It was a very well kept secret. Very few (if any) tour players will play this club, so there were no pictures out there. I didn’t even get showable samples until a couple weeks ago. “IT” being the new Apex Ai200. If you read the Callaway Newsletter, you saw the review. But how do they work?? The review showed you. How would a fitting play out? Below, I walk you through the steps I took to “fit” myself for these irons.

I already played the Apex 21 mix set. I put those on the shelf to give the Apex Pro a chance. While I was giving them a chance, I went back to my Apex Mix a couple of times. Why? Distance, man… Am I obsessed with distance? Nope. Do I care how far they go? Yeah, a little. Simply put, I have distances that I like my irons to go. If they can go a touch further, great. A touch shorter, I can live with that. A club or more shorter or longer? That’s not going to work for me. I wanted Apex Pro to work. I really did.

The biggest challenge that I had with Apex Pro? To get them to go the yardage I want, I have to swing hard. All the time. If you’ve ever seen me hit a ball, you can see I don’t like to swing hard. When I swing hard, I bring mishits into the equation – fat, thin, right, left – take your pick. You might get any of them. For this reason, I was shopping for new irons.

When I saw Apex Ai200, I was pretty sure I was hooked. Only problem? Waiting 6 weeks to try them, and then another month to get them. In Upstate NY, 10 weeks is most of the golf season. Worth the wait? 100% for sure, YES. This is not just a set for this year. I stink at being patient, but for these, it’s worth it.

First, my specs. This was simple. I’m not getting taller (or shorter), so Men’s STD length. Same grip – New Decade, Bk/BK at STD Size. The shaft. About 7 or 8 years ago I switched form Dynamic Gold S-300 to Nippon Modus Pro 120 in a stiff flex. I loved it. Last summer, I thought I’m not getting any younger, so I tinkered with the Modus 105 Stiff. For half the summer I toyed with a test club. Finally, I ordered a set of Apex Pro with that shaft. I like it. I’ll use that shaft in the Ai200’s too. My Lie is STD lie. Simple stuff – no changes from what I’m currently playing, and have been for the last 10 (30) years (outside of the shaft). So, what’s the deal with the Apex Ai200? Why change to those?

The lofts are “modern”. 43* PW, 30* 7-iron, 21* 4-iron. The distances are also “modern”. I hit them longer than Apex Pro and even a little longer than my trusty Apex Mix set, but the distance gains are gradual. Compared to Apex Pro, maybe a club longer in the short irons, and probably closer to 2 clubs in the long irons. These were also longer than my Apex 21 mix set (Apex/ Apex Pro) by a half club, but not as long as Paradym Ai Smoke, Rogue ST Max, or any of the other distance monsters we make. Ball Speeds are great, but the thing I liked the best about it? The ball speed was consistent. Good shots were faster than great shots with my old sticks. Good shots were faster than the BEST shots with Apex Pro – and I had to play the ball back in my stance, rotate faster and swing harder to get that to happen. A smooth, easy golf swing gives me an extra half club on my old Apex Mix set. I can use that. Who can’t?

Smoke goes too far for me. I don’t want a 190 yard 7-iron. 170 is good. With Smoke, I got the occasional “jumper” that was unpredictable and hard to control. With these, like my Apex Mix and Apex Pro, I didn’t get any of that. Mishits are much more consistent, and the clubhead plays bigger than it looks. By that, I mean it looks fairly similar to an Apex Pro, but it seems to have the off center consistency of a DCB. I’m not sure how this was accomplished in a club head of this size. (Well, I do a little bit ;)).

Forged 455 Carbon steel was used. Not 1025. This makes the face stronger, so it can be a little thinner. This is where the distance gains come from vs. Apex Pro. The head was designed with AI. Real player swing data? Yep. The R&D team fed actual golf swings into AI, and the machine learned how a player like me hits it when I hit it good, and how I hit it when I hit it bad – just like the Smoke Driver. There are micro sweet spots on the face – just like the smoke driver. You miss it a little- you don’t pay the price. I can assure you, this is true. This set is one of the most consistent I have ever played. It certainly is on mishits. Add in some machine injection molded weighting placed to optimize launch windows and trajectory, and a sole very similar to Apex Pro gives exceptional turf interaction through the hitting area. Oh yeah, did I mention the entire body is forged? Not just some of it like every other iron in this class. All of it. This makes for tour level feel. So, yeah… That’s how they accomplished all they did in this iron head.

Interestingly enough, The irons seem to chill out on how far they go, progressively, as they get shorter. The PW was a 125 club for me, just like my old Apex. 9-iron was a tough longer, 8 was maybe 3-4 yards longer, 7 was 5 longer, and so on. The 5 iron is almost a full club longer. I like that the distances stretch out through the set, so the range of yardages is greater. That affords me some flexibility in the bag by stretching out the yardages in the set. I’m a pretty solid 15 yards between clubs with this set. The shot maker in me loves this.

As I mentioned in the review, I tinkered with the 4 iron. First, it was easy to hit off the deck, and awesome off a tee for me. It’s a nice 210 club for me. I had a 21* Apex UW that was one of the best golf clubs I’ve ever used, and that was a 215 club for me. Too close, so I’m tinkering with a 19* UW. I’m closer to 225 with that, which is just what I want. To make room for the 4-iron, I had to drop something. I loved the Paradym 5 wood, but I can’t play golf without a 3 wood. The 5 wood was a 230 club for me, and I only realistically got 240 out of the 3 wood. So, I dropped that 5 wood and turned the 3 wood to 16* – A 4 wood. It flies higher and stops faster. I get the same carry that I did with the 3 wood. All in, I have a nice driving iron in the Apex 4-iron, and more playable FW Woods for me.

On the other end, I got some new wedges. I ordered 50, 54, 58. My standard loft make up. With a 43* PW, I have a gap a little larger than I’d like with the 50. I’m contemplating bumping the loft 1* or 2* stronger, or even ordering a 48*. Fortunately I have a wedge fitting system where I can try it first before I do it. The bounce on the 50* is 10*, so taking it down to 8* if i go 2* stronger could be a little scary. I will chip with that club too, so I’m not sure if it’s something I want to do or if it’s just the gear head in me taking over. Tinkering is what we do for fun, though right?

Folks – THIS is why we fit clubs. We all look for that hidden gem. That bit of magic that will make a player better. The excitement we can create when we can show what new tools can do. Then, using what you know to make the setup perfect. In this case, I didn’t change a single spec. Just the head. The performance was eye-opening. I can’t wait to go play golf!! Go fit someone for these irons – give them the same gift. This is why we do it.

Happy Fitting!!!

Jim Yeager, PGA