Cleveland’s HALO Hybrid is one of the more unique hybrids to hit the market. Featuring a “scooped back” design, the HALO succeeded at getting the ball in the air with a good amount of spin. Consumers voted with their wallets, and the HALO is the third-best selling hybrid at retail.
Cleveland, spurred on by the success of the HALO, has forged forward with the scoop-back design with the HiBore driver. The HiBore driver not only features the same dome-less crown as the HALO, but also the wider stance and lower center of gravity (CG). These changes, Cleveland says, marries the location of the CG with the center of the clubface, resulting in a super-long, super-forgiving clubhead.
That’s what Cleveland says, anyway, but the real proof comes in the testing. I’ve been fortunate enough test the new HiBore long enough to get to know it pretty well. Read on to see whether this club blazes a new trail for Cleveland or whether people will some day be caught saying “remember that funny scooped driver way back in 2006?”
Design and Technology
The HiBore was designed with what Cleveland calls “Distance Driven Geometry” (or “DDG” for short). DDG emerged because the projected center of gravity (the spot on the clubface corresponding to the exact center of gravity of the clubhead) of domed-crown drivers is positioned above the point of maximum Coefficient of Restitution (CoR measures the trampoline effect of the driver face). This means that, in theory, traditional domed-crown drivers are leading players to hit higher on the clubface, missing the high-CoR zone. The HiBore’s lower CG, Cleveland says, changes that.
Cleveland says traditional domed-crown drivers have a higher CG that does not align with the center of the clubface where CoR is the highest. The HiBore’s lower CG aligns with the CoR, producing a hotter hot spot.
In order to drag the center of gravity deeper and lower than in any modern driver, Cleveland had to throw the traditional clubhead shape out of the window. Imagine grabbing the back sole of a typical driver, pulling it back, and then pushing in the crown like one of those “DIET” bubbles on a soda pop lid. By dropping the crown and widening the chassis, the CG moves lower and further back in the clubhead.
This alignment of the sweet spot and the hot spot leads Cleveland to claim that the HiBore is longer and straighter than its leading competitor. On the HiBore website, Cleveland has a demonstration showing the spread pattern of eight balls struck on seven impact areas of the clubface: very high center, high center, dead center, low center, very low center, left, and right. The “leading competitor” is comparable to the HiBore for the very high, high and center areas, but the HiBore has a much tighter spread pattern than the competitor for the four other areas.
According to Cleveland and an independent tester, the HiBore produces a much smaller dispersion for six kinds of mishits: two high, two low, and one each towards the toe and heel.
Whether or not Cleveland’s claims are true remains very much up for debate. Personally, I don’t quite believe their assertion that most drivers have a CG as high in the clubface as their diagrams lead you to believe. I think that the primary reason most people have tried to hit the ball above the center of the clubface in recent years has been due to the improvement in launch conditions – a ball struck higher on the face launches higher with less spin. Most drivers, like TaylorMade’s r7, Titleist’s 905 series, and others have a CG that projects through the center of the clubface. While striking the ball there provides the most ball speed, it often does so with a lower launch angle and more spin than is optimal.
Still, Cleveland insists that they have achieved an incredibly low CG and that other drivers indeed fail to align the projected CG with the high-CoR spot. As for me, well, count me out of further debate on the merits of claims made by marketing departments – I place a lot more weight on results than marketing, anyway.
Looks and Setup
The first thing anyone will notice about the HiBore is the huge scoop-out section where the crown should be. Obviously, this “scoop” is very apparent at address. While I really had no problem adjusting to this, most of my playing partners could not quickly adjust. As we all know, a club that inspires confidence at address is always easier to hit, and while the HiBore didn’t exactly throw me off, it didn’t inspire much confidence, either.
The HiBore is certainly unique to look at, but what bothered us most was the closed face.
One thing the scooped-out or collapsed crown did was mask the HiBore’s face angle, which appears quite closed at address. When you look hard at the angle of the face, it appears to be a good three to four degrees closed. While I understand the need to compensate for 95% of the golfers out there who slice the dickens out of the ball, I am not one of them.
When asked about an open-faced or “Tour” version, Cleveland’s Director of Media Relations Keith Patterson said “we wanted to address the needs of the vast majority of golfers, but a more open or Tour version may become available eventually if the need arises.”
The HiBore’s face is neither super deep nor super wide, instead opting for a happy medium between the two. The grey grooves, seen here, served as my alignment aid once I noticed them.
The HiBore is actually one of the most attractive drivers on the market. The crown has been painted in a black matte finish that, while not exactly non-glare, definitely creates less glare than the glossy polishes of most other driver crowns. Like Cleveland’s Launcher 460 Comp, the HiBore has no marking on the crown to indicate proper ball position. If you’re used to drivers without such markings, you won’t have any problems. I am used to the aid, so I found the lack of an alignment aid disconcerting. Fortunately, I eventually noticed that the grooves in the center of the clubface are grey, not white, and I began using the gap as my alignment aid (see above image).
Performance
I tested a 9.5° HiBore with a stock stiff Cleveland shaft designed by Fujikura as well as one shafted with a stiff UST ProForce V2. The stock shaft weighed 65 grams and featured a low kick point. My current driver, a TaylorMade r7, is equipped with a 65-gram Aldila NV. The two shafts are fairly similar in their specifications, though they felt quite different to me. I’m no Iron Byron, and while I pride myself on my consistency, I rely on nothing but my own feel to determine the differences between shafts. We’re not talking nearly imperceptible differences: the stock Fujikura felt a good bit softer than my NV. The ProForce V2 felt similarly.
I tend to hit very high fades with softer flexes, and whether this comes from the shaft not “catching up” at impact and leaving the face open or a subconscious compensation on my part to leave the head open to prevent a snap hook, I do not know. With the stock shaft, these were the shots I hit. However, once I either got used to the shaft (or was able to defeat my compensations), the HiBore provided some noticeably longer drives than my r7.
This weight, positioned nearly on the bottom of the club helps create the deep and low CG that Cleveland was looking for.
It takes a solid wack with a carry of about 250-260 (with limited-flight range balls) to clear the back of my practice range and if I’m not striking the ball well, I sometimes struggle to clear it. However, once the HiBore and I were in sync, I pumped range rock after range rock out of the driving range.
I find nothing prettier than a golf ball on a low, boring trajectory moving slightly right to left. No matter what, I couldn’t get the HiBore to provide this sight with the stock shaft. Don’t get me wrong – the HiBore was quite long when well struck – but I found its ball flight to be higher than I like. The Fujikura shaft has a low kickpoint which may help explain this, as lower kick points can easily add a few degrees to the launch angle.
With the ProForce, I could keep the ball flight down slightly, but the closed appearance to the face led me to either hook the ball or try to hold off the face, creating a similar small cut. “Fear of a draw turning into a hook” is not a common problem among the average golfer, though, making the HiBore a great club for the masses, but one the low-handicapper will want to test thoroughly.
From this view, you can clearly see the depth (or lack thereof) of the face. This lends itself to a smaller margin for error.
When I lose feel for my swing, my swing plane grows much too tall and I tend to strike down on the ball, producing the occasional pop-up. My normal driver is the rather deep-faced r7, so I hit more than a few pop-ups with the HiBore. This driver actually has a taller center-of-clubface than Cleveland’s Launcher 460 Comp and roughly as deep a face as the Nike SQ. ALso, due to the HiBore’s radical design, slight misses low or high traveled much further and straighter more than shots struck off-center with my r7.
The acoustics of the head took some time getting used to as well, it sounds rather like a half-full soup can at impact. That’s not exactly an explosive sound, but not necessarily a negative. When hit dead solid perfect, it provides a little more growl, which contrasted sharply to the high-pitched “ping” of my r7. Eventually, I could tell quite easily by the sound the club made where on the face I’d struck the ball, a welcome (if unintended) feature.
This chart shows the optimal launch conditions for a variety of ballspeeds. The HiBore’s CG helps achieve the high-launch, low-spin combination.
Extras and Specs
This driver comes with an excellent headcover – one of the best I’ve ever used. The finely woven elastic fibers of the sock stretch more than enough to accommodate the oddly shaped club head and the attractive use of red, yellow, navy, and white lends itself to just a plain good-looking cover. It sports an “EZ Grab” handle that provides enough grip to quickly pull off the cover. I never thought I’d find myself saying this, but the ease of use of this cover rivals that of any other headcover I’ve ever seen.
The stock grip is very tacky, providing the necessary grip and feedback in colors that match the stock shaft. Usually the first thing I do with a new driver is replace the grip with the Tour Velvets to which I’m accustomed, but with this grip I felt no need.
Unlike many stock headcovers, this one slips easily on and off while remaining secure when you don’t want it off.
This $399 club is available in lofts of 8.5°, 9.5°, 10.5°, and 11.5° for righties and 9.5° and 10.5° for lefties, all at 45″ in length. Standard shafts include the Aldila NV and NVS, the stock Fujikura, the Graffaloy Blue and ProLaunch Blue, and the UST ProForce V2, all in a wide range of weights and flexes. Custom shafts include the Aerotech SteelFiber, the Fujikura Speeder 652 or 757, the Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3, the Fujikura Vista Pro, the Graffaloy Prototype Comp NT, the Graphite Design YS6+ and 7+, the MCC/Apache MFS Matrix, and the Mitsubishi Diamana, again in varying weights and flexes.
Conclusion
I believe that if you struggle getting the ball into the air, or put a little too much spin on your drives, the HiBore could definitely be a nice addition to your bag. I could even see myself using the HiBore on a regular basis if it was mated with the right shaft. However, if you prefer a mid to low ball flight, you may be less than satisfied with the HiBore’s high, arcing flight. Also, consistent contact is a must in order to play this driver as the shallowness of the clubface leaves less room for error. Overall, the HiBore performed more than adequately in the distance catergory, left little to be desired if you don’t mind playing a fade, and sports an excellent head cover.
.. I’ve played this club with the 10.5 Fuji reg 55 shaft …. it definately looks “different” and the feel is very similiar (but not like) the MacGregor Mac ..
This driver is much quieter .. and once you’ve gotten over the “first date” jitters, the look is very appealing and the launch seems very easy, the distance is excellent and the accuracy is a huge plus ….
Unless you have a swing speed of 95/100+ I wouldn’t recommend the Fuji shafts because of their characteristics (regs play like stiffs, stiffs play like X stiffs, etc) … perhaps a Graffaloy or a Aldila, depending on your personal preference and feeling …
I just picked one up that is a 9.5 degree with the Graffaloy Blue shaft. I think your assessment of this club is right-on. I was fitted for this driver, on a hit meter, and was hitting the ball about 250 yards on miss hits. I hit a few around 290 when contact was good. I very seldom hit drives 290 with my current Cleveland Launcher 400 10.5 degree with a stock Fuji stiff flex.
I took the club to the range shortly after purchase to try it out. For some reason, I kept hitting the ball close to the heel of the clubface (my fault of course). The nice thing was the shot would start left and fade back near to my line of sight without losing too much distance. If I were to miss with my current Launcher 400, I wouldn’t be in the fairway and would be drastically shorter more often than not. I think Cleveland’s claim on off center hits is accurate.
I’ve only had one driver range session with this club, but that was after a whole lot of swinging at Golf Galaxy, which maybe why I was off a bit. But, the forgiveness on the miss hits is a huge plus so far.
With all of that said, I have admit that I’m a huge Cleveland Golf fan, especially of their woods and wedges. Their “feel” and price points always suited me for the most part. So, when choosing a driver, Cleveland was going to be a favorite, by default, in my mind. I also swang the MacTec and Cobra drivers and I think they are worth a look as well.
Great review. One of the better written and detailed article. I just received my 9.5 with stock stiff Fujikura. Went to the range and immediately and starting to expernece the draw biased design and high tracjectory flight. I also have the 400 9.5 with Aldila 65S, which has a more square face. Once the adjustment is made to the closed HiBore face, it was pretty consistant straigh and long. Sound is canny indeed, like the Callaway. I am play some more over the weekend to get a better feel.
Bob 10 capped.
adn draw.
Great review. One of the better written and detailed article. I just received my 9.5 with stock stiff Fujikura. Went to the range and immediately and starting to expernece the draw biased design and high tracjectory flight. I also have the 400 9.5 with Aldila 65S, which has a more square face. Once the adjustment is made to the closed HiBore face, it was pretty consistant straigh and long. Sound is canny indeed, like the Callaway. I am play some more over the weekend to get a better feel.
Bob 10 capped.
adn draw.
jonathon and friends,
This is the first year I used a Cleveland Driver. I have yet to use the Hi-bore but I can attest to the 460 ti and the 460 comp. With just the stock fujikura 65 stiff shaft 9.5 degree I cannot complain. Both clubs were actually the best clubs I have hit that I can remember. I do like the Comp a little better but I could live with either in my bag. Once in a while I will get that high draw but with the distance I get with either of these clubs I will take that straight or slight fade with the high launch.
One thing I did find out and it was hard for me to do was cut back on my swing speed and stay back a little more on my heels. It just automatically made this a longer and straighter drive.I have always been a big swinger 110-120 with the driver but moving it back to 100 -105 did wonders with both these clubs. Handicap is a 7 now.
With the heighth of these drivers I wonder about a windy day but I have a solution. I am going to probably go with an 8.5 graphite design ys-6 and buy that hibore to give me that more boring drive into the wind. rick
Which is better for a 13 year old, the original or the xl
I just picked one up on Ebay, and so far I am very happy with it. I have not yet had the chance to hit on the course, only the range, but it looks to be a good 15-20 yards longer than my old driver. I am an 18-20 handicap, and usually hit a soft fade…..the crazy thing about this club is when I really try to kick it, it just goes longer with the same consistent 10 yards of fade.
I’d like to say that I just picked up a HiBore driver and now my dreives are a lot straighter and accurate. I was hitting around 280 with my R7 and now I’ve reached up to 310 with the HiBore.
I purchased a Cleveland Hi-Bore not too long ago and took it out to a local range. I am 15 years old and shoot in the 70’s and this club will allow me to make a good run at local tournaments to get into college. On solid contact, I am able to hit this club 310 with an absolutely beautiful flight path. This club may help me get a scholarship into a D1 college and only for a price of 150 dollars.
bought this club today and made two trips to the range to hit it. i love it. i got it with the aldila ns stiff shaft. distance is amazing and the closed face cuts down on my slice
(Cleveland Hi Bore, Fuji 65 – stiff – 9.5 loft)
Only had my new Hi Bore about three weeks now and already shaved 5 – 7 strokes off my game. I feel very confident that in another couple of weeks those shaved strokes will probably double. This thing is awsome! It just seems to put me consistantly in a better spot for my second shot every time. I end up in ‘the short stuff’ a whole lot more than I used to. Now it’s a matter of my line up. As long as I line up straight, there’s no doubt in my mind that this club will do the rest. I used to have a slight fade at the end of each drive, now with the Hi Bore, the fade is gone. Just plain long and straight now. Thanks Cleveland, wow – what a club!
I have just purchased the cleaveland hibore with 10.5 loft and a regular Fujikura graphite shaft.
The 1st drive I hit was jst fantastic, Im 14 and about a 21 handicap,who finds it difficult to drive the ball.
The hibore is the best driver, I think anyone could buy much better than drivers such as the R7 ,the ping g5 and the k1 speed.
I also found that it is much better and longer than the hibore xl.
fantastic would reccomend o anyone.
Casual golfer hitting in the 90’s on a good day, so take it for what it is worth…
I picked up the HiBore (stiff shaft, 10.5) a few weeks back after comparing it and the comparably priced Calloway on a golf store’s indoor range. Despite being a sucker for more popular brand names, the HiBore felt much more natural in my hands.
Our first date on a local range was magnificent. I smacked it to the fence deadly straight nearly every swing. My first round with it yielded booming drives and a P.B. score. I attributed the great round to the driver keeping me out of short-game trouble, and consistently placing me near the green.
The next round wasn’t so pretty. I became addicted to the distance and started trying to kill the ball. Visions of Daly and all that. Even this VERY forgiving club couldn’t save me from that.
Since then, I’ve gotten back to my 80% swing and I could be happier.
I can’t speak for the good golfers out there, but if you are a hack like me you will want to consider the HiBore. The extra range and forgiving head have probably saved me 5 to 10 strokes per round by ading distance and keeping me out of the rough/woods/street.
I’m looking for a new driver. I just hit some ball with de Hibore and i love it but i need some advise.
I’m 19 years old and i’m a long hitter. I have now a Callaway Steelhead III driver with a firm Stiff shaft, 9 dgr. The distance that i hit is around 240 meter. With the hibore its around 300 meter. The fact is that the hibore which had had a lady regular shaft.
I’ve also hit some balls with the Titleist 905R With the fuijkura 665 shaft. I loved the shaft but with the hibore the ball goes a lot farther.
I need some advice about the Hibore XL / tour and the shaft. Could somebody help me? My swing speed is pretty high and my handicap is 16.
Sorry for the bad english. 😳 I’m from the Netherlands
Well i just bought the Cleveland Hi BORE just last night, and took it for a test drive this morning. I am very pleased with the Hi BORE because i have a bad hook to the right on 75% of my drives, and i tried at least 3 drivers until i found the HI BORE. the Hi Bore is very very high tec and makes me feel like a professional. i can hit the ball more straight, higher up, and alot further. The furthest i ever hit with my old drivers were 300 yrds + and with the Hi Bore i hit at least 295 – 315 + costantly. Kudos to CG on making an awesome club that i am proud to have in my bag.
hey,
i am a 16 yr old, who normally breaks 100 consistly but feel i need to get a drvier that suits , my slight fade and ,my lack of disTance wat is the best shaft and model of hi bore that u would reccommend, keeping in mind that i i hit 200-230 metres and have a low flight trajectory, please reccomend a hi bore that would suit me
Although I used to have 10 handicap about 20 years ago when playing one time per week, I have retired now and just started playing again. I hit balls at the club almost daily and have played about 4 rounds. I hit my old outdated Head irons (stiff flex) straight and long. I have never been a slicer except when I first started playing about 40 years ago. I don’t slice or fade with outdated woods (always stiff). I recently purchased a new Cleveland XL Hibore regular Fuji Gold shaft, 10.5 degree loft. I have hit several hundred balls with it and fade to mild slice 95% of all shots. I have made corrections in stance to compensate and correct, nothing works. I have a very fluid swing and have been told I have the potential to become a very low handicaper. Any supporting comments about this club being a fader and suggestions will be sincerely appreciated.
Hi, great review!!
i have just started playing this great sport, so i´m still struggling with the basics, but i can defend my self with my irons. The problem i have is that the driver that came with my golf set, has a senior flex so i really can´t hit it well nor consistently. My options were reshafting or buying a new driver. So i started to look for a good driver that could help my game (accurate and forgiving). The hibore seems to have both!! My only problem is that i dont have the chance to get it fitted, so i´m pretty blind in terms of specs and right configuration for me as a starter golfer.
I think for me it would be a regular shaft(stock fuji or ust pro force), but i´m clueless about the loft that suits better….
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!
thanks, and you are great Sand Trap
Bye.
Go to a good golf store (Golfsmith) and have them plot and time your swing. That should allow them to recommend the right shaft for your swing speed. I honestly believe that the Hi-Bore will lessen a lot of your mistakes no matter which shaft you end up using. I think you’ll find that it’s a very forgiving driver all around.
I hope that helps. Good luck with that new Hi-Bore.
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thank you Ed that was fast!
my problem is that i´ll be ordering the hi-bore from overseas (Chile) and i don´t know where to get fitted here ( swing speed, plane, etc).So i´ll be ordering it blind in that matter. But i´ve read that it is better to err to more flex side than to the stiff side.
As i said i´m just starting in golf, and it isn´t fun spending 10 minutes looking for my ball in the deep rough or worst, after a terrible drive if i can call A Drive what i do…
I think that the Hibore with a regular Ust Proforce V2 shaft is the way to go for me, and since i´m still learning this great game, i can perhaps adapt with ease to this driver…don´t you think? of course taking lessons at the driving range…
Can you give me some insights for this driver, and the shaft/flex that you use….
thank you very much
bye
There is NO ‘magic’ driver that will instantly make you 100% accurate and down the middle every time you swing it, including the Hi-Bore. You must first have the basics of a relatively balanced swing, and be making good solid consistent contact with the ball in order for the driver to do it’s thing. It is a good idea to go to the driving range and ‘groove’ your swing first. One little trick to building accuracey into your drive is to choke up a bit on the driver if you tend to spray your shots when gripping it normally. Choking up will also build your confidence for that time when you become more comfortable with your swing and new driver, and you really start to rip it.
Again, there is no way for me to recommend a shaft flex for you as I can’t look at your swing or ball flight from here. I guess you’ll just have to experiment with any driver you can get your hands on until you find one that seems to work for you. Try using your golf partner/partner’s driver when playing, and take notice of the flex of each one. When you find one that works, order your new Hi-Bore with the same or similar shaft.
Have fun!
thanks once again,
i do understand that there aren´t any automatic drivers, still…..
And this has been my concern for several week now since i decided to buy a new driver.
In terms of contact, i do on a regular basis make contact with the club, and i do have a smooth swing to work with. On the course it use the 3 wood and it works for me as it is a little stiffer than my driver (Driver says Uniflex but it feels like a lady or senior) and it get pretty much the same distance or even longer.
I haven´t had the chance to play with another driver yet, to test different shafts, but that is something that can be arranged
My folks are visiting the U.S. so i thought i´ll buy a driver online, and so is how i was interested in the hiBore, i´ve read diferent reviews (this by far is the best review of the hibore out there) and the hibore seems to be one of the “good” drivers out there for high handicappers, and for $150 even better.
that is about it Ed. Thank you very much for your advices and your quick answers
greeting
Bye
Read these reviews and bought one. Must say – I like it much better than the Exotics driver I have been using. More consistent trajectory, better sound (in my opinion) and although I haven’t been able to do a distance comparison yet on a course…. it seems like the Hibore is longer, as I outdrove my foursome yesterday for the first time, and I might add, on my first round with the club….. paid a lot less for the Hibore, too! Great club!
I am 14 and i just got the XL. I use to hit 210 know 230-240.
Great Club!
I have just purchased the Cleaveland Hi-Bore with 10.5 loft and a stiff Fujikura graphite shaft. My HCP is high. Comparing to previous Gary Player Ignitor Plus hybrids, the drive is about 30 metres longer and a lot straighter at any point of time. For about 160 USD it’s a quite worthy purchase.
Two words. Freakin unbelievable.
🙂 I thank you for the excellent review, its hard to find honest opinions about eq. Based on your review, I am going to risk the closed face and buy, thank you
😛 Just received the HiBore , the closed face had me hitting a hook or two, but if you set up for a woossy fade it seems to flight O.K. I would recommend this club as it has out performed my Nike SUMO SQ and plays longer. I tested several balls (Nike One, Wilson Zip and Titleist Pro V) and the Hibore still out drives the Nike Sumo SQ with a more acceptable sound off the face.
Why for the Cleveland Hobore driver has a wording of ” PATENT PENDING ” are this driver non conforming.
Please advice.
can someone advice me why Cleveland HiBore diver has a ” PATENT PENDING ” are this driver non conforming