I purchased a 9.5 degree, stiff flex model with the standard gold Fujikara (stiff) shaft. I''m on a 90 day trial exchange period, and am still "learning" the club. Frankly, the more I hit it, the better I like it. My swing speed has decreased a bit over the years, and I''m now about 101-102 pretty consistently. I''ve found recently that I like the feel of a regular flex shaft, and with my tendency to leave the face open, I rarely hook them. I went in looking for a softer flex, but we measured a few shaft flexes on the scale, and the Fujikara stiff seemed slightly softer than Calloway''s VFT stiff shaft. The pro suggested I try it out, and felt with my swing speed it would be the right shaft and club. I''m still mixed about the 9.5 degree face, as ball flight seems a little high sometimes, though not unacceptable. I was playing an 8.5 Taylor Firesole with stiff bubble shaft before. I have a slight tendency to leave the face slightly open, so I hit the ball high usually anyway, and almost always faded the driver, often out of the fairway. I also never liked the feel of the Taylor, even on sweet hits, but I assume that was due to the bubble shaft and my swing speed, plane, and gace angle. A really long drive for me would measure over 300 yds. (no wind day), but usually I''m in the 250-270 range. What I wanted was straighter, more consistent hits that were "controllable", with decent distance (260-280 would be okay). The Launcher is definitely straighter for me than the Firesole, and the more I hit it, the straighter I tend to be. As I shoot generally in the mid-80''s to low 90''s, I''m not very good at working the ball, though I find I can draw this a little, though I tend to pull it more than draw it. It will still respond with a big push if you put a terrible swing on it (open face), but that''s just physics, and I simply don''t do it as often now with this club. I''m mixed on the 9.5 vs. 8.5 loft, though I think the 1 degree closed face on the 9.5 with my handicap is the better choice for now, rather than perhaps a bit more roll and perhaps more trouble. The shaft doesn''t feel as "soft" as a regular flex, but it doesn''t feel like a brick either. If I toe the shot, I draw it with some loss of distance. I haven''t hit many shots on the heel yet. I do tend to be more in thecenter of this club than most, save the maybe the Calloway VFT and the Cobra 350S

Customer Service

Haven''t used it.

Similar Products Used:

Tried Taylor 300 series, Calloway VFT, Ping, Titleist 975, Cobra Gravity Back, Cobra 350SS, Adams.

These drivers are awesome. The ball just jumps off the face and just seem to want to fly straight. They are excellent on off center hits as well. I have no idea how Cleveland matched up such a great combination of shaft and club head, but this is undoubtably the best driver I have swung. And very long. Way to go Cleveland!

Customer Service

Not tried

Similar Products Used:

Ping, Callaway and several component titaniums.

Bought the Cleveland Launcher 8.5 Stiff with the fujikara stock shaft a few days ago. This is the best driver hands down i have ever hit. The stock shaft is good. I use an X or S flex depending on the shaft and club and really liked the S shaft in the Launcher. It is very nice. You should hit as flexible of a shaft as you can hit very strait. I carry the ball about 280 in the air with this club and was getting 30-50 yards roll yesterday. Yes i hit it 320-330 routinely. My swing speed is about 110mph and i hit this driver very square. The launch angle was superb. For the past couple of reviewers that bought the 10.5 degree with the closed face. Of course you are going to hook it if you have any swing speed at all and a decent swing plane. You should never buy a closed face driver if your swing speed is over 90mph and the club is 45 inches or less and why buy a 10.5 degree? With a 65 gram shaft and a very lightweight 45 inch club don''''t be stupid and buy a 10.5 degree. The Taylormade 360 has a closed club face but it works well because the club is 46 inches long. You high handicappers better at least buy a 9.5. These lightweigt drivers and shafts launch the ball much higher because you can swing them faster. I was previously using the Taylor Made 360 and hit it about the same distance in the air but the stock stiff shaft was terrible and it hit the ball too high negating a lot of roll. High handicappers should use the 9.5 in my opinion. And please just listen to the reviews of the better golfers on the board. Why listen to all these 80 and 90''''s shooters although most of them are very pleased with this driver? Do you want to score like them or do you want to become a better player? Good luck. Great driver.

Customer Service

didn''''t use

Similar Products Used:

Taylormade 360, Titleist 975D

I have to reiterate the previous poster''s statements about the closed club face. I am a 15+ who prefers 10 degree drivers. I play a slight fade with most of my clubs (most have little offset), but the Launcher turned that fade into a duck-hook. I wanted so much to like this club. If you are a chronic slicer, you can probably benefit from this club. Then again, you can work to lose your slice. This could be a great driver for the price.

Customer Service

NA

Similar Products Used:

Titleist 975D, Callaway Great Big Bertha

I thought this driver would replace(out perform) my TM 320 but with the 2* closed face on the 10.5* Cleveland Launcher, all shots suffer a big draw to hook shot pattern... I don''t have a lot of time to demo clubs so I purhcased this online after doing some reseach on the clevelandgolf.com website, which by the way, does not state that the 8.5* Launcher is square, 9.5* is 1* closed and 10.5* being 2* closed nor does the documentation that came with the driver state this. Had I known this fact, I probably would have purchased an 8.5* Cleveland Launcher with a square face or maybe even a 9.5* with a 1* closed face. I finally got to talking to a golf pro briefly before I played one morning and he stated the reason Cleveland golf did this is because they assumed that the tendency is for golfers to fade/slice and to get the ball airborne, a higher handicapper would choose a higher lofted club which therefore the higher the loft a 2* closed face to counter the fade/slice, but what if you don''t fade/slice?? I got the 10.5 only because the my TM320 is a 10.5 and I like the ball flight... I do believe Cleveland makes good stuff but in order for the general public to make knowledgeable choices when purchasing, I do believe Cleveland should have disclosed detailed and specific information about their product, like the construction of the Cleveland Lauchers drivers differ as you go higher in loft.

Customer Service

Complaing forwarded to Cleveland Golf customer service and am currently awaiting a reply/resolution.

Similar Products Used:

TM320Ti, King Cobra

Had to try my new launcher the first day temp. reached 50,but the wind was 25mph into my face at the driving range.Could''nt tell much,seemed forgiving but distance was impossible to jude because of the wind and range balls like rocks. A few days later I got out to play 9,still winding but really started hiting them good.The driver is forgiving I could work the ball both ways and left to right is always a problem for me.Distance seem about the same as my Goldwin driver,but it is loud.I like it!

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

Goldwin driver long but not forgiving

Finally dumped my 2 year old Hawkeye. I never knew where the ball would go with that club. The Launcher goes right where you want it to, even with less than perfect swings. I almost bought a 9.5 without even trying it out first. I''m glad I didn''t. The ball flight is really high, so I went with an 8.5 I''m still experimenting with tee height because I''m not used to such a deep face. Really excited about teeing off with a driver instead of a 3 wood.

Customer Service

not yet tried

Similar Products Used:

hawkeye

Great driver! I am using the 9.5 degree with a regular flex shaft. After a couple of practice rounds with the club, (it takes a while to get used to the 330cc head and finding the sweetspot on the club) my drives are consistently in the fairway and about 20-30 yards longer. I was previously hitting a Callaway Warbird (11 degree); this Launcher driver will definitely stay in the bag...

After about 10 balls I am convinced that this is the easiest driver to hit and I have hit a few. Had to tee the ball slightly higher, initial hits were off the bottom and the sound was harsh but once I adjusted that... Whammmmo and the sound was less disturbing even with junky range balls. This driver is indeed a launcher. Suprisingly I was able to shape my drives even with this monster. Doesn''t look like 330cc at address. The next closest thing I have played is the 975D and this beats it by far. Trajectory was about normal for a 9.5 degree if teed slightly higher. The OEM grip stinks, I''ll change that to a Royal Sandwrap soon. I am now almost totally gone to Cleveland, play the ta3 FF gunmetal irons and now this launcher. Was previously a Titleist fan but no more. Cleveland has a winner here and what a price.

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

Titleist 975D, 976R, Taylor Made Supersteel, Taylor Made Burner, Big Bertha

The Launcher seems to be quite sensitive to teeing height. If I place it at 2.5 inches, I can get the same flight trajectory as my Taylor Made Firesole 10.5, down half an inch and I get the nice boring trajectory that I''''ve been looking for (but still higher that I had expected from a 8.5 degree model). I bought the 8.5 model because I have a tendency to hook my drives, once in a while, and wanted to avoid a head with a closed face (8.5 is square, the 9.5 1 degree closed, and 10.5 2 degree closed). I also tested the club with both the stock Fujikura co-designed shaft (stiff) and the Graphite Design YS-7 (stiff). Well, both play quite soft for stiffs, but the main difference was is the feel and torque. The YS-7 feels smooth (muted ?) while the stock-shaft has a slightly metallic harshness to it -- some might call it more lively and crisp, but I didn''''t like it. Another thing was the torque. The stock shaft is rated at 3.8 degrees for stiff flex, but I could easily twist the head about with very little effort. In my experience, I would put the torque figure at around 5 to 5.5 degrees. If you are going to go with the stock shaft, I would recommend you take a closer look at two or three drivers, just to compare torque. The YS-7, by contrast, was very much harder to twist -- suggesting that it was much closer to it''''s specification of 3.0 degrees torque. I have an average driver (at 45") swing speed of 108 mph with quick tempo and was a little surprised when the YS-7 stiff turned out to be a good fit. Results wise, this club is very forgiving and there is very little (compared to 250-260cc drivers) drop off in distance with miss-hits. It is also long -- I am getting an extra 15 metres carry on anything I have hit before (but then again, I''''ve never owned a 330cc club before !). Directional compensation appears to be good too, with my bad shots typically turning out as fades. If I had to be critical, I would mark the club down for feel (a little hollow-feeling and not as solid as the best 250cc clubs), sound (much too loud), and its grip (too small for most hands and has an overall cheap look-and-feel compared to the total head/shaft/cover package). Well done Cleveland !

Customer Service

Not required.

Similar Products Used:

None.