Cleveland CG Black Driver Forum Testing Review Thread

[sharkwrestler]

Good write up SW , even in the wind your going sub 90 just wait till the winds set down.


Chewie man I was feeling your pain watching your vids get well soon.

 

[SW]

Good write up SW , even in the wind your going sub 90 just wait till the winds set down.

Consistentcy off the tee man. I've always thought if I could eliminate penalty strokes from that part of my game I could be a better golfer. Well, thanks to the Black I'm seeing that play out the way I thought it might. The tech and forgiveness they've packed into this driver made it something I've never had before; a game changer.

 

[sharkwrestler]

I hear you Sw, consistency is a game saver off the tee box and this club is bringing grins to you from what I'm reading. Looking forward to you next review.

 

[d_in_la]

Cleveland Golf CG Black 10.5° Stiff Test
Test Date: 11.27.11
Where: Harbor Park Golf Course, Los Angeles, CA
Purpose: 9-hole testing
Benched club: Taylor Made R7 460 10.5° Stiff, 45" Fujikura REAX 60g
Avg Swing Speed: +95.
Ball: Bridgestone e6
Weather: Beautiful upper 70's day. Soft breeze.

My my did the desert winds bring us a beautiful winter day here in Los Angeles. This is one of those days where your forget how expensive it is to live here, how packed our freeways are and even how long you have to wait between tees. When I teed off the mercury was lapping at 80° but the sweet and salty ocean breeze tussling with the arid desert wind kept our steps cool and light. As far as I am concerned making it the nicest 80° you could possibly imagine, as if god himself was softly sighing in blue sky. The day was magic ...and then I had an epic day with my B-1, the Cleveland CG Black Driver.

Hole 1, 316y Par 4: Normally I hit a hybrid off this tee box. With everyone watching and normally cold (no driving range) I rarely feel driver is the way to go. Not today! I make a decent swing and the B-1 rewards me just short of 250 yards later on the left side of the fairway. SW onto the very difficult (but large) green, lip out left-to-right uphill breaker birdie putt and still bounce away happy with my par.

Hole 2, 444y Par 4: A slight dog leg left, I usually push my drive into the right side trees trying to avoid the big branches at the inner apex of the dog leg. Not this time, B-1 absolutely crushed with roll right around 270 - a little short of that. My hole falls apart after this but in the end, I'm still pretty happy with my double considering the side of the tree my ball lay after a piss poor second shot.

Hole 3, 490y Par 5: A softly up hill Par 5, my B-1 answers the call again. Not a great swing but I get a nice kick on a downward section of drainage fairway and bounce to 250. I use my Boccieri Heavy 3 Wood and end up with in chipping/texas wedge to the green. My chip flies by he hole (doh!) to the back of the green leaving me a 15y putt, downhill right-to-left. ...that I promptly sink for bird! I hover to the next teebox.

Hole 4, 303y Par 4: This short par 4 is drivable for a big hitter and if you have it us regular guys can risk a bigger cut of corner and be near or on the green. The risk is thick thick rough on a hill and two sand traps - and if you miss the stand, some strategically placed trees to impede your progress. In the many many times I've played here, I've done this twice. The CG Black, again, makes me look like quite the stick. I fly the corner, bounce out of the rough and end up on the fairway, a few footsteps from the first cut of the green. I inexplicably three jack with my birdie putt slamming into the back of the hole and popping out. (facepalm) Whatevs, I'll still happily take my par. (sort of happily?)

Hole 5, 512y Par 5: Another risk-reward hole. If you can cut the right-to left dogleg, the steep downhill fairway will help you get some serious extra yards. However to cut the dogleg, there is a big tree sitting on top of a big hill about 245 out. This tree is straight outta Harry Potter and loves slapping things out of the sky. I have spent far too many minutes scrambling out of this area. But not today!! ok...so I don't exactly cut the corner, I was too much of a wimp BUT, I did end up getting a CRAZY bounce off the dirt maintenance path that crosses the fairway. With the downward run of the dogleg, I'm left with ~235y to the green. Ok, while I don't expect 275y drives, I generally don't expect to hit the car path either! I make an ok swing with my 3w and need to chip on. I run my putt past the hole, up the first tier ... and rolls back into the hole! YES! I am now a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Balloon.

Hole 6, Par 3: Don't want to talk about it.
Hole 7, 365y Par 4: Straight and flat. I knock my B-1 to 245 and put my PW on the fringe of the elevated green. ..aaaaand three jack from 15ft.

Hole 8, Par 3: Sliced into a tree. That was the highlight.

Hole 9, 377y Par 4: I have yet to miss a fairway at this point, so I'm totally amped. I step up, make a few good practice swings, address the ball ... and I over swing. Hey look at that, I still haven't missed a fairway ... if you count my 9th hole drive landing on the 1st fairway. I won't cover the rest except to say I dropped a 15foot putt for triple boge. Effyou golf gods.

After I mentally recovered from those last four holes, this was the best driver ball striking 9 holes of my life...even with that epic miss on #9.


Summary info, stealing some of the categories used by c0ncept:
Sound: Still loving it.
Feel: I knew all my good shots were good shots ... and I wish I was good enough to pull out of a swing because I knew that #9 was going to be bad. You just can't over cook the swing with this driver or the shaft will respond poorly.
Looks: Love it still. My playing partners I walked onto with may be going into the local golf shop because it looks good and provides great ...
Distance: Yup, pretty darn good.
Control: Mostly straight as an arrow.
Shaft: This is where I think larger grips would serve me well - on #9 I definitely gripped and ripped and gripping to hard is a fault of mine, especially with regular size grips.
Ball Flight: I'm happy with this. Not as high as some of the others in the group, but not as low as others. I did hit a few quite high, but not ballooned.

 

[royalwulff]

Great write up d! it is good to hear that this driver is really working out for you.

 

[Deltmi]

Nice play-by-play D! It was a BEAUTIFUL day in So Cal today. I wanted to golf so bad...

Anyway, have you played Los Verdes before? I'd love to see your review on that golf course.

 

[d_in_la]

Nice play-by-play D! It was a BEAUTIFUL day in So Cal today. I wanted to golf so bad...

Anyway, have you played Los Verdes before? I'd love to see your review on that golf course.

I have, twice a few years apart. I know rounds take forever around here but there are so many places to play.

 

[White Rhino]

JUst catching up on this thread.. great videos and update to Chunky, Chewie, SW, and D.

Chewie, you are a trooper getting out and hitting with that ankle looking like it does.

 

[d_in_la]

Great write up d! it is good to hear that this driver is really working out for you.

Wulffy, I'm 100% sure I jinxed myself for my next round! LOL.

JUst catching up on this thread.. great videos and update to Chunky, Chewie, SW, and D.

Chewie, you are a trooper getting out and hitting with that ankle looking like it does.

Ain't that the truth! WR, I think you're going to enjoy hitting this club.

 

[Tadashi70]

Cleveland Golf CG Black 10.5° Stiff Test
Test Date: 11.12.11
Where: Driving Range: Westchester Golf Course, Los Angeles, CA
Purpose: Target practice
Benched club: Taylor Made R7 460 10.5° Stiff, 45" Fujikura REAX 60g
Avg Swing Speed: ~95. (I think I'm comfortably above this with the CG Black)
Ball: Range Rocks
Weather: My car said 60°, my brain said 50° - a little breeze and the marine layer brought the chill tonight!

Chilly night here in SoCal ... er ... for SoCal. Anyhoo, I wanted to get out and focus on hitting to targets on the range.

I started with my 8i, just to get the rust out and quickly found a real nice groove, a draw here a chunky one there, but mostly straight and where I expected. Stepped up to a 4h, crush crush crush - I don't think I hit a bad one. 3w started out a little fat but then really started swinging smooth. My aim was a bit off with my 3w, but not bad - I landed lots of shots just off my imaginary fairway (two trees in the distance).

Then I pulled out the B-1.

After a few over-excited swings, I found that real nice groove. Now, I may not have been hitting into my imaginary fairway as much as I would like. I mean, wouldn't we like to hit it in the short grass all the time? However, more often than not, I made swings that would put me in a fairway. I would switch targets between trees which required a new setup position each time. I would guesstimate I was hitting 7 out of 10 in my planned range with distance. The guy at the range said the net is about 260y and I was certainly getting the ball there.

Previously in the thread there was discussion about overloading the shaft, so I spent a bit of time, ramping the speed of my swing up and down to find that point. I haven't gone to the monitor, but I can absolutely swing too hard for this shaft. I took a fair amount of practice swings to gauge my feel of what the shaft might be doing - this feel started coalescing in my mind. Earlier in the thread we talked about feeling where the head was. Using that as a barometer, I knew that the shaft was flexing too much or in the much broader good swing zone. Once I got above ~85% I noticed immediately I was starting to max out the shaft. Anything above that was pushing the ball left or slicing - I also associate this with holding the club extra tight instead of nice and light. For the all my clubs I have to be careful to swing with a good tempo, my game goes to mud if I don't. With the CG Black I also have to be cognizant of maxing out at ~85%.

As my fitness/flexibility improves I may be able to replicate good tempo swing with a SS over 100. Until then, the CG Black is my gateway to that higher speed longer distance world. And that is pretty cool.

Summary info, stealing some of the categories used by c0ncept:
Sound: Love the sound of this bad boy.
Feel: I have never swung a club that lets you know you've flushed it better than this one.
Looks: This thing is still gorgeous. Like a sports car, I don't mind spending an extra second making sure it is nice and clean.
Distance: I'm feeling really good about what I'm seeing
Control: Mostly straight as an arrow.
Shaft: The "good result" range of this shaft is very broad, sucking up swings that would only be OK and giving you better returns. Can overload with a little muscling.
Ball Flight: (still deciding) I would say I'm somewhere between a medium and high ball hitter, closer to medium. With this club, I'm closer to high, but no where near balloon high.


I hope to get out for a round this weekend hopefully with this grooved swing.

I like your review sir, very nice. I'm wondering what your swing speed is. And where does 85% put you, in your estimation? Keep the good work.

 

[Tadashi70]

Test Date: 11/20/11
Testing Club: Cleveland Black Driver 10.5* with C Kua 39S
Prior Club: Callaway Razr Hawk 10.5* with PX 6.0 & Titleist 910 D2 9.5* with Kaili 75S
Ball Used: Bridgestone B330RX
Environment: Decent breeze and damp ground


Sunday morning was gorgeous and warm so I went and played 18. I had a groupon for Lonnie Poole Golf Course which is the home course for NC State University. This is a beastly course with thick rough, sawgrass, lots of woods. But the course is beautiful and pretty long so I felt it would be a great test for the Black. Very windy with gusts up to 15 mph and for some reason it felt like it was in our face the entire time.

1[SUP]st[/SUP] hole—507--Short par 5. Woods to the left and there is a bunker at about 210 so if you don’t catch your drive it’s going in there. I didn’t catch my drive. Tried to play a fade off the woods and it sliced instead of faded. Ball ballooned just a little as well. Not a good drive into the bunker

2[SUP]nd[/SUP] hole—186--Par 3

3[SUP]rd[/SUP] hole—501—Another par 5. This one has a bunker to the left and woods to the right. Pretty generous fairway though. Just tried to hit a straight shot at the right portion of the fairway. Ball came off nicely with a mid/high ball flight and straight. 240 straight into the wind

4[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—298—Didn’t use driver

5[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—419—Really nice par 4 with a nice landing area to the left and just dead if you go right. Trees block the shot into the green if you are right. I tried playing a draw to the left of the fairway and it did not work. Ball just went straight and high and the wind just took it straight right. 213 and I was dead

6[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—141--Par 3

7[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—493—Nice par 5 with bunker left and woods right. Pretty narrow landing area for your drive. Tried to play a little fade off the bunker and it came off perfectly. Mid/high ballflight that just kept going. Ball faded slightly at the end and I got nice roll out with that one. 275

8[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—144--Par 3

9[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—395—IMO the hardest driving hole on the course. Bunker to the right at 240 and it juts out into the fairway. Deep woods to the right. There is no bailout here. I just take aim at the bunker and try my best to hit a draw. Ball comes off great with a high ball flight that kept going and going. Looked to me like it landed in the bunker. Drove up and the ball had cleared the bunker and was right in the middle of the fairway. 263

10[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—345—Little dogleg right so I was feeling confident on the tee with the fade that I’ve worked on. I aimed it down the left side and unleashed a weak ass slice that was in the stratosphere and dropped into the right rough. 210

11[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—582—This is possibly the nicest hole in Raleigh. When standing on the tee box you get an incredible view of downtown Raleigh. Bunkers left and woods right. Pretty narrow landing area. I look at the left bunker and play a fade off of it. Ball comes off with a pretty high ball flight and keeps going. Just at the end it fades back into the fairway. 270 and into the wind. I crushed that ball

12[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—391—Used Mashie off tee

13[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—410—This is a dogleg right hole with the driving area straight uphill. Today it was right into a big breeze. I tried playing a shot that I’ve been practicing at the range which is a really low drive. Ball back in stance and just almost play a punch shot. Aimed right at the middle of the fairway and the ball came out just like I envisioned. Low screamer that ended up 220. I was very happy with that shot

14[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—146—Par 3

15[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—468—2[SUP]nd[/SUP] hardest driving hole. Water to the left and deep woods to the right. Very narrow driving area. Took aim at the middle of the fairway and just tried to hit it straight. Nice mid high ball flight straight into the wind. Felt like I caught that one just a little into the heel. 224

16[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—341—Downhill tee shot that has 3 pot bunkers in the middle of the fairway. Water to the left and woods to the right. Played the drive off the right edge of the fairway and tried playing a draw. Pushed the drive just a little bit and it just missed a big tree but it drew back into the middle of the fairway. Hit that shot very solidly. Almost too solid as it just missed the first pot bunker. 281

17[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—118—Par 3

18[SUP]th[/SUP] hole—441--Hardest hole on the course. Bunker to the left and not a very large landing area. Took aim at the left edge of the fairway and tried playing a fade. Ball came off really high and ballooned on me. Faded a little at the end and I was in the middle of the fairway. 225

Walked off with mixed emotions. I hit some very nice drives today but my average distance seemed short. Wind was almost always right into our face. I know it sounds crazy but even the guys I was playing with said that. I need to work on my tee height and ball position and get that worked out. A couple of shots ballooned on me and I had not seen that by my driver in years. There were a couple of bright spots though. When I did manage to catch the sweetspot the driver performed very well.

Early on in the round I feel like I was almost taking too easy a swing. Hole 7 is where I noticed that and from there on I was taking a more natural swing and my results got better. Good first round with the driver in some pretty tough driving conditions. Hit 53.8% FIR with an average driving distance of 238.6

Chunk I like the recap bro. On your misses do you think that was a case of poor setup? I found that i set up for a fade and I'm a little off I really miss the mark. And have you adjusted the tee height to get rid of those balloons?
Keep up the fine reviews my friend!

 

[Chunkylover77]

Chunk I like the recap bro. On your misses do you think that was a case of poor setup? I found that i set up for a fade and I'm a little off I really miss the mark. And have you adjusted the tee height to get rid of those balloons?
Keep up the fine reviews my friend!

I am very sloppy with my setup Freddie. That is a big issue of mine and one I'm trying to fix. I did adjust the tee height and this past weekend I hit the ball very solidly at the range. The course was another thing but I think it was just an off day

 

[sharkwrestler]

I am very sloppy with my setup Freddie. That is a big issue of mine and one I'm trying to fix. I did adjust the tee height and this past weekend I hit the ball very solidly at the range. The course was another thing but I think it was just an off day

Chunky, You had wrote before you went back to your normal tee height is that low or high?

 

[Chunkylover77]

Chunky, You had wrote before you went back to your normal tee height is that low or high?

Man I'm sorry for not clarifying. I normally tee the ball with 1 line showing on the Epoch tees. I started this testing by raising that to 2 lines on the Epoch tee. I struggled with that in terms of contact. I would hit some extremely well and other shots were just sad popups. So this weekend I went back to a more normal tee height of 1 line showing on the Epoch tee and my contact was much more consistent. For those without Epoch tees, I would say the ball is right about even with the top of the driver.

 

[War Eagle]

I am very sloppy with my setup Freddie. That is a big issue of mine and one I'm trying to fix. I did adjust the tee height and this past weekend I hit the ball very solidly at the range. The course was another thing but I think it was just an off day

Chunky, I am the same way with my setup a good bit of the time. I found that my misses with the Black often came when I was lazy with my setup on the tee box.

 

[SW]

has anyone seen this in 9* stiff yet? I've called around and no luck finding one to try. I really think the 9* might be just about perfect as it gets for me based on observations so far.

 

[Kmac]

has anyone seen this in 9* stiff yet? I've called around and no luck finding one to try. I really think the 9* might be just about perfect as it gets for me based on observations so far.

Nope. And Ive been looking too. Those things are harder to find then a straight drive when I play golf.

 

[Chunkylover77]

Nope. And Ive been looking too. Those things are harder to find then a straight drive when I play golf.

Man that is tough to find

 

[ddec]

Nope. And Ive been looking too. Those things are harder to find then a straight drive when I play golf.

I haven't even found this driver in stores yet

 

[Kmac]

Man that is tough to find

I knew you'd understand that one.

I haven't even found this driver in stores yet

Not even in your GG? Mine has the fishing pole flex only.

 

[War Eagle]

I haven't even found this driver in stores yet

All I can find is Senior flex down here.

 

[SW]

Part of me wonders if there was some education to the sales staff at golf stores about the shaft properties of the 39 c kua, as far as it being a little lighter than "typical" flexes. Hopefully the flex code system is understood more now, but since my earlier request was met with the general "what's your swing speed?" question from a store employee I doubt it.

I truly beleive it's a great driver and can help a lot of golfers hit more fairways and lower their scores, but a poor fitting or bad information is hard to overcome.

 

[d_in_la]

I like your review sir, very nice. I'm wondering what your swing speed is. And where does 85% put you, in your estimation? Keep the good work.

Hey Tadashi, thanks for the positive feedback! When I last had my SS measured I was averaging just around 95. Since that time I've improved my tempo - especially at the top, where I can get the club to load properly and uncoil to release - so I would imagine I added a few extra mph. I find when I'm above 85/90% that I get quick at top, grip the club like Homer on Bart and end up coming over the top or being unable to make the proper rotation through the ball, in which case I'm a little wild. When I swing with all my effort, I can feel the shaft deform and never snap back causing a big push-slice.

So I'm going to try using the mid-side WinnLite Hero grip which is the same weight as the standard cleveland grip and hopefully get on a launch monitor sometime soon to verify my thoughts. Just hard to find LM sessions where I can use my club and not pay $$ for the time.

 

[chewie69]

Test Date: 11/30/11
Testing Club: Cleveland Black Driver 10.5* with C Kua 39S shaft
My Prior Club: Taylormade Tour Burner 10.5*, stiff flex
Ball Used: Range Balls
Environment: Mostly sunny, 45*, Right ankle in brace

Well, I got back out to the range today, to see how the ankle was progressing before making a decision on whether or not to play Woodmont in the morning. I was quite happy with my progress and seem to have quite a bit of my movement back, with my brace on, with minimal to no pain. I have been limiting how many drives I hit off the mats, with my CG Black, simply because the tees are higher than what I like for my ball flight. Last week I posted pics of how I typically am teeing the ball vs the mat tees. Here is a pic of the strike pattern on the face when hitting off the mat tees:

Off the mat tees, I am always in the top third of the face, verses being right about center when I tee it on the grass.

Anyway, all in all a good session today. Most of my shots were right down the middle, or just barely left or right. I do not feel like I have to kill this driver to get good distance from it, and really feel like I am getting in a groove with it. I am playing Woodmont Golf Club tomorrow morning, where I have never played,so I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Pinhi]

Went to my local Golf Galaxy here in Richmond, VA to test drive the club at lunch. Bummer - they haven't got any in yet. I see some for sale on EBAY for $250-275. That's a pretty big discount already from the $399 list price.