Cleveland Mashie

With their new Mashie, Cleveland have produced a club that nods to the past but feels very contemporary.

Our testers - handicaps 22 and 14 respectively - try out the new Cleveland Mashie. Dave Tindall As a 22 handicapper, I'm always in the market for a hybrid that helps me score and Cleveland have given me just that with their "mashie". The term "mashie" - a wooden shafted golf club whose loft most closely matches a modern 5-iron - conjurs up sepia images of overdressed men with beards knocking it around the Old Course but Cleveland have produced a club that nods to the past but feels very contemporary. In fact, it's almost as if they've lifted a mashie from the golf museum at St Andrews and encased it in ultra-modern technology. The conversion from old to new is also helped by being able to knock off the last two letters to describe your shots. Yes, thanks to the lightweight nature of the club which promotes greater swing speed, you really can 'mash it' with this club from tee, fairway or rough. As someone who has the weak fade in their locker, the offset appearance suits my eye, giving me the impression that I'm going to knock it true and straight. In testing my best results came when I did actually give it a 'mash' - it's 30 grams lighter than most traditional utilities, meaning it provides faster head speed for more ball speed and carry. So, in that sense, this is a positive, go-for-it club. When I'm in range I'll give it a mash. Paul Simpson My first thought when Cleveland Golf comes up in conversation is wedges. Over the years, Cleveland have forged a deserved reputation as one of the finest wedge manufacturers in the industry, combining classic looks with new technologies and with the introduction of the Mashie hybrid they look to have used the same ethos to produce a stunning club with the performance to match. The modern trend in golf club manufacture these days seems to be, make it bold, colourful and technologically advanced enough to catch the attention of punters and they will buy it. But with so many manufacturers seemingly pushing this philosophy, how do you stand out from the crowd? The answer is by going back to basics. The compact, rugged and powerful looking no thrills head of the 'Mashie' seems to shout 'just hit it' and when tested from the moorland rough of my local course it certainly did the business, laying waste to all manner of heather and grasses on its path to the ball. When hybrid clubs first appeared, their intended use was to get you out of the rough while still providing distance, but the modern hybrid must do so much more and be functional not only from the rough but also the tee, fairway and around the green. The M3 version tested, which is the equivalent of a 5-iron, sat comfortably on all terrains but whereas with a 5-iron in hand I'm constantly wary of one out of the toe and a weak fade, the Mashie really makes you feel confident enough to be able commit to the shot, leading to a powerful swing and more consistent results. The Mashie is a terrific addition to the hybrid market and I for one hope that its simple, classic style - it even comes with a traditional knitted pom pom head cover for goodness sake - helps it to stand out from the crowd.

The Mashie is offered with lofts ranging from a modern 2-iron to 6-iron replacements. Shaft flexes range from senior to extra stiff. Locker Room Rating: 4/5