One of the internet’s most desired Tour-only golf clubs is finally coming to market.
Callaway is releasing the Apex MB Tour Raw irons, which are essentially the same irons played by many of Callaway’s top staffers like Sam Burns, Min Woo Lee, Si Woo Kim and more, in “extremely limited quantities.” Apex MB Tour Raw, commonly known on Tour as the Apex MB ’26, is typically Callaway’s most-played iron at PGA Tour events this season.
“We have a saying in the building that great product always finds a way into peoples’ bags,” Callaway’s VP of global strategy, Jacob Davidson, said in a product presentation. “I don’t think there’s a truer testament to that than these irons, because so many players — including non-staffers — have tested them and are currently playing them, despite us keeping supply very limited.
“What we’re really excited about this year is rolling out a limited first run of these Apex MB Tour Raw irons to consumers. We wanted to give golfers the opportunity to buy what our Tour players are actually using.”
Lee was the first player to put the irons in his bag, adding them early last season before earning his debut PGA Tour win with them at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. The irons have also been in the bag of free agent Adam Scott, one of the most notorious blade iron users, since last summer.
Keep reading below for more on the Callaway Apex MB Tour Raw irons, including my take on the release.
About two years ago, Callaway started to notice that its current muscle back wasn’t focused on what Tour players were looking for. Instead, more pros gravitated toward the Apex TCB and X-Forged lines.
“The first thing we noticed is there was a shift in Tour usage,” Callaway senior manager for Irons R&D, Ryan Ritchie said. “Players were gravitating toward X-Forged because of its consistency, performance, feel and sound, and we realized our muscle back needed to become the foundation of our Tour iron lineup.”
So the team set out to create a new muscle back. The inspiration was to take the foundations of the popular 2018 Apex MB and merge it with the modern Japan-only X-Prototype combo set. The ’18 MB was chosen because so many of Callaway’s core muscle back players loved that iron. Meanwhile, the X-Prototype has a similar shaping to the X-Forged CBs.
“We took that and overlaid some of the MB18’s 3D scans and started really meshing those two together to create a new shape, if you will, and a new sole and a new geometry that was similar to the MB18, similar to the X Prototype, but had this modern twist in order to give players a little bit more performance and better turf interaction and more confidence really in playing in different conditions,” Ritchie said.
From a design perspective, the most obvious departure from traditional muscle-back design involves the wide sole.
That wide sole is the most defining characteristic of the new MB as it allowed designers to focus mass low in the head to boost forgiveness. The effective sole area is then reduced by Callaway’s Tri-Sole design that has become common on other irons like X-Forged.
On the MB, the tri-sole is now a full band from the hosel to the toe — a nod taken from the Tour.
“I’ve watched a handful of guys hit this for the first time and the reaction’s the same every time, is they are really amazed at how quickly it moves through the turf,” Davidson said. “And it’s different than anything they’ve ever hit.”
The topline is also thicker than a traditional muscle back to match the sole width, but Callaway used a 360-mill cut around the entire face to disguise the topline and make it appear thinner.
“This allows us to maintain that true precise shape that our players are looking for, while also creating this other secondary chamfer on the leading edge, which allows the blade to really get into the turf faster and quicker with less friction,” Ritchie said.
What is it: A modern muscle-back design featuring a wide tri-sole that not only enhances turf interaction, but also concentrates mass low in the head to boost both launch and forgiveness. The irons are forged from a single piece of 1025 carbon steel and offered in a raw finish.
Who it’s for: Traditional blade players who want a similar package but more launch, forgiveness and enhanced turf interaction.
It’s about time. The Callaway Apex MB ’26 has been one of the most talked-about irons in recent memory because it has been out on Tour for so long, without any sign of a release. Now finally, the fans have what they want.
This is a really interesting iron. I had never played blades until this year when I started with the Cobra 3DP MBs. While the new Callaway MB isn’t as compact as the Cobra, which is based on a traditional MB profile, it fills a similar playability profile like the CBs I played previously.
The Apex MB Tour Raw is one of this new generation of modern blades that gives us the look and feel we want, while being surprisingly playable. While many people wrote off blades, this is another entry in the playable blade category that is not only keeping it alive, but expanding it.
We’ve seen dozens of Tour players adopt this iron already despite its limited availability and my feeling is many strong amateur (think as high as single-digit handicaps) players will move into these clubs as well.
Callaway’s new Apex MB Tour Raw irons are available for order in extremely limited quantities starting Aug. 4.
A seven-piece set will cost $1,699.99.
Stock lofts are as follows, but can be adjusted through custom:
Apex MB Tour Raw: (4i) 23, 26, 29, (7i) 33, 37, 41, (10i) 45
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