The Launcher XL 2 Draw Driver is the latest lightweight, draw bias driver from Cleveland Golf. This driver is aimed at players with a slow to moderate swing speed, and particularly those that may struggle with a slice. Let’s see if it does the job and sits among the best drivers for slicers.
In terms of the looks, my verdict would be mixed. The color and finish looking down at address are great, and actually look a lot more premium than the relatively moderate $449.00 price tag would suggest. From a shelf appeal point of view, I think it looks OK, albeit the sole graphics and finish do look a touch more “budget” than some of the other OEMs to my eye at least.
My main issue is the head shape behind the ball. I like symmetry to my driver heads and unfortunately the Launcher XL 2 Draw just looks slightly out of balance to me. The transition from the hosel to the crown is nicely perpendicular to the face, whereas on the toe end this transition from face to crown is at a very different angle, producing a slightly warped visual to me.
Looks are obviously very subjective however, and it should be noted however that, although I haven’t yet received the standard version for testing, from the images I have seen, it looks a lot better from a shaping perspective.
Like many of the best drivers released in 2024, such as the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke family, Ai has had its input into the face design of the Launcher XL 2 Draw driver, with variable face thickness implemented in conjunction with impact data from thousands of golf swings.
The sound and feel are a touch on the harsh side to be perfectly honest, but this is to be expected from an all titanium head that lacks the dampening effect of the ever more prevalent carbon. Whilst it is a firm impact that produces a fairly loud impact sound, there is a certain robustness to the strike that lets you know you have collided powerfully with the ball, and the ball speed reflects that…
I have tested an awful lot of drivers over the past few months and somewhat surprisingly, the Launcher XL 2 Draw produced the third fastest ball speed for me of everything behind only the TaylorMade Qi10 and the Ping G430 Max 10K. This must be caveated with the fact that my club head speed was up around one mph from my normal 118mph while using this driver.
That might well be down to the counterbalancing work Cleveland has done and the overall lighter weight of the driver. Cleveland has continued with its 'Action Mass CB', which is essentially an 8 gram counter weight in the butt of the club that reduces the overall swing weight of the driver, and depending on your swing dynamics can actually increase club head speed.
The draw version comes in a full 9 grams lighter than the standard Launcher XL 2 driver, which could also account for some extra juice!
I tested the Cleveland Launcher XL 2 driver at Saunton Golf Club, using a SkyTrak+ launch monitor and TaylorMade TP5x golf balls, and I have to say the performance surprised me.
In addition to the high ball speed, it was exceptionally easy to launch which will please the target demographic here. The spin was on the higher side for me in the standard setting, but the adjustable hosel came in handy here. With a simple click of a wrench, I was able to find lower loft setting that produced my desired low to mid 2000's rpm number and put out some strong distance numbers.
Dispersion was good, albeit a little left of target due to the draw bias nature of the head and I was impressed with the stability on mishits.
The Cleveland Launcher XL 2 Draw driver is available in 9, 10.5 and 12 degrees of loft and comes as standard with a high quality Aldila Ascent shaft that has a very high launch and spin profile.
Overall, I am not entirely sure how I feel about this driver! The looks, sound and feel did not get me off to a great start, but the overall performance I think has won me back over. For the price of $449.00, I think there is value to be had here.
