MEMBER REVIEWS: Cleveland Launcher XL Lite Drivers! See What Members Are Saying!

[GolfWRX_Official]

 

Thank you to everyone who applied to be a tester of the new Cleveland Launcher XL Lite drivers! This should be an exciting testing thread so please feel free to ask any questions you might have and the testers will try and answer them all! The tester are...

 

@NCLancer

@timmy8151

@Seidinho

 

We also want to give a big THANK YOU to Cleveland Golf for putting on this great testing event! 

[bogey777]

I have the non lite version an love it. this year i have had or still have Callaway max,max ls, speed triple diamond ,Titleist TSEI3,SRIXON ZX5,ZX7,PING 425 ,Mizuno STX, an a few others i have forgotten about lol,this club can stay with them all on distance an beats them in accuracy .I several high end shafts that i have had for my Srixons an they fit rite in the launcher with no problem the terminology is different on the adaptor but easy to figure out 

[NCLancer]

Just received my club via Fed-Ex.  Regular club box with a few pieces of craft paper on both ends.  The club is in a plastic bag with the head being shrink-wrapped.  The headcover (also wrapped in plastic) is inside the bag with the club.

I currently use a Cleveland 588 Altitude and I think the 2 clubs look like brothers...similar colors (matte(ish) black) and similar shape.  I believe the shaft I currently use is 50 grams while this new club is only 40.  Both are non-adjustable.  The grip is a Golf Pride Tour Velvet while I use a GP Tour Wrap 2G.  The headcover is an attractive black and white with royal blue accents.  Very pliable with a "fur" lining and a nice grab pouch to facilitate handling.   

Plans are to play at least 3 times in the next few weeks along with some range work.  I will report back soon including pics.

Thank you to both Cleveland and Golf WRX !

[Seidinho]

Status update: I received my club yesterday. First impression of the club is positive (design, manufacturing). Will hit the range this weekend and report back. Thank you Cleveland and Golf WRX. 

 

Foreword: I'm a mid-speed player (~95mph), smooth swing and transition, hitting the ball relatively consistently centered on the face. I realize this possibly makes me one of the shorter hitters here, but it is what it is. 

 

I've had a bit of an eye-opening year with regards to the driver. Early in the season, I did my own 'research' and picked a driver and shaft based off online research. I struggled with low launch and flight, which I attributed to 'hitting down on the ball'. To address that, I attempted to 'hit up more', which led to push slices as my miss and inconsistent on-course play. In August, I went to a fitting, which was quite eye-opening. I actually WAS hitting up on the ball - but the way I deliver the club, naturally is lower launch and spin. The Project Hzrdus Red Shaft in my gamer did not help with that. We tried a range of lower weight, mid-launch shafts with higher MOI heads, and settled on the SIM 2 Max at 10.5 degrees, with the Ventus Blue 5S Velocore version (not the stock shaft). With that combination, I'm averaging 240 yards total distance on the course, with a straight ball flight. 

 

Initial impressions: First impression of the Cleveland driver has been positive. I like the black / white / blue color scheme (not unlike my gamer), the head cover looks good and is high quality, and I like the design of the shaft. The head is a bit of a mixed bag - I like the PING-inspired matte black top. Looks sleek. The shape is quite elongated / pear shaped, but not to a point where it is a concern. The bottom of the head, which admittedly you barely ever look at, isn't the best-designed I've ever seen. It's bland and simple, and cannot quite compete with some of the other options out there - but again, it should not matter. The face sits a bit closed, even more so than my gamer, but again, not distracting. Overall, what matter is that the driver sits well behind the ball; the matte black head looks nice and I like the 'target' indicating where to hit the ball. Size and shape are inconspicuous - which is a positive.

 

 

Driving Range:  On the range, the lighter weight of the shaft & club stand out immediately. The stock shaft Project X Cypher 40, comes in at 50g in S - which is even 9g lighter than my gamer. It took me a few swings to get a feel for the 'lightness' of the construction, which seems a bit higher swingweight (-> weighted towards the head). I will say that while the shaft is light, it is not floppy/whippy  at my swing speed and smooth swing style. I actually felt quite comfortable with it. Feel and sound were reminiscent of the PING Max series, with a bit of a duller sound and feel. Notably, I got a bit more of a draw flight out of it than with my gamer. Even when a swing felt off and I hit it on the toe, I got a draw or straight flight, with no slice misses. My occasional miss changed from a push slice with the gamer to a pull hook.

 

Distance and flight conditions otherwise are hard to tell without a real launch monitor, but based on eye-sight and my mobile launch monitor (Rapsodo MLM), I'd say that total distance was around 10 yards shorter than my gamer, which shouldn’t be surprising given the recent fitting. Given the price difference, the Cleveland definitely seems like great option, particularly for low/average swing-speeds and golfers prone to slices.

Note: this will get updated.

 

[update]: During my 2nd, 3rd and 4th session on the driving range, my overall impression did not change. The driver does feel light, but not to a detriment. After a couple of swings to get used to it, the reduced weight makes this club easy to swing & get plenty of distance out of it. Without having had access to a Trackman yet with this driver, I would call it mid-spin or mid-high spin - it's definitely not among the spinniest heads out there. Also, the draw bias remained true for me and I particularly recommend it for people fighting a slice.

 

On course: During yesterday's round, I played the first 9 with my gamer and second nine with the Cleveland. It was probably the right day to try this as I was fighting my nightmare miss, weak slice, due to lack of practice (thanks, kids). On the first 9 with my gamer, I pretty much ended up in the right rough on all holes I used the driver. Nothing I tried was able to fix it (probably getting tense about it doesn't help release the club - but hey, still got to the turn at 40). Switched to the Cleveland and it really helped me turn the club over more consistently. Result was either straight ball flight or a cut, which got me about 20 yards more per drive than on the first 9. The Cleveland felt easy to swing and I gained confidence during the round. I will say that I had gotten rid of the weak slice until yesterday and I'm still not sure what happened there. I'll report back after my next round.  

 

Round 2: I dialed in the driver a bit more in the range in the past days and gave it a shot for a full 18. Overall, felt pretty confident from the get go. for me, it almost prevents my dreaded miss (weak slice; shorter, right rough). I hit 10 of 14 fairways and overall got good distance out of it, alas shorter than with my gamer on a normal hitting day. For me, the Cleveland isn't launching as high (or spinning as much?) as I need it to get max distance out of it. I would have liked to tinker with the loft, but unfortunately there is no adjustability.  

 

Verdict: Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the Cleveland and look forward to keep it in my bag. Sound and feel, which is extremely subjective, isn't to my personal taste - it's very PING-like, with muted sound and feel. It's a great option at an extremely attractive price point, and I would recommend anyone who's looking for more distance / draw bias to give it a shot. 

 

Pros:

• Playability - The club feels a bit 'odd' at first because it is really light. But once you get used to it, it's easy to swing. 
• Draw bias - the club has a strong draw bias which I think will be helpful for most mid and high handicappers 
• Clubhead design - I really like the Crown design. It's a nice matte-black with some design-improvements that give it some dynamic elements
• Cover: I really like the cover. It adds to the overall premium feel of the driver. 

 

Cons:

• Lack of adjustability - would have really liked to tinker with loft and face angle to optimize distance. 
• Sole Design - to be honest, just not the biggest fan. It's the one element that does look somewhat less premium than some of the higher-priced competitors. Given people never really look at it, really, it's not a big deal. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2021 by Seidinho
update

[NCLancer]

I used this driver on a cooler mid 60's Sunday afternoon with 10-20 MPH winds on a somewhat hilly course so some of my numbers may be skewed.  I hit 7 of 14 fairways (about average) with 6 of my misses being to the right.   My typical ball flight is a slight fade but I never lost a ball so they were not big slices but more of a fade than with my current driver (Cleveland Altitude).  Slowing down my swing helped with the control and I gained distance as the day went on.  My swing speed is around 87 and I normally hit he ball 205-215 (shockingly low but the truth).  With this club I had 2 drives of 225+ in the fairway and none below 185  (except one which hit a tree branch and came back towards me).  Even my forays through the rough were long by my standards. 

The sound was muted, the feel was solid even with not always hitting the sweet spot and the club performed very well once I began to channel my inner InBee Park and swing smoother.  The headcover was sharp-looking and was an easy on-off. 

I have never been fitted and have used only 2 drivers in the past 6 seasons (Ping G10 and the Altitude) and I would not hesitate putting this club in my bag however I would change the grip (nothing against the GP Tour Velvet) and I also might take off a 1/2 inch for control.  I did choke down a bit on the club which helped accuracy and distance.  

I do plan on playing a few times in the next week and look forward to using this club those days.

[Drumdog]

Congrats to the winners !!

[Billfitz]

NCLancer, nice review. Try getting your hands out in front of the ball for more forward shaft lean.

[Seidinho]

added more driving range and on-course thoughts. So far, really liking this draw-biased driver.  

[Seidinho]

added a last update. Overall - great driver. Again, thanks to Cleveland and GolfWRX. 

[xkilgorextroutx]

10 minutes ago, Seidinho said:

added a last update. Overall - great driver. Again, thanks to Cleveland and GolfWRX. 

 

Nice details and pics. Thanks for taking the time to share your impressions.