Callaway Epic Forged Irons Review – Ultra-Premium Craftsmanship

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Callaway Epic Forged Irons Review

In this review, I’ll take an in-depth look at the Callaway Epic Forged irons.

The Epic Forged is Callaway’s newest iron offering and is labelled as “ultra-premium forged performance”.

While the Apex irons are geared towards better players, the Epic Forged iron is more of a game-improvement iron that delivers more distance and forgiveness. And unlike the original Epic, this one is forged.

The Epic Forged iron is forged (hence the name), has an ultra-premium look developed from precision engineering, and is designed for a pure sound and feel.

How does the Epic Forged iron perform at the end of the day? Is it a good option for mid and high handicaps? Is it worth the cost?

Read on to find out what you need to know before putting these in your bag.

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.


Quick Verdict

Rating: 9.3/10

Pros & Cons: See review box at bottom of review

Classification: Game-Improvement

Best suited for: Mid-handicappers

Best Places To Buy Online

Because the Epic Forged irons are from 2019 and are a couple seasons old, you can no longer order custom shafts, grips, lie angles, lofts, etc. from the official Callaway website.

The best you can do now is look at Callaway Golf Pre-Owned, Global Golf or eBay. If you want to save a boatload of money on these irons, I strongly recommend checking out the listings on eBay here.


What are the reviews like?

The Epic Forged irons have been rated very highly by consumers and critics. At the time of writing, they have a rating of 4.8/5 (90% recommended) on the CGPO website.

What People Like

  • they feel smooth at impact compared to the original Epic
  • they have a larger sweet spot and more forgiveness than Apex irons
  • many people hit these irons higher than the Apex
  • very long and straight
  • they look amazing

What People Don’t Like

  • very expensive – some of the most expensive irons on the market

What are the features?

The Epic Forged irons are best suited for golfers who want a forged iron with premium feel but want more game-improvement capabilities than the Apex iron.

The main selling points are:

Ultra-Premium Forged Design

One of the biggest selling points of the Epic Forged is the forged 1025 Carbon Steel body, which produces extremely pure and smooth feel at impact, as well as excellent turf interaction and sound.

The urethane microspheres, which absorb unwanted vibrations without slowing the face, are also present in the iron.

360 Face Cup

Callaway’s 360 Face Cup makes a return again.

As you might know by now, it consists of a flexible, shallow rim around the perimeter of the face that provides a “rebound” effect for the ball, greatly increasing ball speeds and distance.

Suspended Tungsten Core

This is the first time that Suspended Tungsten Core technology is incorporated into a forged iron.

Working with the urethane microspheres, the custom tungsten weight is suspended, which allows the CG to be precisely positioned.

Variable Face Thickness

The Epic Forged irons feature a Variable Face Thickness (VFT) pattern in the mid and long irons that provides exceptional spin control and ball speed.

Stock Info

There are many different iron set configurations that you can order, from the 4-iron to the SW and everything in between. A common choice is the 5-PW set.

The stock shafts are the Aerotech Steelfiber FC and Mitsubishi Tensei AV Silver, but there are many other shaft options to choose from.

The stock grip is the Golf Pride Tour Velvet, but as with the shafts, there are many different grips you can choose from.

If you’re interested, full information on shafts, grips and their specs can be found on the Callaway website.

Below are the specs of the Epic Forged irons. Click to enlarge.

Callaway Epic Forged Irons Review - Specs

How do these irons perform?

When I reviewed the original Epic iron a couple of years ago, I remarked that the feel of mishits was pretty bad, and I felt that it didn’t offer enough improvement over previous models.

I’m happy to say that both of these issues have disappeared with the Epic Forged iron.

Distance/Distance Control

The Epic Forged irons are some of the longest distance irons I’ve tested to date. On average, I was hitting them 10-15 yards longer than the Apex 19 irons without any added effort.

Yes, the lofts a are a bit stronger, but even so, I found the launch height to be nearly the same or even higher at times, which is great.

Because of the VFT, large sweet spot, and high MOI with the 360 Face Cup, you can expect great distance control and consistency across the face. This checks out.

Distance control rivals that of the Apex 19, and I can safely say it’s better than it was with the original Epics.

Forgiveness

I find all but the Pro irons in Callaway’s offerings to be very forgiving, and the Epic Forged is no different.

As a game-improvement iron, hits towards the heel and toe and away from the sweet spot don’t lose all that much trajectory and distance. In fact, my poor shots would usually miss the fairway or a green by a hair.

Overall, forgiveness is quite similar to the original Epic.

Playability & Workability

In terms of playability, the Epic Forged irons play great out of a wide variety of lies including thick rough and bunkers, thanks in part to the forged carbon steel construction. I expected nothing less from such an expensive iron.

Because of the GI traits, workability is more limited than something like the Apex 19. You can work the ball to an extent, but if you want to impart very specific shapes to your shots, this might not be the iron for you.


What about look, sound & feel?

The Look

This is a big one. The Epic Forged iron looks, quite simply, amazing, and darn well they should considering the price tag.

One of the first things to notice is that the offset is on the low side — less than both the Apex 19 and original Epic. In my opinion, a lower offset looks better aesthetically; whether or not it’s good for the performance is another matter.

The top line is fairly thick. The badge design has a premium and luxurious feel to it, but I wonder if a little more colour would have made more of an impact, instead of just shades of grey.

Overall, it has a solid and confidence-inspiring look at address.

The Sound & Feel

Unlike the original Epic irons whose feel on mis-hits left much to be desired, the Epic Forged irons feel much better across the face, but there is still a bit of harshness there.

No doubt helping in this regard are the urethane microspheres which absorb unwanted vibrations.

I can describe the sound and feel as smooth, crisp and solid. And the feel on solid strikes is top.

Overall, great marks in this category.


Summary & Conclusion

At the end of the day, the Epic Forged irons deliver top game-improvement performance in a premium, luxurious package that incorporates Callaway’s latest club technologies. They’re ideal for mid-handicappers.

But as you may know, they’re very expensive. And it does seem like we’re witnessing a trend where prices of clubs and irons are rising into the stratosphere.

Are they worth the cost? It’s hard to say. If you have the budget for it, then I suggest going for it; you know that they’re going to last you for many years.


Thanks for reading this review. Have you played the Epic Forged irons? What do you think about them? Feel free to leave a comment below with your thoughts and experiences.

Callaway Epic Forged Irons Review - Irons 2
Callaway Epic Forged Iron
Distance/Distance Control
9.8
Forgiveness
9.4
Playability/Workability
9
Look
9.9
Sound & Feel
9.5
Value For Money
7.5
Pros
feel smooth and solid at impact
more forgiving than the Apex irons
high launch despite strong lofts
very long and straight
premium look and feel
Cons
Very expensive
9.2
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3 Comments

  1. indyvic November 1, 2022
    • Paul November 2, 2022
  2. John P March 5, 2023

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