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Cleveland 588 Altitude Hybrid Irons Preview

SuperStroke
I Surrender!:surrender:. I ordered a set of graphite Tudes for a killer deal. No matter what I play I always gravitate back to wanting the ease of these clubs then I start playing well get a little "ego" and want better looking clubs. Such a viscous circle. If I ever get tired of fugly at least I will keep these as a back up.
 
sabig27 said:
Good points, over 4000 entries on one set of club is crazy. Wonder which line of clubs has the most forum entries? These have to be up there.
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These were a definite story to be told in their original year of release. It surprises me that Cleveland has yet to build on this line, as I really think it changed the way higher caps can look at attacking an iron (and lower caps, for that matter).
chasd3 said:
I Surrender!:surrender:. I ordered a set of graphite Tudes for a killer deal. No matter what I play I always gravitate back to wanting the ease of these clubs then I start playing well get a little "ego" and want better looking clubs. Such a viscous circle. If I ever get tired of fugly at least I will keep these as a back up.
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Nice!!! Can't wait to hear how they work for you.
 
I've played these in Steel (did not like so much) and the HB3's in graphite (liked very much but thought I needed better looking clubs and gave them to my son). Since the HB3's I've been all over the place with clubs and I admit new stuff is part of the hobby but this type of club just suits me better. My GHIN is 14.2 Trending 13.2 thanks to shooting a PB of 77 and several low 80's rounds but that was mostly due to solid driving and very average iron play. If I can improve my iron play and drive like I have been of late I can reach my goal of a GHIN of 12 this year. I opened the year at 17.1. This is on my home track which is very playable but measurable improvement is measurable improvement. I'll report back after a few rounds with the Tudes which should be here Monday or Tuesday.
 
Got out with a buddy tonight, who had picked up a set of SpeedBlades, and I wanted to try a bit of a comparison Speedblade vs Altitude.

Love the look of the SpeedBlades, the dark finish just gets me every time..... but performance wise for me, it was no comparison. Altitude all the way.
 
chasd3 said:
I Surrender!:surrender:. I ordered a set of graphite Tudes for a killer deal. No matter what I play I always gravitate back to wanting the ease of these clubs then I start playing well get a little "ego" and want better looking clubs. Such a viscous circle. If I ever get tired of fugly at least I will keep these as a back up.
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I've done this too. Finally accepted it's best to give in to the Altitudes.
 
a buddy of mine is new to the game, around a 34 handicap and was shopping for irons, I talked to him about the altitudes and this thread, and he bought a set yesterday!

I am really looking forward to hear what he has to say about them.
 
Now that the the extensions and jumbo grips w/5 wraps under the right hand are installed, the Alts and I are on speaking terms again.
 
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Now if they will stay together...
 
I'm still considering new irons, but given the way I was hitting these after having them adjusted, I just might not need to.
 
For those of you who have re-shafted these did you find the head weights to be pretty close to standard for tipping or did you have to weigh each head and tip accordingly?
Did they require a collared or stepped ferrule? I had noticed the old hi bores used a collared ferrule....
i have a new set that has stock steel in regular flex and I am going to put in stiff graphite so any tips would be appreciated. Thanks in advance....
 
These are totally different clubs in graphite vs steel. I really think the graphite set is the easiest club to hit ever produced. Not loving the 4 yet but 5 right through SW is incredibly easy from all lies.
 
I carried the 5 through SW when I gamed them. I couldn't hit the 4 very well, but many here did
 
4 is perhaps the one I hit the best out of the bunch, which is strange..... absolutely murder the ball with that club!
 
braddman19 said:
4 is perhaps the one I hit the best out of the bunch, which is strange..... absolutely murder the ball with that club!
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There are a lot of posts earlier in the thread about the 4. One either loves it or hate it it seems. I think it correlates with ball striking ability, and probably even more closely with swing speed.

Put me in the camp that loves the 5 down in the Altitudes. I'm an average SS player (~90 mph with the driver) and am a picker. Your mileage may vary.
 
braddman19 said:
4 is perhaps the one I hit the best out of the bunch, which is strange..... absolutely murder the ball with that club!
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I bought the 4 as an individual, first Altitude I owned. I got hooked on these irons from the 4. Strangely, I've found I hit it better than the 7, no joke.
 
Shot 38 on my home par 36 course with no birdies hit 8 greens had 7 2 putts and 1 3 putt out of those. Other bogey was a 1 putt got caught in bunker and got out but not on green. Most of this success is iron play. These things are easy to hit.
 
chasd3 said:
Shot 38 on my home par 36 course with no birdies hit 8 greens had 7 2 putts and 1 3 putt out of those. Other bogey was a 1 putt got caught in bunker and got out but not on green. Most of this success is iron play. These things are easy to hit.
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Nice! Your cap won't stay at 17 long!
 
chasd3 said:
Started year at 17.1. It's actually 13.2 as of the revision on the 15th. These should help me stay there or continue. Goal is 12.1 or less.
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Awesome progress !!

I am in the same boat with the Tudes.
I ended at 17.6 in 2013 and 18.6 in 2014. This season after a few rounds I had tumbled to a 19.1 and got super frustrated with my iron game.
Bought the Tudes in April and now sitting at a 13.2. Another plus was the addition of the Cleveland Smart Sole wedges. I added the Smart Sole S a few rounds after the Tudes and took the cap down another stroke and then more recently added the Smart Sole C. I only played one round with the C so far but my score was 3 strokes better than my cap so I think its going to help lower the cap even more.

My goal last year was to average 85 per round and I finished at 89. I was practicing multiple times per week so it was very frustrating. This offseason I went to the range once and bought a 10 visit range pass back in Feb and still have 2 visits left. So my practice is probably down 90% compared to the past 2 years yet my scores are improving.

This year I never really set a goal but did have 2014's goal of 85 in the back of my head. Sitting at an 85.6 right now and think I might be able to get it down even lower with the added help of the Smart Soles.

The sad part is I totally wrote Cleveland off and would never even demo their equipment. I think their clubs are ugly but sometimes looks don't bring results. I'm on board now.
Acquired a 588 5w off a fellow THP'er last week. Only one round during a scramble last weekend but its showing promise too.

Now I need my rotator cuff injury to heal so I can swing a club again.

Long live the Tudes !!!! lol
 
Got my wife a set of these, and now I think I might give them a few rounds.
 
Been killing these things lately, just crushing them! D all the way up to 3. I believe it is a combination of the adjustments made to them, as well as the fact that I realized my stance had gotten way too narrow. The extra length and larger grips make them MUCH more comfortable for me to swing, it kind of perplexes me as to exactly why, but it certainly has been working great so I'm going to run with it. That and the wider stance, almost feels too wide, has led to great things so far.

I had the same thing done to my driver and 3w as well, with maybe even better results.

Edit: Unfortunately I have been literally killing the 7 as it is in the shop, yet again to be repaired. 3rd time the head has started to come loose.
 
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BamBooBender said:
Been killing these things lately, just crushing them! D all the way up to 3. I believe it is a combination of the adjustments made to them, as well as the fact that I realized my stance had gotten way too narrow. The extra length and larger grips make them MUCH more comfortable for me to swing, it kind of perplexes me as to exactly why, but it certainly has been working great so I'm going to run with it. That and the wider stance, almost feels too wide, has led to great things so far.

I had the same thing done to my driver and 3w as well, with maybe even better results.

Edit: Unfortunately I have been literally killing the 7 as it is in the shop, yet again to be repaired. 3rd time the head has started to come loose.
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Weird on the shafts and the head coming off. Granted, I'm not in the same league with in in swing speed, but I've got over 1.5 years on this set without issues.

I do love the Altitudes though. Yesterday I knocked two from ~150 to inside 15 feet, and one was over a line of trees! I converted one for birdie and pared the other.
 
ryebread said:
Weird on the shafts and the head coming off. Granted, I'm not in the same league with in in swing speed, but I've got over 1.5 years on this set without issues.

I do love the Altitudes though. Yesterday I knocked two from ~150 to inside 15 feet, and one was over a line of trees! I converted one for birdie and pared the other.
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It is wierd. The 7 seems to be holding together now, and I hit it a LOT this past weekend. I hit multiple buckets, with mostly the 7 and a few driver/3w scattered in between .
 
Well, my first issue came up with the Altitudes came up today.

Hit 3 shots in a row, 1st hit a tree, 2nd was from directly below the tree, 3rd from the fairway chunked badly. Threw the club to the ground in frustration, shaft breaks in half.

I look at it closer, and the shaft actually had kinks in 2 spots on it.

Nonetheless, stupidity on my part now requires me to find a replacement shaft for my 8 iron (or even just a replacement 8 iron). Anyone have a spare stock 8 iron shaft kicking around they want to get rid of?
 
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