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First I'd like to thank Cleveland Golf, Sakman & GolfWRX for the opportunity to give an unbiased review on the Cleveland CG 16 Tour Irons.
When I think of Cleveland Golf the first thing that comes to mind is wedges......actually an image of the 588 wedge pops up in my head. I've also had experience playing Cleveland Drivers with the Launcher Series and most recently the TL310. But to this point I've never owned a set of Cleveland Irons.....which is weird because I've played about everything out there. I'll expound later in the review on why I believe I've never tried a set.
OK, let's get the review going.
Set Makeup
4-PW Dynamic Gold S300's
Background
A little on myself. I'm a 9.5 hdcp with a driver swing speed in the 107-109 range. I've always had a good short game but have struggled with directional control with my irons and driver....distances are usually spot on but I tend to miss the green/fairway by just enough that I have to scramble to save par. I'm definitely a sweeper and take a very small and shallow divot. My normal shot is a slight draw with a medium trajectory.
Appearance
I was walking out to my mailbox when I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of a site that all GolfWRX members love to see......the Fedex Truck. I immediately ran inside with my new box and opened it up. The first thing I noticed was the satin finish.....and almost sanded look that's very dull.....perfect. I've never been a fan of shiny chrome irons that blind me. The topline was a little thicker than what I was imagining for this type of iron but was still ok. The sole was pretty narrow with a nice trailing edge grind that makes it play even more narrow. At address, I was very surprised at the lack of offset....again, perfect. But now my mind starting thinking.....thin sole, minimal offset, the cavity was pretty non-technical.....am I going to be able to hit these things.......
Feel
And so I was off to the range with my new irons. Pulled out the pitching wedge first and took a whack.....solid shot on a medium-high trajectory but with an interesting feel. It almost felt like I didn't even hit the ball....very smooth, not Mizuno soft but not clicky like Titleist either. Proceeded to hit several more that felt the exact same way with the same flight. The grooves on the face were trapping a lot of grass which I think was contributing to the feel I'm describing. I then pulled out the 7 iron and proceeded to hit the same kind of shot......very forgiving....surprisingly forgiving. The sole design glided right through the turf.....and the turf was pretty hard. I then proceeded to try and hit some cuts with the 7 iron and caught one off of the toe which I could immediately sense. Not overly harsh but you can definitely tell where on the face you're hitting the ball.
Forgiveness & Workability
The 7 iron shot I mentioned above didn't really cut....basically went straight. I again tried to put a cut swing on it with maybe a yard or two tail to the right.....these things want to go straight first and foremost. I then pulled out the 4 iron. Normally my 4 iron is reserved for getting out of the woods by I thought I'd give a swing......shocked, nice medium-high trajectory that carried a good ways. I think the zip grooves are helping me keep the ball in the air with the long irons.
Performance
Well, I decided to pack it up and call it a night.....initial impressions were very favorable. But the real test was coming up with an actual round of golf. Played a pretty easy track that was firm with fairly fast greens. First approach shot I took aim at the flag with my PW and ended up 6 feet left of the cup....but most importantly on the green. Shot after shot continued like this with my confidence improving. Towards the end of the round I felt like I could take aim with irons directly at the pin.....I've had other sets like this (MP60's) but they weren't nearly as forgiving as these. I've also had more forgiving sets but felt like I lost that spot on accuracy. Shot my lowest round out so far this year with a 78 and was hitting some terrible tee shots.
Conclusion
As I mentioned earlier in the review, I've never owned a set of Cleveland irons which I believe is due to a lack of presence in Golf Stores in terms of Marketing......because it certainly isn't the performance holding these bad boys back. I think this set is the perfect tweener set for 5-15 handicappers. The lower caps will want more workability and the higher handicaps probably won't be looking at these anyways. All in all, I 'm thoroughly impressed and plan to keep these in the bag all season...........seriously, I do.
When I think of Cleveland Golf the first thing that comes to mind is wedges......actually an image of the 588 wedge pops up in my head. I've also had experience playing Cleveland Drivers with the Launcher Series and most recently the TL310. But to this point I've never owned a set of Cleveland Irons.....which is weird because I've played about everything out there. I'll expound later in the review on why I believe I've never tried a set.
OK, let's get the review going.
Set Makeup
4-PW Dynamic Gold S300's
Background
A little on myself. I'm a 9.5 hdcp with a driver swing speed in the 107-109 range. I've always had a good short game but have struggled with directional control with my irons and driver....distances are usually spot on but I tend to miss the green/fairway by just enough that I have to scramble to save par. I'm definitely a sweeper and take a very small and shallow divot. My normal shot is a slight draw with a medium trajectory.
Appearance
I was walking out to my mailbox when I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of a site that all GolfWRX members love to see......the Fedex Truck. I immediately ran inside with my new box and opened it up. The first thing I noticed was the satin finish.....and almost sanded look that's very dull.....perfect. I've never been a fan of shiny chrome irons that blind me. The topline was a little thicker than what I was imagining for this type of iron but was still ok. The sole was pretty narrow with a nice trailing edge grind that makes it play even more narrow. At address, I was very surprised at the lack of offset....again, perfect. But now my mind starting thinking.....thin sole, minimal offset, the cavity was pretty non-technical.....am I going to be able to hit these things.......
Feel
And so I was off to the range with my new irons. Pulled out the pitching wedge first and took a whack.....solid shot on a medium-high trajectory but with an interesting feel. It almost felt like I didn't even hit the ball....very smooth, not Mizuno soft but not clicky like Titleist either. Proceeded to hit several more that felt the exact same way with the same flight. The grooves on the face were trapping a lot of grass which I think was contributing to the feel I'm describing. I then pulled out the 7 iron and proceeded to hit the same kind of shot......very forgiving....surprisingly forgiving. The sole design glided right through the turf.....and the turf was pretty hard. I then proceeded to try and hit some cuts with the 7 iron and caught one off of the toe which I could immediately sense. Not overly harsh but you can definitely tell where on the face you're hitting the ball.
Forgiveness & Workability
The 7 iron shot I mentioned above didn't really cut....basically went straight. I again tried to put a cut swing on it with maybe a yard or two tail to the right.....these things want to go straight first and foremost. I then pulled out the 4 iron. Normally my 4 iron is reserved for getting out of the woods by I thought I'd give a swing......shocked, nice medium-high trajectory that carried a good ways. I think the zip grooves are helping me keep the ball in the air with the long irons.
Performance
Well, I decided to pack it up and call it a night.....initial impressions were very favorable. But the real test was coming up with an actual round of golf. Played a pretty easy track that was firm with fairly fast greens. First approach shot I took aim at the flag with my PW and ended up 6 feet left of the cup....but most importantly on the green. Shot after shot continued like this with my confidence improving. Towards the end of the round I felt like I could take aim with irons directly at the pin.....I've had other sets like this (MP60's) but they weren't nearly as forgiving as these. I've also had more forgiving sets but felt like I lost that spot on accuracy. Shot my lowest round out so far this year with a 78 and was hitting some terrible tee shots.
Conclusion
As I mentioned earlier in the review, I've never owned a set of Cleveland irons which I believe is due to a lack of presence in Golf Stores in terms of Marketing......because it certainly isn't the performance holding these bad boys back. I think this set is the perfect tweener set for 5-15 handicappers. The lower caps will want more workability and the higher handicaps probably won't be looking at these anyways. All in all, I 'm thoroughly impressed and plan to keep these in the bag all season...........seriously, I do.
