Philippines Golf Academy

The never ending search for distance off the tee has led the industry towards longer and lighter drivers. Cleveland Golf has been one of the leaders of this movement with the sub-300 gram DST drivers which were very well received by the discerning members of Pinoygolfer.com as well as the Philippine market. Advances in technology and the use of even lighter materials has pushed driver weights further down than ever before without the deleterious effects of previous iterations.

Welcome the Cleveland Launcher Ultralite drivers.

The Cleveland Launcher Ultralite Series consists of drivers of three weights – 310-grams, 290-grams and 270-grams; each model engineered for unique performance and feel to fit a wide range of golfers. Cleveland managed to remove weight from the club without sacrificing swingweight or flex profile, both crucial to the club’s performance. The lighter, longer clubs allow golfers to generate faster clubhead speed for even more ball speed and greater distance.

Key to these developments is the ultra-premium Miyazaki Tour C. Kua shaft specified in the Ultralite Series. Weights range from a previously unheard of 39-grams in the XL270 to 59-grams in the TL310. The C. Kua series, shafts previously available only on the professional golf tours, reduce total weight of the drivers significantly without a loss of playability. This is a major technological achievement and one sure to be copied by its competitors.

For our test, we procured a SL290 and a TL310 which fit the profiles of our testers the best. Picking up either club, the weight or lack thereof is immediately apparent. These are without a doubt the lightest drivers in the category. Despite the light weight, feel for the clubhead has not been diminished. A very good thing.

The SL290 was very well received by those that tried it. In spite of its ultra light weight, it is very stable even when used by golfers with higher swing speeds than the intended profile. Of course spin rates went up at that point but that was to be expected. This should serve the golfer that fits it very well. Very easy to swing and very easy to get good results.

Stronger golfers should take to the TL310 like a duck to water. It’s a good looking head. Typical for drivers designed for this demographic, the TL310 is a bit smaller than most at just 440cc. The size of the clubface is just a hair smaller than the SL290 and loses little in the area of usability. The 59-gram shaft in the TL310 seems a little soft in the tip but the resulting ball flight seems to argue that point. We hit it in exceedingly windy conditions and marvelled at the penetrating ball flight that we achieved. The slightly longer shaft seems to increase clubhead speed a bit, although this is just a seat-of-the-pants impression since a launch monitor was not available. More remarkable is the low spin character of the shaft; not something you’d expect in one of this weight.

We left our session with the Cleveland Launcher Ultralite Series very impressed with the light weight and positive results. In fact I was so impressed with the TL310 that I’m (ahem) keeping it for further evaluation.

Read the whole story on:http://pinoygolfer.com

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