 Two years ago, Callaway introduced two models into the Apex Forge range. It was the Apex Pro, the Apex Standard, and there were very much two different models for two different types of players, one very much at the players market, the other perhaps for the aspiring player. They look fantastic, they performed extremely well, but in 2021 they've introduced one more model into that range. It's the DCB, the Deep Cavity Back, and what that means is there's now an Apex Forge for every level of golfer out there right now. Now you could argue that starting a review based on its looks is not the best way to start because well it's very much subjective and it's also who cares what a club looks like. I suppose it's all about performance but I don't necessarily buy into that. I think shelf appeal is massive and for me I've got to like the look of something even before I start to try it. These three irons are in my opinion arguably some of the best irons that are out there right now. They look absolutely stunning and what I like about it is it doesn't matter which sort of profile you put yourself in in terms of category that you put yourself in. They look good as a player's profile, that Apex Pro is stunning. They then look into the standard product which is maybe more where I put myself in terms of the category and then you look at the DCB. The other thing they've done incredibly well we'll talk about later is the idea that you can streamline possibly even all three of these sets into a combo set to make sure that you're optimizing every opportunity that Callaway are giving you with these irons but that's enough for that. I'm going to hit some golf balls but I'm just going to give you a little bit of detail tech spec why they've made these so special in terms of I think consistency is the key word in all this. It's an interesting story from Callaway and the tech is really led by computers it's more of AI design and I think what it's done it's led to very much individually designed irons. That means you've got different face patterns for not only each of the different models within the Apex range but you've got different face patterns for every single iron within each of those ranges. You've got different amounts of tungsten placed in each of those irons and the positioning of the tungsten is also different in every one. It's almost like having a bespoke iron design for every single model that they've got in their range and every single iron from our wedge right through to the three irons. What does that mean for an average golfer? Well I think with Callaway paying such attention to detail in in the design of each of these irons it means that we're getting optimal performance out of each club but you're also getting a high level consistency and the consistency is about ball speeds it's about launch angles and it's also about spin numbers and that's really really important especially from when you go from these things used to be achieved in a player's iron but you used to forfeit forgiveness and down in the sort of game improvement iron they were the kind of things spin numbers, consistency of ball speeds were always issues so for them to be able to streamline that throughout these three product ranges is an incredible feat at least that's what they're saying they've done but will that ring true when I get out there and eventually test these things but before we leave the tech spec what I want you to have a look at is this quick drawer and it's a heat map and it's a comparison between the CF-19 model and the CF-21. A heat map which shows the decrease in ball speeds when not finding the center of the club face and if you look at that CF-19 comparison to this model you start to see how these new versions become more forgiving and that sweet spot is getting ever bigger and that's got to be good news so that's it we don't need to know any more in terms of tech spec what we want to know is how these things performed in my hands so let's get back to foregolf. Yeah it's an interesting tech story and I think tungsten has played a major part in every one of these clubs I think first of all from a looks perspective top line is a big deal and there is a very noticeable difference as you can see between the three it's very easy to identify which is the pro and which is the dcb and again depending on where you sit what profile you fit into is what you will choose but I think if I was looking on the shelf I'm drawn immediately to the apex pro it looks absolutely stunning one of the best-looking eyes it's out there right now but then reality hits and you've got to think to yourself and what level do you play at and can I really get the performance out of the pro so then I'm shifting myself perhaps down into that standard category and that idea of mixing the standard in with the dcb is a real interesting combination but I'm going to collect data and see if that rings true because I've said before there can be a preconception that I can't play which is what is in my hand is the apex pro we've got three seven irons one from each of the range I'll see how they perform differently they're lofted differently so we expect different yardages bridge they're going to be different spinners they're going to be different launch angles have a look at all those things and then I'll give you a bit more of an opinion in terms of how I think these things play but for now I just love the look of these apex pro and based on that one we'd be all right but this is only a seven iron in hand the apex standard is very much the middle ground it kind of it's got a thick enough for top line to inspire confidence in their head we know it's a massive big deal you see the apex pro you see the thin top line perhaps a little bit of doubt starts to creep in questioning are you really good enough to play that iron and do you want to see a bit more mass and I think that's what straight away stepping up into the standard is what you start to see again solid strike you can tell even from I've literally gone from the pro into this I'm now going to hit the dcb and quite honestly you can see the difference in yardage straight away comment on the dcb it's definitely goes into that game improvement category inner forged iron which I think is fantastic the top line becomes noticeably different but not in a way you don't see any of the backside of it there's no major looking it's clearly more offset I don't know the where that's technically correct but it certainly looks that way but it's not to a degree where it would have me majorly off putt will be made the off putting and again I've hit three solid irons with each of those three solid seven irons and he's gone collect a fair bit of data and like I said I'll give you an assessment of all three but I'll tell you something now before we go much further these are an absolutely built-in set of irons I don't care what that stator tells me I can tell you at this point having hit each of these and a number of shots with them they're very very good indeed that's a great feeling and I think what I've tried to do there is I've hit one iron after each other just to try and ascertain the difference in sort of sound and feel and there clearly is one I mean these are all the same in terms of a forged head with tungsten in its makeup but there is definitely a softer feeling from the apex pro to the dcb and I think the standard product that sits in the middle is almost that happy perfect medium I think that really does take a lot of boxes for a lot of golfers you know and like I said it sounds and feels absolutely spot on so you've got my general feel on this I'm pretty impressed with what I think they've done and as I said are relevant of data but let's have a look at that and I'm going to throw the three average straight on screen for you now so don't forget this is seven irons the important thing to notice they are lofted the pro model is 30 degrees 30.5 on the standard and 33 degrees on the dcb the numbers and start with at the bottom there you've got the pro which is six eight spin 150 carry 18.6 launch 110 ball speed 40 60 degrees descent angle that to me is a a number that you'd expect from a player's iron that 150 carry seven iron six eight spin was it and that descent angle that is absolutely perfect it's optimum numbers and that ball speed of 110 was very consistent I can tell you that if you then move to the standard product we've got half an inch stronger 154 carry it starts off with six three spin 18 degree launch 112 ball speed 40 60 descent angle again a minor drop off in spin but still that ball is doing nothing but stop at that descent angle and that amount of rpm spin on it and again ball speed and distances increases just that little bit and it is almost that half a degree that you'd expect and then you go into the dcb model this is stronger by three degrees from the pro model and you'll see five eight spin 161 carry 159 launch 115 ball speed 44 descent angle and again probably everything you'd expect in terms of data you've seen there but it's a consistency that's the key element that that I think is important and even if you go to the dcb model so we class that definitely as a game improvement style design it's still produced incredibly good numbers the consistency was fantastic I literally hit quite a lot of balls with each of these the difference I mentioned was sound I think there's a much purer feeling from the pro compared to that dcb but again you're really trying to pick minor errors I think the biggest thing they've got going for them again I mentioned earlier is the ability to blend sets and I can almost see the the the idea of blending right through from pro into the shorter irons mid irons to be the standard and then maybe sticking a four or five iron in the dcb would be the perfect combination and don't forget you'll be able to bend these and adjust lofts to make sure that fits absolutely perfectly in fact I think that's something a standard offering from Callaway in that that's how you can buy them with the lofts already adjusted so it all sits very nicely which is a great idea the final thing I want to mention a lot of people always ask me about price I never always quote it because rrp that we get but it's 1099 is the is the retail price I'm told they're going to they're going to be about 150 british pounds per club and I think that puts them for this build of product and what's built in in terms of the technology story it puts them right in the ballpark where they need to be it's competing exactly where it wants to be with all its major players but I think what they've done is produced definitely a set or not not a set a model range that is pretty much unparalleled I think the only range that springs to mind is again what mazuno did with the mp20s a similar sort of concept in being able to go from that sort of chunkier game improvement right down to a player's blade I suppose they did something similar but I've got to say that's off to Callaway it's a fantastic product and a real great set of irons and from what I've seen certainly want to beat for 21 but as ever you know that's my opinion looks is a major part of it because I don't look fantastic all again pretty subjective stuff but I think performance wise it's hard to argue with my interest is from you is from comments down below again what you've seen so far what are your thoughts on these Callaway irons and are they going to be on your to try list this year right that's me done as ever thanks for watching thanks for sticking around because you're bombarded with this stuff I know at the moment and it's not going to stop by that we've got another one out tomorrow night so maybe if you like what you've seen consider subscribing hit that like button and I'll see you all soon