Callaway Golf Announces New Apex Ai200, Apex Ai300, and Apex Ti Fusion Irons

Today Callaway Golf, one of the industry’s leaders in equipment design, performance, and innovation, has announced their new line of Apex Irons. 

This announcement is led by Apex Ai200 and Apex Ai300 offerings with performance that stands alone.  These are the only irons with a forged body and forged Ai Smart Face for distance, feel, and exceptional spin control.

It's been nearly three and a half years since Callaway launched their core Apex line.  We've seen the new Apex Pro 24 and Apex CB 24 irons.  But the core Apex irons that appeal to a wide variety of players lagged behind a bit.

That's because Callaway was spending considerable time and resources trying to discover ways to take the already esteemed core Apex line to new heights of performance.  And there are three key areas that make the new Apex Ai200 irons (which replace the Apex 21) and ApexAi300 irons (which replace the Apex DCB) like something we've never seen before.

Elevated Look and Feel

Callaway spent considerable time looking at how the irons look in our bags, how the irons look at address, and the way the irons feel at impact.

• Apex Ai200 and Ai300 Looks

Callaway streamlined the look of the Apex Ai200 and Ai300 compared to the Apex 21 and Apex DCB.   There was a similar design of Apex for most of its 10 year history.  A trapezoidal look with a badge or cavity.

 

Now Apex Ai200 and Ai300 are full modern hollow body construction with very clean parallel lines.  And weight plates are used like in the Apex Pro series.  

 

Ai200 has a thinner topline and shorter blade length like better players prefer.  And the Ai300 is also a bit sleeker compared to previous generations but still remains the more forgiving model of the two new irons with a little more offset and wider soles.

• Apex Ai200 and Apex Ai300 Feel

The feel aspect in Players Distance irons has not generally been given the same amount of attention as the distance aspect and Callaway sought to address this with Ai200 and Ai300.

I know I've talked with many of you over the years how important feel is, especially in our irons so I was excited to see Callaway address this one head on.

Callaway looks at feel as critically important to iron design and so committed to a fully forged construction with a forged high strength steel face combined with a soft forged carbon steel body.  And the result is a pure forged feel.

There was a great deal of engineering required to ensure that Callaway could fully leverage a high-strength steel face (where you get the speed from) and still maintain a soft body.  Many Players Distance irons on the market use forged faces but cast bodies.  And Callaway didn't want to go this route and sacrifice any feel, distance, or performance.   With Ai200 and Ai300 Callaway is taking a fully forged Players Distance irons to the next level.

Premier Performance

Callaway wanted to look at the complete package here for iron performance.  So looking at things like distance but also spin control that looks and feels like a Tour iron was important.

Premier Performance in Ai200 and Ai300 is really a holistic idea of making these irons look great, feel great, and also have the distance and ball speeds that you expect from a Players Distance iron.

The challenge with soft carbon steel bodies is that they're not as rigid as cast bodies in general.  And so Callaway designed the new Ai200 and Ai300 with top lines that are supported in a way that allows a soft body but also still a high strength face (a forged and very strong Carpenter steel 455 face to be exact).  And this allows these irons to have very thin faces challenging industry leading ball speeds while still maintaining the great overall feel.  It's sort of Callaway's way of saying you can have your cake and eat it too.

 

Superior Consistency

And finally Callaway looked at the need for consistency.  Consistency not just in distance and spin control.  But also consistency from part to part in manufacturing, consistency in tolerance of the builds, and of course consistency of performance in the different iron models.

• Apex Ai200 and Apex Ai300 Spin Consistency

Superior consistency is where Callaway believes their irons separate themselves from the competitors.  We're seeing many Players Distance irons with great ball speeds but without consistency of performance that's not going to necessarily help any of our games.

And that's where Callaway again is utilizing AI to achieve high ball speeds and longer shots - but consistently so.  Callaway wants to eliminate those shots where you feel like you've hit them on the same spot on the face but wind up having 10 or 15 yards of difference in carry.

AI Smart Face is used in the Apex Ai irons to increase distance and optimize spin and launch.  And Callaway was relentless in pursuit of these consistent ball flights.  Callaway designed the Apex Ai irons to have increased launch, higher spin, and steeper decent angles into the greens.  All about hitting to numbers with consistency.

Callaway also changed the Apex Ai irons face cup.  Not just in AI optimization but also in the construction.  There's a larger flange return on the hinge which delivers more ball speed.  And the face cup was moved even further into the heel and toe areas which gives more overall deflection across more of the face, and also moves the CG location more towards center impact.  This leads to more efficient ball strikes that can lead to even greater speed gains and stability at contact.

AI Smart Face was brought out in the Ai Smoke family of equipment which brings in real player data and combines this with AI to delivery ideal ball flights, spin rates, and launch characteristics.  And for the Apex Ai irons the players AI Smart Face was optimized for was the avid golfer with maybe a little more skill than the average golfer.

 

These are players with a bit more consistent swings than what Callaway looked at in the Ai Smoke irons for example.  So for the Apex Ai irons Callaway was looking at players who swing more down on the ball with more consistent impact locations.  Callaway then focused the AI optimization on those impact locations to improve launch, spin, and carry on misses around the face.

And Callaway even changed testing protocols with Apex Ai to look at spin consistency across the face of particular iron lofts throughout the bag.  

Apex Ai200 versus Apex Ai300

Apex Ai 200 is going to be Callaway's core Players Distance iron for the player who wants the look and feel of a players iron but doesn't want to sacrifice distance of consistency.

This will be the more compact version of the two Apex Ai irons with a little bit thinner thinner top line and sole width, hollow body construction, and a mid-launch trajectory.

The Ai300 is going to be more of a game-improvement iron with a little bit higher launch, a little bit more forgiveness, but with all the same technology (like Ai Smart Face) of the Ai200 irons.

Ai200 and Ai300 Shafts and Pricing

• Apex Ai200 Irons are available in 4-AW with stock True Temper DG Mid 100 Steel Shafts and UST Mamiya HDC Recoil Dart Graphite Shafts. 

• Apex Ai300 Irons are available in 4-AW with stock True Temper DG Mid 90 Steel Shafts and UST Mamiya HDC Recoil Dart Shafts. 

• Both irons will be available at retail starting August 16 with a price of $1399.99 for a standard 7-piece set.

Apex Ti Fusion Irons

This new Apex lineup also includes the ultra-premium Apex Ti Fusion, Callaway’s most advanced iron. This set is engineered with no limitations for players who want to enhance their game with breakthrough speed, feel, and control. It features an industry-first forged titanium face that promotes faster ball speeds for increased power.

Apex Ti Fusion breaks the tradeoff between a traditional one-piece and two-piece iron by creating more deflection than steel, with more urethane interaction and a forged body. An advanced titanium face and hollow body construction provides unimaginable feel, while the Ai Smart Face generates excellent speed and spin consistency with tight dispersion into the green. 

Unlike Any Iron in Existence

Quite frankly the Apex Ti Fusion irons are a true industry first.  Ti Fusion is a concept iron, a signal of innovation, with Callaway trying new technologies to deliver the highest possible performance.  In terms of who it's for, think of Ti Fusion like an Ai 150 or Apex Pro iron. 

• Incorporating Titanium into Iron Construction

The name Ti Fusion really says it all.  These irons incorporate titanium into iron construction.  And titanium (like in drivers) is very flexible allowing for high deflection and rebound which is ideal for energy transfer and high ball speeds.

 

The fusion aspect comes from leveraging the forged titanium face with a forged steel body (which don't usually join easily) to create very unique spin control. Conventional methods like brazing or swaging have trade-offs, so Callaway innovated to make this work without compromise.

Titanium irons have been designed in the past but never with Callaway's fusion  method.  As mentioned above, brazing and swaging, have limitations like thicker more rigid faces.  There are no face cups involved so ball speed suffers.  And tongue and groove joints are very inflexible, with the stiffness also not creating high ball speeds.

Callaway invented a completely new joint that never before existed.  They invented a process called Brazed Titanium (they've been working on for several years) where limitations in the other constructions were analyzed, studied, and removed from the design process.

Brazed Titanium is proprietary to Callaway and also a patented process.  It's an entirely new joint construction that allows high deflection across the face for high ball speeds.  A forged steel body is used for strength, stability, and weight distribution.

 

Titanium's lightweight nature makes constructing an iron entirely from it challenging and can place the center of gravity in undesired locations. With Callaway's patented construction they've achieved the right CG location and high stability and MOI, with the steel boundary forming a stable chassis for the face.

• Test Data and Initial Observations

Some early testers have said the ball jumps off the face in a "springy way but with soft feel."  And almost everyone who's tried it has said it's the best feeling iron they've ever hit.

Testing has shown consistent high launch and high spin windows, delivering high ball speeds and consistent downrange dispersion that rivals anything Callaway has ever designed.

Callaway attributes this to their AI Smart Face design approach using a very flexible material that delivers more deflection. And that deflection is then optimized to achieve tons of ball speed from the titanium face along with the stability and a great feel from the forged body.

 

Apex Ti Fusion are irons that excel in every aspect of iron performance.  They're great at speed, great in feel, and great at consistency.  And that was a prime focus for Callaway in designing Ti Fusion.

• Ti Fusion with Industry Leading Ball Speed and Control

Callaway says the Ti Fusion long irons boast industry leading ball speed, carry distance, and distance control due to the active titanium face and modeling spin across different face locations on the irons throughout the bag.

 

In the short irons Callaway leveraged the titanium differently to enhance launch and spin, and achieve exceptional backspin consistency comparable to single piece forged irons.  It's as if Ti Fusion combined the feel of a single piece forged iron with the consistency of Callaway's Pro series and cavity back irons.  Achieving the feel and consistency of a one-piece iron while delivering the ball speed and distance of a multi-piece iron is approaching the Holy Grail of irons territory.

Callaway testing showed that traditional one-piece irons (while great on pure shots) suffered significant drop-offs in ball speed, launch, and spin on miss hits. Better players typically use them for this reason. However with this Ti Fusion you get that same feel without sacrificing ball speed, spin, or launch consistency across the set.

These irons are available at retail starting August 16 with a price of $2100 for a standard 7-piece set and includes the True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid shaft as stock shafts in a premium powder coated gunmetal finish.  For more information on all these new irons visit www.callawaygolf.com.