Cleveland Halo XL Hy-Wood Review

Cleveland Halo XL Hy-Wood

The new Cleveland Halo XL Hy-Wood aims to bring the control of a hybrid, with the distance of a fairway wood, in an easy to hit package. Cleveland looks to do this by giving you the ultimate forgiveness with maximum distance possible for golfers who struggle with their fairway woods. With a profile that falls somewhere between a hybrid and a fairway wood, the Halo Hy-Wood truly is best of both worlds.

The Looks

The Cleveland Halo XL Hy-wood features a sleek, gloss black design with silver accents, giving it an overall “stealthy” look to it. The head shape itself is definitely in between a hybrid and a fairway wood size-wise, leaning more toward a super game-improvement (GI) hybrid look with a fairly deep face. Gliderail technology on the sole also stands out in the appearance, but has some big technology impacts as well. Overall, the new Halo XL Hy-Wood is a clean looking club that can inspire confidence and is a nice update from the previous Halo design.

How Does it Feel?

My first thought in terms of the Cleveland Halo XL Hy-wood’s feel is that it seems fairly light. It does feature a counterbalance weight in the grip, which contributes to this. Not in a bad way, but one that makes you feel like it’s easier to get the club around with some lift. The variable thickness of the Mainframe XL face and Rebound Frame makes the ball feel like it’s “jumping” at impact. There’s still enough feedback on mishits, but the Halo XL Hy-wood overall has a solid feel from its generous sweet spot.

How Does it Sound?

The Cleveland Halo XL Hy-wood produced a slightly higher pitched “crack” sound that I’d expect in this type of GI wood. It almost has an aluminum-esque sound to it. The sound does stay pretty consistent across the face, but it definitely has a more “solid” off of the sweet spot. If you take a small divot, there’s a slight “thwoop” sound. A cleanly swept shot off a tight lie has a smooth “whoosh”.

On-Course Performance

A large number of golfers need something that falls smack-dab in the middle of a fairway wood and a hybrid. Something with a little more size and MOI than a hybrid, but less intimidating than a fairway wood. That’s where the Goldilock of a wood comes in via the Cleveland Halo XL Hy-wood. It’s in between on all things length, lie, and loft, as well as head shape. Once you get adjusted, it’s a pretty easy to hit, solid club. I found the Halo XL Hy-wood to have a mid-to-high launch with spin to match. It didn’t over spin and has plenty of control.

The Gliderail was what really stood out the most. The rails help keep the club face square both in the fairway and rough, and helps prevent those chunky shots. This made the club that much more versatile. Fairway woods tend to be difficult to hit a long ways out of a thicker cut, so the Halo XL Hy-wood may be a good solution.

Final Thoughts – Cleveland Halo XL Hy-wood

If you’re looking to add a more versatile long game option to your bag, the Cleveland Halo XL Hy-wood is worth a look. It might also help you some distance and consistency to a tricky part of your bag. As someone who hates hybrids, I think the Hy-wood is a good mix. Whether it’s more consistency than your fairway wood or needing more distance from your hybrids, the Halo XL Hy-wood fits the bill. It’s a strong option for a wide range of lies and is easy to get up in the air.