The Cleveland Golf lineup came back with a bang a couple of weeks ago with the launch of their new Launcher XL drivers and fairway woods. One area where this company has been at the forefront of innovation has been the hollow body and specifically the category of hybrid irons.
What started with the Altitude line back in 2013, the hybrid iron segment has continued to grow and today bringing their latest iteration with the Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons. Before we dive into our full video review, let’s show off some of the tech specs.
The lineup comes complete with either the True Temper XP 90 steel shafts or the Project X Cypher iron shafts. An interesting note is that if you are someone that struggles with the length of irons, the Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons can be ordered in what is called “Accuracy Build” where the clubs are a half inch shorter across the board. By going with this setup, you would lose the Action Mass CB, which is an 8g weight placed inside the butt end of the grip to deliver more balance.
In our THP Tech Studio video below we kick it off with some Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons tech talk from an overhead view. From there, we hop into the hitting bay where you will see all of the swings and then finally we sit down in table view and breakdown the data from the swings you saw.
After watching the video above, what are your thoughts on the Halo irons?
The Details
In Stores: 8/20/21 for Graphite and 9/17/21 for Steel
Cost: $899 for Graphite and $799 for Steel
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360
Really interesting to see the difference in profile from 5i to pw. Pretty cool.
Great price point too!
Looks like a winner for those in the market for this kind of iron.
One thing a rail system really does as well as maintains speed. For a lot of golfers ground first contact is part of life. While it might not be ideal, the amount of speed lost can be large and the rail system is designed to maintain that speed higher. I have seen so many tests that show how well it works too.
That makes good logical sense as well, if you’re not digging into the ground as much and skimming over it you will better maintain your speed which can also lead to more consistency in the shots (if my logic train follows).
My big question about that, and maybe it’s a more advanced conversation is that you’re told to take a divot after the ball – if these irons are better at making sure you don’t dig in to soon does that reduce the amount of divot that it’s possible to take and what is the end result of that? Watching @Canadan hit them from the mat there are obviously no divots. OR does that give the long irons less (what’s the golf term? precision?) accuracy but with the lack of that behind the iron rail on the scoring wedges it still allows for better ball manipulation around the greens?
It is actually less about preventing a divot (I still took big divots with these) and more about maintaining speed through impact.
In the original post, there’s a slight issue with @Canadan describing the shafts… "The lineup comes complete with either the True Temper XP 90 steel shafts or the Project X Cypher iron shafts " I figure the Cypher’s are graphite but it doesn’t say so. Not everyone knows that.
Did you watch the video?
Can’t see it from work.
I tried a Tour Edge Hot Launch E521 wedge with the Houdini sole that was billed as being able to "reduce Turf interaction", but for me, the feel just wasn’t there. It forced you to hit a straight hit with no ability to manipulate the head.
I hope the rails on the bottom of the new XL’s do not have this tendency.
I did watch the video and enjoyed it.
I think designs like this are generally favorable of not flighting, but moving it left and right wasn’t too much of an issue.
I assume "flighting" refers to keeping the ball low (sorry, knob question)?
I just want to see the turf interaction with the rails. Does it cause the club head to bounce, or dig in, and what about a shot where the club head is not straight on impact? Does it cause the head to rotate towards center?
I think my new club choice will come down to between these or the Srixon ZX4s.
The lofts were more traditional than I expected to see and the spin Dan was getting more than I thought these clubs would produce.
yes sir, altering trajectory, sorry.
Rails won’t cause the club head to bounce or dig, but are designed to maintain speed and glide through rather than fighting it.
4-PW with Cypher graphite.
I really had fun hitting this club. I couldn’t believe the forgiveness with these. They only want to go high and straight (which is fine by me) and the distance was comparable to the PIng G and Titleist T300 irons I also tried.
They just might be the set that finally knocks the Rogue X out of my bag! I’m looking forward getting them and finding out.
I’m sure it was mentioned in the video, but for those who didn’t watch, this set has 3 different soles. The rails, then the v, and finally the tri (which is found in the CBX wedges).
I demoed these yesterday, and I loved them! I ordered a set this morning 4-PW with Cypher graphite shafts.
I know it was probably mentioned in the video, but for those who didn’t watch it….
while demoing these yesterday, I was told the set actually has 3 soles. The rails, the v, and the tri (which is found in the CBX wedges.)
There is a ton of tech in this new version, and as someone else mentioned the retail price is great.
*the discount I got made it a no brainer. ?
these type of irons are something i was thinking about…just don’t know if i can get past the size at address. i am more of a sweeper now and theses might help me. thanks for the review
Whoa, that was fast!
Very very cool. Can’t wait to hear how you liked them..
Just my two cents, but unless you’re a player as good as Dan, these aren’t going to be the most workable of clubs. They’re designed to be Uber forgiving, and want to go high and straight. As for size, my Rogue X are a big head, but these are bigger. I had no problem adjusting though. Ymmv.
BTW I’m a sweeper also, and yes they’re perfect for us in that regard. What really surprised me most though was how easy it was to pitch and chip with the 8 and PW. It felt like I was cheating, ? I must have hit 50 balls and never chunked one. I’m a 12, so you know that’s not something I’m used to seeing!
Lol, I didn’t even know they were coming out this week! I really wanted to try the T300’s, which I did, but these caught my eye when I saw them, and I’ve always wanted to try a set like this, so here we are… ?
I don’t think I lost that kind of yardage. Average carry was 189 and the two on the chart that ended up on the right side of center were at 186 yards. I’d say that’s pretty tight.
when hitting a fade you inherently will hit the ball higher with more spin and thus usually a shorter distance. I know I tend to lose 5-7 yds when I produce a cut shot (rare for me and my usually draw swing). With someone at Dan’s speed I could see the drop off being 10-15 yds.
It looks like your golf profile is similar to mine, which means I might have to take a serious look at these clubs. I really like my Mizuno JPX921 HM irons, but the rail sole on the Halos would definitely help my sweeping contact.
I don’t think there would be much difference for the player these are designed for.
They’ve tweaked a few things for sure. The swing weight is a bit lighter, they claim to have increased the MOI quite a bit, they put a weight under the grip to counterbalance the club, and they tweaked the soles. That sounds significant, but at the end of the day I’d bet the average guy wouldn’t notice much difference performance wise from the prior generation. If you’re talking the original set of HBs, I think you might.
Based on our pretty thorough testing, the biggest difference will be on off center contact. Seeing very little spin change and very little speed loss when you miss laterally. The other largest difference we are seeing is from those that make ground first contact and/or are a steeper swinging golfer. The amount of speed retention due to sole design is quite a bit different from the previous generations.
Its definitely worth a try, and once they are in stores in your area, hit them side by side.
My buddy has the HMs, they’re a great club, but yes, for a sweeper? I think these work better.
Honestly, I think there are only two reasons why an older or mid high cap shouldn’t play these.
1. he just can’t get around the idea of hitting all hybrids, especially mid and bottom of the bag
2. plain and simple, ego. A lot of guys think they’re better than they are, or want something that looks like they are in their bag.
When you think about it from the 6 down, these aren’t bad at all size wise compared to GI and SGI irons, and the 4&5 are just like any other hybrids, but more forgiving than most.
I agree, obviously.
I bought the
C’mon, this is the Internet. What is this “off center contact” you speak of???
C’mon, this is the Internet. What is this “off center contact” thing you speak of?
Haha – so basically my two biggest issues are addressed by these? Um, yeah, will be trying these out for sure!
Hahah. Well I didn’t know they were your two. But honestly they are mine so it was a fun comparison.
They seem to be in the same category (high moi), but the Cleveland has a better price point.
We can probably do that in a few weeks when staff is here. Pretty different clubs construction wise but yes both are forgiving and hollow.
How was forgiveness, height and spin vs the Ping G425 and Titleist T300?
SC, Did you notice a hook bias? I have the HB3 and that’s my one complaint with them, they want to hook.
It would be interesting to make a combo set by adding the Halo XL hybrids to the 4 and 5,
Forgiveness was easily better than both, the T300’s with Tensei Red were about the same height. i don’t remember with the spin.
I really didn’t get along well with the Pings. I realize they’re very good irons, but the G400 was the last version of the G series I liked. Take that with a grain of salt though, there’s a big part of me that realizes how foolish it sounds to be critical of that line.
That’s a great question. Not yesterday, so I’ll say no, but with this caveat… I’m not a player who is bothered by or even notices too much offset on a club, or a closed face. I very rarely hook any shot. I’ve pulled it off occasionally when I had to, but I’m not that guy who can work the ball consistently.
Just a reminder, That’s the 4 iron, so it has the rails on the sole. The soles transition from that to v soles (Srixon-ish) in the mids and tri soles (CBX wedges ish) in the short irons.
great idea, I think the bigger flattesh look soles throughout the set was originally cool as a higher capper. But. not as playable as more narrow soles would be for the 7-W. Sounds like they got this one right.
Nice pic of all of the soles
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/cleveland-launcher-xl-halo-irons-provide-boost-for-those-who-need-it
I’m guessing the new version’s highest lofted irons are improved in that regard because they’re a little more conventional.
That said, for the steel shaft version the ultra lightweight shafts with a counterbalance weight is the very last thing I would ever want in the PW, 9, 8 iron end of a set. These seem aimed even moreso than previous generations at the very low clubhead speed 75-year-old golfer. I’ll bet they expect the graphite to outsell the steel by a massive ratio.