Posted on Mon, Mar. 24, 2008

New Cleveland drivers, hybrids rock

LANGSTON WERTZ JR.

lwertz@charlotteobserver.com

A reader from Indiana named Paul Jones wrote me from his AOL account to say he loves the column (thanks) but that he hates all the mumbo-jumbo we usually include about golf equipment.

Paul says he doesn't have a "Hoosier" care -- his words -- about moment of inertia or weighting or dual crown faces in new drivers. He just wants one that will launch high and go straight.

Paul, as always I recommend getting fitted and trying a variety of heads. But if getting it airborne is something you seek, let me tell you about Cleveland Golf's new XLS HiBore.

This thing looks like a monster at address. The rear is lower than the face, like half the club was cut away like you might slice an apple from the core. And it's big.

I have an old Callaway Steelhead 10 degree that looks like a 5-wood next to this thing. Cleveland claims the XLS is 17 percent larger than last year's version and has a 13 percent higher MOI (oops, sorry Paul).

Just know this: this club is super-easy to line up behind the ball, sits fairly square and goes really, really high. I gave this puppy to seven different testers in two range sessions at Charlotte Golf Links and the Divide in Charlotte over the past few weeks.

Some were good players. Some were beginners. This thing launched for everyone. I'm not talking balloon-city, either. I mean that pleasing high ball that us golfers like to see fly off the tee. This driver didn't produce the bombs from the testers that they claimed to be expecting -- you know how EVERYONE can hit a 300 yard drive at the range -- but I saw a lot of the better players hitting out near the 250 yard mark and some of the not-so-good players hitting it out past 200.

(True story. One guy even screamed "Pow!" like the fellow who does the infomercial for that upside down off-brand driver on Golf Channel. Unfortunately, Ranger Rick left a pretty large sky-mark on the top of what to that point had been a gorgeous club).

Cleveland sells the XLS with two shafts. A yellow one that is easier to launch, and a red which keeps the flight down. I had the red in stiff, which didn't feel overly stiff or boardy. It seemed to just want to launch the ball high and straight. And high and straight doesn't bother me (Rating: 4 stars out of 5).

• The new Cleveland XLS hybrid looks like a mini-version of the driver with its scooped face. And like the driver it seems to favor high straight shots. The square Nike that most of my regulars are favoring right now, launches noticeably lower than this one. A common complaint was that the Cleveland felt a little harsh.We swapped out the stock shaft from a Graphite Design (which makes EVERYTHING feel better) and the Cleveland became a high launching, pin-seeking club (Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars).

• Bushnell's new Tour V2 Rangefinder has 5x magnification and allows you to basically point the device, which looks like a pair of binoculars, at your target, press a button and get a distance.

You can get distances to pins, greens, hazards. Forget walking around and looking for yardage markers. I could easily mark a flag from 250 yards, but sometimes it was hard to lock on targets or you would lock on the wrong targets (thus we hit a 6-iron when we should've had a 9. Oops).

I love these devices to speed up play and I love how this year's version is much easier to lock onto with, a problem I had with previous models, especially in the wind. The more you use it, the easier you get and the more it helps you. You know that sand trap you thought was 220 and you could carry easy? It's 270 carry and you need to lay up.

I prefer the GPS models to this style of rangefinger. With the GPS, you basically hold it in your hand and it gives you a digital readout of yardages to greens and trouble. But the GPS models need to have the courses mapped. If the courses you play are not, you're out of luck. With the Bushnell that's not a problem (Rating: 3 out of 4 stars).

AboutGolf's New Indoor Simulator

About Golf's new SimSurround Simulator features patent-pending three-screen technology. This design technology provides nearly a 180 degree wrap-around image. The graphical display surrounds the user thanks to the patent-pending three-screen technology. Standing on the tee, the three-screen view of the golf course appears to provide almost total immersion. This could be especially useful for indoor ranges and learning centers, allowing players to "play" on more than 40 real courses.

TaylorMade sues Nickent Golf

TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company (TMaG) filed a lawsuit this week against Nickent Golf in regard to claims made in Nickent's recent print and television advertising and on its website concerning the purported success of Nickent drivers on tour. TaylorMade officials believe that Nickent's online, print and TV campaign appears designed to lead consumers to believe that its 4DX driver is the No. 1 driver model on the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour.

Pink on the Links

CHAMP Spikes plans to expand its successful Pink on the Links program for 2008 by adding an eBay charity auction and increasing player participation with the addition of international and national Tours. CHAMP created Pink on the Links in 2007 as a way to raise funds for breast cancer research. CHAMP donated money to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) on behalf of PGA and LPGA Tour players that wore CHAMP's commemorative pink and white spikes during Mother's Day weekend tournaments, The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass and the Michelob Ultra Classic at Kingsmill.The program was so successful in its inaugural year that CHAMP expanded the 2008 program to have a greater impact. Following the Mother's Day tournaments, CHAMP and eBay will auction off autographed golf memorabilia for collectors of all ages including tournament worn shoes by top PGA and LPGA golfers. Visit http://stores.ebay.com/pinkonthelinks for more information.

Daiwa Golf showcases new woods

Daiwa Golf's new ONOFF Fairway Arm Series woods are engineered for performance and features a fiery red finish and is extremely forgiving for the average golfer who wants to go straight or hit a draw. The stylish (MSRP $379) Fairway Arms woods incorporate a tungsten-weighted sole, an ultra-thin maraging club face, and a deep `swing-assist' center of gravity to create a high trajectory that is favorable for golfers of many skill levels. Available in 3-wood (15°), 5-wood (18°), 7-wood (21°) and 9-wood (24°). The 15- and 18-degree models feature a 0.5-degree closed face design, while the 21- and 24-degree models are square.