The Xli irons are designed to offer the ultimate in forgiveness for beginners and poor ball strikers
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Barely falling within the trade’s description of an iron, with its bulky hybrid-like appearance throughout the set, the new Xli irons represent the outer limits of design in terms of the sheer amount of forgiveness that can be built into a club. In fact, if they live up to the hype, they will be more forgiving than the good Lord himself.
When I spoke to the chap at Cleveland’s media relations department about who these clubs were specifically aimed at, his succinct reply was that if someone wasn’t able to get these clubs to work, then they should consider chucking it all in and taking up carpet bowls, or words to that effect. A bit of a harsh prospect for someone who has just taken up the game perhaps, but I think you get the picture. Thus, the entire concept of the Xli irons is based on them being the first and last chance saloon for those who struggle with their irons. Fail to get these to advance the ball up the fairway in an almost straight line and with some air between the ground and the ball, and it’s time to invest in a white cap and some soft shoes.
The Xli irons are the only full hollow head construction irons on the market
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What makes them so easy? Well let’s try the full hollow construction throughout the entire set, which makes them all look and feel like hybrids, offering a truly confidence-inspiring look at address. Utilising Cleveland’s Distance Driven Geometry to lower the club’s crown, the designers have created the lowest and deepest centre of gravity position in any iron model to promote a club that not only hits the ball high and mighty, but is also less punishing on less-than-perfect strikes.
Progressive offset helps to deliver the clubface at the correct angle and reduce the worst effects of the dreaded slice, while the super-wide sole width promotes a shallow attack angle in the longer irons and a steeper angle in the shorter irons to help get the ball off the deck. To make the irons cut easily through the turf, they’ve also incorporated toe and heel drag relief areas to prevent the clubhead from digging in.
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A wide sole and heel and toe relief helps prevent digging in
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Out on the range with a set of graphite shafts, I went to the far bay to avoid club members thinking I’d lost my swing entirely, but was soon striking the ball cleanly down the practice fairway and getting a surprising amount of distance. They went higher than normal, but that’s what it says on tin, so while you might lose a little distance with such a high trajectory they still offer plenty of yardage.
The long irons will inspire bags of confidence in the shakiest of strikers, although the short irons lacked any degree of finesse and little by way of feedback off the face. Having said, that the wide sole makes them almost impossible to chunk, which is a common problem among new golfers who often decelerate in the downswing and lose height as they lurch into the ball. The trick with these, I soon discovered, is to really let the weight and design of the clubhead do all the work – swinging smoothly and slowly, rather than putting a more aggressive swing on them, as that will tend to make the ball pop up too much. If you’re a slow swinger, as these are aimed at, then I’d advise the graphite shafts every time, as they will be much lighter and help generate more clubhead speed with very little effort.
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Rating: |
8.0/10 |
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Summary: | Bottom line, these clubs will put the fun back into your iron play. All in all, with the exception of Callaway’s old spade-like Big Bertha irons, which I started out with many moons ago, these are by far the most forgiving ‘irons’ I’ve tested. Although, as I mentioned before, I think they almost fall into their own unique club category, which is perhaps best explained by the fact that each club comes with its own driver-like clubhead cover. |
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