About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the irons, which I tested for 1 day in August of 2022.

My take

The Callaway Apex DCB 21 Irons are a mid-handicap iron that is one of the most forgiving I've ever hit. A very versatile club that I felt I could hit different trajectories with and not have any issue doing so. I did notice for the low to scratch handicap that likes to work the ball, they may favor the Apex or Apex Pro irons instead. But for the mid handicap that likes to have one shot and minimize misses, this is an ideal club.

About the club I tested

• Model: Callaway Apex DCB 2021 irons
• Loft setting: Tested a 7 iron which is 30 degrees in loft
• Shaft type: Project X rifle shaft 6.0
• Shaft flex: Stiff

About me

• Average score: 72
• Handicap: +3
• Experience: Over 20 years of golf
• Right/Left-Handed: Left-handed
• Typical ball flight: Draw
• Golf ball used: Titleist Pro V1
• Club swing speed: Driver—120 mph

Test conditions

• Where I tested the club: Shingle Creek Golf Academy in Orlando, Florida
• When I tested the club: August 2022
• Days tested: One
• Where I’ve used it: A covered indoor-to-outdoor hitting bay with flightscope technology to track ball flight numbers
• Weather and wind conditions: Mid day, sunny conditions

How it performs

What I was looking for

I wanted to find a mid-handicap club that I felt could offer that group of golfers a pro-style look without intimidation and still give them confidence to know they will hit a good shot with this club.

Why I chose to test this club

I chose to test this club because I wanted to find a mid-handicap club that I felt would work for both a low handicapper who struggles with ball striking and the mid handicap looking to lower his scores. I had read the Golf Digest Hot list review of the DCB irons and loved the fact of a game- improvement iron with the look of the Apex players line . An iron that looks like it could be on the PGA Tour for the mid handicapper!

What I love about it

• Distance: What an amazing distance iron that didn't look or feel like one. The new Callaway AI technology combined with about a half a degree stronger lofts in the irons is a recipe for added distance. When I hit these irons, I gained about 3–5 yards with each.
• Forgiveness: The tungsten-perimeter weighting through the iron set provides so much forgiveness on off-center hits. I really felt like this clubhead with its larger face profile gave me the confidence that there was a larger sweet spot; I really don't lose that much distance on an off-center hit, maybe four yards at the most.
• Feel: Hitting the ball gave flush gave a ton of compression to the shots; even on off-center hits, I never felt much of a difference in feedback, which to me is a plus. But I do know some golfers like to know by feel when they hit it badly, but with the DCB iron, the whole face can feel just like hitting it dead center.
• Sound: With the forged feel, the sound of these irons felt soft and pure when I hit it in the center of the face.
• Adjustability: With our partnership with Callaway, there are over 20 shaft combinations that a Curated Expert can help with. I do like the True Temper Elevate shaft that comes stock in the irons because its 30 grams lighter than the dynamic gold shaft line; it is a mid-launching trajectory shaft that is good for a multitude of handicaps
• Grip Feel: Callaway has partnered with Golf Pride to create their stock Z Grip and Callaway Universal Grip that are their stock options in 50 grams and 46 grams. A nice, rubber grip that has the consistent feel of the Golf Pride tour velvet that most golfers are very familiar with.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Workability: I love the weighting and face technology in this club, but I do feel that it takes away the ability to really move the golf ball through all trajectories. For those at that level of golf where workability is a priority, I would look at the Apex Pro or Apex MB irons. For the mid handicapper who wants to learn to work the golf ball without the repercussions of mishits really hurting their game, then the DCB Apex irons are perfect.
• Aesthetic Appeal: I did think the iron was a bit large, and the thick top line was not my favorite. But to someone struggling with ball striking, I could see this as a confidence booster
• Launch Angle: I did think these irons were a tad high launching for my liking, but for a mid handicapper these are great. With the tungsten core weighting in the face and perimeter at 50 grams, I did feel like that was a lot of weight and made launching the ball a little lower a tad more difficult than the Apex Pro iron. For the mid handicapper who needs a higher launch angle to hold greens, this can be a great benefit to help them increase launch; and with a proper fitting, the perfect combination of spin to hold any green
• Spin: This is a lower-spinning iron, so a higher-spinning ball could help offset that. When testing the Apex DCB irons, I noticed almost 1,000rpm of spin under my normal spin rates (about 1,000rpm per club: i.e 7 iron=7,000-7,500rpm). The stronger lofts in the irons mixed with the weighting will increase launch but will take off spin.

Best shot with this club

During testing, not one shot stuck out, but all my shots were amazing. I was honestly shocked at the forgiveness this iron had. When I tried to work the ball a lot, the ball flight was very consistent.

Value for the money vs. other options

The price is a value for how these clubs perform and how forgiving they are. They are very similar in cost to the TaylorMade P770 irons, but with way more forgiveness. Another iron that I looked into is the Titleist T200, though it, too, is not nearly as forgiving and more expensive.

Final verdict

Overall, for the mid handicapper I think these irons have a ton of forgiveness that will provide these players with all the confidence in the world. I see this helping a ton of golfers who struggle with ball striking, and with the help of Curated Experts in fitting, this set could be a steal.