Lost in the mix of super sophisticated drivers that can be adjusted hundreds of ways is the notion that some players just want their clubs to hit the ball high and straight.
That’s why Cleveland Golf has returned to the market with a driver, irons and wedges aimed not at the tour player, but at the mid-handicapper who needs some help.
“We’ve brought Cleveland back because a lot of what we see in the market offers excessive adjustability for the average player,” says Brian Schielke, marketing director for Cleveland/Srixon. “Don’t get me wrong, that adjustability is great for some players, but others are just looking to hit it high and straight. That’s what we’re offering.”
To accomplish that, Cleveland, which has only branded wedges in recent years, has unleashed its Launcher series of CBX irons, woods and wedges on the market.
Schielke says adjustability forces club designers to make some alterations to clubs in order to put moveable weights and sliders in it to adjust flight. By stripping out those options in the new HB Launcher Driver and using cup face technology, Cleveland has made a forgiving driver. Schielke compares it to a Formula 1 car, which strips out many options in order to maximize speed.
“You get fewer options, but the goal is speed,” he says. “The result is a driver for those who just want to bomb it.”
Who is it for?
Cleveland isn’t worried about tour pros when it comes to the HB driver, its CBX irons or wedges.
“We went to our designers and said, ‘Don’t even worry about the tour,’” says Schielke. “The goal with these was what would improve the game of the average player.”
That means the CBX irons offer a sole that makes it easier for a mid-capper to get through the turf, and that Cleveland reconsidered its wedge strategy, which is the company’s hallmark.
“You’d get to your wedges and they’d be exactly the same as what a tour pro plays,” says Schielke. “The average player had a cavity back iron with some offset and then they had wedges with a tour-stiff shaft that were a blade. We wanted to integrate that more for the average player.”
That means the new wedges are aimed at what Cleveland calls the 84% of players who play cavity back clubs. They come with a wider sole, and lighter Dynamic Gold 115 shafts.
“We wanted to design better wedges for the average player,” Schielke says. “And we think that’s exactly what we’ve done.”
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