Cleveland Launcher XL, XL Halo irons

Gear: Cleveland Launcher XL irons
Price: $799.99 (4-PW) at Carl’s Golf Land and Dick’s with True Temper Elevate 95 steel shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grips. $899.99 with Project X Catalyst graphite shafts
Specs: Hollow-body designed long irons blended with cavity-back short irons. Counterbalanced shafts. 

The new Launcher XL irons blend two types of clubs into one set to deliver easy-to-hit long irons and precision-focused scoring clubs.

All of the clubs are 15 percent larger from heel to toe than the previous generation of Launcher irons, and they have a wide V-shaped sole that is designed to work in and out of the turf efficiently to help golfers get better performance on fat shots. Each of the irons has also been given Cleveland’s MainFrame face, a hitting surface created after computers simulated thousands of shots with different face designs to create the fastest and most forgiving hitting area possible.

The grooves in the Launcher XL irons vary by loft. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

However, the 4-iron through 7-iron heads are hollow, to allow that face to flex more efficiently and create even more ball speed. The 8-iron through gap wedge have a cavity-back design that should provide more control and feel. The short irons also have narrower, deeper grooves than those found in the long irons. According to Cleveland, they should help to produce more spin, which can create a higher launch angle, steeper descent angle and more spin.

The V-shaped sole helps the Launcher XL work through the turf. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

At the top of the handle, under the grip, Cleveland has added an 8-gram weight. The weight helps to counterbalance the weight of the head, so with the same amount of effort, golfers should be able to create more clubhead speed. The company refers to it as Action Mass CB.