The Callaway Apex hybrids are the first whose DNA is closer to irons than fairway woods. Following on from last week's news that Titleist is aligning the 816 H1 and H2 hybrids with its iron releases it seems we may be seeing a new trend emerge.
Previous Callaway hybrids have very much been extensions of its metalwoods, designed with hot faces, low CG, low spin and high launch for distance and forgiveness.
The Apex hybrid departs from this template however with precision shaping and a more iron-like blade length with a neutral bias for better players.
As well as the shape, it's really in the Centre Of Gravity position that the Apex reveals its iron DNA.
The CG is placed higher to produce more spin than you would get from a more traditional hybrid CG position and this leads to a more climbing trajectory with a higher apex and a steeper descent angle with better stopping power, much more akin to the iron trajectory that better players are looking for from their hybrids.
It's interesting to note that because the designers have not had to concentrate on pushing the weight down for the lower CG position as they have in previous hybrid designs, they have had more latitude to move the weight to the heel and the toe of the club. This means more MOI, giving the Apex hybrids a generous level of forgiveness despite the better player iron blade length making them suitable to be used in combination with either the Apex CF 16 or Apex CF Pro irons.
The Apex hybrid maintains high ball speed thanks to a flexible Carpenter 455 Steel Forged Face Cup that has been designed to increase ball speeds across the face with both centre and off-centre strikes generating faster and more consistent ball speeds.
This completes the Apex package resulting in a hybrid that’s built for the distance, controlled ball flight and workability for Apex players.