Gear: Callaway Limited-Edition Apex TCB Irons
Price: $1,505 (4-10 iron) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid 115 shafts and Golf Pride Z grips
Specs: Forged 1025 carbon steel with tungsten weight
Who It’s For:
Elite golfers who have a powerful, repeatable swing.
What You Should Know:
These irons are an homage to Xander Schauffele and blend Callaway’s updated 2024 Apex looks with shaping and a size designed to appeal to elite golfers.
The Deep Dive:
After golfers win major championships or accomplish something unique, brands often celebrate by creating social media posts, developing posters for pro shops, and sometimes offering replicas of players’ clubs.
That’s what Callaway is doing with the release of limited-edition Apex TCB irons. These clubs are nearly identical to the set Xander Schauffele used throughout 2024 and had in his bag when he won the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club and the British Open at Royal Troon.
Xander Schauffele kisses the Claret Jug on the 18th green in celebration of victory at the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon. (Getty Images)
The Apex TCB irons debuted in 2021, and Schauffele has been playing them since that year. Jon Rahm used them to win the 2021 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters, and Sam Burns has been a TCB player for the last few seasons as well. However, the set Schauffele had in his bag this season is different from the clubs used by Rahm and Burns.
Apex TCB: Materials and Tech
Like their predecessors released in 2021, the 2024 limited-edition Apex TCB irons (TCB stands for tour cavity-back) are forged using 1025 carbon steel for a soft feel at impact. However, unlike the 2021 version, these clubs come with a raw steel finish. In addition to being anti-glare, the raw steel will rust and darken in tone over time and with exposure to water. Schauffele has been using raw steel irons for the past several seasons.
Aesthetically, the limited-edition Apex TCBs match the recently released Callaway Apex CB, Apex Ai200, and Apex Ai300. They feature a modest cavity-back design to boost perimeter weighting and provide a small amount of stability. A tungsten weight screwed into the back of each club helps lower the center of gravity while allowing fitters to easily change the swing weight of the Apex TCB based on the length and player preferences. However, the Apex TCB has a shorter blade length, thinner topline, and less offset than the other Apex irons.
Xander Schauffele’s Callaway Apex TCB 10-Iron. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Callaway Apex TCB, 10-iron?
In another nod to the 2024 PGA Championship and British Open winner, the limited-edition Apex TCB irons will come standard as a set running from 4-iron to 10-iron. That’s not a typo. Instead of having a club marked as a pitching wedge, Schauffele has been using a 46-degree iron labeled “10 iron,” so that’s how the pitching wedge is labeled in this set.
These irons are clearly built for elite players, and Callaway is calling them limited editions, but they may be a peek at something the company intends to offer in 2025. Cosmetically, the limited-edition Apex TCB fits perfectly with the recently released Apex irons (Apex CB, Apex Ai200, Apex Ai300). So, if Callaway wants to update a three-year-old better player’s iron, we could see something similar to these limited-edition irons next season, but they would almost certainly be released with a chrome finish.