Cleveland Tour Action Irons Review – Still Good And Forgiving For High Handicappers?
“The Cleveland Tour Action irons were made to resemble blades but provide the forgiveness of cavity back irons.”
There were a few different iterations of the Cleveland Tour Action irons but for this review, I tested the Cleveland Tour Action 7 irons. This is the latest, and some would argue, greatest version of the Tour Action irons.
With these irons, Cleveland was really trying to bridge the gap between game improvement and players performance. Did they succeed? Are the Cleveland Tour Action irons any good for high handicappers? Read on to find out.
Are Cleveland Tour Action Irons Still Good?
“The Cleveland Tour Action irons have a very unique feature that I don’t think I’ve seen in any other irons.”
At least, not in any irons I can remember. The feature I’m talking about is the “Micro Cavity.” There are about five little chambers bored into the back of the topline. The purpose of these tiny chambers is to lighten the top portion of the head so that the center of gravity is shifted downward.
This design also helps to move more weight to the perimeter of the head where it can provide more forgiveness. The Cleveland Tour Action irons also feature the Vibration Absorption Technology that Cleveland actually patented.
The Cleveland Tour Action irons are cavity backs with progressive offset. At address, you can see the cavity undercut jut out a bit behind the relatively thin top line. You’re not going to be fooled into thinking you’re playing blades but they do have a clean look for cavity backs.
The Cleveland Tour Action irons also have a healthy face depth. There is enough real estate up and down the face to eliminate your thin shots. However, I did have some issues with digging.
Overall though, the Cleveland Tour Action irons have a light, wieldy feel. I found myself falling into a groove with them relatively quickly.
Are the Cleveland Tour Action Irons Forgiving for High Handicappers?
“The best thing about the Cleveland Tour Action irons for high handicappers is that they have a big sweet spot.”
After just a few swings, I found the rhythm of these irons and was able to hit the expansive sweet spot consistently. The offset is generous in the long irons which didn’t look great to me; but it did provide excellent forgiveness.
The combination of the pronounced offset and the large sweet spot made the long irons in this set very easy to manage. And the long irons are notorious for giving neophyte players trouble so I would say that these irons are forgiving for high handicappers.
The large cavity back design helps to push mass towards the perimeter of the head. This stabilizes much of your common mis-hits.
The distance I was getting from these irons was a bit above average. With the 7-iron, I was averaging 158.7 yards. The dispersion was also reasonably tight when I stayed within the scoring lines.
And while the sweet spot is wide and hard to miss, if you do manage to miss it, don’t expect much forgiveness. On shots that missed the sweet spot, my ball was picking up a ton of spin and losing a lot of speed. As a result, my divergence widened and my carry distance dropped.
Cleveland Tour Action Vs Cleveland Launcher XL Halo Irons
“The Cleveland Launcher XL Halo’s are hybrid irons with a hollow body design.”
The Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons also come stock with counterbalanced shafts. The Launcher XL Halo irons are extremely forgiving but they offer no workability. Also, if you aren’t used to counterbalanced shafts, they may feel weird to you. I would only recommend the Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons to pure beginners.
Cleveland Tour Action First Impressions
“I liked the fact that the Cleveland Tour Action irons did in fact offer a moderate degree of workability in a forgiving iron.”
They don’t really look like blades which is something I was expecting and hoping for. But I was able to work the ball left and right to a moderate degree. They aren’t massive irons. Instead, they have a moderate head size which strikes a really good balance between forgiveness and versatility.
Cleveland Tour Action Selling Points
- Micro cavities
- Progressive offset
- Good face depth
- Vibration absorption system
- Large sweet spot
Cleveland Tour Action Key Technology
Vibration Absorption System
The VAS is designed to smooth out those harsh vibrations when you miss the sweet spot. I had no problem with the feel of these irons. They felt smooth and consistent all across the face.
Micro Cavities
The small cavities bored behind the top line work to redistribute weight low in the club head. They also appear to be filled with some sort of polymer or urethane which may contribute to the smooth feel.
Deep Face Profile
The deep face profile makes it much more difficult to hit the ball thin. For me though, the same feature was causing me to dig more than usual on the fairway.
Cleveland Tour Action Loft & Lie
| Club | Loft (degrees) | Lie (degrees) |
| 1-iron | 16 | 58 |
| 2-iron | 18 | 58.75 |
| 3-iron | 21 | 59.5 |
| 4-iron | 24 | 60.25 |
| 5-iron | 27 | 61 |
| 6-iron | 31 | 61.75 |
| 7-iron | 35 | 62.5 |
| 8-iron | 39 | 63.25 |
| 9-iron | 43 | 64 |
Who Should Buy the Cleveland Tour Action Irons?
“This was a tricky one to decide.”
First of all, I would say that Cleveland did in fact do a good job of making an iron that was at once forgiving and workable. The Cleveland Tour Action irons are inherently forgiving and it takes extreme mis-hits to affect their accuracy.
They can be point-and-shoot irons, and for more skilled players, they can be worked side-to-side a bit. So in the end, I suppose these irons would work for high and mid handicappers. Pretty much anyone in the 12-24 handicap range.
Distance: 96/100
Forgiveness: 96/100
Workability: 96/100
Overall Performance: 96/100
Value: 97/100
Overall Score: 96/100
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Aidan is a low-handicap golfer who came from over 110 to breaking 80 in less than 1 year.
Aidan has become obsessed with becoming a scratch golfer and plays golf on every possible occasion, even in the snow!
