Equipment
Cleveland CG Black and CG Black Custom drivers
Driver swings on the PGA Tour clock in at more than 110 mph. According to Cleveland Golf, most recreational golfers play a much slower game and shouldn’t be using the same drivers they see on TV.
Cleveland’s new CG Black (260 grams) and CG Black Custom (275 grams) drivers have lightweight designs that cater to golfers with average swing speeds, as well as those who need more distance and forgiveness.
The CG Black driver is for golfers with less 95 mph of speed, while the CG Black Custom driver — which has an adjustable hosel — is for those who swing between 85-and-105 mph.
CG Black Custom ($400)
The CG Black Custom has what Cleveland calls “Speed Innovation technology” that makes the club head lighter for faster swing speeds. It comes stock with a Mitsubishi Bassara E50 shaft (A, R and S-flexes in both left- and right-handed options), and comes with an adjustable hosel that provides loft options between 9 and 12 degrees.
Cleveland CG Black ($350)
Cleveland’s CG Black is designed with what’s called “low swing MOI,” which helps generate more club head speed, but “high club head MOI,” for face stability at impact on off-center hits. The driver isn’t adjustable, but it’s offered in various lofts — 9, 10.5 and 12.5 degrees.
If you need more speed and forgiveness and don’t care about adjustability, try out Cleveland’s CG Black. If you swing it a little faster and want to dial in your ball flight with an adjustable hosel, you’ll want to try the CG Black Custom.
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.
It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.
When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”
“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”
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According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.
Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:
“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.
“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.
“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.
“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.
“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”
So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.
His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.
See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here
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Equipment
Spotted: TaylorMade P-UDI driving iron
It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.
We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.
From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.
“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.
TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°
TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
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Whats in the Bag
Collin Morikawa WITB 2024 (April)
- Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), P7MC (5-6), P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid 115 X100 (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (7-PW)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-SB09, 56-LB08), TaylorMade MG4 TW (60-TW11)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Soto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
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FTWPhil
Feb 9, 2015 at 2:50 pm
We haven’t sold much of their drivers since the Hi-Bore Monster XLS. IIRC they had a BOGO fairway deal though. Honestly the most recent horrible feeling driver by a major OEM. I think they suffer from changing horses midstream with the acquisition of Cleveland by Srixon. Seems like too much Asian market equipment.
And I don’t care if Rotex 2.0 is better, it looks horrible.
j.a.
Feb 8, 2015 at 6:14 am
Last Friday there was a demo day at my home club. I tried the new CG Black but it didn’t impressed me. I pulled my Launcher XL from my bag for comparison and it felt much better, same as my Classic XL which is my current gamer.
I agree with the comments that Cleveland Golf is such an underrated brand. They do great clubs and it’s sad to see that they are coming in 2015 with such a limited offer. In Australia, they are quite popular.
Steve
Feb 7, 2015 at 1:08 pm
It seems like very little effort from Cleveland on this driver
JH
Feb 6, 2015 at 5:45 pm
non-adjustable driver for $350? lol
graymulligan
Feb 8, 2015 at 10:33 am
that’s okay…give these 3 months, they’ll be $169 at DSG.
Seriously, Cleveland…are you even trying any more?
LorenRobertsFan
Feb 6, 2015 at 3:39 pm
Disappointing. looks like a Machspeed
dcorun
Feb 6, 2015 at 1:20 pm
I’ve played the Cleveland Classic Custom XL since late 2013. One of the best drivers they have ever sold. I traded in my Launcher 460 which was also a great driver. Cleveland has long been an underrated company which is a shame. I also play their 588 MT irons and they are also outstanding especially with the forged face. I’ll probably try out the CG Black against my Classic to see if it’s worth changing. I was fitted for the Classic and haven’t changed it so, I’ll just buy the non adjustable and save $50 if I switch.
Denis
Feb 6, 2015 at 10:51 am
Why was the previous driver a flop in your opinion? I’m using XL270 and may consider upgrading to this one, so would be curious to know.
Thank you.
NGG
Feb 4, 2015 at 4:52 pm
Been a big fan of Cleveland drivers up to and including the classic XL custom…this rehash of a previous flop just smells like desperation and is a little disappointing.