In A Nutshell

The Callaway Apex Pro 21 one of Callaway’s premier irons. This iron represents a special category that straddles the line between a complete players club, such as a blade, and a totally game-improvement designed club..

That is essentially where the magic is in this club. It has that players feel and look while giving additional distance and full control. It feels exceptionally solid and soft. It can be worked left and right, high or low depending on one’s skill level.

Review

The Apex family of iron goes back several years now. The original 2016 I played looked a lot like the current clubs. But that’s where the similarity ends. With each passing year Callaway has found ways to improve this family of irons. It now includes the Apex MB, a blade style iron, the Apex 21, the Apex Pro 21 and the Apex DCB.

Now, these irons have improved with the aid of artificial intelligence. Although at first glance it doesn’t seem like a big step, but when looking at such small areas to work with and tight tolerances, I think it can produce a significant difference. The hollow-body design and concept has been well established now. So the questions are, ‘what difference can I expect?’, and maybe more importantly, ‘is there a change I can use?’.

First, using my launch monitor and frequency machine, I endeavored to answer these questions by first starting with the basics, so to speak, using my own famed Mizuno blades of yesteryear (I own and have played many of those models), and secondly, using my Callaway X Forged 2007 model – one of the best playing clubs of the last 20 years which represents another step in club design from many years ago and continues to this day – the forged cavity back.

The Apex Pro 21 borrows from both of those creations. I can firmly say that there’s a bunch of technology in the head of this design and it makes a big difference!

To me it’s clear, even when you adjust for the shafts, there’s a significant difference in the ball speeds coming from the club head. The revolution of hollow-cavity, larger club heads didn’t happen by accident. I’ve never seen a direct comparison like mine, but the results became apparent very rapidly.

Target Players

So for me, someone who’s having a lot of anniversaries of his 29th birthday, the message is simple. If you want to hit a blade-like iron, but don’t have the speed that you once had, the Apex pro 21 is an excellent option. Rather than having to go to full cavity back with a larger club face you can retain the aesthetic features that were appealing from the blades with a thin top line, more squared appearance and visual appearance of the ball sitting behind the club head more compactly. On my launch monitor I’ve been averaging 7 to 12 yards more per club. All-in-all that would equate to about one club difference on the golf course. So I can gain an extra club in playing distance, but keep my current tempo, speed and contact, and have a similar club into each green. Apex pros do tend to hit the ball a little bit higher than the others. This is most likely due to a couple of features, although they are lofted a bit stronger. The overall effects of the technology in this club design – a properly developed center of gravity and tungsten weight low in the club. Using the pitching wedge as my reference, the Apex Pro 21 pitching wedge is lofted at 45° and the old school pitching wedge – blade era – was generally 50°.

Conclusion    “Mark’s 2 Cents Worth”

Rating  5/5

It looks great at setup. It sits square, clean, confident, and compact. Promised performance certainly comes through in this iron.  You get the additional distance vs true blades, even against standard cavity back irons. Making this an easy recommendation for virtually any golfer. But particularly so for golfers either wanting to transition for a little help, but prefer a blade-like look or someone wanting to move from a larger club to a more blade-like appearance whose game is improving and wants to maneuver the ball a little more.

The Callaway Apex Pro 21 having come to market in 2021is still one of their premier irons. The Flash Cup Face is made from 2025 carbon steel, generally considered the standard for a soft forged-iron feel. It ticks all the boxes for players who like to look down and see a thinner top, have somewhat of a cavity back, but still represent essentially a blade-like iron with a little bit of forgiveness (for a complete blade style club see the Apex MB). This is a special category that straddles the line between a complete players club, such as a blade, and a totally game improvement designed club..

It combines well with a number of shaft options. I have played it with graphite shafts and steel shafts. It performs admirably with both. I did feel that in playing conditions it had a bit more spin than say the Apex 21. In my hands it had a tendency to fly a little higher than expected in the lower irons, which may not be a bad thing.