berniez40's Full Review: Cleveland Launcher Comp Fairway Woods Graphite
Okay , please don't get me wrong here, but really, Cleveland's Composite clubs were basically duds. Thus the resurrection of the Titanium and All Titanium heads in the very next generation of Cleveland's Line of drivers and fairway woods. In the meantime, the composite crown models came about. Cleveland's hand, as was the case with many makers, was forced on this deal. Most of the makers had come out with composite crowns, and similar to the block headed drivers that were soon to follow, proclaimed that.." they were the next generation of greatness." As you can see, there are darned few composite and or square-headed drivers being offered this year. Cleveland, like many other makers of that time, was simply trying to keep up with the Joneses.
BALANCE--3 Stars
I'm not picking on Cleveland as a stand alone here. Darned few makers got the balance right on these things. Ping had to work extra hard to make their Rapture Driver succesful, and the latest model is multi-metal--not multi-material. Cobra's HS-9 was a hevay hittin' hog, but it too was lacking a little something in the balance department. Vijay quit using his Cleveland Thuddy Duddy half way through the season, and went back to the older model Launcher. Unfortunately for Vijay---the same thing would happen to him on the first edition Hi-Bore. Composite clubs were not living up to expectations, and that went for all makers. This poor Cleveland Fairway Wood/Composite/Metal/Whatever is no exception. Stick with the original Launhers, or the re-issued titanium models. The balance on this one is only average.
DISTANCE and FORGIVENESS--4 Stars
The distance on these is not bad, otherwise it's doubtful that they would have made it past the prototype stage. It's just hard to get good distance control when the only thing a club offers in the feel and sound department is--- "THUD!" That's really a shame too, because this club also offers good forgiveness. Toe hits aren't penalized too badly, and despite the lack of balance, these clubs are not easily miss hit. Cleveland has always put out a club with good distance, and the Launcher Series is huge on forgiveness as well. (Even on this model.)
FEEL--2 Stars
I really hate to do this to any club, but even the Ping, Callaway, and Yonex Models which had TONS of money poured into their development just never lived up to expectations. Cleveland, though succesful by now, certainly didn't have the financial resources at their disposal to conquer the inherent design problems in a multi-material club. I suspect this club and the orifginal Hi-Bore were what forced the eventual merger with Srixon. Shame too since they were on a roll after the acquisition of The Never Compromise line of putters and wedges, and The Original Launcher Series was a commercial blockbuster. These things are simply "THUDDY FEELING" as compared to the original, and the deadened sound vs. the classic titanium "PINGK" doesn't help any either.
OVERALL--3 Stars
It's a good club in many respects. Lots of distance, and forgiveness. The balance isn't bad--just sort of average though. The lack of feel, and sound is a real deal buster with me though. Even as a big fan of Cobras, I cannot reccomend their composite fairway metals either. It just doesn't seem to be a good mix as far as feel and sound goes. Believe me, some companies have even tried special metal inserts on the sole, or within the club head itself in order to attempt to get a ringier sound and feel. At these prices, it's a good club if you can tolerate swinging in the dead zone.
The Launcher Comp titanium fairway woods feature the same lightweight, tri-ply carbon fiber composite crown that is used in the Launcher 460 Comp driv...More at Golfio.com
The Launcher Comp titanium fairway woods feature the same lightweight, tri-ply carbon fiber composite crown that is used in the Launcher 460 Comp driv...More at Amazon Marketplace
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