The Callaway Apex Ai200 and Ai300 irons represent a significant advancement in iron design, utilizing artificial intelligence to optimize performance for different player profiles.
Covering two separate player types, the Ai200 and Ai300 have many of the same features but two unique profiles to fit the target player better.
Apex Ai200 Irons – A forged player’s distance iron
The Ai200 irons are tailored for low- to mid-handicap golfers seeking a blend of distance, control and feel. Key features include:
- Forged Hollow-Body Construction: Combines a soft 1020 carbon steel body with a forged 455 Carpenter steel face, delivering a premium feel and sound.
- Ai Smart Face Technology: Utilizes real swing data to enhance ball speed, spin consistency and dispersion across the face.
- Refined Design: Features a thinner topline and shorter blade length for a cleaner, more compact look at address.
Apex Ai300 Irons – A forged game-improvement iron
The Ai300 irons cater to mid- to high-handicap golfers desiring added forgiveness without sacrificing feel. Highlights include:
- Forged Cavity-Back Design: Offers a slightly larger profile with more offset and a wider sole for increased forgiveness.
- Ai Smart Face Technology: Ensures consistent ball speed and spin, even on off-center hits.
- Enhanced Launch: Features a lower and deeper center of gravity, promoting easier launch and stronger lofts throughout the set.
Not sure which is right for you? Read on to see how our testers rated the Callaway Ai200 and Ai300 irons.
Key highlights:
- The Look: The Callaway Apex Ai200 and Ai300 irons impressed our testers with crisp and classic styling in a modern performance shape that provided confidence at address.
- The Feel: These irons were praised for having a powerful forged feel that was not too harsh compared to other solid forgings.
- The Numbers: Most testers found the irons to perform well, providing great distance potential with a high launch that allowed lower-spinning shots to still hold greens.
First impressions
JohnSmalls “Single piece forged irons are often said to be buttery soft. Amazingly, these irons are very close to that same feeling. I would equate them to refrigerated butter. Still relatively soft, but slightly firmer than room temperature.” Also adding, “there is good feedback across the face. You know whether you hit it thin, off the heel/toe or out of the middle.”
bbreezy716 “Out of the box, these clubs looked very impressive. The matte finish with the Apex inlay on the back really popped, and everything was wrapped exceptionally well. Overall the quality and care were top notch.”
Aesthetic appeal
bbreezy716 “The matte finish looks impressively clean and really allows you to easily see strikes on the face. The black Apex inlay on the back of the cavity adds a lot of appeal to having more than just a basic looking iron. These will draw you compliments from other golfers on the looks alone.”
JTown_81 “The Apex Ai 300’s are one of the sleekest irons I have had in my hands in a long time! I can say that on looks alone these clubs are winners. To my eye the head shape is in a traditional style but bigger as it is a game improvement iron and packs in the forgiveness. The satin finish really stands out coupled with the black APEX branded weight on the back of the club, and really make the club look like something special.”
Feel, dispersion and performance
JohnSmalls “Where they really shine and where I typically struggle is off the tee on par 3s. This is by far the best par 3 performance I’ve ever had over a month’s time. Tee the ball up slightly higher and swing free. Performance across the face a couple of grooves high is second to none.”
bbreezy716 “One reason I wanted to test these clubs was to really see how the Ai300 technology helps a higher handicap golfer who doesn’t always get clean strikes on the face. These irons performed well when compared to my old set of cavity backed irons. I still had some bad slices and even a couple push slices, but overall I did see an improvement in keeping my ball in play and hitting more fairways and greens in regulation, while not getting clean hits consistently.”
JTown_81 “Accuracy is no joke with these irons, no joke at all! This year I hit more greens with these clubs than the previous 2-3 seasons. The ball really jumps off the clubface and climbs high very quickly! I was blown away in my first round with them. I was 200ish yards out and hit the 6-iron to the back of the green. It not only held but spun back and ended 12 feet from the hole for an eagle attempt (which I of course missed).”
What they liked
bbreezy716 “I felt really comfortable leaning on these irons while playing rounds knowing I could have a less than clean strikes and still get a playable ball out of it.”
JTown_81 “Performance for me was exceptional! I lowered my scores and were lower with these irons in the bag! I had a high mark of 48, a 46, two 45’s, a 44, two 43’s, and one 40! I broke 90 once in my 20’s and I think it was dumb luck so I don’t count it, but I feel it coming with these clubs and the swing work I’m putting in! I was shooting 45-55 like I mentioned earlier and with these irons I have not drifted into the dreaded 50 mark!”
What they didn’t like
JohnSmalls “Greens in regulation went down 9% since switching to Apex. Countless times, a good swing that should have had a nice draw stayed dead straight and resulted in missed greens. Yardage gaps seen from indoor testing didn’t pan out on the golf course.”
Conclusion
JohnSmalls – “Callaway has made a really beautiful iron that blends the visual appeal and feel of a forged iron, but with some of the performance benefits of a hollow bodied game improvement club. These irons are perfect if you need lower spin, faster ball speed in a compact club head.”
bbreezy716 – “These irons will become a stalwart in my bag and really impressed me. I think Callaway did a great job making these a great iron for someone looking to get into a set of game improvement irons or to upgrade an aging set. If your irons are newer I don’t think these are going to make you want to switch from one recent model to these, but if you are looking to go from a beginner set or irons or have an old set of game improvement or beginner irons, these will serve you well.”
JTown_81 – “For me this is a no brainer. These irons are a keeper as I have played my best golf in years with them in the bag. The only change I may make down the road is to add Ai 200 scoring irons when my game gets to a point where those might help. Even writing this I’m not even sure that’ll happen. I’m loving these clubs and the only issues I’ve had with them have been minor.”
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