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2013 Cleveland Classic XL Custom Driver

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Cleveland’s new premium driver for 2013, the Classic XL Custom, is the company’s first adjustable driver.

The new model is a revamped version of Cleveland’s Classic driver from last year, which featured a gold and Burgandy paint scheme that made the 440cc head look like a a blown up version of the persimmon drivers that were popular decades ago.

This year’s version has the same persimmon graphics, but features a blacked-out color scheme, a 20cc larger head, an adjustable hosel and an adjustable weight port. The 12-way adjustable hosel allows golfers to adjust the loft of the driver as much as 1.50 degrees higher or lower in 0.50-degree increments. It also gives golfers the ability to adjust face angle as much as 1.5 degrees up or down in 0.75-degree increments.

For every 0.5 degrees of loft that is added to a Classic XL Custom Driver, the face angle will be closed 0.75 degrees. For every 0.5 degrees of loft that is subtracted, the face will be opened 0.75 degrees. When 0.75 degrees of upright lie angle is added, the face opens 0.75 degrees and the loft is lowered by 0.5 degrees. When 0.75 degrees of lie angle is subtracted, the face is closed 0.75 degrees and 1 degree of loft is added.

The Cleveland Classic XL Custom Driver is available in lofts of 7.5 (RH only), 9 and 10.5. The head is shipped with a square face angle and a standard lie angle of 61.5 degrees. The total club weight is 285 grams with a 45-inch stock shaft, giving it a swing weight of D5. The driver’s removable rear weight port supports interchangeable 3, 7 or 11-gram weights (extra weights sold separately).

Stock Shafts: Miyazaki JDL 6 (mid launch), Miyazaki JDL 5 (lightweight, mid launch), Fubuki Tour 53 (lightweight, high launch) and Matrix Ozik Black Tie 6M3 (penetrating launch).

Check out the photos we snapped below of the Classic XL Custom at the Humana Classic, and click here for more discussion in the “Tour/Pre-release equipment” forum. 

cleveland xl

cleveland xl driver

classic xl

Click here for more discussion in the “Tour/Pre-release equipment” forum.

 

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17 Comments

17 Comments

  1. James Strachan

    Mar 6, 2015 at 11:42 am

    Too much bull…. about this club hitting it 20 – 30yds longer. Stop all the dreaming. On a test with identical balls (10 with each club) I hit it almost exactly the same distance as with a TM R9 Superdeep – the big difference being the Cleveland’s dispersal was just 9 yards whilst the TM’s was 25 yards! Make of that whatever you wish (from a 5 handicapper).

  2. tracy

    Aug 20, 2014 at 7:07 pm

    different weights do not come with product must be purchased separately.

  3. MBA-J

    Mar 4, 2014 at 12:32 pm

    If you are a fan of deep-faced, low-spin drivers, the Cleveland Classic XL Custom may be the best driver ever produced.

  4. Shawn

    Feb 15, 2014 at 3:43 am

    Got one for a hundred dollars on 3balls with the black tie shaft gorgeous club love it to death very forgiving and long. Also got the matching fairway, cleveland went down hill with the 588 but the previous classic series was a huge winner.

  5. Barry Henderson

    Sep 4, 2013 at 11:43 am

    I hit this club consistantly Longer (20 -30 yards) and straighter than any other driver I have tested. I have spent weeks working out which is the best ‘next club’ for my set, and just purchased this one. Driving average with this club 307 yards.

  6. Bob jones

    Apr 23, 2013 at 9:03 am

    McDowell is still using the old Cleveland Classic 290. Just won the Heritage with it. Must be the extra 5 grams.

  7. ToTo

    Mar 29, 2013 at 3:46 pm

    I hit this and a number of other drivers at Golfsmith today and this driver was generally as long and straight as any I hit. Felt very solid and I was impressed. Am going back to spend more time with shaft options but I never imagined going in I would like it.. I DID! I hit X Hot, G25, R1 and others in comparison.

  8. gunmetal

    Jan 21, 2013 at 7:33 pm

    Gorgeous club. Keegan will keep pounding it past his playing partners but it’s still TM’s world given their obsession with paying everyone and their dog to wear an R’insert whatever here’ hat and use the headcover.

  9. Phil

    Jan 15, 2013 at 11:38 pm

    Did that say driver head weighs 285 grams???? Uh…

    • Zak Kozuchowski

      Jan 16, 2013 at 6:19 pm

      You’re right. Total club weight is 285 grams.

    • Kevin

      Apr 19, 2016 at 9:58 pm

      With interchangeable weights the swing weight and total should change. Anyone know what the swing weights are for 3, 7 and 11 gram weights?

  10. Square

    Jan 15, 2013 at 8:21 pm

    Really nice!!! Can’t wait to hit it. I’m over the white drivers.

  11. P

    Jan 15, 2013 at 2:02 am

    Thank you Cleveland for giving me my next driver upgrade – in BLACK, and not any other silly colors.

  12. John Erickson

    Jan 14, 2013 at 11:17 pm

    I like it I think Graeme has had one in play for some time. He lost a ‘weight’ of his classic driver at Ryder Cup.

  13. Jason

    Jan 14, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    Good lookin’ big stick man. Definite improvement over 2012

  14. tlmck

    Jan 14, 2013 at 4:40 pm

    Definitely getting one of these next year when they go on clearance.

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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