway would completely shutter the Hogan brand.

Reply Report comment
- willM
  
  Jan 16, 2014 at 2:43 pm
  
  I still game my Hogan Apex irons. After a custom fit and reshaft with DGs, they feel amazing and produce a great ball flight. I might look to the new Cally Apex as a more forgiving 2,3,4 iron option.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Greg
    
    Mar 29, 2014 at 10:01 am
    
    It’s in the shafts. Apex pro 6 iron was longer than apex 4 iron. Into the simulator,anyway.
    
    Reply Report comment
cg

Nov 6, 2013 at 12:40 pm

and what will be coming out next month? that will be MUCH better than these?

Reply Report comment
Jamie

Nov 5, 2013 at 2:26 pm

The same money as the legacy black,
Will they perform the same ?

Reply Report comment
Tom

Nov 5, 2013 at 2:19 pm

I’m a fan of the brushed no glare finish.

Reply Report comment
Mark

Nov 5, 2013 at 1:22 pm

SuuuWEET! Can’t wait to demo them.

Reply Report comment
Brian

Nov 5, 2013 at 1:18 pm

Clean looking club and the remind me a bit of the PING S55

Reply Report comment
tyler

Nov 5, 2013 at 11:18 am

Very nice looking club. Price tag is a bit much though.

Reply Report comment
- GolfDad907
  
  Nov 6, 2013 at 1:00 pm
  
  Price is competitive with other major OEMs forged irons, I don’t see a problem with price.
  
  Reply Report comment
Tom

Nov 5, 2013 at 10:58 am

Ummm…I can use that new groove technology that only available to tour players. Other than that I like the look and write up. Great job Zak.

Reply Report comment
- GolfDad907
  
  Nov 6, 2013 at 4:17 pm
  
  All you need is access to Tour rep and can get the grooves you can use 😀
  
  Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

2 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

5 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.

From the listing:

(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.