Cleveland Drivers by Year

By Coach Erik Schjolberg – Feb 23, 2024

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Cleveland Drivers Over the Last 5 Years

For a company most known for short game mastery, Cleveland Golf has quietly made some impressive drivers in recent years. Although your pros opt for Srixon (under the same umbrella), Cleveland drivers are a great option for all types of golfers.

Launcher XL 2: Receiving the Golf Digest Hot List Gold nod, the XL 2 builds off the success of the original Launcher XL. Huge profile, mounds of forgiveness, and very easy to hit straight. The “Mainframe XL Face” has an enlarged sweet spot that maximizes your ball speeds.

Launcher XL 2 Draw: All of the new tech as the XL 2, with a draw bias. Fights the worst slices, and helps you find the fairway. An 8 gram counterweight is placed inside the end of the shaft at the top of the grip. The counterweight helps deliver a more controlled and stable swing, and helps square the face before impact.

Cleveland Launcher Driver History

The most recent model, the Launcher XL, released in 2021, Cleveland aimed to make golf more fun for more players. With high MOI, low center of gravity, and counterbalancing, the Launcher XL is just that. Fun! Easy to hit, and easy to keep it straight.

The Launcher XL is built off previous Launcher drivers. Previous to the XL, released in 2019, the Launcher HB Turbo is a light weight, game friendly option. HB standing for “HiBore” takes technology from the early 2000s that lowers the crown leading back to the tail of the club. This lowers the center of gravity and improves aerodynamics.

In 2017, the Launcher HB was released with much praise from the weekend warrior. Released in the height of adjustability with sliding weights, adjustable hosels, and crazy configurations, the Launcher HB was a no frills, just swing offering that the average golfer appreciated. It was the start of a new era for Cleveland woods, where the average golfer is first in mind.

Cleveland Drivers History

Cleveland Golf started out in 1979 and was the first manufacturer to offer wedges with multiple bounce options. It wasn’t until the 1990s that Cleveland started making drivers.

The first iteration was the VAS woods, and they were very popular in Japan. So much so that Japan based SRI Sports purchased the namesake, and Cleveland now operates alongside Srixon and XXIO.

The 460cc driver head has been industry standard since 2022, but Cleveland was the first to bring it to market in 2003. The Launcher (460) was the first driver to feature a 460cc clubhead, and it turned heads. The company that makes good wedges all of a sudden had the tee box covered too.

How Often Does Cleveland Release New Drivers

Cleveland Golf is more focused on short game, especially wedges, and has regular releases and improvements every year. Their driver market isn’t quite as large, and focuses on game improvement, which limits regular releases.

Cleveland will release some tweaked models or player specific drivers every year, but a completely new driver is seen only every two years or more. With game improvement off the tee in mind, Cleveland only releases something new when they have made marked improvements to a previous model.