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In this review, I’ll be taking a look at the Callaway Apex Ti Fusion irons.
The Apex Ti Fusion is the bridge iron in the 2024 Apex family, sitting in the middle of the Ai200 and Ai300 game-improvement models and the Pro and CB players’ models.
This iron has a unique design consisting of a titanium face and forged hollow-body construction. This is designed to produce not just plenty of distance and forgiveness, but also great workability and tremendous consistency.
How does the Apex Ti Fusion actually perform when put to the test? How does it compare with the other 2024 Apex models? Is it worth putting a set in the bag?
Here’s what will be covered in the review:
Read on to find out what you need to know to make an informed purchase.
Note: Unless otherwise stated, stock shafts and stock grips are used when evaluating this club. In most cases, the golf clubs reviewed on Golfstead are acquired temporarily for testing purposes and are not purchased. The review that follows is based on the personal experience and research of the author. Because everyone’s swing and body are different, results with a particular club may differ from person to person.
What are the reviews like?
The Apex Ti Fusion irons have received average customer ratings of 3.3/5 (47% recommended) on the Callaway store.
While critics praise the performance of these irons, many make harsh criticisms about the dark finish which often starts to flake off after just one or two rounds.
What People Like
- irons look amazing when not worn
- great spin control into greens
- solid feel and nice sound
- impressive forgiveness
- high launch
What People Don’t Like
- dark finish has very poor durability
- high price tag
The Features
Forged Titanium Face
The Apex Ti Fusion iron is unique in that it features a forged titanium face, which is normally associated with driver faces.
This advanced brazed titanium material offers a number of benefits, namely power and tremendous speed (deflection) off the face with a larger sweet spot than a traditional steel face.
In addition, Ai Smart Face technology, first introduced in the Paradym Ai Smoke irons and developed using artificial intelligence and data from real golfers, helps to produce highly consistent spin, ball speeds, and dispersions. In the case of the Apex Ti Fusion, you get consistency resembling a blade with the performance of a two-piece iron.
Forged Steel Body
The titanium face of the Apex Ti Fusion is paired with a forged steel hollow body for a truly unique construction.
This steel body contributes significantly to the soft, pure feel of the iron — a feel that is similar to single-piece forged irons. At the same time, the hollow-body design helps shift the CG deeper and maintain high flexion across the face for consistency, speed, and forgiveness.
Other features and tech include:
- a Dynamic Sole for easier and more consistent turf interaction
- urethane microspheres which complement the titanium face to help produce a quieter impact sound
- a unique dark finish consisting of a Diamond-Like Coating (DLC)
Stock Info
The Apex Ti Fusion irons come in 3-AW (19°-48°). Sets and singles are available.
The stock shaft options are the Mitsubishi MMT 80 in graphite and the True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid 100 Gunmetal in steel. The stock grip is the Golf Pride Z-Grip.
If you’re interested, more information on shafts, grips and other customizations can be found here.
Below are the specs of the Apex Ti Fusion irons (click to enlarge). Note that the 5-9 iron lofts are half a degree weaker than the Ai200 model.
The Performance
Distance
Distance-wise, the Apex Ti Fusion irons perform pretty much as I expected relative to the Ai200 model.
The launch angle tends to be a bit higher (by about 1-2° on average) with a modestly higher spin — I was getting around 5000 RPMs with the 7-iron, which is maybe 200-300 RPMs higher than the Ai200. This is quite appropriate, in my opinion. Ball speeds are superb.
In my case, carry and total distance were slightly lower than the Ai200, but you may have a different experience depending on your swing and ball flight tendencies.
Forgiveness
Callaway classifies the forgiveness of the Apex Ti Fusion as a 4 on a scale of 1-5. In my experience, it’s definitely forgiving for a players’ iron, similar in forgiveness to the Ai200.
The iron preserves distance and spin well in mis-hit regions, and dispersions are relatively small as long as your contact isn’t too terrible.
Ball speeds in mis-hit regions immediately adjacent to the sweet spot actually seem to be a little more consistent than the Ai200, and I would attribute this to the titanium face.
Playability/Trajectory
Trajectories with the Apex Ti Fusion irons tend to be mid with mid spin, although many faster swingers should be able to get a nice high launch. I found during my field test that the ball flight was pretty neutral.
These irons provide plenty of stopping power into greens, with excellent control and consistency even in the longer irons.
One thing that stood out to me is that the Apex Ti Fusion is distinctly more workable than the Ai200 and is on a similar level to the Pro model. I found it particularly easy to flight the ball higher or lower as needed.
Because this iron lacks the MIM weight found in the other Apex models, it is more difficult to dial in your ideal swing weight and you’ll have to do it via lead tape or shaft modifications.
The Look
As the middle model in the 2024 Apex family, the Apex Ti Fusion lies between the Ai200 and Pro models in terms of thickness, but the iron is quite slim overall.
Compared to the Pro 24, the top line is a bit thicker and there is more offset, although the Apex Ti Fusion is the only Apex iron to not feature a metal-injection molded (MIM) back weight.
What stands out right away, of course, is the iron’s dark finish. This proprietary Diamond-Like Coating (DLC) is supposedly more durable than PVD coatings. Out of the box, it makes the iron look very sleek and attractive.
Unfortunately, this finish has turned out to be a major weak point of the irons as it tends to come off quickly, leading to a very unsightly appearance after just a couple of rounds of play. This can include flaked off spots on the back or fine scratches on the sole. I noticed some visible wear on the 7-iron myself after just one field test with it.
While Callaway says that the lack of plating and dark finish of the irons is meant to “optimize total performance”, they state that the finish will “naturally wear with usage like PVD finishes do”. In any case, it’s clearly not a quality finish, as other dark-finish clubs they’ve released in the past have not had this issue.
The Sound & Feel
At impact, the Apex Ti Fusion irons have a feel that is solid yet soft. It’s a feel you would normally associate with a forged players’ iron, and in fact, it feels like a muscleback blade in many ways.
Given the unique titanium face, you can expect the feel to be different than the other Apex models. Indeed, while a softness is present that is typical of forged irons, there is also a very responsive feeling off the face that gives you that extra bit of satisfaction after every solid strike.
The sound at impact is crisp — I found it to be slightly lower-pitched than the Apex Ai200. However, the Ti Fusion is similar to the Ai200 when it comes to consistency of sound and feel across the face. There is a moderate amount of mis-hit feedback.
As with the other Apex irons, urethane microspheres in this club help to reduce much of the harsh feel that you typically experience with players’ irons. Turf interaction is clean and smooth.
Where To Buy These Irons Online
If you want a brand new set of (or individual) Apex Ti Fusion irons with custom shafts, grips, lengths, lofts, lies, etc., definitely head over to this page on the official Callaway website.
The Ti Fusion irons are expensive. If you want to find good savings, you can look on eBay. Alternatively, check out what’s available at Global Golf.
Final Thoughts
The Callaway Apex Ti Fusion iron experience is bittersweet.
The performance of this iron is exceptional; it does everything well, whether it’s distance, forgiveness, launch, workability or control. The feel is fantastic, and the iron looks amazing when its outer coating is intact.
Unfortunately, the iron is dogged by a finish that has poor durability, with the potential to look years old after only a few rounds of use. It’s pretty unacceptable, especially given that the iron is priced at a premium compared to other Apex models. It’s mainly for this reason that the iron has mixed ratings amongst players.
Having said this, if you can get past the aesthetic problems (which don’t affect performance), this iron could serve you extremely well in the bag. It tends to be well-suited for handicaps in the mid to high single digits.
Are you interested in the Apex Ti Fusion irons? Have you played them? What’s your experience? Tell us about it in the comments below.
