In recent years, Cleveland Golf has invested heavily into making the game easier for average golfers. A substantial portion of their product line is slanted towards game improvement, and they’ve followed that up with clever marketing in an effort to connect with the plethora of golfers that took up the game after 2020. Last year Cleveland revamped their entire line, organizing many of their core game-improvement clubs under the HALO XL name. Featuring fairway woods, hybrids, and Hy-Woods, HALO XL offers a technology package that goes beyond the “distance at all costs” credo we sometimes see in modern metal woods.
It just makes sense that the long end of the bag consistently causes average golfers the most headaches. After all, these clubs have less loft and longer shafts than irons and less surface area to miss than a driver. In a cruel twist, many of the golfers that have the most problems with these clubs need them the most. You all know the guy. He’s hitting hybrid or fairway wood on half the par 4’s. Hell, I’ve been that guy.
So, how do you make clubs that are inherently more difficult to hit friendlier for the masses? Cleveland thinks they’ve figured out the formula. They built the HALO XL line from the ground up and went way outside the box. The line offers unique head shapes not found anywhere else, forgiving soles, extreme forgiveness, and a variety of lofts. In addition, by supplying a large selection of offerings they can accommodate the guys that swing hybrids better than fairway woods, those that are just the opposite, and those that can’t really hit either all that well. While the company isn’t revamping the HALO XL line in 2025, they have added two key pieces. Both are narrow in focus but contribute to their overall mission of delivering a long-game system for as many players as possible.
HALO XL Lite Fairway Woods
New to the HALO XL line, the XL Lite fairways woods may fill the gap for what Cleveland is calling “moderate” swing speed players. Of course, that’s just a nice way of saying “slow”. We know very well that “moderate” swing speeds occupy a large percentage of golfers out there, and these additional options are designed to produce the most possible distance via more ball speed, higher flight, forgiveness and playability.
As you might imagine, XL Lite fairway woods are the lightweight option in HALO line. However, these aren’t just the same clubs with a lighter shaft. They have a slightly different build, weighting profile, and come standard in higher lofts.
XL Lite fairway woods utilize Glide Rail technology, which has been a staple of Cleveland’s clubs for quite some time now. It’s stuck around because it works. The XL Lite fairway woods feature two Glide Rails that surround the center of the sole. The whole purpose of Glide Rail technology is to improve turf interaction from as many lies as possible. Fat shots are less likely to cause digging into the turf than a standard sole and leading edge. Instead, the rails function to allow the club to slide into the ball, saving users from a potentially disastrous result. Shots from the rough seem easier to pull off as well.
In addition to Glide Rail technology, XL Lite fairway woods feature the same oversized profile Cleveland utilizes in the rest of the HALO XL line. More surface area provides more forgiveness. In addition, the company is utilizing AI modeling to create optimal weighting and a face that best matches its intended audience’s strike pattern. While center contact will always reign supreme, this face design produces as much ball speed as possible when you miss. Cleveland calls this technology Mainframe XL, and they’ve tweaked it specifically for the XL Lite line to ensure it works best for moderate swing speeds.
To further speed up the Mainframe XL face, XL Lite fairway woods feature Rebound Frame. We’ve talked about Rebound Frame quite a bit over the last year. It’s a secondary flex zone in the body of the club, directly behind the face. This additional flex zone works with the face to produce higher ball speeds at impact.
Like other options in the HALO line, XL Lite fairway woods feature Action Mass Counterbalancing, which is a supplementary weight positioned under the grip. This promotes a smoother takeaway and is said to make an inside path easier to achieve.
HALO XL Hy-Woods
Since hitting the scene, Hy-Woods have become sort of a cult favorite among THP readers. They are kind of funky looking and hard to categorize, but for certain players they are game changing golf clubs. What is a Hy-Wood? Well, it’s not a fairway wood, but it’s not a hybrid either. It’s really not even a combination of the two, regardless of how the name makes it sound. The Hy-Wood is a unique long-game option that just doesn’t exist elsewhere.
In a general sense, the HALO XL Hy-Wood has a head size (in volume) that fits between a fairway wood and hybrid. Still, it’s shaped quite different than either. If you twisted our elbow, we’d say the head resembles a large hybrid more than a fairway wood, but you really just have to accept that it’s its own thing. The head shape is designed to allow players to hit down into the ball, unlike a fairway wood that many players try to sweep.
With a slightly longer and lighter shaft (47g Aldila Ascent) than you see in most hybrids, and along with the added head volume, Hy-Woods tend to gap right between both clubs in terms of distance. Many players have found that they can bring back some of the height they’ve been missing with modern long clubs, making it easier to hit and hold greens from farther out.
We reviewed the HALO XL Hy-Wood line when it was released, so we won’t rehash all the technology details here. We recommend reading through the review, as it shows exactly how much ball speed this unique club can create. While it’s not for everybody, we’ve noticed that certain players really do well with the Hy-Wood, and it’s worth taking the time to demo one.
Cleveland isn’t changing the HALO XL Hy-Wood line for 2025, but they are doing something that the Hy-Wood’s fans have wanted for a long time. They are adding two new loft options to the line. Specifically, 2025’s Hy-Wood line will now have a 5+ and 6+ option to go with the existing 3+ and 4+. Gapping is a very personal thing for each swing, but in general, Cleveland is expecting the new options to be about 5-6 yards longer than a comparable hybrid. These two new options will give Hy-Wood fans the ability to move directly into their irons with a club they have confidence in. What’s not to love?
Details
Halo XL Lite fairway woods and Halo XL Hy-Woods will be available online and at retailers starting November 18, 2024. XL Lite fairway woods are available in 3HL, 5HL, and 7HL lofts and will be priced at $229. HALO XL Hy-Woods are available in 3+, 4+, 5+, and 6+ lofts and will be priced at $209.
In addition, Cleveland is offering unique women’s versions of each club that are optimized to fit female swing patterns. More information can be found at dunlopsports.com.
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