Callaway Apex CB Iron Review
What’s new? How much does it cost? And how does it perform? Jack Backhouse brings you the low down on the new Callaway Apex CB irons
Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele are two of the best ball strikers on the planet right now, and both use Callaway irons, so it’s safe to say they know a thing or two about building player’s irons. The new Apex Pro line features a new CB head, which Callaway says is the ultimate tour iron, so how did we find it? Read the Callaway Apex CB iron review to find out.
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Callaway Apex CB Iron Review: NCG Summary
NCG SUMMARY
This is probably the most usable player’s iron on the market right now. I looks exactly like the blade MB model behind the ball, but offers slightly more perimeter weighting and is more forgiving.
These aren’t the irons for you if you want more distance, but if you want more control into the greens from a gorgeous head then these are absolutely perfect.
PROS
- great compact shape
- Soundsolid
- Designed with tour players in mind
CONS
- Not suitable for inconsistent ball strikers
Callaway Apex CB Iron Review: First Impressions
CB heads seem to be slowly disappearing from different manufacturers’ iron ranges. Once a staple in a tour player’s bag, good ball strikers seem to either play the pure blade or something with a bit more help. The Callaway Apex CB is going to reverse that trend single-handedly.
The design of the head is simple and clean, without too much going on on the back of it. The dulled chrome is smart, and the head sits pretty compactly behind the ball. There is a fraction more ‘meat’ behind the ball than the Callaway Apex MB head, which gives you a bit more confidence that you can see those towering shots that land soft as seen on TV. These irons are truly beautiful.
NCG Verdict
These irons are made with me in mind, I think. For a player who believes they are good enough to use elite player irons but with enough help just to make those mishits on a winters morning hurt your hands just a little bit less. Callaway’s new Apex Pro irons have built on the success from the last range and will not help you perform even better.
The head is forged from 1025 carbon steel, which is what gives it the buttery soft feel and quality at impact, and new to all the Apex irons this year is a new dynamic sole design which is supposed to help with turf interaction, making it easier to maintain speed through the ball and into the ground, which should help make more consistent contact.
One of the new tech advancements since the release of the 2021 Apex MB is the progressive centre of gravity the irons now have. The longer irons are designed (3-4-5) with a lower CG to help with launch and the ball landing softly into greens, whilst the short irons (9-10-11) all have a higher CG, so players can expect help to keep the ball flight down. This is great as clearly the traditional issue with small-headed irons is how hard the long irons are to get up in the air, but this is no longer with Callaway now delivering enhanced workability and control.
The distance these irons offer is more flattering than the Callaway Apex Pro MB iron, but the consistency is still there. I optionally chose to hit some bad shots for the sake of data collection, and the distance drop-off isn’t too bad. It does drop, but that is what you’d expect from a compact player’s head, and all, apart from one weirdly long shot, were around the same carry.
Something Callaway have been great at in their last few player’s irons lines is how well the irons combo set together, and that is no different in the new Apex Pro line. The Apex MB and CB irons have the same forged construction and look pretty much identical at the address behind the ball, and you could easily go half and half with these to make your long iron game a tad easier.
The Apex Pro head is also pretty similar and would offer much more firepower in 3 and 4 iron whilst still looking the part, so you should certainly go for a fitting where you can hit all the long iron heads to build the most optimal set for your game.
I am a huge fan of these irons, and I absolutely would consider putting them in the bag. Callaway have managed to add some tech features to a very small head that will help your game, so if you are looking for a new set, then get a fitting and give these a try.
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The Details
Available: Now
RRP: £217 per iron
Loft: 7 iron loft – 34 degrees
Shafts: 21 Custom Shafts Available
More information: Callaway Website
Jack Backhouse
Jack is a PGA Golf Professional who specialises in coaching, teaching golf to beginners and top-level amateurs for 10+ years. He also loves his golf equipment and analysing the data of the latest clubs on the market using launch monitors, specialising in blade irons and low-spinning drivers despite having a chronically low ball flight.
Although Jack has no formal journalism training, He has been reading What's In The Bag articles since he started playing at 12 and studying golf swings since his dad first filmed his swing to reveal one of the worst over-the-top slice swings he reckons has ever been recorded, which set him off on the path to be a coach. His favourite club ever owned was a Ping G10 driver bought from a local top amateur with the hope that some of the quality golf shots would come with it (they didn't), and worst was a Nike SQ driver he only bought because Tiger was using it.
Jack is a member of Sand Moor Golf Club and regularly gets out on the golf course to prepare for tournaments. Jack uses a TaylorMade BRNR Mini driver, a half set of TaylorMade P7MB irons, MG4 wedges and a TaylorMade TP Reserve putter.
