Cleveland Classic XL & XL Custom Driver Preview Thread

[ddxu]

Fairways pretty narrow where you played? Any thought to cutting it down even further?

What's the wild miss right now.....hard pull?

Some in the OH Invitational thread would say I was better off not being in the fairways

They are just pretty undulating and all have some slope or bend to them. They just have character and arent just straight away flat rectangles. We played a set of tees further back yesterday, so I hit driver more often than I did back in April.

I dont think I will cut it down anymore, its just a confidence issue right now. I need to go from practice tee, casual round, to tournament rounds. After a few missed Fairways, I didnt have great confidence standing over the tee ball.

 

[dhill]

Just a quick update for the time being.

I've not quite got the distance I want yet but I'm a fairway machine. This weekend I've put some very good tempo swings on the ball trying to work out the driver issues that'd crept back in over the past few weeks. Its gone really well, I look forward to work on adding a bit of club head speed soon (now, how do I go about doing that...)

 

[#Cookie]

Took 3/4" off the shaft this morning to play at 44.25".

Looking forward to trying it at Nate's place tomorrow!

 

[niteowl03]

Took 3/4" off the shaft this morning to play at 44.25".

Looking forward to trying it at Nate's place tomorrow!

This should be fun buddy. CCXL+Altitudes=70s!!

 

[#Cookie]

Prior to yesterday's round, I decided to trim a bit off of this driver as I was seeing a variation of misses. A gamble it was but I knew I needed to do something. I took off 3/4" to put this playing at 44.25".

Played at Nate's place yesterday morning where we were welcomed with a consistent 15-20 wind that gusted higher at times. On the day, I was 9/15 FW.

First 2 misses were pretty bad but playable and then one swing on the back 9 put me into the drink for a penalty drop. All other swings were giving me a mid/mid-high ball flight and just dead straight. The course was damp from some heavy rains over the previous 3 days so had quite a few mud balls on the course which meant we were seeing very little roll with that mid-high ball flight dropping out of the air.

GOOD: aside from a few misses, I am definitely hitting more fairways. Course has tree lined fairways and plays fairly tight overall so I was pleased with the results.
BAD: short off the tee. Seeing total yardage on drives right around 215-225. Would think it comes up a little if everything is dry.

Course was playing at 6200 yards yesterday so I was consistently left with 120-155 into par 4's which is not an issue with how well I am hitting the Altitudes. I found myself consistently behind everyone in the group (even their 3 woods) with the exception of the blind guy playing with us that is 70 plus years old......our drives were right next to each other all day for the most part. :bulgy-eyes:



So.....not very long off the tee but finding fairways. As TexasHacker34 and I discussed yesterday.....bad scores typically for me are the result of not hitting the fairway. If I hit the fairway and have the Altitudes in hand, I will score good. If my driving average is 225 moving forward so be it, I am not playing courses at 6800 plus yards so leaving me with 170 left in or less will be just fine.

 

[dhill]

Thanks for the update Cookie.
Can you compare the distance of the XLC with what you've seen with other drivers?

 

[ddec]

Cookie now knows what it's like to be me off the tee. Well the former me that is. I'd kill for 225 right now

 

[War Eagle]

Prior to yesterday's round, I decided to trim a bit off of this driver as I was seeing a variation of misses. A gamble it was but I knew I needed to do something. I took off 3/4" to put this playing at 44.25".

Played at Nate's place yesterday morning where we were welcomed with a consistent 15-20 wind that gusted higher at times. On the day, I was 9/15 FW.

First 2 misses were pretty bad but playable and then one swing on the back 9 put me into the drink for a penalty drop. All other swings were giving me a mid/mid-high ball flight and just dead straight. The course was damp from some heavy rains over the previous 3 days so had quite a few mud balls on the course which meant we were seeing very little roll with that mid-high ball flight dropping out of the air.

GOOD: aside from a few misses, I am definitely hitting more fairways. Course has tree lined fairways and plays fairly tight overall so I was pleased with the results.
BAD: short off the tee. Seeing total yardage on drives right around 215-225. Would think it comes up a little if everything is dry.

Course was playing at 6200 yards yesterday so I was consistently left with 120-155 into par 4's which is not an issue with how well I am hitting the Altitudes. I found myself consistently behind everyone in the group (even their 3 woods) with the exception of the blind guy playing with us that is 70 plus years old......our drives were right next to each other all day for the most part. :bulgy-eyes:



So.....not very long off the tee but finding fairways. As TexasHacker34 and I discussed yesterday.....bad scores typically for me are the result of not hitting the fairway. If I hit the fairway and have the Altitudes in hand, I will score good. If my driving average is 225 moving forward so be it, I am not playing courses at 6800 plus yards so leaving me with 170 left in or less will be just fine.

I wonder what is causing the drop in distance?

 

[TRyan]

Prior to yesterday's round, I decided to trim a bit off of this driver as I was seeing a variation of misses. A gamble it was but I knew I needed to do something. I took off 3/4" to put this playing at 44.25".

Played at Nate's place yesterday morning where we were welcomed with a consistent 15-20 wind that gusted higher at times. On the day, I was 9/15 FW.

First 2 misses were pretty bad but playable and then one swing on the back 9 put me into the drink for a penalty drop. All other swings were giving me a mid/mid-high ball flight and just dead straight. The course was damp from some heavy rains over the previous 3 days so had quite a few mud balls on the course which meant we were seeing very little roll with that mid-high ball flight dropping out of the air.

GOOD: aside from a few misses, I am definitely hitting more fairways. Course has tree lined fairways and plays fairly tight overall so I was pleased with the results.
BAD: short off the tee. Seeing total yardage on drives right around 215-225. Would think it comes up a little if everything is dry.

Course was playing at 6200 yards yesterday so I was consistently left with 120-155 into par 4's which is not an issue with how well I am hitting the Altitudes. I found myself consistently behind everyone in the group (even their 3 woods) with the exception of the blind guy playing with us that is 70 plus years old......our drives were right next to each other all day for the most part. :bulgy-eyes:



So.....not very long off the tee but finding fairways. As TexasHacker34 and I discussed yesterday.....bad scores typically for me are the result of not hitting the fairway. If I hit the fairway and have the Altitudes in hand, I will score good. If my driving average is 225 moving forward so be it, I am not playing courses at 6800 plus yards so leaving me with 170 left in or less will be just fine.

I am wondering if it is a shaft issue dude. Playing in the invitational our drives were very similar and now my 3 wood was carrying over your drives. I am not a long hitter by any means and I know in times past on well struck balls you are 20-25 yards longer with your driver.

 

[#Cookie]

Thanks for the update Cookie.
Can you compare the distance of the XLC with what you've seen with other drivers?

I'll be honest...it is tough to compare distances when some areas offer much more rollout than others. I know that I was carrying the XHP 8.5 right at 240-250 in Orlando because number 7 (short par 4 played at 240-250) was hit both days with no rollout or anything.

Cookie now knows what it's like to be me off the tee. Well the former me that is. I'd kill for 225 right now

I'm not complaining.....if I can average 225 and maybe get a little more with some roll AND hit 75% of my fairways I will be just fine....puts me in good scoring opportunities.

I wonder what is causing the drop in distance?

We were battling the wind yesterday...seemed it was mostly into us or cross. Shorter shaft?

It's so hard to determine what (if any) I lost from the shaft cutdown because usually when I play here in TX it is dry so I see total yardage instead of just carry yardage. IIRC, even when dry most of my drives were in the 250-255 area for being well struck. Considering a decent portion of that was roll maybe I did not actually lose much distance with the trimming.

Sorry for the rambling thoughts....

 

[#Cookie]

I am wondering if it is a shaft issue dude. Playing in the invitational our drives were very similar and now my 3 wood was carrying over your drives. I am not a long hitter by any means and I know in times past on well struck balls you are 20-25 yards longer with your driver.

Agreed....and see above in reply to WE I just posted. Thinking it may be the fairways being soft in addition to the possibility that I am launching the CXLC slightly higher than the R1.

 

[War Eagle]

I do believe cutting down the shaft will cause some distance loss, Cookie. Improve accuracy, but less distance is what I have always thought.

 

[Nate]

Prior to yesterday's round, I decided to trim a bit off of this driver as I was seeing a variation of misses. A gamble it was but I knew I needed to do something. I took off 3/4" to put this playing at 44.25".

Played at Nate's place yesterday morning where we were welcomed with a consistent 15-20 wind that gusted higher at times. On the day, I was 9/15 FW.

First 2 misses were pretty bad but playable and then one swing on the back 9 put me into the drink for a penalty drop. All other swings were giving me a mid/mid-high ball flight and just dead straight. The course was damp from some heavy rains over the previous 3 days so had quite a few mud balls on the course which meant we were seeing very little roll with that mid-high ball flight dropping out of the air.

GOOD: aside from a few misses, I am definitely hitting more fairways. Course has tree lined fairways and plays fairly tight overall so I was pleased with the results.
BAD: short off the tee. Seeing total yardage on drives right around 215-225. Would think it comes up a little if everything is dry.

Course was playing at 6200 yards yesterday so I was consistently left with 120-155 into par 4's which is not an issue with how well I am hitting the Altitudes. I found myself consistently behind everyone in the group (even their 3 woods) with the exception of the blind guy playing with us that is 70 plus years old......our drives were right next to each other all day for the most part. :bulgy-eyes:



So.....not very long off the tee but finding fairways. As TexasHacker34 and I discussed yesterday.....bad scores typically for me are the result of not hitting the fairway. If I hit the fairway and have the Altitudes in hand, I will score good. If my driving average is 225 moving forward so be it, I am not playing courses at 6800 plus yards so leaving me with 170 left in or less will be just fine.

Agree with everything here Cookie but you did have a big drop in distance off the tee from what I saw. It didn't hurt you cause we were playing the up tees but from the blues it would have killed you. But it did find some fairways on the back which helped you out a lot on that type of course. If you've playing a more wide open course, grip it and rip it sort of course, that is where you might find where it will hurt you a bit.

 

[Jman]

I do believe cutting down the shaft will cause some distance loss, Cookie. Improve accuracy, but less distance is what I have always thought.

This is the fact, jack.

That said, the distance loss is often much smaller than anyone anticipates.

My Custom is going toe to toe with an oncoming challenger today and I can't wait to see how it works out!

 

[Canadan]

I'm kind of surprised to hear about the distance loss. Is this coming on ideal ball flight?

I'm not personally seeing distance loss, just a high ball flight, and with that, some greater misses when the ball gets caught in the wind. That said, I'm missing a whole lot less left right now, and even strikes high and on the outside are just crazy high soft draws at a reduced distance. The miss that seems to be plaguing me at random is a ball that is high and somewhat straight off the right side of my target line. I don't know if it's associated with not closing the face before impact, but it's been unique to this year, and on that, the classic XL.

GPSing my strikes ranges anywhere from 265-305 depending on wind, bounce, and hole design. 265 being on the 'into wind' or 'no bounce wet ground' side of the spectrum, and 305 being in the great bounce or downwind side of the spectrum. There are obviously highs and lows off that specific range, but they rest on the "What the heck" and "holy wow" side of unnecessary to include.

I've been documenting my rounds and getting a great idea of my consistency... Still, my home course has generous fairways, so I'm always looking to improve. Here are the fairway percentages since acquiring the Classic on the holes I most commonly hit driver on:

1 - 73.3%
4 - 53.3%
7 - 73.3%
9 - 80%
10 - 63.6%
12 - 81.8%
13 - 90.9%
15 - 90.9%
18 - 81.8%

The numbers are solid, but I think they need improvement based on where I am with my game. Especially considering how thick the rough is in Ohio right now, the misses are simply too costly to accept anything more than a couple misses each round.

Yesterday, I spent quite a bit of time on the range, albeit with wind working left to right (bad). After hitting a LOT of drives, I decided to switch to the +0.75 setting, which makes the clubhead slightly open, and the loft to 8.5*. I'm going to let this setting ride for a bit to see if I can reduce some of my launch angle, and if the open face becomes a problem, I may switch to the +0.75* UPRIGHT setting to counter that.

After spending about an hour and a half with the settings on the range, I took it to the course, albeit it only using the driver three times. I didn't see much of a decrease in launch angle, however, I did see some great distance. This will be an ongoing experiment and I'll definitely continue to update.

 

[ddec]

This is the fact, jack.

That said, the distance loss is often much smaller than anyone anticipates.

My Custom is going toe to toe with an oncoming challenger today and I can't wait to see how it works out!

advantage Silver

 

[Jman]

advantage Silver

Classic wins. Put the 11g weight in it and what a difference. I do plan on moving the silver over though, I think it would be perfect for me. The deep face just screams confidence.

And honestly, it sounds way hotter/better than the RFE to me.

 

[War Eagle]

I'm kind of surprised to hear about the distance loss. Is this coming on ideal ball flight?

I'm not personally seeing distance loss, just a high ball flight, and with that, some greater misses when the ball gets caught in the wind. That said, I'm missing a whole lot less left right now, and even strikes high and on the outside are just crazy high soft draws at a reduced distance. The miss that seems to be plaguing me at random is a ball that is high and somewhat straight off the right side of my target line. I don't know if it's associated with not closing the face before impact, but it's been unique to this year, and on that, the classic XL.

GPSing my strikes ranges anywhere from 265-305 depending on wind, bounce, and hole design. 265 being on the 'into wind' or 'no bounce wet ground' side of the spectrum, and 305 being in the great bounce or downwind side of the spectrum. There are obviously highs and lows off that specific range, but they rest on the "What the heck" and "holy wow" side of unnecessary to include.

I've been documenting my rounds and getting a great idea of my consistency... Still, my home course has generous fairways, so I'm always looking to improve. Here are the fairway percentages since acquiring the Classic on the holes I most commonly hit driver on:

1 - 73.3%
4 - 53.3%
7 - 73.3%
9 - 80%
10 - 63.6%
12 - 81.8%
13 - 90.9%
15 - 90.9%
18 - 81.8%

The numbers are solid, but I think they need improvement based on where I am with my game. Especially considering how thick the rough is in Ohio right now, the misses are simply too costly to accept anything more than a couple misses each round.

Yesterday, I spent quite a bit of time on the range, albeit with wind working left to right (bad). After hitting a LOT of drives, I decided to switch to the +0.75 setting, which makes the clubhead slightly open, and the loft to 8.5*. I'm going to let this setting ride for a bit to see if I can reduce some of my launch angle, and if the open face becomes a problem, I may switch to the +0.75* UPRIGHT setting to counter that.

After spending about an hour and a half with the settings on the range, I took it to the course, albeit it only using the driver three times. I didn't see much of a decrease in launch angle, however, I did see some great distance. This will be an ongoing experiment and I'll definitely continue to update.

Dan, your writeups on this driver have been incredible. How would you compare those numbers on FW % to what you saw with your previous gamer?

 

[Canadan]

Dan, your writeups on this driver have been incredible. How would you compare those numbers on FW % to what you saw with your previous gamer?

That's much appreciated Ryan. I want to keep everyone as involved in my experience as I can.

I did a pretty terrible job of tracking my fairway statistics last year, but I can say they were quite bad with the Burner 2.0 TP (stiff shaft, super high launch, bad spin). Towards the end of the year, I began to game the original Classic with a B.Asha 5x in it, and the results were downright excellent. Fairways often. I ended up making a switch to the Callaway Razr fit with a B.Asha 4x, and while the consistency was amazing to finish the year, it started out this year quite erratic, so I wonder if it was just a matter of catching my groove.

In any case, I think I am seeing solid distance off this face in comparison (certainly not longer, but competitive), and if I can find a way to get my ball out of the stratosphere, I believe my accuracy will only continue to improve. I'm going back to the range soon to adjust to the neutral upright setting along with being slightly open and down to either 8.5* or 8* to see if it makes a difference.. I am hoping the upright setting counters and potential left to right off the face so i can work with a lower degree head. Something to bring the ball down.

How about you? I know I've read the added spin on this clubhead has been a real benefit. Numbers have been good from everything I've seen.

 

[War Eagle]

That's much appreciated Ryan. I want to keep everyone as involved in my experience as I can.

I did a pretty terrible job of tracking my fairway statistics last year, but I can say they were quite bad with the Burner 2.0 TP (stiff shaft, super high launch, bad spin). Towards the end of the year, I began to game the original Classic with a B.Asha 5x in it, and the results were downright excellent. Fairways often. I ended up making a switch to the Callaway Razr fit with a B.Asha 4x, and while the consistency was amazing to finish the year, it started out this year quite erratic, so I wonder if it was just a matter of catching my groove.

In any case, I think I am seeing solid distance off this face in comparison (certainly not longer, but competitive), and if I can find a way to get my ball out of the stratosphere, I believe my accuracy will only continue to improve. I'm going back to the range soon to adjust to the neutral upright setting along with being slightly open and down to either 8.5* or 8* to see if it makes a difference.. I am hoping the upright setting counters and potential left to right off the face so i can work with a lower degree head. Something to bring the ball down.

How about you? I know I've read the added spin on this clubhead has been a real benefit. Numbers have been good from everything I've seen.

I've had my hot and cold days with it. I think the biggest thing for me on the tee box is where I line myself up. I often set myself up down the middle, and play my cut. That leads me to missing to the right. When I line up down the left side of the fairway and play my shot, the fairway gets in the way and the ball lands there.

I am still working to find my way with this one. It's lower spin than anything I have ever gamed, so the adjustment has been tough. However, I think that is making me work a bit harder on my tee game. I have to control myself a bit on my swing, to make sure I am getting the results that I need.

 

[Canadan]

Here's a question that's got me curious.. This club seems to have opened the door to a high block to the right for me (ball usually high and outside on the face).. Not necessarily a fade, but more hanging on the right side rather than my normal draw. With other drivers I find that to more often than not turn the ball over into a sweeping draw.

Where are your common strikes on the clubhead? Do you miss center high and right at all? Does your cut ever equate to a spray'ish slice/fade?

 

[JTnumbers]

Here's a question that's got me curious.. This club seems to have opened the door to a high block to the right for me (ball usually high and outside on the face).. Not necessarily a fade, but more hanging on the right side rather than my normal draw. With other drivers I find that to more often than not turn the ball over into a sweeping draw.

Where are your common strikes on the clubhead? Do you miss center high and right at all? Does your cut ever equate to a spray'ish slice/fade?

My normal miss is high and right. And I also tend to block it sometimes.

 

[Canadan]

My normal miss is high and right. And I also tend to block it sometimes.

That's no different from your 910 though right? I remember one or two that got away from you in that same way in ATL.

 

[JTnumbers]

That's no different from your 910 though right? I remember one or two that got away from you in that same way in ATL.

Which event in ATL? I believe I was gaming the XL when we were all in Monroe. The Invitationals were more inside heel shots.

I think it's a product of 2 things: 1) My swing is too far inside. 2)The deepness of the clubface throws off my alignment and even if I make a good swing, the clubface is probably open.

 

[Canadan]

Which event in ATL? I believe I was gaming the XL when we were all in Monroe. The Invitationals were more inside heel shots.

I think it's a product of 2 things: 1) My swing is too far inside. 2)The deepness of the clubface throws off my alignment and even if I make a good swing, the clubface is probably open.

It was in Monroe earlier this year, prior to receiving them. You were hitting the 910 and I was hitting the Razr Fit with the JDL 6x in it.

Interesting thoughts on the deepness causing issues. I never even considered that.