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Cleveland 588 Altitude Hybrid Irons Preview

SuperStroke
I got a fair amount of time with these on the range at a demo day, when I made a good swing, boy did I crush it. My bad swings, unfortunately, were quite bad on this day: regular size grips mess with my head and I drop into gripping the club too tight, killing my form and my swing speed, and on a day like this, seriously taxing my forearms! I did, maybe more than anything enjoy moving up and down the set and feeling like the clubs fit/gapped well.

That being said, back to the good-to-mediocre swings where I wasn't all deathgrip: Misses were pretty good. I was really impressed by that. Poor swings with good contact produced far better than expected results. I think the right setup these things would be money. Visually, I was thrown off by the clubs, the MT's felt more natural to look at - something for me to consider, hopefully a full fitting will clear up my concerns.

I'm still in heavy ponder mode.
 
I played my second round with my graphite shafted ones this weekend. I didn't score well, but it wasn't due to the Altitudes. I just didn't make any putts (Superstroke grip experiment that obviously isn't working), had some tough course conditions (hardpan sand traps and some high rough here and there) and didn't manage things the best (FW isn't going to work out of 4 inch rough dummy!).

In fact, the strength of the round was probably the Altitudes. Quick thoughts:
- For me, these are better in graphite than steel. I don't have the SS for these lofts in steel on the long irons.
- I think I like the "shorter" irons better than the longer irons. Most people put the long irons in and go with other short irons, but I really like the ball flight on those short ones.
- The DW giveth and taketh away. On the shortest par 4, I drove to 90 yards from the pin (which for me is a long drive because I'm a short knocker). The pin was front on a green sloped back to front. I dropped the ball within 6 feet of the pin, but it backed up and rolled off. I can't complain about that at all. Two holes later, I was 90 yards out and in the deep rough, hit the D wedge and completely airmailed the green. I still don't know where that shot came from.
- On this course, there are three par 3 holes that I would use an Altitude into. I'm not the greatest ball striker so my GIR are always low. I hit one on the left fringe (pin on the left guarded by bunkers) at 130, one on the green at 170, and put one in a bunker that was a little left of my target line (kidney green that wraps around the bunker, pin behind the bunker) at 160. That hardpan bunker killed one hole, but the other two worked out well. I'll take that any day.
- The 6 hybrid iron is great for getting out of the thick stuff. I wasted a half dozen shots hell bent on pushing a FW through it, before giving up and just hitting the 6. After that, I only had one more "bad" shot all day out of the rough.
- Shot of the day was with a 6 hybrid. I'd driven to under a weeping willow tree. I was literally standing inside of the weeping willow and couldn't see anything other than the ball. I took a smooth swing, hit down hard and flew out to about 20 yards from the green.
- I'm still hit or miss on that 4 hybrid iron. It has treated me well from the tee, but I don't hit it seemingly any further than I hit the 5 hybrid iron from the deck.
 
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ryebread said:
- The DW giveth and taketh away. On the shortest par 4, I drove to 90 yards from the pin (which for me is a long drive because I'm a short knocker). The pin was front on a green sloped back to front. I dropped the ball within 6 feet of the pin, but it backed up and rolled off. I can't complain about that at all. Two holes later, I was 90 yards out and in the deep rough, hit the D wedge and completely airmailed the green. I still don't know where that shot came from.
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I completely know how you feel here. I airmailed one from 100 yards out the other night, like by a good 15 yards. Just baffling. But then later in the round the DW led me to 2 birdies.... so I can't speak ill of it.
 
I've found my sweet spot with these. I guess with the way I swing a golf club, I need to address the ball towards the heel of the club on the altitudes. I've noticed over the last couple rounds experimenting with ball position in my stance and against the face, this yields the best results for me. If I put the ball towards the toe, I end up hooking it like crazy. It's wierd as I don't have this issue with the 588MT or TTs, only the Altitudes, must be the weighting?
 
ryebread said:
I played my second round with my graphite shafted ones this weekend. I didn't score well, but it wasn't due to the Altitudes. I just didn't make any putts (Superstroke grip experiment that obviously isn't working), had some tough course conditions (hardpan sand traps and some high rough here and there) and didn't manage things the best (FW isn't going to work out of 4 inch rough dummy!).

In fact, the strength of the round was probably the Altitudes. Quick thoughts:
- For me, these are better in graphite than steel. I don't have the SS for these lofts in steel on the long irons.
- I think I like the "shorter" irons better than the longer irons. Most people put the long irons in and go with other short irons, but I really like the ball flight on those short ones.
- The DW giveth and taketh away. On the shortest par 4, I drove to 90 yards from the pin (which for me is a long drive because I'm a short knocker). The pin was front on a green sloped back to front. I dropped the ball within 6 feet of the pin, but it backed up and rolled off. I can't complain about that at all. Two holes later, I was 90 yards out and in the deep rough, hit the D wedge and completely airmailed the green. I still don't know where that shot came from.
- On this course, there are three par 3 holes that I would use an Altitude into. I'm not the greatest ball striker so my GIR are always low. I hit one on the left fringe (pin on the left guarded by bunkers) at 130, one on the green at 170, and put one in a bunker that was a little left of my target line (kidney green that wraps around the bunker, pin behind the bunker) at 160. That hardpan bunker killed one hole, but the other two worked out well. I'll take that any day.
- The 6 hybrid iron is great for getting out of the thick stuff. I wasted a half dozen shots hell bent on pushing a FW through it, before giving up and just hitting the 6. After that, I only had one more "bad" shot all day out of the rough.
- Shot of the day was with a 6 hybrid. I'd driven to under a weeping willow tree. I was literally standing inside of the weeping willow and couldn't see anything other than the ball. I took a smooth swing, hit down hard and flew out to about 20 yards from the green.
- I'm still hit or miss on that 4 hybrid iron. It has treated me well from the tee, but I don't hit it seemingly any further than I hit the 5 hybrid iron from the deck.
Click to expand...

I suspect coming from the deep rough you experienced a classic flyer leading to the air mail. Flyer meaning that enough grass got caught between face and ball leading to vastly reduced spin causing the big jump in distance. Pretty common out of rough.


Glad to see your success with the clubs. I like the shorter irons a lot as well.


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golf4life said:
I suspect coming from the deep rough you experienced a classic flyer leading to the air mail. Flyer meaning that enough grass got caught between face and ball leading to vastly reduced spin causing the big jump in distance. Pretty common out of rough.
Click to expand...

You are probably correct. It's the only thing that makes sense. It's amazing to think that there's that much spin on the ball.
 
I hit my d-7 altitudes like a dream. I love it! However anything under 7 I am hooking and I can't figure out why. Any suggestions thanks!


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I played 54 holes in the last few days and my 4 and 5i were terrific. I used to struggle with these out of the rough, but wasn't having that problem, as I used my 4 to get out of a few tough lies. On one course,there were a good number of long par 3's over water and these came through for me very well on those too, hitting some greens from very tough tee shots.

I haven't played these in a while, but I really love the feel/sound at impact and the ball flight. And although I'm getting along with my irons a lot better now, I ordered the 6i yesterday because I remember hitting JB's 6i last year and loved it. I hit my 7i on down pretty well, so I imagine it'll be tougher to consider replacing those, but am excited to have these as an option at the top of the bag.


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Philly Golf Guy said:
I played 54 holes in the last few days and my 4 and 5i were terrific. I used to struggle with these out of the rough, but wasn't having that problem, as I used my 4 to get out of a few tough lies. On one course,there were a good number of long par 3's over water and these came through for me very well on those too, hitting some greens from very tough tee shots.

I haven't played these in a while, but I really love the feel/sound at impact and the ball flight. And although I'm getting along with my irons a lot better now, I ordered the 6i yesterday because I remember hitting JB's 6i last year and loved it. I hit my 7i on down pretty well, so I imagine it'll be tougher to consider replacing those, but am excited to have these as an option at the top of the bag.


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I thought the same with the shorter irons until I hit the Alt's from 7i down but the short Alt's are even more amazing than the longer Alt's.


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I have to agree, I think I've said before, I love being in the 7,8,9,pw range. Connect and I fell like a pro with the flight and hang time.
The rest are good but I think these are outstanding and shots with those generate more (good) comments from playing partners as well.
 
JoeyJoeJo said:
I have to agree, I think I've said before, I love being in the 7,8,9,pw range. Connect and I fell like a pro with the flight and hang time.
The rest are good but I think these are outstanding and shots with those generate more (good) comments from playing partners as well.
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Yeah they just come down at such a steep angle they don't stop to far from where they land I find the best two clubs are the D and S wedges with the wedge flex graphite shafts they seem to perform better with that shaft than they do with the A flex graphite shaft


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zearCsportsbox said:
I hit my d-7 altitudes like a dream. I love it! However anything under 7 I am hooking and I can't figure out why. Any suggestions thanks!


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Click to expand...

I can't say what is causing your hooks, but for myself it comes down to swinging too hard causing my left wrist to break down and snap the face shut (sometimes the same fault leaves the face open).
 
6 swings at golfsmith with a 6 iron yesterday.
5 around 170 to 173 total distance

On less than stellar swings

Scary
 
I played really well with these irons today. Such a pleasure to play golf with .


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I am hitting the 4 iron so well I have ordered a 3 iron. I have to make room for it in my bag so I played a round without using my Smart Sole C wedge and only using the Smart Sole S I found if I play the S off the back foot like the C it can do everything the C can do just with a bit more loft and less rollout.


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I played this weekend and had a really solid ball striking day with the Altitudes. I think I hit about 1 bad shot with them. Were they all perfect? Nope, but they didn't hurt me either (on a day where about everything else did). I can't complain about that given my handicap.
 
BamBooBender said:
I can't say what is causing your hooks, but for myself it comes down to swinging too hard causing my left wrist to break down and snap the face shut (sometimes the same fault leaves the face open).
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Thanks! I'll try to focus on that.


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I have found the 4 iron great for getting out from under trees just grip down short, play off the back foot, short back swing and short follow through and it comes out low and carries forever then lots of roll. Feels like I can do anything with these clubs.
 
I'm seriously pondering heavier shafts for these.
 
BamBooBender said:
I just seem to be more consistent, dispersion wise, with heavier shafts.
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Ok I'm the opposite I like light shafts the Alt's are 10 grams lighter than the X Hots and I prefer them.


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Have just placed an order for a set of these today can’t wait to get them bummer about the month wait I get the feeling it’s going to drag. got to say that I was amazed how much a set of irons could change me game after taking them out I know my set of irons is 8 years old but did not think they would improve my golf this much or would of got them months ago.
 
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