When I first pulled the Cleveland Zipcore XL Irons from the box, I didn’t know what to think. They had the size characteristic of some of the best game improvement irons, but also many of the hallmarks of some of the best irons for low handicappers. I was intrigued…
The first thing you notice from the back is some pretty shiny chrome accents, and a spaceship like topography inside quite a sizeable cavity. I personally found this a little busy but I think others may really like it, it certainly helps them stand out either on the retail shelf or in your bag.
Once you pick them up and get them into the address position, the blade length is what jumps out the most. It is vast. Whilst it is definitely longer than many of the best golf irons, I think it is accentuated by the delicate proportions of the rest of the club head.
A thinnish top line, minimal offset and a fairly shallow face really emphasise the heel-to-toe measurement. It is an unusual aesthetic and something of a blend of categories, but it is one that I genuinely think looks great.
Like so many clubs this launch season, an A.I.-designed face is present. In this case it is Cleveland's MainFrame face which is essentially a variable network of grooves, channels, and cavities milled into the backside of the club face on ZipCore XL's 4 –7 iron. Cleveland says that this helps with the flexing of the face, creating more ball speed in those longer irons.
The introduction of ZipCore technology is an interesting one as we have only really seen this in Cleveland wedges before now. Basically, heavier steel material is removed from the hosel and is replaced with an extremely lightweight yet strong, vibration-dampening material. This sets the Center of Gravity more directly behind the center of the face, in theory giving you more consistent launch, spin, and distance.
I have to say the feel is great. So many irons in this category are now hollow bodied, filled with some variation of lightweight, foamy material and feel a bit more jumpy or hot. The ZipCore XL irons just produced a really solid and satisfying thud at impact due to their more traditional cavity design. That isn’t to say they feel slow, there is definitely enough pop at impact.
I tested the Cleveland ZipCore XL irons at Saunton Golf Club using my SkyTrak+ launch monitor and TaylorMade TP5x golf balls. The performance numbers, in terms of raw data, were more solid than spectacular for me, but I was absolutely fine with that as the more unquantifiable benefits that a launch monitor can’t really help you with were present in abundance. Consistency of flight was excellent and I didn’t notice any real fade or draw bias, they just felt very reliable.
I felt that I was swinging the ZipCore XL well during testing, but I would honestly give some of that credit to the irons themselves. The heel-to-toe length inspired so much confidence that I actually felt this improved the freedom of my golf swing, which can only be a positive. The other thing that I felt helped my fluidity was the ‘Action Mass CB’ which is basically an 8 gram counterweight in the butt of the club. It may be a placebo effect but I felt the club head swinging with more ease.
I enjoyed the lofts being stamped on the toe of the club head too. Don’t ask me why, I just did! Maybe it’s the insinuation that there is nothing to hide and I’m not being duped by the loft-jacking phenomenon. For reference, the 7-iron comes in at 29 degrees of loft, which is strong compared to my gamer set, the Callaway Apex CB irons which have a 7-iron loft of 34 degrees, but is on the more modest end of the spectrum in the distance irons category.
They are available in 4-SW and the RRP is $899.99 in the KBS Tour Lite steel shafts and $999.99 in the UST Helium Nanocore graphite option. Cleveland is also offering what it calls an ‘Accuracy build’ which is basically half an inch shorter than standard and without the counter balancing.
A really unique looking set in this category of iron, successfully blending two styles in my opinion. I wasn’t sure I would, but I really like the Cleveland ZipCore XL irons.
