# Cleveland HiBore XLS 10.5Â° - The Marmite of golf



## boggybop (Feb 28, 2009)

Strengths:
Great designâ€¦. In my opinion!
Sits really well behind the ball and looks great at address.
Club provides optimal distance especially on mishits.
Top notch shaft fitted which seems to suit my game.

Weaknesses:
Some people will hate the looks of the club!
Squeaky â€œlike hydrogen testingâ€ pop on impact. 

Iâ€™ve been using the Cleveland HiBore XLS 10.5Â° driver (with Fujikura fit on gold regular flex shaft) for 9 months now and Iâ€™m really enjoying it. Cleveland claims that the clubface is 17% larger than the original HiBore XL, 13% increase in MOI and Full Face Performance (FFP) extends the "Hot Zone" of maximum .830 COR across a larger portion of the face creating more distance from both solid shots and mishits alike.  

The club sits nicely behind the ball, the large scooped out crown radiates confidence and aids any alignment issues.  The shape of the clubhead has properties not dissimilar to marmite - you will either love it or hate it.  Personally I love it; the shape is something new, exciting and unique.  The underside of the clubhead is stylish without being garish, the red and silver compliment each other well.  Another well styled attribute is the headcover, with E-Z grab technology, it makes taking the headcover off a much easier and more efficient process.  The club comes fitted as standard with a highly commended Fujikura fit on shaft, with a choice of gold shaft or red shaft in regular, stiff or extra-stiff.  The gold shaft is aimed at the standard ability golfer and promotes a higher ball flight because of the lighter shaft; the red shaft has been produced for the stronger player who wants a heavier shaft and lower ball flight.  

So far I have been impressed by the distance gained from using the XLS, previously I owned the XL model and I have discovered a notable increase of between 10 -15 yards by just using the new model.  However I have been most impressed by the quality of strike on a mishit, even when the ball isnâ€™t struck from the hot zone, the ball still flies!  The soundâ€¦.  Well the sound, just like the shape, is like marmite; although some love it, some hate it.  I would describe the sound as a squeaky sonic boom which will definitely turn a few heads â€“ but as long as it carries on flying straight down the middle Iâ€™m not going to complain!


----------

