Cleveland Hybrid Golf Clubs

This article will discuss the two hybrid golf club product lines offered by Cleveland Golf.
These are called the Hibore and the Halo hybrid golf club lines.

Hibore Hybrids by Cleveland Golf
The most evident feature of Cleveland hybrids is what is called an "inverted crown" design. This means that weight is taken from the top and back of the club and redistributed around the perimeter to lower the center of gravity (CG) and move it back away from the clubface. This makes it easier to get the ball into the air. Such weight redistribution also increases the moment of inertia (MOI), and a higher MOI provides greater resistance to club head twisting on off-center hits, translating into higher ball speed on off-center hits.

The Hibore hybrids are newer than the Halo line. Certain design features were added as a result of inputs from the Cleveland Golf pro tour staff of players. These include a club face that is 10% larger, and a leading edge that has been slightly flattened and rounded off a bit to give a larger hitting area and less tendency for the club to dig into the ground.

6 Hibore Hybrid clubs are offered as 1-6 hybrids, and of course these would replace 1-6 irons in the bag. Lofts range from 16- 31 degrees, and the clubs are available with both steel and graphite shafts. Standard shafts are Dynamic Gold Superlite for steel and Cleveland branded graphite shafts. A number of other shaft options are available on the company web site. Left handed clubs are available in every case. The Cleveland Hybrid Golf Clubs web site states that both the Hibore and Halo versions can be used by golfers of all abilities. 3-6 hybrid clubs are offered for women.

Halo Hybrid Utility Golf Clubs
The predecessor of the Hibore hybrid is the Halo line of clubs which are still on the market and still popular. Once again the "inverted Crown" is evident and weight is redistributed to the perimeter of the club, lowering the CG and increasing MOI, as discussed above. It is claimed that the Halo line produces shots that are 5-10 yards longer than the irons they replace. It is not clear from reading the Cleveland web site exactly how that longer distance is attained. In any case one should be aware that he might find a gap of 5 to 10 yards between his lowest numbered iron and highest numbered hybrid club when using Cleveland hybrid golf clubs. In fact I quizzed an acquaintance who is an excellent golfer and who uses a Cleveland 2H. He says he thinks he hits the hybrid farther, so that is one anecdotal data point supporting the claim.

There are 7 clubs in the Halo line. These include a 1H strong with a 14 degree loft and then 1-6 hybrids with the same lofts as in the Hibore line. As for shafts, once again the choices available are the same as in the Hibore line discussed above. Left handed versions are not available for the 1H and 1H strong but can be ordered in any of the 2-6 hybrids in the Halo line. Once again, 3-6H versions are available for women players.