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View Full Version : Anyone tried the Cleveland Altitude hybrid irons?



sfdoddsy
26th February 2016, 10:02 PM
Even though I recently bought a set of Callaway XR Pros, on a drunken whim the other day I bought a cheap set of Cleveland Altitude hybrid irons from eBay. They've had rave reviews at The Hacker's Paradise.

My intention was to try them out just for the heck of it, and at best maybe keep the 3 iron to fill the gap above my current set.

But I figured I've them all a whack.

The XRs are pretty forgiving, as were my old set of JDM Callaways.

But these things are insanely easy to hit. At one stage I pulled out the 6 iron, thought 'wow this is easy' then 'wow this is long', only to discover I was actually hitting the 3 iron.

Overall length was about the same as the XRs.

Even though they are ugly shovels, the really unique thing is that they have less offset than most 'player's' irons, especially in the long irons. Even though offset doesn't necessarily mean more left, that is my bad shot and the Altitudes appeared to be consistently less draw-prone.

As the name suggests, they go very high. Too high in the lower irons. But also very straight.

I don't know that I'd be game to game the whole set (the ugly shovel thing), but I hit all of them really well.

Even better (but alas something I found out after I bought the full set) The Golf Factory in Penrith are selling the 3 and 4 for a mere $39 each.

I haven't used an iron longer than a five for over ten years. With modern lofts that's equivalent to a 6 iron. To feel confident standing over a 3 iron (or 2 iron in the old days) was an unusual experience to say the least.

damoocow
26th February 2016, 11:19 PM
I used to have a set of the HB3's which were very similar - liked them but too light[I had graphite] - would consider the altitudes - may even look at a 3 or 4 at 39 each

3Puttpete
27th February 2016, 09:15 AM
The whole 588 series is quality

d-mac
29th February 2016, 07:11 PM
By way of comparison, I may or may not have a 588MT 2 iron in my bag bent to 17* and which officially doesn't exist. It is stupidly easy to hit. I haven't hit the Altitudes, but I would come close to knocking out the International Space Station with the Altitudes based on the MT trajectory. I also use a 21* Wilson Staff V4 utility iron, V4 irons and a Tour Edge Exotics CB5 15* fairway with a Bassara shaft, all of which get airborne easily, but nothing like the mysterious MT.