Cleveland Golf HiBore XLS Tour Driver

The Cleveland Hibore XLS driver is so new to the market that at present Cleveland are only just releasing it to golf professional shops throughout the UK and Ireland.

Cleveland's marketing strategy is simply superb. Instead of spending an absolute fortune on *VERY* expensive TV and glossy magazine advertising, they have instead sent a selection of demonstration drivers to club professionals to be loaned out to golfers to play a round ...
...And believe me, this new Cleveland driver is indeed an investment, as it is to retail here in Ireland at a whopping 376 Euros! (That's about four times the price I paid for my first full set of 14 matched golf clubs!) I'll return later to why I think Spalding's marketing strategy is so effective, but for the moment let's look at the club itself.

A few weeks back I turned up at my home golf club for my regular Tuesday morning fourball, ... more

The Cleveland Hibore XLS driver is so new to the market that at present Cleveland are only just releasing it to golf professional shops throughout the UK and Ireland.

Cleveland's marketing strategy is simply superb. Instead of spending an absolute fortune on *VERY* expensive TV and glossy magazine advertising, they have instead sent a selection of demonstration drivers to club professionals to be loaned out to golfers to play a round or two with before they decide whether or not to invest in the golf club. And believe me, this new Cleveland driver is indeed an investment, as it is to retail here in Ireland at a whopping 376 Euros! (That's about four times the price I paid for my first full set of 14 matched golf clubs!) I'll return later to why I think Spalding's marketing strategy is so effective, but for the moment let's look at the club itself.

A few weeks back I turned up at my home golf club for my regular Tuesday morning fourball, and as usual popped into the club pro's shop to buy my soft drinks and choccy bars to sustain me during the round. The following conversation ensued.

PRO: "Morning Ken. Seen the new demo driver's I just got in from Cleveland. I used one at the weekend and it's added about 30 to 40 yards to my drives!" (Ken's interest is immediately grabbed, as our young golf pro already hits the ball a proverbial mile)

KEN: "Ah Tommy, (name changed) get away out of that will ya. You're always trying to flog me your expensive new drivers. Sure didn't I already spend a small fortune with you last year trying to replace my favourite TaylorMade driver. (That the authorities made illegal on 1/1/2008) I ended up having to buy a legal version of it on eBay, as none of your recommendations were worth a light!"

PRO: "I'm telling you Ken. Try out the new Cleveland. There's a heap of demo clubs you can try out for free over in the corner. You'll regret it if you don't."

KEN: "Free you say? That's a new one for you Tommy lad! Ah go on then. I'll humour you so long as it's costing me nowt. But don't expect a sale out of it. I'm striping my old Taylormade driver long and straight as an arrow at the moment."

So it was I ended up with the new Cleveland driver in my golf bag. Now move over to the first tee, a long par-5 of around 500 yards, with a slight dog leg from right to left. (Bend in the fairway) I tee up my ball, take my usual swing, and it flies of the club face like an Atlas rocket, straight up the middle and well past the dog leg in the fairway some 290 yards in the distance! (About 40 yards past my usual best effort, just as the pro had predicted!)

Now fast forward another four hours or so to the clubhouse precincts as I finish my round. My playing companions have just reached into their wallets and paid me out about 50 Euros in bets and side bets (heh, heh) and I have won the club's regular Tuesday club singles competition by a proverbial mile! Back into the pro shop.

KEN: " Hi Tommy. Tell me mate, have you got your army with you today?"

PRO: " What you babbling on about now?"

KEN: "'Cos that's what it's gonna take if you want to get that new Cleveland demo driver back out of my golf bag. I'll take it mate. How much?"

PRO: "I can't even sell you it yet Ken. (As he breaks down sobbing) These are only demo clubs. I don't even have an official price on it yet, but it'll be around the 350 to 400 Euro mark. Tell you what though, hang onto the demo club until I can order a new one in for you. I take it you played well with it?"

This last remark cues a blow by blow account from myself as to just how effective the aforementioned Cleveland driver has proved, and I eventually leave the pro shop swearing my undying love and affection for the club pro, his wife and family, and all his distant relatives for eternity! And, of course, about 376 Euros lighter in my bank account, as that's what the club eventually ended up costing me.

So what exactly is it about this new Cleveland Hibore XLS driver that makes it so effective? That's hard to say without boring the backside of all the non-golfers who might read this review. But basically it's down to the technological innovations they've incorporated into the club.

The "Royal and Ancient" and the USGA (who legislate the rules of golf) introduced strident new specifications on January 1st, 2008 in regard to golf club manufacture, and many existing drivers (my own old driver included) were outlawed. These new rules concerned themselves mostly with what in golf circles is called the "COR" factor. This is golf speak for the way the club head compresses the golf ball, and the amount of bounce you get at the point of impact. The more "bounce" then the further the ball travels. Even more restrictions were placed on the amount of torque the club generated, or more precisely the less torque it managed to achieve. Less torque (twisting of the club head during the swing) means that you get the club head back to the ball squarer, which basically means that you hit fewer shots off target, even when your swing and impact on the ball is less than perfect! (I hope I've managed to describe that effectively even for non-golfers)

Anyways, what Cleveland has achieved with their new Hibore XLS driver is to push the new legislation to its absolute limit without breaking the letter of the law. They have used the most expensive titanium in the club head, they have lowered the centre of gravity of the club, (higher shots that carry further in the air) and the club has minimal torque. (Which means the ball flies straighter more often) Even with "off-centre" strikes I found that I lost very little distance and that the ball still flew relatively straight and true, while with a good shot I increased the distance I hit the ball by around 30 to 40 yards. (Just as the club pro claimed!)

Of course, there's a whole range of different models in the Hibore XLS range, with different stiffness of shafts and different lofts to suit all levels of golfers from the weekend hacker to the touring professional. They've even introduced a driver with a "draw emphasis" (this is the one I play) which means they have tweaked the way the club head lies on the ground at the address position slightly so that the ball flight is more likely to have a right to left spin on it. (More length again, as a draw produces top spin on the golf ball)

If you're interested in obtaining one of these wee gems for yourself then be prepared to shell out fairly big bucks. They *ARE* currently available on the eBay site in the USA, (launched there before they did in Europe) but be careful if you are buying this way and always use a reputable seller, because as soon as a popular new club hits the shelves there's a multitude of illegal copies manufactured. (Usually from China or the Far East) You're far better to stick to the more recognised golf shops and pro shops in my honest opinion.

As for the Cleveland advertising strategy I mentioned earlier in my review. Well, in my opinion it's totally inspired. What better advertising can a company get than "word of mouth", and since I started using their demo club I can think of another half a dozen golfers (at least) in my own home club who are doing the same on my recommendation.

Put simply, I can't recommend this brilliant new driver highly enough.

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© KenJ April 2008

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