Cleveland CG Black Driver Forum Testing Review Thread

[Kmac]

Out of curiosity, why?

Ive always hit a hight ball with the driver so Im a bit concerned this combo might balloon on me. So Im very curious what these guys see in their testing.

 

[KellyBo]

Great review D! Can't wait to hear more about this one.

 

[DawgDaddy]

d_i_l, great initial review, I am believing that tempo is everything with the Black, keep hearing it from all who hit it. Good luck in your testing, look forward to keeping up with all of you.

 

[TwoSolitudes]

"Trouble finding the center of the face" is why I gave up on the XL270. Loads of distance when I caught it right, but that didn't happen often enough and now with shorter driver I am hitting longer. Seeing D's initial trouble with the length gives me pause on this club. I am curious if the big distance gains seen here are mostly from the longer shaft or if getting a version of this from Cleveland with a 44.5 or 45 inch shaft (is that even possible?) would get close to the same results.

I want to love this driver, I really do...

 

[JB]

"Trouble finding the center of the face" is why I gave up on the XL270. Loads of distance when I caught it right, but that didn't happen often enough and now with shorter driver I am hitting longer. Seeing D's initial trouble with the length gives me pause on this club. I am curious if the big distance gains seen here are mostly from the longer shaft or if getting a version of this from Cleveland with a 44.5 or 45 inch shaft (is that even possible?) would get close to the same results.

I want to love this driver, I really do...

Not for me. I hit this further than I hit the Burner SuperFast which has a shaft that is longer.

 

[Chunkylover77]

Great start so far guys!

 

[coolbreeze]

Really great reviews in here so far guys! To say I'm jealous of you testers is an understatement but I'm loving all the reviews and this driver is very very high on my list of possible drivers in the future.

 

[JConn]

Great job D, I enjoyed your GTKY review. Would you saying you were "moving" the ball (draw/fade) more or less with the Cleveland than your R7?

 

[d_in_la]

Great first trip out write up d_in_la! Very enjoyable to read and easy to follow.

When you have a moment, can you elaborate on what helped you find that extra gear in the shaft? Was it something cognizant you did like waiting a tad bit longer at the top or ??

Thanks!!


Tappin' from my iPad!

Cookie (btw, I also have a strong affiliation with the cookie monster!) I think that taking that extra moment at the top allows me to set my wrists and hold the lag a little bit longer through the downswing and get that extra load. I'll definitely be more cognizant of exactly what I'm doing differently. The difference is so very subtle at the top so I'll try to exaggerate it.

Nice write up. Sounds like a love story.

Maybe I need to change careers and write trashy novels!

 

[d_in_la]

Great first trip out write up d_in_la! Very enjoyable to read and easy to follow.

When you have a moment, can you elaborate on what helped you find that extra gear in the shaft? Was it something cognizant you did like waiting a tad bit longer at the top or ??

Cookie (btw, I also have a strong affiliation with the cookie monster!) I think that taking that extra moment at the top allows me to set my wrists and hold the lag a little bit longer through the downswing and get that extra load. I'll definitely be more cognizant of exactly what I'm doing differently. The difference is so very subtle at the top so I'll try to exaggerate it.

Nice write up. Sounds like a love story.

Maybe I need to change careers and write trashy novels! I figure if I'm going to take the time to write something, might as well capture the emotional along with the technical, I hope I am doing a good job.

Great job D, I enjoyed your GTKY review. Would you saying you were "moving" the ball (draw/fade) more or less with the Cleveland than your R7?

I didn't try purposefully hitting any draws/fades, I will next time. However, I'd lean towards no. Did I hit a few, sure. I aimed towards a far corner of the range and accidentally took a exaggerated draw stance and the CG Black still went pretty straight with a little baby draw. With the same setup with the R7, I'd expect a much larger draw.

"Trouble finding the center of the face" is why I gave up on the XL270. Loads of distance when I caught it right, but that didn't happen often enough and now with shorter driver I am hitting longer. Seeing D's initial trouble with the length gives me pause on this club. I am curious if the big distance gains seen here are mostly from the longer shaft or if getting a version of this from Cleveland with a 44.5 or 45 inch shaft (is that even possible?) would get close to the same results.

I want to love this driver, I really do...

2Sols, Honestly I was only missing by half an inch or less and I did stroke quite a few right off the center. That's how good the club was to me, I missed and still hit some great shots. Unlike other longer or lighter clubs I've tried, the CG Black never felt too light or out of balance during my swing. I'm not (at this point, maybe ever) good enough to start striping balls during the first session on the center with any club, it took me a long long while with my R7 and lots of of dummy marks to dial that club in. It will not take me that long to dial in the CG Black.

 

[SW]

2Sols, Honestly I was only missing by half an inch or less and I did stroke quite a few right off the center. That's how good the club was to me, I missed and still hit some great shots. Unlike other longer or lighter clubs I've tried, the CG Black never felt too light or out of balance during my swing. I'm not (at this point, maybe ever) good enough to start striping balls during the first session on the center with any club, it took me a long long while with my R7 and lots of of dummy marks to dial that club in. It will not take me that long to dial in the CG Black.

That's good to hear! It's a little longer than what I am currently playing but in the limited time I've spent with the black I didn't notice the added length creating any issues. That flushed feeling is a thing of beauty isn't it though!! Good work dude.

 

[TripleBogieTim]

I am so pondering this club, when I was at Golf Galaxy yesterday I asked if they had gotten them in yet, but no such luck...I just wanted to hold it...LOL

Great writeups so far guys, can't wait to hear more and would really love some video.

 

[staticline]

Slight skim.

Could each tester reply back with the length of their current driver and the length of the CG.
Would also like to know the gram weight of current shaft and gram weight of CG shaft.

I know the latest technology is longer, lighter shafts. And, initially this can have an effect on your timing. Would like to know if timing has been an issue yet?

 

[JConn]

I didn't try purposefully hitting any draws/fades, I will next time. However, I'd lean towards no. Did I hit a few, sure. I aimed towards a far corner of the range and accidentally took a exaggerated draw stance and the CG Black still went pretty straight with a little baby draw. With the same setup with the R7, I'd expect a much larger draw.

Thanks for the response D. Im not too concerned with the "workability" so to speak, more concerned with how straight this driver is compared to others. Keep up the good work.

 

[c0ncept]

So I just got back from the range with this thing and I am actually very surprised. When the XL270 first came out I bought it thinking that a light club would be perfect for me since I wanted more distance but there was one problem...I couldn't hit the thing without watching my ball sail off to the right every time. I was skeptical about this club because of a few things: 1- It is lighter then the XL270 was, 2- It is 46 inches long when I play a 44.5 inch driver, 3- I play a natural fade already.

Looks - A+ - I am obviously going to be biased on this one but this club just looks amazing. From the head cover to the black face everything just works and there is nothing to scare someone off (like the HiBore crown). I'll start with the head cover: Its amazing how such a small and seemingly useless thing can make such a big deal when buying a club. The CG Black head cover is designed to be pulled off with ease which is nice since I have had problems in the past with 460cc drivers and tight head covers. The aesthetic design is simple and would win the heart of any Oakland Raider fan with its flat black and silver design. The bottom of the club head is very sleek and follows the same idea of being simple but leaving you to wonder about its curves. The face of the club is black to and that is huge for me because I am both used to playing a black faced driver as well as I like being able to tell where I hit the ball and it shows up great.

Feel - A - Being someone who is not a fan of the gym it is nice to pick up a club and not think that a club is heavy. The face is very soft but at the same time very responsive. I tried to hit a few shots off the heel and off the toe as well as low/high on the face and I could tell every time that I didn't hit the ball well but not only did I still have a decent shot but it didnt make me want to "let go" of the club at impact like I have found in my R9 SuperTri. When you hit the ball in the sweet spot it feels almost as if you just took a practice swing without hitting a ball yet at the same time know you just crushed the ball.

Sound - B+ - Unlike past Cleveland clubs this thing lacks that ear piercing ping. It seems similar to my R9 but honestly this isn't something I notice too well so hopefully you all can gauge it from the video.

Distance - A+ - You guys don't care about this one do you? Hitting into a decent headwind with range balls I was sending balls over the end of the 200 island (which is really 220 from where I was) with more roll then I find in my R9. I normally land on the island swinging my R9 full so I was surprised to find when I took light swings I was hitting over it. When I started building up my swing I was hitting the ball about 240-250 yards (carry distance not total). My first few swings had a fade on them but it was less then I see in my R9 and I was quickly able to turn that into an almost dead straight ball flight where I could actually be hitting my target line 200 yards out on every swing. I need to take this to the course so I can actually see the difference when I use a real ball but so far if these numbers translate to the course I could be looking at 20 yards+ gain.

Control - A - This is a surprise and it is just a starting point. I didn't expect to be hitting this club so well my first time out so this rating might go up/down. I noticed that I was actually hitting my target line, my fade was less pronounced, and I hit a draw once!!!. The club is 46 inches long but with the weight of the club and the shaft it never feels like I lost the club head during the swing. Even when I messed around with my back swing I was able to make solid contact. I was asked what happened when you really amped up the swing so I tried it expecting to hit the biggest slice ever. Instead of hitting a slice I hit a minor fade (10-20 yards) and that ball went flying farther then anything I hit before. While tempo is important for such a light club I found that I could work my way to getting a bit faster (when I say a bit I mean just a small amount and nothing that would take me off balance) and still maintain control.


Here is a picture of the face after I hit a about 10 balls:

And here is a video of me swinging it once at the range (auto ball feed is BA):

 

[JConn]

Great write up c0ncept. I like how you broke it down into those categories. I know its early, but it sounds like this driver could be a winner for you. The pic was nice too, I love how you can see exactly where you hit on these black faces. Looks like you were hitting it in the middle pretty consistently with a couple a little high. How did those high on the face shots turn out? Keep up the good work!

 

[10YardDraw]

Good stuff cOncept! Looks like you were consistenly hitting the center of the face man, could be deadly after you get fully adjusted to it.

 

[c0ncept]

Great write up c0ncept. I like how you broke it down into those categories. I know its early, but it sounds like this driver could be a winner for you. The pic was nice too, I love how you can see exactly where you hit on these black faces. Looks like you were hitting it in the middle pretty consistently with a couple a little high. How did those high on the face shots turn out? Keep up the good work!

I usually hit there plus it was tee'd up higher then normal for me. The shots were all either straight or slight fade and going basically the same distance every time so They didnt pop up or anything the club has a pretty forgiving sweet spot I think.

 

[JB]

That is a very good writeup c0ncept. Good info, thanks.

 

[coolbreeze]

Very nice writeup c0ncept, that was very well done and was full of info. I'm starting to get turned on a little by this driver I think.

 

[Chunkylover77]

D and Concept, you guys are doing awesome!

My driver is 45" and the CG that I'm getting is stock which is 46"

 

[chewie69]

My Taylormade Driver is 45" and like the others my CG will be coming in the stock 46".

 

[Smallville]

Great write ups men, Can those of you testing list your swing speeds?

Good idea.

If I had a Black driver I may name mine "KIT", ie, Night Rider. Nice write up DnLA. Sounds like you just need to get fully familiarized.

I think I would name mine K.I.T.T. hehehe.




Very good first time out C0ncept. Enoyed this review a lot. Nice distance gain.

 

[omikey]

AWESOME write-ups you testers !! just AWESOME

Thanks for all your hard work and for providing us with the inside scoop on the CG Black !

If I didn't just buy a K-15, I'd have this on my target list FOR SURE !!

 

[c0ncept]

Slight skim.

Could each tester reply back with the length of their current driver and the length of the CG.
Would also like to know the gram weight of current shaft and gram weight of CG shaft.

I know the latest technology is longer, lighter shafts. And, initially this can have an effect on your timing. Would like to know if timing has been an issue yet?

My current driver is 44.5" and the CG Black is 46". I use a miyazaki on my R9 that weighs 61grams where the shaft in the CG Black weighs 47grams.