WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cleveland Golf’s already robust wedge line receives two meaningful additions with the RTX Full-Face 2 and Smart Sole Full-Face offerings.

AVAILABILITY AND PRICE: The RTX Full-Face 2 is available immediately in lofts of 50 to 60 degrees as well as 64 degrees. The Smart Sole Full-Face is also available now. Stay tuned for Australian pricing.

3 COOL THINGS

1. Laser focused

The RTX Full-Face 2 wedges use a dynamic blast and laser-milled line system integrated into the face to maximise spin in wet or dry conditions. The lasered, micro-milling lines are angled toward RTX Full-Face 2’s grooves, adding more roughness and friction at impact.

2. Size matters

The high-toe profile enlarges the hitting area for those with the type of skills that can pull off the most demanding of short-game shots. The RTX Full-Face 2 features three sole grind options, each optimised based on loft groupings. For lower lofts ranging from 50 to 52-degree, an S-shaped sole with 8 degrees of bounce. The sand wedge lofts feature a similar S-shaped sole, but with more bounce at 10 degrees for tackling bunker shots. Lofts of 58 degrees and higher feature a C-shaped sole with 8 degrees of bounce, designed for flops or escapes from difficult lies.

3. Help on the way

The other wedge aimed at everyday players is the Smart Sole Full-Face. Like its Smart Sole 4 predecessor, the Smart Sole Full-Face line has a singular goal: make it as easy as possible for players to hit serviceable shots out of sand and around the green.

Smart Sole Full-Face wedges feature four specialised clubs, each designed for nearly all types of short-game shots. An upgraded, three-tiered sole designs provides the kind of forgiveness grandma offers a misbehaving kid.

Smart Sole Full-Face wedges feature a 46 percent larger striking area than the previous model making it the largest clubface ever on a Cleveland Golf wedge. New alignment lines at the bottom of the clubface are designed to help golfers keep the club centred behind the ball at address and keep a square club face at impact.

Each Smart Sole Full-Face model is tailored for specific situations around the green. The C-model is ideal for chip shots or bump-and-runs. The G-model is for full or partial approach shots. The S-model is designed for easier sand savings, while the L-model is engineered for high arching shots into short-sided pin locations.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The HB Soft 2 putters present a family of nine affordable models that feature different shapes geared to different stroke type, but their most important feature again is the complex variably milled faces. By progressively changing the intensity of the milling marks from the centre outward to heel and toe, it normalises energy transfer at impact for more consistent ball speeds. Moreover, the variable milling pattern changes to match each specific model’s stability on off-centre hits.

PRICE & AVAILABILITY: The line features three blades (1, 8C, 8S) and six mallets (10.5P, 11, 11C, 11S, 15, Retreve). Available at retail from January 24. Stay tuned for Australian pricing.

3 COOL THINGS

1. Thoroughly modern milling. The “Soft” in HB Soft 2 might make you think it has something to do with feel, but in case you’ve forgotten, the “SOFT” is actually an acronym for “speed optimised face technology”, which has been part of Cleveland putting offerings for the past seven years. By altering the intensity of the milling pattern across the face (more closely packed in the centre, more loosely configured at the extremes), these putter faces change the relative energy transfer to equalise ball speed on centre and off-centre hits.

Like several past models, the HB Soft 2 further individualises those face patterns to match up with the moment of inertia (stability on off-centre hits) of each model. That means a more stable head like a mallet would need the face to contribute less to equalising energy transfer on mishits. Conversely, a blade would need the face’s effect to be greater to compensate for the less stable head. Only Cleveland’s putters feature this face pattern/head style matching technique.

“If you’ve got a high MOI putter and a low MOI putter, you have to arrange that milling pattern differently,” said Dustin Brekke, director of engineering at Cleveland Golf. “Otherwise, you’re not really achieving the objective of normalising ball speed across the face. Because we mill these faces as opposed to an insert, we can create the milling speed and spin rate that’s unique to each model.

Cleveland ZipCore XL, Halo XL Full-Face irons: What you need to know

“We think it’s doing something that a lot of otherwise oversized heads with heavy weights aren’t achieving.”

2. Swing your swing. While putters remain the least fit clubs in the bag, especially at lower price points like where HB Soft 2 sits in the marketplace, the nine models here are each designed to fit a specific type of putting motion. The family divides along two lines: arc-type strokes and straight path strokes. In basic terms, the models that feature a heel-shafted toe hang cater to arcing strokes, while the models with a centre shaft or a face-balanced set up target straighter strokes.

Specifically, the arc models are the 1 (classic plumber’s neck heel-toe weighted cavity blade), 8S (slant neck widebody heel-toe weighted cavity blade), 10.5 (plumber’s neck half-mallet) and 11S (slant neck fanged mallet). The straight path line-up features five options: 8C (centre-shafted widebody heel-toe weighted cavity blade), 11 (single bend fanged mallet), 11C (centre-shafted fanged mallet), 15 (open-frame oversized, winged mallet) and Retreve (a unique rounded mallet with a central ball-sized opening that lets a player pick the ball from the hole or ground).

Cleveland CBX 4 ZipCore wedges: What you need to know

In addition to offering stroke-specific models, the line-up includes specific size grips to further encourage those strokes. A narrow “Pistol Classic” is matched with the arc-style models, while a larger “Pistol Oversize” is the grip for the straight path putters.

3. Heavy putting. One further aspect that the Cleveland team has considered is the consideration of the overall balance and heft of each putter. While some higher priced models will use sole weights to better accommodate a shorter shaft, each HB Soft 2 model uses a counterbalanced weight in the butt end of the grip of each 35-inch model to consistently balance the heft or “swing feel” of each model.

Cleveland Launcher XL 2 drivers: What you need to know

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Since its inception, Cleveland’s cavity-back CBX line of wedges have remained steadfast about being a logical choice for the 84 percent of golfers who use cavity-back irons. Still, not everyone wants to play a game-improvement wedge. In a nod to that reality, Cleveland’s latest version has all the help one could want but does so in a slightly more appealing package.

PRICE & AVAILABILITY: Stay tuned for Australian pricing on the CBX 4 ZipCore wedges, which will be available in stores from January 24.

3 COOL THINGS

1. The cavity has got your back. The high majority of everyday players use cavity-back irons that are lighter in weight and more forgiving. Yet those same players likely have wedges that are more of a muscleback, heavier and less forgiving. Cleveland continues its mission to educate golfers that a cavity-back wedge would be a boon to their game.

“What’s great about the new CBX4 ZipCore is that they share similar shaping and weighting to modern forgiving irons, so the transition from your irons to your wedges is going to be consistent with what you’re used to,” said Jeff Brunski, vice-president of R&D at Cleveland Golf. “You’ll have that same swing feel and find more consistency around the greens.”

With a larger clubhead and toe-biased sweet spot (an area many everyday players find with regularity), the head is shaped in a manner to offer an assist on off-centre shots. Further, the larger, cavity-back design promotes a higher moment of inertia to mitigate ball speed loss on mis-hits. In other words, uber-forgiving.

“These clubs have a higher MOI in the high-low as well as heel-toe direction,” Brunski said. “The CG also shifted toeward by 2.4 millimetres. That’s a significant shift.”

Allowing that shift, of course, is the use of the lightweight ZipCore material in the hosel area, which removes 14 grams of weight, allowing for that mass to be repositioned to achieve optimal CG placement along with a boost to moment of inertia.

Cleveland ZipCore XL, Halo XL Full-Face irons: What you need to know

2. It’s all about sole. The V-shape sole that stretches from heel to toe is familiar and useful as it creates ease of entering and exiting the turf, but the design does not stop there. The amount of trailing edge relief is loft-dependent and allows for the proper amount of relief as loft increases.

Some bounce was added to the leading edge chamfer as well. “Most golfers who play cavity-back irons have a forward press when they chip,” Brunski said. “Adding some bounce in that area works well with that kind of move.

3. How groovy. Across the 15 options (44-60 degrees) and three sole grinds, the CBX wedges boast a loft-dependent face finish that adds friction at impact and combines with sharper, tighter spaced grooves that also are deeper for more spin. A new groove geometry helps increase spin from the rough.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Golfers that fall into the game-improvement iron category approach the game – and their equipment purchases – based more on minimising their bad shots rather than optimising their good ones (although they will certainly take that as well). Cleveland Golf has long geared its club designs just to this kind of golfer and continues down that path with the introduction of its game-improvement ZipCore XL irons and, for those needing even more help, its Halo XL Full-Face irons.

PRICE: The ZipCore XL and Halo XL Full-Face irons are each available in a seven-piece set in steel and graphite. Stay tuned for Australian pricing.

3 COOL THINGS

1. Expanding on a great idea. Golf Digest’s academic panel has seen a lot of interesting technology over the years and is not easily impressed. Cleveland’s ZipCore technology, where a lightweight aluminium silicate compound replaces steel in the hosel, allowing for better centre-of-gravity position, is an exception. That material, previously restricted to use in the company’s wedges, is now employed in the low heel area of the 8-iron through sand wedge of the ZipCore XL irons.

At a quarter of the density of the steel it replaces, it creates a significant amount of weight savings that can be used elsewhere. In these irons, nearly 15 grams of weight is saved that is redistributed to not only optimise the CG location, but raise moment of inertia to mitigate ball speed loss on off-centre strikes.

2. The case for face. One of the cool things about having sister companies is that you can borrow their technologies and not end up spending all year in a legal battle over patents. For the face, the ZipCore XL went into Srixon’s playbook and employed its “MainFrame” face tech in the 4 through 7-irons.

MainFrame is a system of channels and cavities milled into the backside of the face of the hollow-bodied irons to max out face flex at impact. More than just chasing more metres, it also creates weight savings that help improve other mass properties.

“The face is very similar to the Srixon ZX5 Mk II,” said Jacob Lambeth, senior research engineer for Srixon/Cleveland Golf/XXIO. “In fact, the goal is very much the same as for our drivers that use MainFrame. We want to save mass and increase ball speed. We’ve been able to do both here.”

This game-improvement set uses two different constructions, featuring a hollow-body iron construction driven by artificial intelligence in the long irons (4 through 7-iron) and a more traditional cavity-back iron design in the 8-iron through sand wedge.

3. Hybrid helper. Cleveland Golf’s Launcher line of irons has long been geared towards helping players that need a boost in both forgiveness and getting the ball airborne. Its latest offering, the hollow-body Halo XL Full-Face, excels at both.

A hollow-body, hybrid-style iron designed to help golfers get the ball in the air. The Halo XL Full-Face irons feature a variable-thickness face and oversize heads along with three technologies that deliver a noticeable assist to golfers.

On the face, grooves that stretch across the entire face are helpful for a player type that tends to hit the ball in pretty much all parts of the face. These help improve launch conditions for shots hit outside the typical groove area. “The primary benefit of full-face grooves on the Halo XL irons is that the spin consistency results in a tighter stat area, mainly from preventing fliers,” Lambeth said.

Also on the face is a blast called “HydraZip” and laser-milled-line system designed to create additional roughness to enhance friction. “HydraZip would seem to be counterintuitive for this player type, but the increase of launch angle benefits this player type that needs it while adding 1.6 yards,” Lambeth said.

For higher-handicappers turf interaction is almost always an issue and the Halo XL Full-Face irons address that with rails on the bottom of the 4-iron through 7-iron to prevent digging on shots where distance is needed.

The post Cleveland ZipCore XL, Halo XL Full-Face irons: What you need to know appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

Looking to learn what you need to know about the latest new products from Cleveland? These handy thumbnails will keep you up to date on the company’s new releases across all club and ball categories.

Launcher XL 2 drivers: The Cleveland Launcher XL 2 drivers, including standard and draw models, push the boundaries of the rules that limit size to create more forgiveness through extreme perimeter weighting. The two heads also feature face designs and internal weighting modelled on computer simulations of the probable impact patterns and optimised ball flight of average golfers. (Price TBA. Available at retail from January 19.)

Launcher XL 2 fairway woods, hybrids: The Cleveland Launcher XL 2 fairway woods, hybrids and combination “Hy-Wood” continue the theme of the drivers by emphasising larger dimensions to create more stability. Individually, each raises the moment of inertia from previous models, largely through the bigger bodies and more specifically how the internal weighting is distributed. Developed through an artificial intelligence platform that simulates millions of impacts, optimisation software helps determine how much and where to position the internal mass to help shots launch higher with more forgiveness on off-centre hits. Sole rails are tapered from back to front to smooth turf interaction. The degree of taper helps the leading edge stay closer to the ground for a more effective impact. The faces here also provide more ball speed thanks to alternating stiff and flexible regions surrounding the perimeter. Finally, the Hy-Wood sits as a mix of fairway wood size, forgiveness and ball speed with the shorter shaft length and increased control of a hybrid. It adds more sole relief for easier contact on lofts that equal traditional 5 and 7-woods. (Prices TBA. Available at retail from January 19.)

The post Cleveland new releases for 2024 appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Cleveland Launcher XL 2 drivers, including standard and draw models, push the boundaries of the rules that limit size to create more forgiveness through extreme perimeter weighting. The two heads also feature face designs and internal weighting modelled on computer simulations of the probable impact patterns and optimised ball flight of average golfers.

PRICE: Australian pricing is TBA. One loft on each model, with 12 settings between 9 and 12 degrees. Available at retail from January 19.

3 COOL THINGS

1. Bigly big. On the surface, it seems ridiculous to suggest Cleveland’s XL 2 drivers are bigger than ever when the rules limiting the size of a driver have been in place for two decades. But that’s just it: these drivers are bigger than the current industry standard by stretching to the very edge of the rules. Those rules state that the heel-to-toe dimension and front-to-back dimension must fit within a five-inch square box. The XL 2 barely does by millimetres, not merely as some kind of party trick, but in a committed way that makes average golfers’ worst hits distinctly less so. In technical terms, it’s designed to increase the head’s moment of inertia, or stability on off-centre hits, both from heel to toe and high to low on the face. These are drivers, a standard model along with a draw version, that are laser focused on what most golfers need most: forgiveness on off-centre hits.

The first step towards that larger forgiveness comes from the size certainly, and unlike many drivers on the market, the design team felt no compulsion to compromise that size based on trying to appeal to the preferences of tour players and those who talk about drivers like they’re some kind of 20-year-old scotch. Like XXXX Gold, this is a driver for the average golfer.

“When we pushed that five-by-five size, it was towards more forgiveness, so the only reason we would have gone to something smaller was maybe about market perception,” said Dustin Brekke, director of engineering at Cleveland. “We think this is the kind of driver that fits the needs of 75 percent of avid golfers.”

It’s not just the size, but also the way mass is distributed within that frame that creates optimal forgiveness. That’s where the company’s use of artificial intelligence helps to speed up discovering where that mass should be positioned in ways that still led to the best ball speed and the best overall distance. It’s what the company calls “Mainframe Weighting”, and the system has been used on past iron designs.

“The Mainframe weighting makes it so we don’t have to decide which is more important: sweet spot or MOI or this or that,” Brekke said. “All of it gets packaged into the analysis and considered to get us the best result.”

2. Face it. A ginormous footprint lends stability but it doesn’t in and of itself make for a faster driver. That’s why Cleveland again is employing the alternating stiff and flexible zones surrounding the face called “Rebound Frame”. Developed originally for its tour-level Srixon drivers and seen in the Launcher XL driver, the new shape of the XL 2 required even more tweaks to create a secondary flex zone in the front part of the crown and sole that is designed to allow more of the face to flex at impact. The key is a larger edge radius at the front part of the head that curves toward the face, specifically the leading edge at the sole and the transition zone at the edge of the crown.

Essentially, even though the face area on the Launcher XL 2 is a bit smaller (to allow the body to stretch wider and longer and save mass to be used for increased stability, or MOI), it’s more effectively designed to produce better distance based on where average golfers contact the face most often. Cleveland’s engineers determined that impact probability by studying nearly 100,000 hits from players like those the Launcher XL 2 and Launcher XL 2 Draw were being designed for.

Further improving the way the face performs on off-centre hits is a flared toe section that reduces the loss of ballspeed on toe impacts, particularly those hits lower on the face.

Launcher XL2 Draw

3. Sliced bread. If a driver is going to target improving the performance of average golfers, then a significant part of that mission probably needs to be about counteracting the slice. That’s why the line again has a draw version, which this year also is adjustable like the standard model to accommodate 12 settings between 9 and 12 degrees. The Launcher XL 2 Draw features a footprint that skews slightly towards the heel side. That shape, combined with heel side internal weighting, helps to build in draw bias, along with a lie angle that’s a degree more upright than the standard model.

Rather than concentrating all the saved weight in the heel on the draw model, the internal weighting still distributes mass somewhat in the deep perimeter to maintain better ball speeds and distance on off-centre hits. If all the excess mass was concentrated in the heel, it might sacrifice off-centre distance.

Also adding to more control and efficiency on the downswing, both models feature an eight-gram counterweight in the butt end of the grip. The counterbalancing creates a lighter weight feel, a technology successfully employed on the company’s higher-end XXIO-branded clubs.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cleveland debuts Frontline Elite putters, the latest model to feature the concept of repositioning the centre of gravity as far forward as possible. The company’s research has held that a forward centre of gravity leads to more consistent directional control on putts, and this year’s new models push that centre of gravity even farther forward by replacing an aluminium face with a heavy tungsten face.

PRICE: $359 ($399 with UST Mamiya All-In graphite shaft), eight models. Available in stores across Australia from February 23.

3 COOL THINGS

1. The weighting game. When Cleveland introduced the Frontline family of putters more than three years ago, the idea essentially turned on its head the conventional wisdom that a forgiving putter needed its centre of gravity pushed farther back from the face for a more stable head on off-centre impacts. Rather, the Frontline idea was that weight forward kept the face from opening up too much on off-centre hits and sending the ball just fractionally offline. (That smallest of wobbles would lead to a sure missed putt from as little as 10 feet, but if the centre of gravity was forward that same mis-hit would still be in the hole at a distance of 15 feet.)

While later Frontline putters actually positioned heavy tungsten weights in the heel and toe, the new Frontline Elite putters go one step farther by making the entire face out of tungsten. Essentially, instead of adding weights to the face, the face became the big weight itself. Heel and toe weights in the sole add more mass in a forward position, while also balancing out the stability on off-centre hits for more consistent distances. The new tungsten face puts another 24-26 grams as far forward as it could possibly be. But these putters carry the similar appearance of a larger mallet, with the same aiming and alignment benefits, but in a more skeletal construction. By using lightweight aluminium and ABS polymer allows the front weighting to be effective, saving more than 160 grams for repositioning that weighting to the front.

That allows the three main mallets in the line, Elevado, Cero and Rho, to look like putters that have deep weighting at the perimeter to maintain those traditional looks with this new thinking. The Elevado is a winged mallet with parallel arms (like the Odyssey #7 or the Titleist Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5 or the Ping Tyne). The Cero is traditional clamshell mallet (like the Odyssey Rossie). The Rho is a squarish mallet with the appearance of deep heel and toe weighted winglets (somewhat like the TaylorMade Spider X).

“It’s really about making some shapes that are recognisable but with a CG that performs significantly better,” said Dustin Brekke, director of engineering at Cleveland/Srixon Golf. “And you can’t do that without having some multi material construction. We’re trying to carve out as much of that deep mass as well as just the overall mass to be able to get to this shape that is not just a top-down view of the putter at the address position, but also has the same kind of overall body appearance in size.”

2. The face does more than just put weight up front. The weighting of the Frontline Elite putters is about marrying and controlling direction and distance, but the tungsten face again features the pattern of swirled vertical grooves designed to optimise speed off the face for more consistent rollout. Those swirls, made through the metal injection matrix process that produces the entire insert, vary between tightly concentrated and more spread out toward the heel and toe. That slightly reduces energy transfer on centre while maintaining it on the heel and toe. The result is ball speed and roll that’s similar whether impact is on-centre or off-centre. Even more significantly, each face pattern is specifically designed to match how stable each head’s natural stability might be. So a less stable head like the No.1 blade will use a different face pattern than a more stable head like the Rho.

3. Improving consistency by feel. Another key to getting putts to roll out more consistently is building more consistency in how a putter feels in making a stroke. These Frontline Elite models use the weight screws in the head and a selectively counterbalanced grip with weights in the butt end to further stabilise the overall system of shaft and head. Cleveland’s also worked with shaftmaker UST Mamiya to feature the All-In putter shaft. Its combination of graphite and a steel tip is designed with a stiffer profile to provide a more consistently square face angle at impact to keep more putts online.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cleveland’s follow up to its successful RTX ZipCore line features a larger ZipCore section (nearly twice the size) that allows weight to be removed and placed elsewhere to boost forgiveness, particularly in the high-low direction. A new finish combines with a laser pattern to optimise spin, particularly on shots where there is moisture on the ball or from the rough.

PRICE/AVAILABILITY: $269 (steel), $289 (graphite).

3 COOL THINGS

1. Looks can be deceiving. On the outside, the ZipCore RTX 6 wedge looks a lot like many other wedges on the market. But inside, particularly in the hosel area, there are significantly differences. Like the original ZipCore offering, mass is removed from the hosel and low-heel area of the wedge and replaced with a aluminium-silicate compound. The compound is a quarter of the weight of the steel it replaces, saving 21 grams that can be moved elsewhere – double the amount of the original ZipCore. Rather than being injected into the design, the compound occupies an asymmetrical shape that the rest of the wedge is cast around.

If this seems like a lot of fuss for a wedge, well, there’s a reason. The weight saved is repositioned so the centre of gravity is better aligned with the sweet spot and that the head rotates less on high and low misses. That means more distance and spin consistency through better moment of inertia.

“Although we saw a 3-percent gain in MOI in the heel-toe area, we were focused on improving the MOI in the high-low direction,” said Jacob Lambeth, senior research engineer for Cleveland/Srixon. “Players don’t miss wedge shots in the heel-toe direction as much as with other clubs, so we felt improving high-low was more beneficial.” As such, the saved weight was used to enhance high-low MOI by 12 percent with just a one-millimetre shift of the centre of gravity towards the heel. “Normally you wouldn’t want the CG moving heelward, but the slight shift is a tradeoff we’re willing to accept in order to get the MOI boost – that outweighs the shift,” Lambeth said. “You’re cutting under the ball – hitting it high on the face – with a high-lofted wedge so having high-low MOI increases can help maintain distance on those shots.”

2. Help for the dewsweeper. OK, the name HydraZip that Cleveland uses to label the face finish is pure marketing jargon, but the actual technology is meaningful for all players, particularly for the dawn-patrol crowd that’s playing off dew-laden grass for much of their rounds.

HydraZip uses laser patterns and a blast finish to create a new face that has increased friction. That, on its own, would be significant. However, Cleveland took things a step further. Knowing the club is delivered to the ball much differently in lower-lofted wedges than higher-lofted wedges, the company created three different finishes by loft – one in low (46 and 48 degrees), mid (50 and 52 degrees) and high lofts (54 through 60 degrees).

“We were looking for consistent spin between the wet and dry condition,” Lambeth said. “We could get more spin on one of those conditions, but it would impact the other too greatly. It’s not just about maximising surface roughness. As you increase friction, spin will only increase to a certain point. You need to get the sequencing right to arrive at optimal spin. What we’ve done really helps on shots where there is some moisture on the ball.”

3. Getting a grip from the rough. Believe it or not, a wedge with no grooves at all will produce about the same amount of spin as a wedge with grooves from perfectly dry fairway-height grass. Golf, however, is not played from that condition all the time. Cleveland’s groove design on this wedge is aimed at helping increase spin from juicier lies.

Through extensive testing and statistical analysis, Cleveland arrived at a groove solution where a sharper top edge of the groove works with grooves that are spaced more tightly together, allowing for more grooves. More grooves provide more groove edges to contact the ball at impact, helping to grab the cover and generate more spin. There’s also a slightly more V-shaped wall angle and a greater depth to channel away moisture and grass debris for cleaner contact.

The post Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore wedges: What you need to know appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

Cleveland Golf has announced its new Launcher XL Irons, a game improvement iron designed to give players a reliable ball flight and consistent control.

Launcher XL Irons feature hollow body long irons for distance and forgiveness, while cavity back short irons focus on precision when attacking the pin.

RELATED: SHOP FOR CLEVELAND PRODUCTS AT ORU ONLINE STORE, THE PRO SHOP

“The new Cleveland Launcher XL Irons provide a new XL head design with a large high MOI and confidence inspiring shape that results in more greens in regulation,” said Dustin Brekke, Director of Engineering at Cleveland Golf. “MainFrame technology faces are optimised with AI to guarantee shots all over the face maintain distance and precision, while Action Mass CB, with a counterbalance weight in the grip end, helps players get on the correct swing plane while increasing head speed for distance.
All in all, Cleveland Launcher XL Irons deliver a pin seeking iron for shooting your lowest scores.”

Similar to the entire line of Launcher XL products, Launcher XL Irons deliver a 15 per cent increase in high-toe MOI over the previous generation, providing more forgiveness and more shots that find their desired target.

Furthermore, Launcher XL Irons feature Cleveland Golf’s MainFrame club face, which harnesses the power of Artificial Intelligence to find the optimal shape and weighting for each club face. The variable thickness pattern behind each iron face maximises COR and ball speed for more distance on every strike.

To help balance things, Cleveland developed Action Mass CB to help square up the club face at impact. An 8g weight placed inside the end of the grip delivers better balance for more control without added effort.

Meanwhile, a V-Shaped Sole helps all players maintain speed and power through the turf for a better strike, while loft specific grooves help pull the best performance out of every club.

If precision is the top priority, Cleveland Golf developed a custom configuration that is a half-inch shorter without counterbalancing in the grip for players seeking maximum control.

Key Innovations Inside the Launcher XL Irons:

• XL Head Design: The Launcher XL Irons feature a new XL head design with an MOI of 3,081 g-cm² in the 7-iron, the most ever in a
Cleveland Golf game-improvement iron.

• MainFrame: Designed using artificial intelligence, MainFrame variable face technology increases ball speed while unique
weight pad designs ensure maximum forgiveness across the face.

• Action Mass CB: An 8g weight placed inside the end of the grip delivers better balance for more control without extra effort.

• V-Shaped Sole: An elevated leading edge glides through turf with far less drag that a typical flat sole to maintain speed and power
on heavy strikes.

• Loft Specific Grooves: The 4i-7i lofts have wider, flatter grooves, while the 8i-DW have closely-spaced, deeper, and higher spinning
wedge grooves. Higher lofts also feature laser-milled grooves for enhanced friction.

The post Cleveland Golf introduces launcher XL irons appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

The biggest equipment free agent in golf is off the market. After five years without an equipment contract, Brooks Koepka has signed a multiyear deal with Cleveland/Srixon to play the company’s clubs and ball, with several changes to the bag coming this week for The Match against Bryson DeChambeau in Las Vegas.

“I am very excited to join my good friends Shane Lowry, Graeme McDowell and Hideki Matsuyama as a Srixon and Cleveland Golf Tour Staff member,” said Koepka in a statement released by the company. “I’ve been an equipment free agent for the past few years, so it will be fun to be involved with a company on a daily basis and be able to contribute to the development of their future equipment. I put the ZX7 Irons in play in January and it is the best iron I have played on tour. I look forward to kicking off our new partnership this week in Las Vegas!”

RELATED: BUY BROOKS KOEPKA’S SRIXON ZX7 IRONS ON THE PRO SHOP

In addition to the ZX7 irons (which have True Temper Dynamic Gold TI X100 shafts), Koepka will use a 9.5-degree Srixon ZX5 driver with a 44.5-inch Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 70 TX shaft, tipped an inch. He also will use a trio of Cleveland RTX ZipCore wedges with the “Tour Rack” raw finish. The 52 and 56-degree wedges have a mid bounce while the 60-degree is low bounce. The shafts are True Temper Dynamic Gold S400s. Koepka also will play a Srixon Z-Star prototype golf ball and have a Srixon staff bag.

SHOP FOR KOEPKA’S ZX5 DRIVER

According to the company, Koepka chose the ZX5 over the ZX7 because he preferred the shape. As for the ball, it not only best fit his launch conditions throughout the bag, but performed well in the wind.

As for the irons, which he first put in play at the American Express tournament 10 months ago: “I just felt like the irons were going a little bit higher,” he said when asked at the 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open, which he won, what he liked about the clubs. “The ball flight was pretty good. The way the sole goes through the turf. They don’t stick, [which is good] because I do come in pretty steep on it.”

In August 2016, Nike announced it was exiting the golf equipment business. With that, its tour staff suddenly were equipment free agents. Among them was Koepka, a talented player but with only one win to his credit. In the ensuing five years as a free agent, Koepka went on to win seven more times, ascend to No.1 in the world in 2018 and capture four Major championships (two US Opens and two PGA Championships). Now he’ll try to build on that résumé with some new sticks in the bag.

TOP/MAIN PHOTO: Alex Goodlett

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