Cleveland are renowned for producing high quality golf clubs that offer the very best levels of forgiveness found anywhere on the market. Unlike many of the other leading brands, Cleveland proudly produce their clubs to help the average and improving golfers the most, engineering full ranges of game improvement clubs that will help to make the game as fun as possible. Cleveland had a clear picture in mind of what they wanted to achieve when creating the new family of Launcher XL and Halo XL family; produce a range of clubs that inspire confidence at address and, when the ball is struck, deliver explosive speed with lashings of forgiveness. Its fair to say that they have delivered on all counts.

Cleveland Launcher XL Driver Family 

The 2022 Cleveland Launcher XL driver family certainly looks they are going to be fun to use when placed behind the ball at address as they have huge profiles that look far bigger than the maximum 460cc that is allowed under the rules. The fact that they are only 460cc is a large feather in the cap of the Cleveland design team. When I placed the driver behind the ball downstairs in our Performance & Build centre, I felt like it was going to be impossible to hit a bad shot. One of the main selling points of the new Launcher XL driver is the staggering high M.O.I. that this driver creates. The M.O.I of a golf club is its resistance to rotation and the bigger a clubhead is, the more it will resist rotation. Golf clubs with very high M.O.I's are incredibly stable beasts that hit the ball far extremely straight, and could well result in your hitting more fairways than you belived possible.

The Launcher XL driver has an 11% higher M.O.I than its predecessor which creates a huge increase in performance when shots have been struck out of the toe, or heel of the club face, with these mishits now flying longer and straighter than ever before. This was certainly borne out in the testing I did when I deliberately hit some drives off centre. The shots were far less offline that I expected to see, and the distance was virtually the same as on the ones I had hit out of the middle. Cleveland say that dispersion has been tightened up by an enormous 27% over the previous model which is simply incredible. Impressive stuff! The Launcher XL drivers also feature Cleveland’s new Rebound Frame technology which enables the face to flex at impact, and helps to create maximum ball speeds even when the shot has been struck of centre. Player testing using Trackman showed the new driver to be considerably longer than last year's model, with an average gain of 9 yards. 

 

There are three heads to choose from in the new Cleveland Launcher XL range, the standard Launcher XL, the Launcher XL Lite, and the Launcher XL Lite Draw. The standard Launcher XL is, as you might expect, their main offering that will undoubtedly be the most popular choice. It has an adjustable loft sleeve that allows you alter the loft by +/-1.5° giving you the opportunity to fine tune your launch and trajectory.

The Launcher XL Lite Driver has been constructed with lighter components (lighter shaft and grip) to make the overall feel of the club much lighter and easier to swing for the golfers that struggle for speed and launch. There is no adjustable loft sleeve as it has been removed to save weight. As with the standard driver the shaft is counterbalanced which can further help to get the clubhead moving more quickly without the need for extra effort. The Lite Draw version has the same lightweight components but with a redesigned chassis that can help to eliminate the dreaded slice with a particularly draw biased head. Both of the Lite models feature the Rebound Face.

Cleveland XL Halo Fairway Wood 

The Cleveland Launcher XL Halo Fairway Woods and Hybrids follow the same theme as the driver with bigger most definitely being better. The M.O.I on the new fairway woods is 19% higher than on the previous model and 21% higher on the hybrids. This huge increase should translate into a far higher percentage of good shots from the fairway and from the tee. The Rebound Frame is present once again and will ensure that energy transfer into the ball is maximised at impact. The soleplate on both the fairways and the hybrids feature two Gliderails which massively improves turf interaction and helps to stabilise the club through the strike from a whole host of different lies. 

Cleveland XL Halo Hybrid 

Cleveland are releasing two new game improvement iron sets this year which promise to make hitting effective iron shots from the fairway easier than ever before. The Launcher XL Halo Irons are the ideal choice for the golfer that really struggles to make consistent contact with iron clubs as they have been constructed in a progressive hybrid style. It is a well-known fact in the golfing world, that Hybrids are the easiest clubs in the bag to use, with their low CG (Centre of Gravity) placement and low profile head providing huge margin for error. With that in mind Cleveland have developed the XL Halo irons to be a full hybrid set, with the longer irons having much larger heads than the shorter irons. 

Cleveland XL Halo Irons 

The head size has been increased significantly over previous models and now produces its highest ever M.O.I, resulting in more of your shots launching high and at the flag. There are three rails on the sole that will improve turf interaction, whilst the actual width of the sole will provide a level of forgiveness on heavy strikes that it is simply not possible to achieve with a regular style iron. Cleveland’s Mainframe face technology has been applied in the XL Halo irons and this A.I. designed tech has produced a variable face thickness that maximises ball speed regardless of where on the face the ball has been struck. Cleveland believe that golf should be fun, whatever level you play at and make no mistake, the Launcher XL Halo Irons are fun to use!

Cleveland Launcher XL Irons

Over the past few seasons we have seen more and more golfers choosing a split set when they come for a fitting at our Performance Centre. This allows them to have more help in the longer irons where it is needed most, and maximum control in the shorter irons - although this is something that is usually done by golfers playing with a single figure handicap. Cleveland however, have decided to take this idea and apply it to clubs in the mid handicap range and the new Cleveland Launcher XL irons are the result.

The longer irons (4 iron down to 7iron) are large headed game improvement hollow headed irons and produce remarkable ball speed and a tremendous amount of forgiveness. They launch the ball high and offer exceptional performance on off centre hits. Once you get down to the 8 iron, the set changes into a game improvement cavity back style. These shorter irons still have a confidence inspiringly large head with excellent M.O.I yet they offer much more in the way of control, allowing for more precision on the scoring shots. Its a great idea from Cleveland and they have pulled it off with some aplomb.

Cleveland's Mainframe technology is present again and ensures that maximum ballspeeds are achieved across the whole clubface. All the irons in the Launcher XL set have a V-Shaped sole that has an elevated leading edge to glide through the turf with less drag than a typically flat sole. This helps to maintain clubhead speed, even on shots that have been struck slightly heavy. Cleveland's commitment to producing the highest quality gear for the thousands and thousands of golfers that just want to enjoy the game should be commended. Their isn't a golfer out there on a double digit handicap that can't fail to be impressed by the performance of the 2022 Cleveland Launcher XL range.