We’re one full week into Launch Season. Is your head spinning? I wager it’s spinning.
In spite of everything, drivers are pushing $600. Irons are over $1,000. Balls? Fuhgeddaboudit…
For all of the moaning, wailing and gnashing of tooth in regards to the value of golf gear, you should sit up and acknowledge something that brings worth. We’ve been testing putters for a very long time and one factor we all know for positive is that this:
Cleveland putters ship worth.
Cleveland is launching its “new” HB SOFT 2 Black putters at present. We put “new” in quotes as a result of they’re not precisely new however Cleveland has given the year-old line a brand new look and a brand new shaft.
The perfect half? They’re nonetheless beneath $200.
Cleveland HB SOFT 2 in black
For the final decade, Cleveland has launched stable, if not excellent, putters. Beginning with the Huntington Seashore line in 2016, Cleveland has launched one winner after one other, all at attention-getter pricing. No, they’re not precisely distinctive or unique (though Frontline may problem that assertion) however most are beneath $200.
Cleveland launched the HB SOFT 2 line final January and its lineup included some all-stars. The Anser-style #1 blade was MyGolfSpy’s best-performing putter from 20 toes final yr and was named Finest Worth Blade. In mallet testing, the RETREVE and the #11 carried out nicely from 10 and 20 toes. The RETREVE additionally received Finest Worth.
The prevailing HB SOFT 2 lineup isn’t going away or being changed. It’s merely getting a second-year spruce-up if you’ll. There are two main updates. The primary is within the identify: HB SOFT 2 Black. The second is an improve: the UST Mamiya ALL-IN carbon fiber/metal shaft.
That may be the larger deal.
A brand new paint job
The brand new Cleveland HC Tender 2 lineup is getting a Black Satin PVD end. The heads are the identical because the Satin Chrome fashions launched final yr. They’re simply, you realize, black.
The lineup options 5 face-balanced fashions for straight-back/straight-through strokes. There’s one wide-bodied, center-shafted blade and 4 mallets together with the top-performing RETREVE and #11. These fashions function an outsized, Cleveland-branded pistol group designed to maintain your fingers quiet in the course of the stroke.
There are additionally 4 fashions for slight-arc strokes: one commonplace blade, one wide-body blade and two mallets. These fashions function a standard-sized pistol grip to encourage hand flip throughout a barely arcing stroke.
The SOFT factor of the HB SOFT 2 line has nothing to do with really feel, though they do have a really good, muted really feel to them. SOFT, on this case, stands for Velocity Optimization Face Know-how. Cleveland has used this face-milling idea for years. It’s designed to normalize ball pace even if you happen to miss the middle only a smidge.
To normalize pace, the milling sample creates extra groove house and fewer precise face materials within the heart of the face. As you progress incrementally away from the middle, there’s extra face materials and fewer grooves. When you miss the middle even by just a few millimeters, there’s extra face materials to influence the ball. That imparts extra ball pace to maintain putts from developing brief.
Every putter mannequin has its personal distinctive milling sample based mostly on that mannequin’s MOI traits.
Cleveland HB SOFT 2 Black putters are ALL-IN
The brand new end is sweet however the actual huge deal right here is the UST Mamiya ALL-IN shaft.
When you assume a shaft does nothing greater than join the grip to the putter head, you may need to attempt one in all these first.
The ALL-IN shaft is half carbon and half metal, comparable in building and know-how to Odyssey’s Stroke Lab shafts. MyGolfSpy examined Stroke Lab in opposition to commonplace putters and located the know-how does have its advantages.
Whatever the producer, the concept is to create a extra balanced and solid-feeling shaft. In concept, that results in a way more secure shaft. The ALL-IN used high-tensile energy carbon fiber with proprietary nanoalloys so as to add stiffness, energy and stability. Cleveland says the All-IN has a 26-percent stiffer profile in comparison with a conventional stepless chrome putter shaft.
Now, you’re most likely considering that the putter isn’t transferring all that quick so what the hell do I would like 26 % extra stiffness for?
A good query.
In accordance with Cleveland’s SAM PuttLab participant testing on 15-foot places, the ALL-IN shaft created a 10-percent extra constant face angle at influence in comparison with a stepless chrome shaft. That will not sound like a lot nevertheless it’s the distinction between left edge and not noted. Moreover, ALL-In led to seven-percent higher face rotation consistency and six-percent higher influence location consistency.
Take these numbers for what they’re value. We’ve tried the ALL-IN shaft and, if our opinion means something to you, it’s value checking them out. You may be shocked.
Cleveland HB SOFT 2 Black putters: Worth and availability
Let’s take a minute to reset Cleveland’s putter line for 2025. There are three traces beneath the Cleveland model banner. There’s the Frontline Elite, which includes a ahead heart of gravity, adjustable sole weights and a tungsten SOFT face insert. We’ve already mentioned the HB SOFT 2 and SOFT 2 Black in order that leaves the HB SOFT Milled line. The heads are just like the HB SOFT 2 line (with a few exceptions) however the place the HB SOFT 2 are forged heads, the SOFT Milled heads are precision-milled for a cleaner look.
Then there’s Cleveland’s By no means Compromise line, which debuted final yr with a singular, in-store becoming system.
As for the HB SOFT 2 Black, Cleveland is placing a $50 premium on the brand new end and the ALL-IN shaft. The Satin Chrome HB SOFT 2 fashions retail for $149.99 however the brand new Black Satin fashions with the ALL-IN shaft will hit the streets for $199.99.
For what it’s value, Cleveland affords the ALL-IN as a $50 improve in its HB SOFT Milled putter line.
They’ll be in shops beginning Jan. 17.
For extra data, go to the Cleveland web site.
The publish What’s Up With The New Cleveland HB SOFT 2 Black Putters? appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
