Callaway Apex Ai200 Irons Review
Joe Ferguson takes the latest member of the Apex family out on the course for a thorough workout…
![Callaway Apex Ai200 irons](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UENsP9DdPwsQC2Bas5WE7M-415-80.jpg)
The Callaway Apex Ai200 is undoubtedly an impressive iron, delivering strong ball speeds and high levels of forgiveness. Mid-handicap players will enjoy the sophisticated looks on offer here as well as the ease of use and robust impact sensation. It may sit a little too close in the range to Apex Pro for me, but as a standalone product, the Ai200 is a good performer.
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Premium looks
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Excellent ball speed on mishits
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Turf interaction is smooth
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Quite a similar offering to the Apex Pro aesthetically
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The Apex family has been a very successful one for Callaway over the years, featuring in tour player and club golfers' bags all over the world. The earlier Apex launches of 2024 have been exceptional with the MB, CB, and Pro all receiving excellent reviews, but now we have three more members of the family, the Ai200, Ai300, and Ti Fusion irons. In this review, I will be looking at the Ai200 irons to see if they can sit amongst the best irons of 2024.
The Apex Ai300 (left) and Ai200 (right) irons
In terms of technology, Callaway is offering a forged hollow body combined with a forged 455 face, strategically positioned MIM weighting, and a dynamic sole design to ensure enhanced turf interaction and provide more forgiveness through the turf. With a 7-iron loft of 30˚ the Ai200 is very much looking to become one of the best players distance irons.
From a visual perspective, they look very sophisticated both from a shelf appeal point of view and also in the playing position, with little to moderate offset and a very digestible top line. The whole Apex family this time around offers a real cohesion in terms of the aesthetics, so much so that as a tester you actually have to look quite hard sometimes to know which iron you are picking out!
The profile of the Ai200 frames the ball beautifully and there is enough real estate to provide confidence but not so much that it looks clunky or cumbersome in any way.
Performance-wise, they stack up against any of the best compact distance irons such as the Mizuno Pro 245 or the TaylorMade P790 irons, offering predictably strong distance output and a nice lively feel at impact. Despite the strong lofts, they are relatively easy to launch and the newly designed sole provides nice turf interaction.
I didn’t find any particular flight bias during testing, although my miss was generally marginally left of target which is probably mostly due to the fact that they have slightly more offset than my gamer set of Apex CBs.
My only slight issue with the Ai200 irons is that to me at least they are a very similar offering to the Apex Pro, certainly from an aesthetic point of view. Behind the ball, the minuscule differences are barely perceptible in fact.
(From left to right) The Apex Pro, Ai200, and Ai300 irons in the playing position
To balance that perspective, however, the Ai200 irons do come in 3 degrees stronger in loft, and Callaway would certainly argue that they provide more forgiveness than the Apex Pro iron. I would say that is a reasonable argument, and I am absolutely not questioning the quality of what is an excellent iron, I am just pondering whether two models (Ai200 and Ai300) were required to bridge that gap between the Apex Pro and Ai Smoke irons.
With that said, if you look at them as a standalone product, the Ai200 is as good as anything in this category, ticking a lot of the performance, aesthetic, and feel check boxes that I look for here. The cohesive looks with the rest of the Apex range make multiple combo options viable, and you could genuinely fit five different models into your bag without even really noticing visually.
The Apex Ai200 irons will be available at an RRP of $1400/£1199 for a 7-piece set with irons between 4 and Approach wedge on offer. The stock steel shaft offering will be a Dynamic Gold True Temper Mid 100, and the graphite option will be a UST Recoil Dart 80. The stock grip will be a Golf Pride Z-Grip.
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Joe has worked in the golf industry for nearly 20 years in a variety of roles. After a successful amateur career being involved in England squads at every age group, Joe completed his PGA degree qualification in 2014 as one of the top ten graduates in his training year and subsequently went on to become Head PGA Professional at Ryder Cup venue The Celtic Manor Resort. Equipment has always been a huge passion of Joe’s, and during his time at Celtic Manor, he headed up the National Fitting Centres for both Titleist and Taylormade. He’s excited to bring his knowledge of hardware to Golf Monthly in the form of equipment reviews and buying advice.
Joe lives in North Devon and still plays sporadically on the PGA West region circuit. His best round in recent years came earlier in 2023 where he managed a 9 under par 63 at Trevose GC in a Devon & Cornwall PGA Tournament.
Joe's current What's In The Bag?
Driver: Switch between Ping G430 Max 10K & TaylorMade Qi10 - both with Fujikura Ventus Black 6-X
Fairway wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour - Fujikura Ventus Black 7-X
Irons: Callaway Apex CB 24' 3-11 - Project X LS 6.5 shafts
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM10 54D and 60M
Putter: Odyssey Toe Up #9
Ball: TaylorMade 2024 TP5x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 60R
Bag: Vessel Player IV Pro DXR Stand
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