Within the field of hybrids there are essentially two types. Wood style hybrids that can offer lots of forgiveness and rescue you from longer grass and then there are iron style hybrids that act more like driving irons. The Callaway Apex Hybrid is definitely the latter.
This is no bad thing as this is the first Callaway Hybrid to carry the Apex name and it is there to compliment the Apex CF 16 irons and even the Apex UT Utility iron, so whichever style of club you prefer, then Callaway has you covered.
The long sleek head certainly gives that iron feel at address with a slim sleek body and a low profile to help lower the centre of gravity and help you get the ball airborne.
To this end the sole of the club features a 6g weight and this works together with the Internal Standing Wave on the sole of the inside of the club to keep the CG low.
The Internal Standing Wave comes from Callaway's successful range of fairways and is a ridge of metal like a breaking wave facing forwards and in each of the four different lofts from 18° to 26° it has been positioned precisely to get the best performance.
The face also draws on fairway design with a Forged Face Cup design where the Carpenter 455 Steel face insert wraps around the front of the body of the club . This creates a larger sweet spot that is also faster on off centre strikes than faces that are welded straight on to front of the head.
The profile of the club features the high square toe that has become the default shape for better player hybrids following the popularity of the Adams originals. This design puts more weight in this area of the club to make it more forgiving.
At address it sat very well and the leading edge sits square with the top line giving the optical illusion of the club being open.
The Apex Hybrid is meant to play as a neutral CG club and to be fair it does play this way, although it is not the anti-left club that some better player versions are.
It is easy enough to shape the ball left and right as well as up and down, but the overall flight in normal mode is a touch higher than the equivalent numbered iron from the Apex CF 16 set.
The feel is very good and the Apex Hybrid gives a nice 'ting' sound at impact that feels as solid and light as the excellent Mitsubishi KuroKage Hybrid shaft that it comes with as standard.
As I mentioned at the top of the piece, this is more a short grass club and will be an excellent driving iron from the tee. It was OK from the semi rough, but the head design meant it struggled a little and wanted to open the face through impact, so really a larger headed Callaway XR Hybrid would be a better option if you are a persistent fairway misser.
It is easier to hit than the Callaway Apex UT Iron but if you prefer iron style clubs then either will be a good option and maybe even a combination of 4 and 5 UT with the 3 or 2 Hybrid would cover all the bases.
Overall the Callaway Apex Hybrid looks, feels and performs very well for a driving iron style hybrid and should give better players all the options they need at the top of the bag.