The Cleveland Halo XL Full Face irons are the latest update to Cleveland’s best-selling sticks this side of wedges. In fact, the Halo family has been Cleveland’s best-selling iron franchise ever since the company returned to full-line status in 2017. In double fact, its ancestors were Cleveland’s best-selling irons well before the company went short-game only in 2015.

Apparently, there’s something people like about irons with the forgiveness of a puppy.

No matter what they look like.

Say what you want but Cleveland knows what it’s doing with super game-improvement hybrid irons. The original Launcher HBs copped top honors in our SGI irons testing in 2018. The next two editions were top performers as well. The Launcher HB Turbo finished second in 2020 while the Launcher XL Halo did likewise in 2022.

No, they aren’t exactly what you’d call butter knives. But, frankly, looks ain’t the point, cowboy.

“We know you don’t want to be embarrassed in front of your buddies,” says Cleveland Senior Product Manager Casey Schultz. “But we’re saying if you play something like this, you’re going to play better golf, shoot lower scores and have more fun.”

And, as we’ve said repeatedly, golf is a game. And games are supposed to be fun.

Right?

Cleveland Halo XL Full Face Irons

Every time I hit a Cleveland Halo iron, I know my time is coming. I don’t know how, and I don’t know when. But it’s coming. And these things are so stupid-easy to hit that it makes you wonder why you’d hit anything else.

“We’re not going after beginners with these irons,” says Schultz. “We’re going after that avid golfer who plays a lot but has a higher handicap because they struggle a little with their irons. We think they’ll have more fun lowering their handicap with something that’s this forgiving, high launching and easy to play.”

Which begs the question: What would you rather look at? A sexy stick with a topline so thin it only has one side or your ball flying toward the green?

For some of us, that’s a toss-up.

But irons like the new Cleveland Halo XL Full Face set do make you think, especially once you get over your own damn self and give them a try.

When you have a consistent top performer as Cleveland does, coming out with an updated model can be a daunting task. What can you do to improve it without, well, screwing it up?

Cleveland has taken a few steps but the most obvious can be found in the name: Halo XL Full Face.

Shake Your Groove Thing

The most obvious upgrade to these new Clevelands is as plain as the grooves on their faces.

Yup, the entire iron set has full-face grooves. On the face of it, it seems like a gimmick, no?

“For the player we’re talking about, missing toward the toe happens more often than you’d think,” says Schultz. “This type of player hits it out there at least 15 percent of the time.”

According to Cleveland, full-face grooves help create more consistent spin and launch performance on those toe hits. Not that you want to be striking the ball out there or anything.

“It’s also about confidence,” Schultz adds. “Full-face grooves create a massive striking area. If you do hit it out there, you’ll still get a decent result. We obviously want you to hit it in the middle but when you do miss, you’ll have a club that will help you out.”

Mathematically speaking, the new Cleveland Halo XL Full Face irons have about a 20 percent larger striking area. And there’s also a new two-groove alignment system for consistent aim. Both grooves have white paintfill. The short, centered bottom groove focuses attention on the center of the clubface while you’re at address. The longer second groove is designed to make sure you’re face isn’t too open or too closed.

“This player isn’t trying to work the ball or anything fancy,” says Schultz. “The two-line alignment system helps them put the ball in the right spot and make sure the face is pointed toward the target.”

HydraZip and Ever-Present AI

From the “Why The Hell Not?” file, Cleveland is adding its spin-preserving HydraZip face blast to the new Halo XL Full Face irons. Introduced in last year’s RTX 6 ZipCore wedges, HydraZip a special face-texturing process to help maintain consistent spin, especially in wet conditions.

The 4- through 7-irons feature a rougher face blast to minimize excess spin and maximize carry. The 8-iron through sand wedge feature a smoother blast for more spin consistency.

Since it’s 2024, the new Cleveland Halo XL Full Face irons feature an AI-designed clubface. Cleveland’s engineering team calls it MainFrame.

“We don’t just tell the computer, ‘Hey, AI, go design the best face you can,’” says Schultz. “We set up specific parameters for the club and golfer. Our goal is to get the best launch, best spin, best landing angle.

“We run the simulation and see what we get. We then readjust the parameters and do it again. And we keep doing that until we get a face pattern that’s going to perform best for the type of player we’re targeting.”

As you’d expect, Cleveland says the new AI-designed face expands the sweet area for maximized ball speed no matter where you hit it.

“AI gave us this weird pattern on the back that looks like an amoeba,” says Schultz. “You look at it and go, ‘What the heck is this?’ But the simulation bears out this gives the best ball speeds on strike locations common to this type of player.”

AI had nothing to do with sole design, however. That’s all human. The long irons feature Cleveland’s take on Glide Rails to help keep the club from digging. The short irons have V-shaped soles while the pitching and sand wedges feature a three-tiered sole, similar to the soles on Cleveland’s Smart Sole wedges.

Cleveland Halo XL Full Face Irons: Final Thoughts, Price and Availability

As mentioned, I know Halo XL time is coming for me. I don’t work the ball and don’t play with anyone who does. And the next time I announce a high fade to a back right pin placement and actually pull it off will be the first.

That said, if you take the Halo XL Full Face 5-iron to the range, you won’t stop pounding gorgeous, high draws. It’s just what they do.

While our testing will give the official results, we can say the new Cleveland Halo XL Full Face irons will have to be a favorite in this year’s super game-improvement battle. And if you’re a mid- to high-handicapper, these should be on your must-demo list. And if you’re maybe in the six to 12 range, give these a try, just for fun. You’ll be asking yourself some uncomfortable questions, that’s for sure.

The Cleveland Halo XL Full Face irons come in men’s and women’s models. The standard seven-piece set includes a 4-iron through pitching wedge. Optional gap and sand wedges are available. The men’s set will come stock for lefties and righties while the women’s set is right-handed only. Ladies’ lefty sets are available through custom order.

Men’s stock shafts are the KBS Tour Lite in steel and the UST Helium Nanocore 60 in graphite. The Lamkin Crossline is the stock grip.

The Helium Nanocore 50 is the stock women’s shaft with the Lamkin St Soft the stock grip. As always, Cleveland offers a full array of no-upcharge and premium shaft and grip options.

The Cleveland Halo XL Full Face irons will retail for $899.99 in steel and $999.99 in graphite. They’ll hit the stores on Jan. 19.

For more information, hit up Cleveland Golf’s website.

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