April 16, 2025, 1:00 p.m. ET
Roger Cleveland, founder of Cleveland Golf, has returned to the company as a consultant.He spent 28 years at Callaway Golf, primarily working on irons and wedges.Cleveland is excited to contribute to Cleveland Golf’s designs, particularly wedges.He praised the company’s new wedge material and the engineer behind it.
On March 26, Cleveland Golf announced the man who founded the company, Roger Cleveland, was returning to work with the brand that bears his name.
Having recently moved from Los Angeles to San Antonio, Texas, Roger Cleveland still loves the game, tinkering with clubs and working on ways to make them perform better. At 79, he is eager to keep working with the game’s elite players and develop clubs that can be enjoyed not only by pros but also recreational golfers.
In an exclusive interview with Golfweek, Cleveland talked about what he hopes to accomplish with Cleveland Golf, why he left the company in 1995, and why he loves Cleveland’s latest line of wedges. (Editor’s note: Portions of this interview were edited for clarity and length.)
Golfweek: What was it like for the last couple of decades, competing against the company that bears your name?
Roger Cleveland: Ha! Well, you know, I like competing. I love competition, and I always looked at the products that Cleveland would present because I cared about it. I cared about those products. I have blood running in the company, you know? So, I obviously was true to what I was doing at Callaway, but I also cared very much about what (Cleveland Golf) was doing, and in later years, there was a time when it got lost a little bit, but in more recent years they’ve done a very nice job, I think.
Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!GW: So, if I remember correctly, you founded Cleveland Golf in 1979?
Roger Cleveland: Yeah, in that area. I think some initial paperwork was filed in ’79, and I think most of the work was done in ‘80.
GW: Why did you leave Cleveland Golf in the mid-1990s?
Roger Cleveland: Well, I didn’t want to leave Cleveland – I got it fired! I sold it to a French company (Rossignol Ski Company), and this guy, a consultant who was running it, actually, we disagreed and he showed me the door.
I love design, and I had a couple of people reach out to me after that. Dick Helmstetter and Ely Callaway were at Callaway, and they we’re just terrific. Nobody cared more about R&D, and they were moving fast. They had a great metalwood, but their irons were absolutely horrific. I could help there immediately. And they had no wedges, and so I could immediately help in that area.
I was with Callaway for 28 years, but you know, it was a strange life. My wife didn’t want to move to San Diego, so I would get in the car and go down there Tuesday morning (from Los Angeles), and come back Thursday night. Believe me, I knew every inch of the 405 freeway.
Roger Cleveland: I see some things that I think the company wants to try to rejuvenate with the 588 (wedge), and I have some thoughts and ideas there. And, I love design still, and I think I can hopefully add value to some of their designs and other products. I mean, they have a beautiful iron with the Srixon blade. It’s gorgeous, but I think there’s some opportunity there as well as a lot of opportunity with the wedges.
GW: So, Cleveland released the new RTZ wedges this year, and the company helped to develop an alloy specifically for use in wedges that has a lot of benefits. How much did you have to go back to school on materials and design before you went back to Cleveland Golf?
Roger Cleveland: I wish I could take some credit for the material. I think that’s brilliant, and the gentleman’s name behind it, (metallurgist) Boeing Smith, a terrific young man and engineer — just a delight. When I met him, we talked for two hours about how he did this, and the fact that everybody uses 8620 stainless steel, and he started looking at different things. I’m sure everybody is trying to do something like what he did, but he did it, and it’s amazing.
GW: What will you be doing day-to-day with Cleveland Golf? Will you be working out on tour, or do you plan to tinker and work in the shops and R&D department?
Roger Cleveland: Well, I’m a consultant and I want to consult on design. I’m going to go to the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open with Rodney McDonald (the vice president of tour operations for Cleveland/Srixon) and his team out there, which is great, to work with some of the players. Hopefully, you know, attract some other players. I have some relationships with guys who trust me.
GW: You mentioned the 588 wedge earlier, and I think that you could make a good argument that if we had a Mount Rushmore of golf equipment, the 588 would be a strong contender to get up there. Since you created the 588, how much have wedges really changed?
Roger Cleveland: Well, not a great deal. What manufacturers have done is look at the distribution of weight and how that affects launch conditions. The sole geometries have been looked at and worked on all the time to get you the ideal turf interaction based on different conditions. That’s really fascinating and interesting.
