Cleveland Launcher HB Irons Review – Are They Forgiving & Good for High Handicappers?

The Cleveland Launcher HB irons are meant to play more like hybrid irons than traditional cavity back irons. And you get that sense right away at point of address. With a wide sole, expansive face and thick topline, the Cleveland Launcher HB may be right up your alley if you are looking for max forgiveness from your irons.

Cleveland Launcher HB Irons Overview

The defining feature of the Cleveland Launcher HB irons is their hollow body design. When you start with a hollow body club, you are going to build everything else around forgiveness and distance.

There are two major advantages of hollowing the body out. For one thing, you’re able to save a bunch of weight. In the case of the Cleveland Launcher HB irons, the saved weight is repositioned around the perimeter of the face.

The second benefit of using a hollow body iron is that the face tends to flex more. Since there is basically no support behind the face, it’s free to flex as it pleases. Both of these benefits mean a lot for players with slow swing speeds.

That was one of the first advantages that we noted about these clubs. Our slower swing speed testers were able to keep up in terms of distance with our faster swing speed testers.

To give you a better idea of how long the Cleveland Launcher HB are, our slower swing speed testers averaged a distance of 167 yards with the 5-iron after three swings. And since the faces of these irons are so large, they are also very forgiving.

It is very easy to get the ball up in the air with these irons as well. Launch is nearly effortless and there is moderate offset which will help if you tend to hook the ball leftward.

Are Cleveland Launcher HB Irons Forgiving?

It’s important to note that these are oversized irons so by their build alone, they offer a high degree of forgiveness.

From the front, these look like typical irons. But when you take a look down at them you can see that they have a hybrid iron design. They’re chunky and look very reassuring at point of address.

So are they forgiving? Absolutely. What makes them so forgiving is the HT1770 steel face that is moderately thin so you get good help with ball speed. The carry distances we were getting in the long irons was also incredible.

The Cleveland Launcher HB irons are especially forgiving if you feel that you aren’t getting enough loft out of your current irons. Naturally, the Cleveland Launcher HB irons have decent stopping power since they launch so high.

Are Cleveland Launcher HB Irons Good for Beginners & High Handicappers?

Beginners would absolutely love these irons.

In fact, if these were the first irons you ever use, you would probably never understand why so many people struggle with their irons. On the flipside, we would also say that the Cleveland Launcher HB should only be played by beginners and high handicappers.

They lack a lot of feel that better players demand from their irons. They aren’t very workable either. Again though, there are two sides to every coin.

For beginners who are still trying to simply keep the ball on the fairway, the Cleveland Launcher HB irons will be great. They produce straight flight even if you hot out towards the toe.

Should you Buy the Cleveland Launcher HB or the Cleveland Launcher XL Irons?

The Cleveland Launcher XL Irons also have hollow body heads in the long irons.

However, the shorter irons in the Launcher XL set have traditional cavity backs. This makes them a bit more workable around the green. We would say that the Launcher XL irons are better for mid handicap players.

If you are a beginner or still have yet to break 100, we would recommend that you try out the Cleveland Launcher HB irons first.