Golf News Editor Nick Bayly puts the new Callaway Apex Ai300 irons through their paces
As a 13 handicapper with an 18 handicapper’s iron game, I like plenty of forgiveness built into my irons, and while Callaway’s new Ai300 irons are billed as a game improvement model, their dimensions and overall look at address are slightly more compact that you’d expect to find in a club that is built for this category of the market.
Having said that, it’s a broad spectrum and this Ai300 irons definitely sit at the low end of that handicap category in that they will suit and appeal to decent ball strikers, and definitely result in some performance gains, whether it be in ball speeds, consistent distance off the middle, as well as those that aren’t struck off the dead centre of the clubface.
My ball flight with the Ai300s was higher than usual, helped by the weighting in the head of the club, and shots into greens ‘dropped and stopped’ which showed me just how much more spin Callaway have in their updated Apex model.
My shots were also longer than usual distance-wise, and dispersion was pretty tight and consistent when I hit a range of shots with each iron in the set.
The lower irons, the 9 and PW, felt effortless when it came to getting the ball up in the air, making them ideal for players like me who often struggle to keep their approaches on the green, as these irons create high ball flight for softer landings.
Like many mid-handicappers I often feel as though I lose a bit of control when hitting longer irons, and consequently only go up to a 5-iron in my current set.
Although there was no 3- or 4-iron supplied with my test set, I liked how the ball came off the club with the 5-iron, and the mid-to-high ball flight provided a nice combination of distance and dispersion control.
What also impressed me, throughout the bag, was the performance I was still able to generate with less than perfect strike. Having irons with enhanced turf interaction for mishits is also ideal for those who struggle for consistency with their swing.
Overall, I think these are a very well-conceived and executed set of game-improvement irons. The performance gains are evident for mid-to-high handicappers and they also made me want to become a better ball striker, rather than doing all the work for you.
RRP: £1,199/£1,299 (st/gr, 4-PW). For more details, visit eu.callawaygolf.com.