Cleveland HiBore XL Initial Thoughts

[iacas]

Last night I had the opportunity to hit the HiBore XL (both Tour and Standard) in my golf dome. These are my initial thoughts, which should be taken with a LARGE dose of salt, given: a) I haven't played golf in months, and b) the dome is only 70 yards long, and c) the dome uses range balls, of course.

It's Loud . Not as loud as a lot of drivers these days, but louder than I'm used to from a 460cc driver. Louder than the Callaway, Titleist, previous HiBore, or TM drivers. Not as loud as perhaps some of the new(er) drivers like the Sumo2 or the old MacTec NVG, but loud, again.

The Ball feels Heavy coming off the face of the club. I didn't really like it. There's a definite "lighter" or "springier" feeling when you nail the sweet spot, but misses definitely felt very, very "heavy" as if you were pushing the ball more than it leaping off the face. Given the dirty range balls, I was able to tell how far from center I was hitting, and while the HiBore XL does do a massive amount of correction for you, and while the ball still seems to reach the end of the range very quickly, it feels dull.

Thin grips feel a wrap or possibly more thinner than I'm used to. Could be in my head, but I had a TM driver that felt thicker and is nothing but a standard wrap.

Tip-stiff shafts, 65g made it difficult to turn the ball over without getting overly aggressive and duck-hooking, on both models. I'd rather see a 70 gram shaft, maybe 75, with a tiny bit less tip stiffness. It was very hard to hit a high draw. In fact...

Everything had a Low Trajectory . This is incredibly difficult to judge in a dome and with range balls, but my TM r7 425 launched the ball higher.

[Donald MacKenzie]

How's it look, size-wise, compared with the original HiBore? I understand it's wider, but the dark color might mask that.

[iacas]

How's it look, size-wise, compared with the original HiBore? I understand it's wider, but the dark color might mask that.

It looks a tad bigger. I should pull out the original and have a look. I very much like the deeper face, though - that helps.

I did want to append my original review to note that I have the red shafts. These are "low trajectory" shafts, unlike the golds, which have a mid trajectory. So, maybe too much "low" in the clubs for me.

[icourtnage]

.....all I can say is, "Wow".
I went to the range yesterday to try out some drivers. I hit the TM Burner, Nike Sasquatch (whatever the most recent one is), the TM SuperQuad, and the Cleveland HiBore XL Tour.

I couldn't believe how great the HiBore was!! The ball rocketed off of the face, and had an amazing trajectory. I was thoroughly impressed.... does anyone have one of these babies?

As far as the Nike went, it was 1/2" shorter than the other clubs, and the grip was pitifully small. Yes, I am positive it was a men's driver. Anyone know if this one was just a fluke? Or are the shafts typically shorter than other manufacturers?

The SuperQuad was ok....I liked the ball flight, but the ball didn't come off as hot as it did off of the hibore or the burner.

The Burner was a great club! Make sure to get one with a little less loft, as the ball really moves up on you.....

-Ian

[Fisherdude]

I hit the original Hi-Bore a year ago, and did not care for it. It was very straight, not any longer then my TM R-580XD, and I absolutely hated the sound.

As far as the shaft length on the Nike, it's my understanding that the average driver length on tour is 44-44.5", and most off-the-rack drivers bought by amateurs are 45". I think Nike is probable going shorter in order to enable most average customers to do a better job of finding the center of the clubface, and that really helps with distance.