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
Ah… okay. there’s the reason your orders hold up.
– good strikes with the ZX7 went further than good strikes with the Halo. This surprised me as the Halo is 39*, the ZX7 is 41*. But when I strike the ZX7 well, the results are really quite good.
– bad strikes with the ZX7 (my miss is now consistently toe) didn’t go as far as bad strikes with the Halo. This didn’t surprise me, as that’s the way GI hardware is supposed to work.
– timing was OK with the Halo despite the light shaft
– going by a (somewhat limited) set of swings, I’d say the Halo probably would end up giving a better score as my distance delta with the ZX7 is greater. Just not able to put a good swing on the ball enough of the time, and the Halo bails you out.
So nothing earth shattering or newsworthy – SGI iron works as advertised. As for what goes in the bag next round, need to hit more balls on the range. My swing has gotten a lot better over the last 6 months but not sure how far it can go as I’m on the wrong side of the age curve. I’m totally into the 7H, I have confidence with that. Oddly enough I do with the ZX7 AW as well. It is just that space between the two…
Great! I have high hopes for the PW. In previous gens, the wedges were very clunky.
Long preface to saying the Halo PW was very fun and easy to hit. I still love the ZX7s when I make proper contact, but that percentage, while going up over the last months, seems to have peaked and is well under 50%. By contrast, everything struck with the Halo is playable and a majority are good strikes. I can keep the ball low if I need, and it goes plenty high. I will say the sound chipping around the green takes some getting used to, though I’m also fine using my 55* Eye2 grind for much of that. I love the ZX7s, but these may end up in the bag. At some point a man’s gotta realize his limitations
I agree on good strikes going high. One other thing I’ve noticed is you certainly can tell a well struck shot from a less-than-perfect shot based on how it feels and sounds. The good news is that the outcome is a less obvious indicator of user error
The Halo 5 saved me on the first hole with a punch off pine straw that had to go under very low tree branches from 40 yards away. I was able to punch it within 15 feet, but missed the putt to halve the hole with bogey.
Here’s the thing though… I hit the Rogue X very well, better than I have in a long time. I have to be honest here, they looked and felt better than the Halos.
I took both to the range yesterday, and I decided to stick with the Rogue X. I have no issues with the Halos at all, they are great. The Rogue X have been in my bag for over 4 years however, and my set with Senior shafts is only 3 months old. The comfort factor with them won out.
On a whim, I listed the Halos on eBay this morning for the same price I paid. They sold within an hour. On the one hand I know I’ll be better off playing one set, but yeah, I’m having a bit of seller’s remorse. I’d still recommend the Halos to anyone.
What don’t you like about the Halos? I suspect there’s a huge difference in feel from a traditional iron. It took me several months to adjust to the hybrid irons. Next week, I am playing in Vegas and hope to use a Rogue rental set. I haven’t used a traditional iron in 12 years. This should be interesting.
There were no major issues with the Halos at all.
When I had my match on Saturday though, I just had a feeling the Rogue X would give me a better chance to win, and that was telling. If I had traded in or sold the Rogue X, I’d gladly have kept and played the Halos.
It came down to two sets I like very much, but they are both completely different(?) so it didn’t make sense to keep both and go back and forth, I had to pick one.
I’m a tough sell with new irons. I rarely play a fun round of golf. It’s either league or tournament play, so if the new clubs aren’t a lot better right away than what I’m playing, they’re gone.
I’ve played these irons for over 4 years now. This July I bought a new replacement set with Senior flex, so they’re basically new. Are they perfect? No, ? if they were, I wouldn’t be trying other sets, but when you have a set you feel comfortable with it is hard to give them up.
as someone who is returning to the game after a long time off and is still learning new golf technology. How do the rails maintain speed or as I’ve seen other OE claim increases speed? I get the drag thing as your club head contacts the ground, but if you hit the little ball first, that should be irrelevant isn’t it?
As a person enters the turf with the sole, speed is lost due to hitting an object. Rails are designed to glide through that, no pun intended, similar to skis. Its exceptionally helpful for those that hit ground before ball.
ok it’s like a safe guard for us struggling guys lol
years ago I had a persimmon 5w with a turf sole the shape of an old fiberglass boat and that thing was awesome for ball striking abilities. Made those poor ball strikes come off the face very nicely
I added a half inch to the shaft length. I assume it kept the counter balanced weight. Went with the Sr graphite.
Today, while practicing, I just swung the club. It worked very nicely. So, I believe the rails were working well. Also, the PW is awesome on chips, same thing – just swing. There was no hook bias on full swings. I experienced a straight ball or slight fade (user error). I can see these working well for a beginner (I would tell them, just let the clubhead swing) and higher handicap experienced golfers, too.
I hit those so much better than my irons it wasn’t even funny! I almost got a HIO on a 180 yard par 3 with the 5 Rescue. When we finished I asked how much he wanted for them. He said 70 bucks and I said SOLD! Wrote him a check on the spot! Next time I’m near one of the golf stores, I’ll have a look around. Again, thanks for the review.
I got stock length as it is 1/4" longer than typical which is what I use anyway. Graphite, stiff shaft mostly to get as much weight as possible. I seem to time it ok. I have CB shafts in my woods and hybrids at this point so I figured I’d stay the course…
I think I’m going to just order the regular CB one. Now just need to decide which club? Probably the 7 iron since I’m comparing against my one-length Speedzones.
That’s not usually something that is put out there for most irons.
Yeah I didn’t think so. Any info out there on total club weights? Be easy enough to calculate. I’m a garage club builder so I’m curious.
I had a set being sent to me last month from Global Golf under the U-try demo program they have. FedEx lost them. Or GG put them on the USPS pallet. They arent sure. But I never got them. And of course now they do not have them in stock and are off the U-try program. Grrrrrrr. I have the XL Halo FW 3 and 5 and really like them.
I have 8-DW, Cypher S, stock other than +3 wraps. You want a full club weight of any of them?
8,9 would be great. Thanks!!!
Sorry about shipping troubles but I love U Try, what a great idea. Tried a set of ZX5s from them while on vacation, what an improvement on the course vs on a mat. I found the Srixons are fantastic in the rough. Who knows, the clubs might show up one day at your doorstep.
When I get back from the THP Event this week, I can pop a head and weigh, but there will be differences throughout the set
I love the U Try as well. I’m not upset with Global. That sort of thing happens. I demoed 4 different Drivers before keeping my Cobra Radspeed XB. Also ended up keeping the Odyssey OG White Hot 7 after I demoed it. Love that putter. The ability to use clubs on an actual course for 2 weeks then decide is very nice. It’s a shame about the Clevelands. They refunded my money of course and were very nice about it. Unfortunately they had no more sets on hand to send me a replacement. Still dont! ?
Thanks JB. I appreciate it!
401g according to my kitchen baking scale.
Does your spouse know what you are using that scale for?
well, since I’m the one that bakes she doesn’t really care
Jury is still out on whether I like it or not. I was hitting it around 215-225 when struck well but I just wasn’t consistent with my swing today. After hitting it for a bit, their head fitter went and got me a stiff version instead. I have always hit regular flex, but he felt I’d be better served with a stiff in this (or other normal length hybrids). It definitely helped me straighten out the hooks I was seeing. More on this later.
I headed over to the demo day next. I was the only person there so I got great 1-on-1 time with the rep for almost 1.5 hours. Unfortunately, all they had to demo for the Halo XL’s was the 7 iron (I guess this is pretty normal for demo days? I had never attended one before).
I warmed up with my Cobras for a bit and then gave the Halo some time. First 4-6 were swings were absolutely drilled. I had never hit any hybrid irons before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I am in love with the sound; it’s much better in person compared to hearing on video. Feedback was also a surprise, as I had read many people complain about that with these types of clubs. Even when I strike my Cobras well, and they do travel a little farther than the Halo, I rarely got the feeling of satisfaction with them like I did with this Halo.
I figured he gave me the R counterbalanced normal shaft first but it was actually the accuracy version (.5” short, no counterbalance). I spent the next hour or so trying out different flex/lie combos with both shaft types. The accuracy version is definitely for me (thank you, T-Rex arms and genetics for being short) but I’m still not sure on shaft flex. They did not have the accuracy version with the stiff shaft, only the R, so I had to gauge the flex when comparing the normal counterbalance ones instead. As such I’m really torn on what I should order .
Which leads me back to my earlier conversation/time with the PGASS fitter. Sure wish I could have tried the 4/PW Halos as well.
Would I be crazy to order the 4 iron in stiff, if I ended up with the rest of the set in R? For those of you that are right in-between flex speeds, what do you usually do?
(I didn’t pull out my MLM until after hitting for a bit. I’d bet I hit my first few over 160 before I started getting tired)
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Ordered the 7i today, will probably play 7-DW, then a few G425 hybrids below the 7. If I hadn’t already bought the G425s I certainly would get the XL Halo mid and longer irons or the Halo hybrids. They just seem to work…
Where have you been ordering individual irons from?
Not necessarily. People swing long irons differently than scoring clubs. With that said, you will want to try all, because in my opinion they play a tiny bit light to flex, and you may end up the same throughout.
That’s interesting that you think that. Can you elaborate of what you’ve seen/felt that led you to think they play light to flex?
Unfortunately, I don’t know where I’d get to try them all. Seems like stores are only getting the regular counterbalanced set, and I really like the accuracy build feel. If I decide to take the plunge, I may need to buy from somewhere with a playability guarantee.
Carls. Have been ordering over the weekend or on Monday, club shows up on/by Friday (I’m one day ground shipping away from Cleveland).
Sure happy to. They have some play in them and in our testing worked well in just about all types of swings. We found them much less stiff than some other options and really held well on moderate swing speeds. Yet @Canadan was able to hit them as well with a faster swing speed.
Yeah, I mean… I went in knowing they weren’t going to be the stiffest shafts I’ve ever played, but I definitely enjoyed the profile. It loads really nicely into contact, and presents well to the ball. They definitely were not firm to flex, but they also were quite pleasant.
What flex are the set y’all have on hand? I don’t remember it being mentioned in the video or earlier, sorry if it was.