 You know I think ever since we started reviewing golf clubs on this channel then the Callaway Apex line up has got to be my favorite in that Callaway stable. And what better place to hit my first Apex Pro iron than out on this par three challenge on the 14th on Portal Championship. And the challenge being if I get a hold of one I win a holiday. These would soon become my favorite irons and go straight in the bag no doubt if that was to be the case. He's gone for it over that tree it's a ball one sit ah just a little bit long and off the back what a super golf ball but how good are these irons the Apex Pro line up don't forget I'm going to tell you my thoughts and once again we'll be rating these clubs in terms of every box ticked or not. Oh I thought I was going to swing that's a bit of a mystery to say the least but anyway back to the Callaway Apex 24 and there is a big difference in in the pro lineup it's something that's been introduced that we've never seen before and it's important to stress this is the pro series lineup and it's not going to include the Apex standard nor the DCB so what we're seeing in this is the Apex Pro the Apex CB and the Apex MB and in today's video I'm just paying attention to the Apex Pro I think it's the one that I could maybe just get away with a little when you go and see the MB and the CB they're just getting a little bit too small for my liking but just how good is the Apex Pro how forgiving is it how playable is it out here on the course in the hands of an average golfer we're going to hit a five iron off the next tee I've got five seven nine and I've got an approach wedge well I'll tell you what in terms of forgiveness that's a five iron probably the smallest and most compact I would want to go in terms of address that's the first shot I've hit out on the course it was bullet straight it had a nice penetrating ball flight still got a little bit off the bottom but it still wins how is it all happening that's a super shot that's right on the flag what a ball flight go oh I see go I think that's only just made front edge to be honest there's a bit of water here and that might have just held a little bit in the wind but either way two super five irons to start the day and I talked about what is going on and why is it happening well to me there's one big key change particularly well only actually in the pro model and that is the fact this is the first time ever we've seen a hollow body design in terms of Apex Pro and quite honestly why have Callaway done that well the camera's going back on because I actually think the ball's gone in the water I pitched up somewhere around here and I think it kicked onto the left hand side why is that important and it'll be we'll get to that point a bit later on I was probably looking to land just behind where Hannah is stood right now so we've ended up being 10 or 15 yards short of where I was looking to land now we have got a bit of wind into which maybe I didn't take into full account but that also could be some issues in terms of overall performance against what I'm used to seeing in traditional lofted irons to what I'm actually seeing with these weaker lofted Apex Pros now being hollow bodied is not the only change in these Apex Pros and there's actually a change in the face material between the set itself and that's between three and five iron you've got which is a 455 cup face forged face then in the lower end of the bags that's six through to A wedge you've got a 1025 forged face now the idea being is that you're getting super fast ball speeds and the right kind of spin numbers that you're looking to get off the longer irons perhaps a little bit more help and then that 1025 is giving you that softer feel in those shorter irons it all makes sense but do you really want two different types of feeling irons and can I notice the difference between those two faces out here on the golf course today's video is brought to you in partnership with hot golf the online golf mega store bringing you the hottest deals in golf and of course the club's featured in today's video find the link to the hot golf website in the description below and check out some incredible giveaways and offers now I not ordinarily start an iron review by hitting three five irons but that's where we found ourselves and this is a typical example where it's 180 to the middle of the green with my five iron standard five iron that is I'd be comfortable to play it but this is a pro iron and at the end of the day what that means is it's a bit weaker lofted and I think similar to the other shot we should not quite get there but let's see what that 455 face does just how hot is it that's felt so good let's see where that lands because it's a heck of a knock do you know what that's carried the bunker on the right and there's a small green that's pretty much pin high didn't move bullets straight and the first bit that really surprises me is just how good this 455 face feels because if they hadn't told me any different I've hit seven irons off camera and I would not know there is a difference between the two so I was disappointed at first when I read that was two different faces in these two I can tell you it makes no difference to me whatsoever because they both sound and feel superb and that's where they get the first tick in the box in terms of apex pro I'm just interesting enough and I'm really surprised that has gone well it's gone past pin high so we carried the full 180 there which is the first shock so that performance of a five iron is super impressive before I go and play I'm gonna play this a wedge probably not the shot I would play choose to play we'll give it a little bit of a knock now but I just want to talk about the looks as being the next thing now apex standard I felt needed a little bit of a jump forward and it's yet to be seen what goes on with those but in terms of the apex pro cb and mb I think they've made a bit of move forward as well they just they've got a little bit of a feel to it in terms of a bit of nuts and bolts going on like another brand and I think that it's something that I'm really keen on I like it because they've done something different either like something that's super clean or what they've done here is they just put that block in behind there and I believe that weighting system can actually be changed as well in terms of custom fit and getting swing weight change really like those kind of additions to any kind of custom fit option bring the luxury palm and that mix up between almost like a brush chrome really really nice and I just hope I don't know what's happened like I said with apex standard I hope they do a similar thing right I'll play a little dink with this a wedge and it's going to have to be a little dink I'll tell you what I can't tell you that feel out of it was super soft they don't even know what you can pick up any noise off the clubface it's one of those things where you felt as though you hardly hit it so the bit in terms of the sound and feel that I'll add the shock is my biggest issue with hollow bodied irons has always been the fact that they've got a clicky sound to them no matter what they say about forge faces they always end up being a little bit clicky I think again they've got the microsphere urethane microspheres are that's that sort of dampening soundbar that's built in with the apex pros and again whatever it does it's just super super soft and in a hollow bodied iron that's really nice to see so just to confirm in terms of looks it's 100% a tick in the box right finally I get to hit a seven iron very shortly on the course and we'll talk about things like forgiveness but I just want to get back to the profile not the looks but the profile because in terms of the hollow bodied market I've seen Taylor may produce a piece 770 which is in the players category and that's where I think it's very much competing again so they've put it in terms of heel and toe not too big top line not too big and like I said to introduce that hollow bodied element into this genre I only really think they're competing with that piece 770 which is clearly a very popular iron and I can see this being very much a main competitor to it and also being very very popular for Calloy because essentially it's players that sit on that sort of you know on the borderline want to play a small profile but want some forgiveness and I think that's what these hollow bodied designs have done over the last few years and I think that's what's packed into this with that added extra of some real good sound and feel that's on the green looks to be grabbing it wasn't the best of swings to be honest with again got it off the bottom a little bit so I'll talk about kind of on course performance in fact I'll couple it with the two things here we'll look at forgiveness at the same time because on course performance has been superb no matter what I've had in hand super soft down that a wedge not played many nine wedges nine wedges nine irons at all played a lot of fives in a few sevens but it's just been really good I mean definitely not something you could pick fault in it and quite surprisingly good I think from again soon as you see the name pro you start to panic a bit so the performance has been super good but the forgiveness elements has been the key for me it's been the biggest surprise I just said then bit of a wild swing there definitely off the bottom still did well then you look at the five irons performance in terms of loft being weaker but still traveling how far it is not necessarily down to forgiveness but ball speeds off the face is really impressive out here on the course so we're going to be two ticks one for forgiveness and one for on course performance just overall been superb now next up I'm just going to play out the roof I'm also going to play a shot that we're going to try and shape this one a little bit left to right which again this is the kind of thing that is supposed to be a little bit more easier to do with this type of club so don't forget again there's minimal offset in this seven iron I'm about to play so just allows you to play this kind of shot or attempt to in my case a little bit easier so we're just going to try and set it off left of the tree and move around a little bit so that's pretty much perfect again two things that happened that were really impressive one in terms of cutting through the roof and I'll mention that now there's a sort of pre-worn leading edge and back edge as well in terms of all the irons which is supposed to enhance turf interaction again it's a type of claim that it's almost impossible to quantify out on the golf course it's not been something I've got an issue with but I couldn't tell you if it works or not we cut through that quite nice picked it up out of the roof and was able to move that ball with a little bit of curvature as well that's probably the best shot to finish the day oh that was right on it perhaps come up a tad short but the main thing I wanted to reference in terms of the last hole was on call was dry ball data but in relationship to on course performance because that flag there was 155 uphill and definitely on that second tier my dry ball data as you can see in terms of 7 iron average carry was just above that 150 mark if my memory recall is correct but it's certainly surprising and certainly better than I expected it to be because like I said there's a 33 degree 7 iron so I was fully expecting to see a considerable drop-off in terms of carry distance but it didn't and what's also nice is the fact that we've come out on the course and I've seen similar sort of numbers in terms of performance as well so that's really good but going back to that dry ball data and whether or not it gets a tick in the box I think what happens with this kind of iron and where it gets impressive is obviously the spin number is good you've got that launch angle and you've got that descent angle and you're still not losing out in terms of carry relative to that loft so that's the big thing for me which was super impressive and it would have to be another tick in the box which would mean that's the irons in terms of these Apex pro tick every single box for me because I think what Callaway have done is this isn't an iron for everybody so when it ticks every box there are considerations to be made when I say that and this is definitely aimed at a specific player but in the right hands this is doing things that it shouldn't do in a way and like I said that's that element of forgiveness the elements of ball speed that forgiveness across the whole range is so surprising coupled with that sound and feel so good so yeah really good I'm a massive fan of the P770s and I think that's what this pitches up against and they've got some real competition irons on their hands in that sort of style so yeah they can fight it out between themselves but if you're looking for a new set of irons right now that players set try this hollow bodied Apex pro from Callaway and I'm pretty sure you'd be as impressed as I am right I'm going to see if I make that birdie putt like I said super close you know where it's the mcdonald portal championship course today it's been in superb condition that is the 18th and now it's time for a drink and I'll see you all soon