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One of the first new drivers to start building buzz on the PGA Tour in 2006 is Cleveland Golf’s HiBORE driver. Vijay Singh is one of the players to use the interesting-looking new driver as a prototype.<\/p>\nOne of the first new drivers to start building buzz on the PGA Tour in 2006 is Cleveland Golf’s HiBORE driver. Vijay Singh is one of the players to use the interesting-looking new driver as a prototype.<\/p>\n
The HiBORE cat is officially out of the bag, as Cleveland has announced the details of the new driver and a host of new products for the 2006 season. Read on to see what Cleveland has in store for golfers this year.
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\nEntering 2006, Cleveland Golf had already released three drivers at the USGA\/R&A limit for size: two versions of the Launcher Ti and a Launcher Comp, all measuring 460cc.<\/p>\n
Now Cleveland has announced a new 460cc driver that, like Nike’s Sasquatch and Callaway’s FT-3, attempts to improve on performance with a different shape. The Cleveland HiBORE driver has a distinctive shape that makes it look a bit like the world’s biggest hybrid club.<\/p>\n
The crown, or top, of the HiBORE slopes dramatically from front to back. This means that less volume is devoted to the top portion of the club, which designers used to make the rest of the clubhead bigger. As a result, Cleveland claims that the HiBore’s “chassis,” or main part of the body, is actually 15 percent bigger than other 460cc drivers.<\/p>\n
I haven’t seen a HiBORE driver in person, so I haven’t checked out its chassis. But Bag Drop operatives who’ve had a chance to hit it say it’s a handsome club.<\/p>\n
In addition to changing the dimensions of the club, the HiBORE driver’s unique shape is also meant to change the location of the club’s sweet spot. Cleveland claims that other supersized drivers must be hit above the center of the clubface for the best launch conditions, but that dynamic sacrifices distance. The low, deep center of gravity in the HiBORE is designed to help golfers get their longest, straightest drives from hitting the ball in the center of the clubface. Sounds good to me.<\/p>\n
The HiBORE is scheduled to ship on March 25 with a suggested retail price of $498. With the newest version of the Launcher driver selling at a street price of $249, I’d expect the HiBORE to actually sell in the neighborhood of $399-$449.<\/p>\n
Cleveland also provided deets on several other new products, including:<\/p>\n
A new version of the CG1 blade irons with a Black Pearl finish, milled faces, a harder-edged muscle shape, less offset and a sharper toe and straighter topline than the chrome CG1 irons.<\/p>\n
A Tour version of the CG4 irons, with a more compact blade size, a thinner topline and longer hosel than the standard CG4 irons.<\/p>\n
Launcher LP irons aimed at high-handicap, value-conscious golfers. At $399 per set, these 17-4 stainless steel irons are aimed at the Big Bertha irons crowd.<\/p>\n
A new version of the venerable 588 wedges called the DSG, for Dynamic Sole Grind. These wedges have a dual-cambered sole for more versatility around the greens, and are the first 588 wedges will milled faces and grooves.<\/p>\n
CG11 wedges with the Black Pearl finish that accounts for more than 30 percent of Cleveland wedge sales, along with a women’s version with a pink cavity plaque (with a portion of the proceeds donated to breast cancer research)<\/p>\n
A Launcher Ti460 High Loft driver with 15.5° of loft for golfers with slow swing speeds.<\/p>\n
W-Series drivers and fairway woods for women, including a ladies’ version of the Launcher Ti460 driver with a lighter swingweight.<\/p>\n
All told, that’s a pretty big group of new gear from Cleveland in its first season as part of the Quiksilver family. If you’re a Cleveland Golf fan, start looking for demo days where you can give all these products a whirl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cleveland Golf’s flagship product for 2006 is the just-introduced HiBore driver, but the company has plenty of other new products coming to market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bag_drop"],"yoast_head":"\n