Equipment
Cleveland CG Black and CG Black Custom drivers
Driver swings on the PGA Tour clock in at more than 110 mph. According to Cleveland Golf, most recreational golfers play a much slower game and shouldn’t be using the same drivers they see on TV.
Cleveland’s new CG Black (260 grams) and CG Black Custom (275 grams) drivers have lightweight designs that cater to golfers with average swing speeds, as well as those who need more distance and forgiveness.
The CG Black driver is for golfers with less 95 mph of speed, while the CG Black Custom driver — which has an adjustable hosel — is for those who swing between 85-and-105 mph.
CG Black Custom ($400)
The CG Black Custom has what Cleveland calls “Speed Innovation technology” that makes the club head lighter for faster swing speeds. It comes stock with a Mitsubishi Bassara E50 shaft (A, R and S-flexes in both left- and right-handed options), and comes with an adjustable hosel that provides loft options between 9 and 12 degrees.
Cleveland CG Black ($350)
Cleveland’s CG Black is designed with what’s called “low swing MOI,” which helps generate more club head speed, but “high club head MOI,” for face stability at impact on off-center hits. The driver isn’t adjustable, but it’s offered in various lofts — 9, 10.5 and 12.5 degrees.
If you need more speed and forgiveness and don’t care about adjustability, try out Cleveland’s CG Black. If you swing it a little faster and want to dial in your ball flight with an adjustable hosel, you’ll want to try the CG Black Custom.
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.
Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.
Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX
7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX
Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.
@Lamosteve began:
Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine
Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6
Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
- JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
- jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”
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Aaron Rai’s winning WITB: 2026 PGA Championship
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Best irons 2026: Best irons overall, most forgiving irons, and more
Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament. Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
Hannah Green WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Titleist GTS3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting) Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana RB 53 S 3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees,...
Asterisk Talley WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 S 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (16.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue...
Brianna Do WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 3-wood: Callaway Elyte Titanium (15 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 5-wood:...
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FTWPhil
Feb 9, 2015 at 2:50 pm
We haven’t sold much of their drivers since the Hi-Bore Monster XLS. IIRC they had a BOGO fairway deal though. Honestly the most recent horrible feeling driver by a major OEM. I think they suffer from changing horses midstream with the acquisition of Cleveland by Srixon. Seems like too much Asian market equipment.
And I don’t care if Rotex 2.0 is better, it looks horrible.
j.a.
Feb 8, 2015 at 6:14 am
Last Friday there was a demo day at my home club. I tried the new CG Black but it didn’t impressed me. I pulled my Launcher XL from my bag for comparison and it felt much better, same as my Classic XL which is my current gamer.
I agree with the comments that Cleveland Golf is such an underrated brand. They do great clubs and it’s sad to see that they are coming in 2015 with such a limited offer. In Australia, they are quite popular.
Steve
Feb 7, 2015 at 1:08 pm
It seems like very little effort from Cleveland on this driver
JH
Feb 6, 2015 at 5:45 pm
non-adjustable driver for $350? lol
graymulligan
Feb 8, 2015 at 10:33 am
that’s okay…give these 3 months, they’ll be $169 at DSG.
Seriously, Cleveland…are you even trying any more?
LorenRobertsFan
Feb 6, 2015 at 3:39 pm
Disappointing. looks like a Machspeed
dcorun
Feb 6, 2015 at 1:20 pm
I’ve played the Cleveland Classic Custom XL since late 2013. One of the best drivers they have ever sold. I traded in my Launcher 460 which was also a great driver. Cleveland has long been an underrated company which is a shame. I also play their 588 MT irons and they are also outstanding especially with the forged face. I’ll probably try out the CG Black against my Classic to see if it’s worth changing. I was fitted for the Classic and haven’t changed it so, I’ll just buy the non adjustable and save $50 if I switch.
Denis
Feb 6, 2015 at 10:51 am
Why was the previous driver a flop in your opinion? I’m using XL270 and may consider upgrading to this one, so would be curious to know.
Thank you.
NGG
Feb 4, 2015 at 4:52 pm
Been a big fan of Cleveland drivers up to and including the classic XL custom…this rehash of a previous flop just smells like desperation and is a little disappointing.