MEMBER REVIEWS: Cleveland Launcher XL HALO Fairway Woods! See What Members Are Saying!

[GolfWRX_Official]

We have five of our members testing the Launcher XL HALO Fairway Woods. Just in case the name did not tip you off, the Launcher XL HALO Fairway Wood is really big and has really high MOI. The bigger head means an MOI of 3,338 g-cm² –  the most ever in a Cleveland Golf Fairway Wood! The members below will be reporting back to the community about the things that they have noticed while testing this product. Please feel free to ask any questions that you might have, as the testers will be happy to answer them!

Learn more about the Cleveland Launcher XL HALO Fairway Woods here.

The testers are:
@ramesq1

 @Shaotai

 @cj4501

 @dffjunior

 @uflorida1
 

Big thank you goes out to Cleveland Golf for putting on this member testing event!

 

 

[golfinbrad]

Congrats!!!!  Can't wait to hear your reviews.

[cj4501]

Thanks @Cleveland_Golfand GolfWRX for the opportunity to test the halo 3w.   First impressions IMO look really good.  I struggle with hooks and pulls and to my eye this looks pretty square and that it perfect for me.  I play a radspeed 5w turned down to 17 and still struggle with the lefts.   

 

Range

Finally had a chance to test it and I was surprised and very pleased with the results.  Not the longest but definitely the most forgiving fairway I've got to date.  The rails on the bottom glide through great.   For me I will game this and move my radspeed 5w.  The shaft wasn't my favorite but the head is definitely great.  

[ramesq1]

Thank you GolfWRX and Cleveland Golf for the opportunity to review the 5 wood in regular flex.  Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to have a range session with a full round and only had the opportunity to play with it in a scramble this past Monday.  This is just my very limited initial impression based on only about 5 shots with it.   I will be playing this Saturday and will give a full review with photos shortly thereafter. 

 

Looks:  The club has a very pleasant no-glare matte black finish on the top.  This is very much appreciated in South Florida on sunny days. It has a slight Hibore crown with an angular sight dot for alignment.  I do not have a current 5 wood in play (current fairways are the Sim 2 Max 3 wood and 7 wood) so it is difficult to decide if it seems larger than the TM, but I will take a pic of a golf buddies Epic Flash 5 wood to compare.  I am not one to care about the looks of the back of the club. The most visible tech is the pair of Gliderails.   Overall, the look of the club is very appealing. 

 

Sound:  Oh lord, this sounds like a Ping driver! A loud high-pitched sound is all I can describe.  To be fair, I wasn't playing my best golf since it was the first time in 2 weeks playing, but I do not believe the sound was due to mishits.  We should find out more this Saturday. 

 

Feel:  It did not feel as solid as my SIM 2 Max, but again the sample size is only about 5 shots.  

 

Distance:  One thing I did notice was the lack of distance.  The first hole I played was a par 5, 175 into a slight wind.  I ended up about 3 yards past the pin on the right side.  Fortunately, we didn't have anyone playing behind us, so I was able to hit my 7 wood to compare.  The Sim 2 Max was longer by about 5 yards.  On another hole the TM was about 10 yards longer. 

 

I also did not notice a higher ball flight.  I will test it this weekend with an Epic Flash 5 to get a better comparison. 

 

I look forward to a full test this Saturday, especially when you consider that this club retails for $230!

 

Again, thank you to GolfWRX and Cleveland.   I am looking forward to a full session this Saturday!

 

 

[uflorida1]

Thank you @Cleveland_Golf and GolfWRX

Some family travel and a weight lifting shoulder injury kept me sidelined but I finally got to work with this baby this week

 

Takeaway: Incredibly easy to hit,

flys high and straight, just a little short but could be the shaft, rails slide through rough and fairway bunkers with ease 

 

I love the color and the paint job. Deep face promotes a ton of confidence. Shaft at 55g is a bit light and whippy but this thing just wants to elevate. 
 

this club really excels as a 2nd shot on a Par 5 “hit it as far as you can” club. High and straight moon shots. Workability is tough but just straight slams require minimal effort. 
 

Without a launch monitor I think the shaft is causing high spin rates which is promoting accuracy but distance is running closer to 225yrds than my Callaway XR Pro’s 245. 
 

I think there’s a lot to like for the 15-30 handicap but the low single digits will want more workability. 

 

 

[ramesq1]

A quick follow up to my initial review.  I have only played with it once since my initial review and suffice to say that my initial review is pretty spot on.  The club is easy to align, the distance is not as long as a Taylormade Sim 2 Max or Epic Speed, but it was not significant, on average 4-6 yards behind.  The sound is still the only turn off.  It is hard to discern a good hit from a slight mishit. 

 

I want to be totally fair to Cleveland and GolfWRX for this opportunity so I will write a more comprehensive review with photos after I have had the opportunity to play with it about 4-5 more times. One thing I did notice in the 7-8 times I used it in second round with it was that I never had a hard draw or hook, which sometimes happens with the Sim 2 Max.  I know it is more likely my swing but the fact that it never went hard left is interesting.  

 

I will definitely write a long tern review but only after the opportunity play a few more rounds with it.  

[Red4282]

These are very underrated fairways. Im around scratch and I could play them no problem. I think the few comments of them being shorter is probably due to a higher spin rate. Your going to give some distance up in favor of forgiveness. That being said, i wish they werent fixed hosels, id seriously consider these.

[Shaotai]

Sorry, I seem to have lost my on-course photos, but wanted to get my review in.

I picked up the 5 wood (18*) in stiff and used it for 3 rounds before it got too cold here in Maryland.

 

First impressions: The 5 wood is huge! Bigger than my 3 wood (Cobra LTDx LS) by a considerable amount and it dwarfs my current 5 wood. (Cobra LTDx) But with the size, it does give you confidence and you want to give it a good rip.

 

Cons: As the other testers mentioned also, it's quite loud.  It doesn't seem to matter too much where on the face, it's pretty loud everywhere.  You do get used to it, but it can be annoying especially at the range. With it's super high MOI, shots come off higher and with more spin, which for me equalled less distance than my current gamer. (10-15 yards) If I needed more forgiveness though, I'd keep this in my bag and that would be a plus!

 

Pros: As I mentioned above, with it's super high MOI, it sure is forgiving.  Shots come off high, straight and plenty of spin to keep it up in the air.

I underestimated one shot thinking I was clear under the tree, but it launched higher than expected and hit branches which knocked my shot down.  My fault of course...

The rails on the sole remind me of the old baffler rails and that helps keep the face square.  Combined with the large volume head, the explosive sound and high straight shots, you feel motivated to put some extra umph into the shot.  This club gives you a ton of confidence, definitely a plus!

 

Other points: This club was also 1/2" long than my current 5 wood. I thought it would help with distance but wasn't the case for me.

Overall, great club for a mid-high 'capper that needs help to get the ball up in the air.  If you need straighter shots with your fairway, this is the ticket.

 

[dffjunior]

Last slacker review is in, at least the initial draft.  I wanted to get a chance to really hit this on course and do it justice but the weather never cooperated at the end of last season and now here we are in April and I still have not gotten a round in yet (weather in Ohio has been brutal).  I'm at least getting the structure posted and going to come back and modify it once I have more on-course feedback.

 

My apologies to Golfwrx and Cleveland for taking so long to get this far.

 

About me

I live in North-Central Ohio so we get large winter breaks from being able to play/practice and my scoring swings wildly as a result, especially early in the season.  I spend a ton of time on the range, 3-4 times a week once the weather breaks, and as a result I’m generally down to single-digit handicap by the end of the season.

I tend to make slightly inside contact on the club face and I tend to hit the ball pretty high with my irons but low with hybrids and woods.  My miss is generally left with woods – a pull or double-cross is my biggest nemesis.  Swing speed is 96-100 with driver thus ball speed is around 140-150.

 

Pics/opening

First impression is that this is a very nice looking club.  The black matte finish is always my preferred, this reduces glare/reflections from being distractions on a bright day.  My mind is generally very busy over the ball as is, I don’t need anything else to generate new “self-thoughts” as I’m lining up.

 

 

About the review

I got the club in late October in Ohio.  I was super excited about it but the weather had other ideas.  I only played once on November 12^th and it was chilly/windy even then.  I also got one beautiful day when I was in Columbus so I hit Westerville Golf where they have mats and a turf range so no risk of losing/plugging in the mud.

 

Initial thoughts

My home course starts with two short par 4’s and #3 is a par 5 so this was a perfect chance to put the 3 wood to use.  #1 and #2 are both position tee shots so I hit the 3 wood off both tees.  I got a good chance to warm up and get 10 practice shots in on the range before hitting the tee box. 

I won’t break down the swing-by-swing but I can tell you the club is aptly named.  Launcher.  It gets the ball in the air big-time.   My first few shots at the range went sky high.  The shaft on this is significantly lighter than what I play so I had to adjust my transition and attack angle.  Even so I did find it tend to really go high when I got the center of the face.  It also tended to create a push even if I wasn’t open with the face.  The good news is it never did slice, so even the push was just “start right, to straight” so it ended up right side of fairway or just a bit in the rough.  Very impressive control on those high strikes.

On the par five 3^rd I hit driver which gave me a great chance to really stress the Cleveland. 

 

 

The pin was on the left part of the green.  I had 231 pin and 218 to cover the bunker, right in my 3 wood wheelhouse.  Very large green with plenty of green front to back plus bailout room on the right which gave me room for that push I had encountered.  I made perfect contact and was pleasantly surprised to see a low penetrating shot.  It didn’t move 2 feet from the line.  I wasn’t sure I’d carry the bunker on that trajectory but the ball ended up on the back fringe.  I couldn’t see a ball mark anywhere (November in Ohio leads to a lot of dormant grass and firm landings) so I don’t know how much was carry and how much was runout but it was at least 219 carry and total distance had to be 245+.  If I hit this shot with my gamer I’d be thrilled and here it was with a club I’ve swung 20 times total.

 

Range time

A couple of weeks later I got a beautiful sunny, if chilly, day in Columbus so I hit Westerville Golf Center to try it out on the mats/turf range.  Ball striking was pretty solid for me considering I haven't really spent a lot of time getting used to the swing weight.

 

 

Got some extended time and saw very, very consistent results similar to the first time out.  Very, very high ball flight and my tendency was a small push.  Again, not a loss-of-control slice, just a push that simply went about 10 degrees right of my alignment/club path. 

Even with the lower striking shown the ball had no trouble getting elevated, and that's the entire purpose of this club - just get it in the air.  Cover the water, get over the bushes, just don't burn any worms.

 

On-course

Unfortunately this is the part I cannot yet complete.  I've been to the range a couple of time so far in 2023 but not enough meaningful time or weather to really get any results.  I'm scheduled to play Friday and Saturday both so hopefully I'll start getting some real feedback

Edited April 6, 2023 by dffjunior

[LXD]

I am 72, high handicap.  Recently went to my golf store for fairway woods/ hybrids.  Was “steered” to high end clubs.  Ended up buying TM qi10’s. They are very nice but now I wonder if Cleveland Launcher’s would be just as good for my skill level for a lot less money, or if the TM’s provide more of something.   I’m in the 90 day period when I can exchange them.