SEVEN QUESTIONS: CALLAWAY APEX PRO IRONS
Whoa – these Apex Pro irons look money! What’s the story?
The Apex Pro is a better players version of the newly introduced Apex Iron. True
engineering advancements in the players iron category are rare, but the Apex
Pro Iron is a premium and highly technical product that also – as you’ve noticed –
looks damn nice.The Apex Pro Irons have a one-piece, 1020 carbon steel, forged construction
that has been composted – from material use to CG placement to acoustic
analysis – to deliver a soft and responsive feel. We think you’ll like the feel. A lot.
Got it.
So what specifically makes it a “highly technical” iron?
What doesn’t?! The Apex Pro Irons is first and foremost precision forged; it has
tungsten sole inserts in the long irons, a critical new groove profile, Center of
Gravity height progression and – oh yeah – the face is thinner for better ball
speed. You know, for starters.
Let’s dig into those technologies. Tell me about the tungsten sole inserts.
Like the standard Apex Iron, tungsten weighted inserts have been machined into
the sole of the long Apex Pro irons (2-5 iron). This insert lowers the CG, making
the long irons easier to hit and delivering a higher launch angle.
What about the new High Performance Wide Groove profile?
Research showed us that Tour players and better amateurs were often
generating too much spin (with previous grooves) out of the rough, largely
because of high club head speed. This was causing in some cases a loss in
distance and consistency. So, since the Apex Irons is designed for this type of
advanced player, Callaway wanted a lower spinning, higher launching groove in
this iron. After extensive testing with Tour players and better amateurs – primarily
with shots out of the rough where the grooves have significant influence – we
landed on a new high performance, wide-spaced groove designed for more
control and consistent spin out of a variety of playing conditions. Boom!
That’s a very cool part of the story.
What else do I need to know?
Oh, there is more. The face is about 17 percent thinner (than X Forged ’13), so
ball speeds are up slightly, but this iron isn’t necessarily about chasing ball
speeds. Certainly not at the expense of some of the sound and feel elements
mentioned above. Furthering the feel story, we’ve added a high damping polymer insert in the back
that helps eliminate unwanted vibrations at impact.
Also in the Apex Pro Irons, the CG gets progressively higher as you move down
the set from longer to shorter irons. In a 9-Iron and PW, for example, the higher
CG helps flight the ball down a bit and deliver a flatter trajectory, which is
something better players typically want. As outlined above, the longer irons have
that awesome tungsten weight insert machined in to make them more playable.
And as you might expect (as a savvy consumer of golf equipment), in
comparison to the standard Apex, the Pro model is overall a more compact
shape with less offset, a thinner topline, shorter blade length toe-to-heel and a
narrower sole.
What shafts will come standard with Apex Pro Irons?
We’re a happy to stay the stock shaft is the new KBS Tour V, and this is the first
time we’ve offered a KBS shaft as a stock offering in an iron. It’s a premium,
mid-launch, low torque shaft that maximizes energy transfer for a smooth feel
and faster ball speeds.For a graphite option, the UST Recoil will be available through custom order only.
Awesome.
If I had just six words to describe this new iron to my foursome,
how would I do it?
Easy: A High Tech Forged Players Iron.
Look for the Apex Pro irons a demo days and retail stores in early 2014.