Callaway Apex Irons Review

Callaway’s newest flagship line of irons is not quite Hogan-esque, but pretty darn close.

Callaway Apex Irons Back HeroJust a few years ago, Callaway’s lineup of irons was bloated, confusing, and redundant. They had a few uninspired options for better players, and had clearly put all of their effort into the game improvement market.

Several years later, Callaway’s lineup has been completely transformed. Along with the holdover X Forged from a year ago, they’re introduced two new lines: X2 Hot, and Apex.

Callaway didn’t approach the Apex line lightly, and it shows. The label was originally made famous as the name of a line of Hogan clubs. After Callaway bought the Hogan brand in the early 2000s, both the “Hogan” and “Apex” names were retired, a development that many better players lamented, especially as Callaway recycled the Hogan “Edge” label into a set of gaudy game-improvement irons and despite Callaway’s recent sale of Hogan to Perry Ellis.

As Callaway’s most forgiving forged set of irons, the Apex irons need to strike a balance between appealing to both high- and low-handicappers, which is not easy to do. Let’s see how they made out.

Volume Three Hundred Eighty-Eight

Adam’s #1, Rory’s single, and Monty’s back! And Bubba is, well, Bubba.

Hittin' the LinksWe hope those of you in the U.S. enjoyed the long Memorial Day weekend and took a moment to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. And for those of you in parts of the world that don’t observe the holiday this weekend, we hope you enjoyed it and got out to play a little golf.

There was a lot of great golf on TV this weekend, too. While many of us were outside grilling or enjoying the (finally) warm weather, the tours were putting on a show. The Euro Tour’s best event featured a hard Sunday charge from an unlikely (of late) player. The Crowne Plaza Championship gave us two of the game’s top players catching the leaders from deep in the field and then dueling it out in a playoff. There was even a David Toms sighting in Dallas, as the former PGA Championship winner put up a top 5 performance.

And what can we say about the Sr. PGA Championship? Well, let’s see as we hit the links…

Is Augusta National a Left-Hander’s Paradise?

In recent years the Masters has been won an overwhelming amount by left handed golfers, I take a look at why the lefties are dominating.

Thrash TalkIt is long rumored that Ben Hogan had a secret that made him such a great golfer. Arguments have raged on for years what it was. Most people now agree his secret was really just hard work.

I too have found a secret. My secret is how to win the Masters.

You think I am crazy right? I’m not. I have figured it out. If you want to win at Augusta you need to be a really long-hitting left-handed golfer. Sure, it is not easy to become that, but if you do your odds for winning shift overwhelmingly in your favor. Consider the last few winners at Augusta: the majority of them are lefties. Mostly Phil and Bubba, but we can throw a Mike Weir in there also.

Volume Three Hundred Eighty-Seven

Salas and Todd are first time winners, Jimenez is the oldest winner (again), and John Daly wears Hooters shorts.

Hittin' the LinksA lot of us thought that Tiger’s back injury this year could be the one from which he doesn’t come back. Turns out, he was thinking the same thing. That’s a startling admission from Woods who has long kept injuries hidden from the competition and the media. Time will tell if he will indeed be able to return to the TOUR and take up pursuit of major #15, but he is sounding optimistic about his health and his future.

More on that soon, but first let’s hit the links.

Callaway Big Bertha 2014 Review

With the new Big Bertha, Callaway promises the most advanced driver that they’ve ever created. Read on to see if it’s as good as they’d have you believe.

Over the last few years, Callaway has come out with a number of different products with all sorts of different names. From the RAZR Fit and X Hot to Octane and Diablo, it seems that the company has rolled out model after model in search of an identity. However, if there is one product line that defines the company, it is the Big Bertha. When the original version of the Bertha came out, it was all about distance but through the years the company has strayed from the name trying to capture the next great thing. Now it seems that the next great thing is an old one after all, or at least one with an old name. The new version of the Big Berth is bigger and meaner and promises even more distance than ever before.

Cobra Introduces Bio Cell Pro Driver

Cobra adds to the Bio Cell lineup with the addition of a Pro model.

Bag DropLate last year Cobra Golf updated their driver line up with the release of the Bio Cell series of clubs. These clubs replaced the popular Amp Cell series of woods, which were the company’s first to include their MyFly technology. The new Bio Cell clubs continued Cobra’s multi-color approach by once again allowing consumers to pick from an array of colors for their woods. The Bio Cell Drivers came in two different variations; for the average golfer, they offered a 460cc standard version and for the better player they have the “+” version which had a smaller 440cc head as well as a few additional differences. Over the past few months, Rickie Fowler has been playing a slightly different version of the Bio Cell, the Bio Cell Pro.

Volume Three Hundred Eighty-Six

A caddie dies, but play resumes. Kaymer survives weather and the field. And Sammy the Squirrel gets a new home.a

Hittin' the LinksWhen a participant in a Tour event dies during the tournament — that is, actually on the tournament course during competition – don’t you think that the tournament should at least be put on hold for the day to allow players and caddies to recover, not to mention out of respect for the deceased?

In better news, the Players Championship took place this weekend. On the front nine, it was shaping up to be the tournament of the year, with Kaymer, Spieth, Furyk, Garcia, Hearn, Molinari, Rose, Westwood, Walker, and McIlroy all looking like potential winners at one point or another. But Martin Kaymer ran away from the field on the back nine, at least until the rain delay. In case you missed it, we’ll tell you what happened.

Let’s hit the links.

Volume Three Hundred Eighty-Five

Holmes bounces back from brain surgery, Aguilar scores from downtown, and winter’s effects on golf are slow to melt away.

Hittin' the LinksIf you live in the Northeast or Midwest of the U.S., your courses are probably just starting to perk back up following one of the harshest winters in recent memory. Here in central Ohio, putts are finally starting to roll without hopping left and right off unhealed aeration holes. But the courses are hurting in more ways than just being behind in maintenance. Between rain and cool weather in April, rounds are down at both public and private courses. On a 60 degree weekend day, one popular private club reportedly had a “wide open” tee sheet. Normally in April or May, you would need to make a tee time a week in advance.

Every day, lost rounds mean thousands of dollars of revenue lost from greens fees and food and beverage sales at each course, revenue that is unlikely to be made up since the season will only last so long. That’s not good for golf or golfers. So do your part and go play some golf.

But first, let’s hit the links.

TaylorMade 2014 Tour Preferred MC Review

After going missing for a couple of years, the Tour Preferred line of irons are back. Read on to see if they are really worthy of that name.

Over the last couple of years there has been no company that puts out more products than TaylorMade. It seems that every time you blink an eye they have a new driver, wood or set of irons that is suppose to add another 15 or 20 yards to your game via different technologies that are built into the clubs.

That’s all well and good, and during that time, they’ve done a great job marketing to the weekend warrior but at some point, it seemed like they lost touch with the more serious golfer. This year, that tune has changed and the company has brought back their “Tour Preferred” line of irons. The line has three different models; the first is their muscle back or MB model and is for the best of players. On the other end of the spectrum of the Tour Preferred line are the CB’s. These clubs, as you can tell by the name, have a cavity back and have a much larger foot print. In the middle, there are the muscle cavity or MCs.  These clubs combine ideas from the two sets around them to produce a club with a slight cavity, a smaller shape, and thin top lines in a package that also has some of the technology that’s missing from the MBs.

Read on to find out if TaylorMade’s newest irons are as good as they’d have you believe or if they are just another club that will be replaced in a few short months.