Cleveland 588 CB Forged Irons

[Hawk]

That's such a good post.

Pretty dang good questions deano. The experimenter in you is curious, I can tell. I personally feel like the i20's are more demanding. A lot of that has to do with what makes me more comfortable with my eyes at address. The i20's aren't that intimidating but there's something ingenious about the design of these 588's that is hard to explain unless you have them and spend some time over the ball with them. They truly give a positive impression and I think that can breed some good results.

The 588's, for me, out perform a lot of those irons b/c to me, they can do more and do more with less ease. You ever try to flight Burner 2.0's lower? Or hit a punch cut underneath a tree with one? Those things are made to do two things: high and far. That's all fine and dandy until you don't need either. What if you need low and accurate?

I would absolutely recommend these irons to just about any one, but only on one condition: that they get the right shaft and get them fit to them. I believe that with a proper fitting, heel and toe strikes can almost be eliminated. Find a combo that is successful and put yourself in a position where you are hitting the center of this clubface and you'll be hard pressed to find something about them you don't like.

Now, some may say that they need more distance out of an iron. That's understandable. I would say to them to perhaps think about the tee box they choose to play from, or stop worrying about hitting said iron so far and start learning what club equates to exact yardages, b/c these can provide that.

It's really easy to provide feedback when you have a product you believe in. Cleveland has a tremendous product on their hands in these irons. I was completely enamored with the i20's and these are quickly making me forget about them. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

 

[TC]

I have the crosslines on my MC stuff too. I'm not 100% sold on them yet, but I do like them as an alternative to Tour Velvets.

We're in the same boat then.

 

[JB]

Questions for you 588 guys...

What shafts are you playing? How are the lofts? Stong like RBZ/Burner irons or weaker lofted like an MB or MC?

Do they come with the Lamkin Crosslines like the 588 wedges do? If so, how do those feel of full shots? I love them on my wedges but they feel almost too soft, like they could get slippery on a more aggressive swing.

I think the 588 irons are beautiful by the way.

KBS Tour.
No the lofts are more standard, although I got mine bent 2 degrees strong.
I like the Lamkin personally, but will switch to the THP grips at the conclusion of the Morgan Cup.

 

[tomahawk18]

Questions for you 588 guys...

What shafts are you playing? How are the lofts? Stong like RBZ/Burner irons or weaker lofted like an MB or MC?

Do they come with the Lamkin Crosslines like the 588 wedges do? If so, how do those feel of full shots? I love them on my wedges but they feel almost too soft, like they could get slippery on a more aggressive swing.

I think the 588 irons are beautiful by the way.

I have mine bent 1* strong, but they are still 1* to 2* weaker than my 2.0's. 46* PW, 34* 7i, 23* 4i. I ordered mine with multicompound grips and KBS Tour stiff. The wedges are awesome and I am dialed in with the 50*. I am still figuring out my 54* and 58* distances. Feel, sound, spin are great.

 

[JB]

Thanks. It's pretty easy. Imagine that, spending a little time on the forum providing some feedback. I enjoy the hell out of it. I am trying to be as subjective as possible. I can't find a reason why these are "out of someone's league"

You mean objective.

And as to the rest of the post...You have to want to, and sadly that is just not the case for all. I have another rant in me I think, but instead might just make more videos.

 

[Hawk]

I have the PX Flighted 5.5 with lofts bent 2° strong. That makes them lofted stronger than my previous set of irons. I've played the Crosslines since last September and not had an issue with slipping. They are nice on the hands while staying pretty tacky. Plus, they look awesome.

 

[Hawk]

Here's my thoughts on people playing an iron like this. It's something I've felt since I had the V2's, but don't really talk about a lot.

If you like the look of an iron like the 588 CB, I don't see a reason most competent golfers couldn't play them. They offer alot more forgiveness and size than a blade iron, but aren't as offset and bulky as a larger GI iron. They still hit the ball in the air if you put a swing on them. I've never had an issue where my scores went in the tank because of the irons.

I also think finding the right shaft is important, as is not expecting to hit them extremely long distances. They aren't made to do that. They are made to be versatile and accurate.

Lastly, if you set up to an iron like the CB's and feel like you're going to struggle, you probably are. It's just the way the mind and body works.

 

[ddec]

nice input Hawk. You certainly have made a pretty large jump in irons over the last couple of years. From the a3OS back in the day to these now.

 

[Colt]

You mean objective.

And as to the rest of the post...You have to want to, and sadly that is just not the case for all. I have another rant in me I think, but instead might just make more videos.

JB, are you finding the MB's to flow very well with the rest of the CB's? Like its all the same iron set? Do you find the higher lofts of the 7-P to provide all of the "forgiveness" you need with the "blade" irons?


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[TC]

Great point hawk. There's no reason to be intimidated. It's an inanimate object that works based on how we swing it. There's no golf club out there that's going to take a dude shooting the the 100's to scratch. It doesn't work that way.

 

[JB]

JB, are you finding the MB's to flow very well with the rest of the CB's? Like its all the same iron set? Do you find the higher lofts of the 7-P to provide all of the "forgiveness" you need with the "blade" irons?


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I have 8-PW so cannot comment on the 7 iron. Forgiveness? They dont have any forgiveness. In fairness they are not meant to. They are meant to be thin, offer high levels of feedback and flight the ball where you want it. They flow just fine through the set as they offer similar sound throughout.

 

[Colt]

Great point hawk. There's no reason to be intimidated. It's an inanimate object that works based on how we swing it. There's no golf club out there that's going to take a dude shooting the the 100's to scratch. It doesn't work that way.

i20's have worked wonders for some though. And how I see it and from what I've heard these are very much i20ish in terms of how they play/forgiveness. Feel though, these are 180* in a different direction in that regard.


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[Colt]

I have 8-PW so cannot comment on the 7 iron. Forgiveness? They dont have any forgiveness. In fairness they are not meant to. They are meant to be thin, offer high levels of feedback and flight the ball where you want it. They flow just fine through the set as they offer similar sound throughout.

Like you have said before, no forgiveness in blades. I get that. But I just feel that higher lofted irons, for whatever reason are easier to hit regardless of what they are. Just my opinion. What I meant was that you don't all of a sudden feel like you have a level of uneasiness in hitting an 8 and up as opposed to the rest of the set.


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[TC]

i20's have worked wonders for some though. And how I see it and from what I've heard these are very much i20ish in terms of how they play/forgiveness. Feel though, these are 180* in a different direction in that regard.


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You got that right. I find the 20's/CFS to be way softer than........wait for it............wait for it.........wait for it............forged player's irons.

 

[Colt]

You got that right. I find the 20's/CFS to be way softer than........wait for it............wait for it.........wait for it............forged player's irons.

Yep. Goes against everything you've ever been told!

Cast=softer than forged. Take that bombsquadWRX!

In all honesty though I do still love the way these feel as well. And YES the 588's are SOFT as well. Just in a different, more powerful feeling way. And I love the way they sound like a shotgun going off when you hit em' well.


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[JonD]

Man you MC'ers are providing a compelling case for these irons. I'm not at your level TC, but the way you talk about them in relation to the i20s is pretty impressive. I have been telling myself that I can get new irons when I get into the 80s consistently. Looks like I'll be adding these to the list of must hits. Doesn't hurt that they're sexy as hell either. I'll obviously give everything a fair shake, but I'm starting to become a bit of a Cleveland homer.

 

[biggsy]

Although, perhaps we're spoiled b/c we got to have custom shafts installed?

Very true. Another excellent reason why we are so fortunate to have that at our disposal from the great people and Cleveland Golf!

I am seeing, on the occassion, the slight left to right shot shape. It's not bad at all but I still inherently line up a little right of my target due to years of hitting cut shots. I need to get that dialed in soon.

That is one thing I noticed that I was not expecting, a little baby draw. I quite liked it.

 

[tomahawk18]

I am drawing the ball more often as well. Sometimes a bit too much.

 

[biggsy]

Questions for you 588 guys...

What shafts are you playing? How are the lofts? Stong like RBZ/Burner irons or weaker lofted like an MB or MC?

Do they come with the Lamkin Crosslines like the 588 wedges do? If so, how do those feel of full shots? I love them on my wedges but they feel almost too soft, like they could get slippery on a more aggressive swing.

I think the 588 irons are beautiful by the way.

I went with the KBS 130 X shafts on the PW-5i that are in my set and I just went with standard lofts. I can see why some went with the stronger bends, I was a little off on my distances, but nothing too detrimental. They are weaker lofted compared to the RBZ irons. As much as 4.5 degrees if you take the 7 iron (30.5 to 35). I can't see the lofts on the MC online, but would assume closer to those in the way of loft. I can't speak to the stock grip, sorry.

They really beautiful irons. Wait until you hit them, it gets even better!

 

[biggsy]

Here's my thoughts on people playing an iron like this. It's something I've felt since I had the V2's, but don't really talk about a lot.

If you like the look of an iron like the 588 CB, I don't see a reason most competent golfers couldn't play them. They offer alot more forgiveness and size than a blade iron, but aren't as offset and bulky as a larger GI iron. They still hit the ball in the air if you put a swing on them. I've never had an issue where my scores went in the tank because of the irons.

I also think finding the right shaft is important, as is not expecting to hit them extremely long distances. They aren't made to do that. They are made to be versatile and accurate.

Lastly, if you set up to an iron like the CB's and feel like you're going to struggle, you probably are. It's just the way the mind and body works.

Hawk, I think you put that very well. It is very mental and if you feel you can't hit them, you won't be able to.

I feel there is more forgiveness in these after you hit them than if you just judged them sitting on the rack.

 

[SW]

My apologies for being a little slack in this thread the past few days, no time on the range or course does that to a guy. Played and had a mini range session today however.

Without being a total homer I think I'm in love with these. Now while I would like to see a little higher ball flight I can not complain about what I am seeing. I think my desire to have a higher flight is simply due to what I'm used to as I have played irons that were designed to hit the ball high and long. This is just an adjustment period I'm sure. I would call it a mid flight right now but not low enough to cause me to not be able to hold greens with a 6 or 7 iron.

When I decided on these irons I posted my reasoning behind it, today I had some proof that my thinking was correct. On a longer par 4 today I had a tough shot into the green that ran away from me and I needed to throw it high to hold the right tier. Before I would've kinda gone through the motions and relied on the design of the club to save me, but with these I find myself focusing more, as a result I hit a towering 7 iron today from 147. Hence why I say I need to adjust both mentally in the way I approach things and physically in terms of swinging better.

Something else that has been touched on frequently is the forgiveness across the face. Today I had an 8 iron from the rough that was sitting up a little higher than I thought, I caught it a little high and towards the toe. Yes the result was a little short but only a few yards short of the green and exactly where I planned for a miss. This is what makes me like these irons so much, reliability.

The 9 and PW may be might favorite clubs in the set. I like the 9 for little bump and run shots around the green and the PW is my go to club on par 5's. I've started laying up to 80-100 yards and hitting a 3/4 shot into the green. With my old irons I could pull this shot off but because of the design it was hard to bring he ball down and get a consistent distance.

I'm very impressed with these right out of the box and with more time I'm excited about what I can take my game with these irons.

 

[arydolphin]

I thought I'd put up some thoughts about these irons while I'm on my dinner break at work tonight. As I posted in the "What did you shoot" thread, I played a round this morning, and didn't really have my best game, I hit some shots with these irons that really made me smile.

To answer MSB's question, I went with the KBS Tour shafts in stiff flex, exactly what I've been playing since mid-2010. My irons are bent 1 degree strong to have a 4 degree gap between the PW in this set and my 50 degree wedge. I haven't had any issues with digging, but I'm don't take huge divots in the first place, so I wasn't really worried about that. In terms of distances, I started off playing for 5 yards shorter than my old irons, but had some shots later in the round that nearly matched my old distances. It helped that the temperatures were in the 90s so the ball was flying really well, but in the future, I don't think there will be much of an adjustment even when it cools down. One thing that was good for me is that in almost any situation where I was between clubs in my head with the new math, I just took the longer club and swung easier, I'll have to remember that down the road.

As some of the other guys have talked about, these irons really slice through the rough well. Of course, even though we are all internet golfers, we sometimes hit it in the rough. I had 2 shots on consecutive holes where the rough was fairly deep and I thought that I would have trouble with the shots...but both times I made really good contact and hit the green!

One other thing that I noted is that the spin on these irons is pretty impressive. Of course, they are new, but I was getting more spin with this set of irons than my prior set of irons. Since the shaft is the same, I have to think that it is the face design. I was alternating playing the Z Star and the Z Star XV ball during the round, and I might actually spin it too much with the Z Star ball and these clubs; I had a shot with the PW that I thought I hit a little thin, only to get onto the green and see that the ball had spun back 2 feet from its pitchmark. I had another shot from the rough to a severely elevated green, so I'm thinking "this is going to land near the front of the green and release all the way to the back." I hit the 9 iron, and saw the ball hit on the front of the green, then couldn't see where it ended up. I get to the green, and the ball is about 6 feet in front of the pitchmark. That level of spin to an uphill green out of the rough surprised me, in a good way.

I did struggle with some shots, but on the shots that were hit well, the side-to-side dispersion is pretty tight. I'm hoping that as I get more comfortable with these irons, I can start taking slightly more aggressive lines on some approach shots instead of aiming for the middle of the green on everything. Like some others have mentioned, for whatever reason these clubs can create a nice "baby draw". Everyone that has played golf with me knows that a little draw is my preferred shot, so this is quite pleasing for me. Even on a couple of shots where I overcooked the draw, I missed the green by less than 5 yards on the left, instead of 10-15 yards with my prior set of irons.

I will need some more practice time with the 5 iron, I only hit one shot with it and it was a little fat, came up 15 yards short and left on a par 3. I probably should have choked down on the 4 hybrid, but I had not hit the 5 iron at all prior to that, so I decided to try it.

Thanks for reading this stream of consciousness, and if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

 

[Colt]

What were your prior irons, Ary?

I don't wanna lose my i20 distance!


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[SW]

Good point with the side to side dispersion Ary. That's something I'm seeing as well and it is a welcome sight.

 

[arydolphin]

What were your prior irons, Ary?

I don't wanna lose my i20 distance!


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R11 irons. With the way that my 588 CB irons are configured, the lofts are all 1-2 degrees weaker than the R11 irons.