Cleveland Classic Tour Driver Review
The Cleveland Classic Tour Driver is new for 2012 and boosts an array of cool shaft upgrades. No B.S the club head looks weird to begin with. I mean the face is gold and the crown (top) of the driver is burgundy. If it wasn’t such a solid brand like Cleveland I honestly don’t think I would go near it. However, after using it for four rounds I have grown very fond of it and would even consider switching it with my Titleist 910 Driver.
The Cleveland Classic Tour version is the heaviest and most compact version of the three Cleveland Drivers. The other two are the 290 and 270. They are lighter and more forgiving, probably better suited to the slower swinging golfer.
My swing speed is 110 mph, so I opted for the Tour version, which is weighted at 310 grams.
Cleveland Classic Specs:
The lofts the Cleveland Classic driver comes in are 8.5, 9.5 and 10.5 degrees. As I use 9.5 degrees usually, the loft selection was perfect for me. The stock shaft is a Miyazaki Kusala black 61 grams. The head is only 440cc, so a little more compact than the average driver of 460 degrees. However, saying that, I don’t think there is any loss of forgiveness from the Classic Tour. The swing weight is D4, so it’s the heaviest driver that Cleveland make.
Looks:
Well, obviously this driver is a little different. Maybe it’s a marketing strategy to make the driver look ‘old fashioned’. Cleveland can’t really go with the white club head as that has been taken by Cobra, Taylormade etc I believe driver equipment has reached a peak, and companies are now just trying to distinguish their clubs in more radical ways. But anyway, many people do like the look of the Cleveland Classic club head. However, I found that I had to get used to the look of it, rather than ‘love’ it straight out of the bag. If you can accept that every now and again your playing partners are going to ask, ‘what the hell is that your playing with’ then you should be able to get on okay with the Classics ‘classical’ looks! I would give the looks 3/10.
Feel:
The Cleveland Classic Tour felt like it had an abundance of raw power off the face. It actually became quite addictive to really try and smash this golf club off every tee. The shaft head combination was fantastic! I used the Miyazaki Kusala Black 72 x-stiff, and this shaft just felt phenomenally solid and stable at impact. Often I hit the ball quite high, but the stiff tip of the Miyazaki let me hit the ball as hard as I wanted, without any danger of the ball ballooning. I would give feel 9/10.
Distance:
First of all this driver is packed with massive distance. I mean it really flies a long way. I believe this is down to the shaft head combination. The deep face and solid feel of the Classic tour matched to the low launching, low spinning Miyazaki is pure perfection. A match made in heaven. Cleveland have obviously gone all out to make this sledge hammer the best in the driver market for distance. The distance was definitely 10/10.
Ball flight:
The ball flight from the Cleveland Classic was outright AWESOME. Really powerful and direct. Even better than my Titleist which I thought was the best ball flight I could get. The Miyazaki shaft gave me a high low spinning flight. The difference between this driver and most i have hit is that; when your driver gets to it’s apex it doesn’t just fall steeply to the ground, but actually keeps on going forward to the target. Ball flight 10/10
Summary: If you can stomach the looks, this is actually a fantastic piece of equipment. It is mid-priced for the market, which is about right in my opinion. I believe it’s good value for your money. With a cool shaft in as well, the resale value will always be higher than most too! 8/10
