Scratch or Crack? Apex '19 Irons

[bwellman]

Just noticed two eerily similar cracks (or maybe they're just deep scratches?) on my Apex '19 5i and 8i. What concerns me is I had this exact same thing happen on the 4i within a few weeks of gaming the clubs. Callway sent me a warranty replacement, but now this same thing is happening on two more clubs (and of course I'm now out of my warranty period). 

 

Any thoughts? Am I just being paranoid? I haven't noticed any real performance issue (yet), but to be fair I've only played 1 round yet this year. We've still got snow on the ground here in MN, afterall...

[muniman]

Not 100% sure on the first pic, but that 2nd pic looks like a crack for certain. 

[A.Princey]

1. Scratch 

2. Crack

[st1800e]

Contact Callaway.  I’ve had something replaced that was 6+ years old.  All I had to do was ask.  

[bwellman]

Thanks, all. 

[Canadian Bubba]

Crack for sure on the second picture. I hate to say it but that is why I went away from these cast/welded faced clubs to pure forged. I had nothing but issues with my i500’s with cracked faces. I play the P7MC’s and never have to worry about cracking. 

[hammergolf]

Looks like a crack to me..

[bwellman]

1 hour ago, Canadian Bubba said:

Crack for sure on the second picture. I hate to say it but that is why I went away from these cast/welded faced clubs to pure forged. I had nothing but issues with my i500’s with cracked faces. I play the P7MC’s and never have to worry about cracking. 

Apex irons are forged though…?

 

[MFBach]

1 hour ago, bwellman said:

Apex irons are forged though…?

Mmm… kinda. The last three iterations of the  Apex line have featured a hollow body with a forged faced. I haven’t played the Apex standard, but the ‘19 Pros were fully forged 8-W. 4-7i were a forged face welded to a hollow body with some type of proprietary foam or bubbles or something. 
 

The only truly forged Apex irons from ‘19 are the “dot” or “double dot” tour variety, which are a little harder to come by. Don’t always believe the hype or marketing. They aren’t afraid to slap forged badge or logo on a club that is anything but. 
 

If the clubs weren’t hollow, they wouldn’t crack. 

[mgoblue83]

11 hours ago, bwellman said:

Apex irons are forged though…?

 

 

The face is "forged" but it's hollow construction and the face is welded onto the body. Creates weak points and easy to crack.

[AzRoger]

It's probably just the chrome coating that is cracked, not the body. I've had a set of Apex 19's for about 3 years and I've only seen an issue with one club, a small section of the chrome peeled off on the 9I, bottom toe area. Never lost any sleep over it, still plays fine.

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by AzRoger

[TKeen]

I have the same irons and 4 of the set of 8 have all cracked in the same spot. On the face, vertically, close to the hosel. First one cracked within 1 year, was replaced under warranty.  The rest were not. Obviously defective material or manufacturing. Long-term loyal Callaway buyer, my next irons will NOT be Callaways. Titleist maybe....