WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The new Cobra LIMIT3D irons will break new ground as the first commercially available clubs made completely through additive manufacturing, or what’s known as three-dimensional (3D) printing. In this case, the process creates essentially a hollow iron where the inside section is an intricate steel lattice structure that joins the front (face) and back of the head. This saves as much as 100 grams of mass that is positioned as tungsten weight pads in the low heel and low toe. The result is an iron with the compact shape of a players iron with the forgiveness of a game-improvement design, all with the intention of maintaining the single-piece solid feel of a forged blade.

SET MAKE-UP, PRICE & AVAILABILITY: 4-iron through pitching wedge; Australian pricing is TBC. Limited quantity of 500 sets – and only 15 sets in Australia – available from June 10.

3 COOL THINGS

1. What is 3D printing? Traditionally, irons have been produced in two common ways. Either they are forged where huge presses smash heated metal into a specific shape, almost always made of a single material (carbon steel). Or irons can be investment cast, where a liquified metal (again, usually steel) is pored into a mould to achieve a certain shapes and thicknesses. The former generally creates a more consistently solid feel due to the thicker structure of the one-piece design, while the latter method generally creates more opportunity to create thinner faces and cavity-back designs, leading to more ball speed and more saved mass for more perimeter weighting to create more forgiveness (higher moment of inertia). 3D printing has been around for decades as a prototyping tool, and Cobra’s team has used it in several instances to create lightweight polymer structures within its King 3D Printed putter line-up. As well, the company has produced more than 40 3D printed prototype clubheads that have been used by some tour players, including wedges played by Rickie Fowler.

In simple terms, the process works not much differently than the way a laser printer sprays ink onto a piece of paper. What’s different, of course, is that instead of ink creating letters and numbers, in 3D printing the laser uses a powder to build layers of a design on top of each other with each pass. It’s like each clubhead is growing from nothing to a fully formed iron. Specifically, the process for the Cobra LIMIT3D irons is called direct metal laser sintering.

While creating prototype designs or even polymer structures within a commercial offering is one thing, manufacturing a full set of irons with this kind of process for widespread availability was not a practical consideration, financially or otherwise. Or at least it wasn’t until now.

“When you look at those two traditional methods, you say, ‘Well, forging is great, it has its purpose, and casting is great, it has its purpose,’ but if you want to do something different, how can you?” said Mike Yagley, Cobra’s vice-president for innovation and AI. “Forging was great but there were things you couldn’t do with it that precipitated the need for casting, things like undercut cavities, thin faces, wide bodies, hollow designs. So that was casting’s advantage, but if you really want to do something different, how do you do it? Well, 3D printing has precipitated the ability to do some things that those two cannot do.”

That new thing is what makes the LIMIT3D irons so different, essentially an iron design that combines the elements of feel, solidity and the compact shaping of a forged, single piece design with the forgiveness of a cavity back.

2. How is it used here? The assumption here might be that a hollow iron is hardly a new idea. Removing weight from the middle of an iron creates more mass to redistribute to the perimeter, just like we’ve seen for the better part of a decade. Of course, to make that kind of a design feel good often required some kind of filling to control unwanted vibrations. So why go to the trouble of 3D printing? Because while the interior of this iron is not solid metal like on a forging, it is a weight-saving structure that is still metal, in this case the same 316L stainless steel powder used to “grow” the main body of the LIMIT3D iron. Using 3D printing allows the interior of this iron to both save weight and enhance feel, said Ryan Roach, Cobra’s senior innovation engineer.

“One of the key advantages of additive manufacturing is the ability to execute what we call ‘lightweighting’, or taking weight out of the structure,” Roach said, describing the interior of the iron as a lattice structure that joins front to back. It’s almost like a series of ultra-fine I-beams, although the structure of each cell of the lattice work is like a tiny dodecahedron. Crudely, when viewed as a separate element, the lattice work appears to be like an ultra-strong, ultra-stiff, ultra-dense chicken wire that connects front and back.

“Putting that lattice that touches from the front to the back makes it basically almost as stiff as if it was solid, which then gives them that blade-like feel, blade-like performance,” Yagley said. He compared a 3D printed section of the LIMIT3D iron with a similar sized section of a forged iron and noted how the LIMIT3D weighed 35 percent less. “That’s why it’s critical for it to be as stiff as the body and connected. It’s not going to behave the same [if it were a polymer], and the reason is because the lattice is essentially the same material as the body and the face.”

3. What makes it better? Forgiveness is an interesting concept in an iron with a shape designed to appeal to better players. In other words, you can make an iron more forgiving simply by making it bigger. As well, you can thin out the face for more deflection and ball speed and use a heavy, dense material like tungsten pushed to the perimeter to increase stability in similar-sized iron. What makes the LIMIT3D iron interesting is that its only intention is forgiveness with feel. In the mind of Cobra’s team it’s better because it allows them to design a more compact iron that’s more forgiving. That means the LIMIT3D iron uses a lower toe height, shorter blade length, narrower sole and thinner topline than a comparable iron, like for instance the King Tour players iron.

For Cobra’s team to innovate within the lattice structure, they benefited from a computer-assisted design technology firm called nTop, whose software made it easier to see in real time how every little tweak of the lattice structure could make the head more functional and more forgiving.

“So we’re able to have the ability to analyse structures with lattice in them, which is kind of a chore if you’re trying to do it through the software that we normally would use because there’s a lot of element sizes, and everything is very detailed,” Roach said.

The upshot of the LIMIT3D is that according to the company it has the lowest centre of gravity of any of Cobra’s current players or players distance irons, with the highest forgiveness (MOI, a measurement of the stability on off-centre hits). Its internal testing showed both more distance and tighter dispersion than Cobra’s current King Tour irons. More remarkable is that such a design can now be a real consumer product, Yagley said.

“Ryan and his team have been pounding the street working with vendors, material suppliers and saying, ‘OK, how can we get this to the point where we can actually afford to do this and sell them?” Yagley said of the LIMIT3D set, which will sell for just over double the price of a set of King Tour irons. “If we did this 10 years ago, the price might literally be $30-50,000 for a single set.”

The post Cobra LIMIT3D irons: What you need to know about the first commercially available set of 3D printed irons appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

In less than two weeks, golfers will make the annual trek to Augusta National. Either physically or emotionally. The heart of the golf season truly arrives once we venture down Magnolia Lane and witness the best the sport has to offer, watching golfers from around the world strike incredible shot after incredible shot. Then afterwards, we’ll try to replicate their successes and fail miserably.

We’re certainly not saying that you’re going to play like Woods, Rahm or Scheffler if you try out this new Augusta-themed Cobra Golf driver, but you’ll at least look like you know what you’re doing… well, until you tee off perhaps.

Yes, Cobra Golf’s new Darkspeed models will now come (for a limited time only) with Augusta National colours and markings. The Darkspeed LS Season Opener will feature azaleas on the sole and Augusta Green throughout. You may not make it to the home of the Masters, but you can at least bring Augusta to your club. There’s an exclusive shaft and headcover too, because of course there is.

“While vibrant colours usually define golf’s inaugural major, this year, Darkness reigns supreme,” Cobra Golf(‘s marketing team) writes. “The Darkspeed X Season Opener limited edition driver combines the iconic colourways and azalea blooms of the springtime tradition with the all-black look of Darkspeed. Paired with an exclusive shaft and headcover, this driver makes speed a statement piece.”

The club has groundbreaking aerodynamic shaping, a renovated PWR-Bridge and an AI design all built for faster swingers with higher spin rates. The sleek black colourway works perfectly with the flowers blooming. This driver is available with the Mitsubishi Tensei 1k Black shaft, with your choice of X-Flex, Stiff, or regular and loft options of 9° and 10.5°. They’re launching just ahead of the Masters, so keep a look out. We’re fairly certain they’ll go fast.

Maybe, just maybe, this club will deliver you the confidence you need to figure things out on the course. Either way, if you buy this club, you’ll automatically have the same number of green jackets as Rory McIlroy. That’s a guarantee.

The post Azaleas & Augusta Green: Cobra Golf releases driver that’ll give us plebeians a taste of the Masters appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[PHOTO: justinkosman.com]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cobra launches its second generation of putters, the 3D Printed and the Vintage collections. With eight models in each, the putters all feature faces with LA Golf’s descending loft technology, where the loft changes from four degrees at the top of the face to one degree at the bottom of the face to ensure the same ideal launch angle for consistent forward roll. The multi-material 3D Printed Collection uses an aluminium face insert for firmer feel, while the Vintage Collection is fronted by a softer Pebax thermoplastic elastomer insert.

OPTIONS, AVAILABILITY & PRICE:
3D Printed Collection:
Agera: Full mallet with single bend shaft
Agera RS: 15 percent smaller footprint, single bend shaft
Agera RS-30: Agera RS, slant neck
Agera CB: Counterbalanced version, 38 inches with 17-inch grip
Agera AL: Heavier head with 41-inch shaft for armlock-style putting
Supernova: Parallel fang mallet, single bend shaft
Grandsport-35: Heel-toe weighted cavity blade with plumber’s neck
Grandsport AL: 41-inch shaft with heavier head for armlock-style putting
Vintage Collection:
Sport 60: Flow neck heel-toe weighted blade
Sport 40: Heel-toe weighted Plumber neck blade
Widesport: Face balanced, wide-soled blade, single bend shaft
Nova: Parallel fang mallet with single bend shaft
Nova-30: Fang-style mallet with slant neck
Stingray: Face-balanced mallet with single bend shaft
Stingray 30: Fang style mallet with slant neck
Cuda: Modern rounded mallet with single bend shaft.

Available for pre-sale now, at retail from February 23. Stay tuned for Australian pricing.

3 COOL THINGS

1. Two different builds. Visually, the 3D Printed and Vintage lines differ like Ferraris from two different generations, and those differences are more than skin deep. As its name implies, the 3D Printed Collection, like its predecessor the King 3D Printed line, is constructed using internal pieces made through a three-dimensional printing process. It’s part of Cobra’s partnership with HP, using its “multi-jet fusion technology”, which is a way of creating thin, light and complex geometries that cannot be achieved with typical casting techniques.

A rigid lattice-work cartridge made of nylon (about one-seventh the density were the same space cast out of steel) provides structure with less mass. The 3D-printed piece also helps to enhance sound.

“If you simply left that area of the putter empty or even injected some kind of filler, it would still sound and feel worse, so this structure saves weight but strengthens the body to damp vibration for a better sound and feel,” said Tom Olsavsky, Cobra’s vice-president of research and development.

Meanwhile, the Vintage Collection of putters, much like its predecessor the King Vintage line, uses a one-piece solid body, but rather than a traditional casting, its shaping comes from metal-injection moulding process. The benefit is more precision in the shaping of the heads, which neatly falls in line with the more classic models in this collection.

The reduced mass internally, as well as a weight-saving carbon composite crown, frees more weight to be selectively distributed to the perimeter and in adjustable sole weights to provide enhanced stability on off-centre hits.

“The key thing really is the fit and finish,” Olsavsky said. “In putters, looking extremely precise is very important, and these look much more precise than a casting. We also can do certain things with finishes and textures that you can’t do easily in casting.

3. One consistent roll. Despite these differences in shapes, constructions and feels, there is an overriding consistency in both the 3D Printed Collection and Vintage Collection, and that consistency is in the most important job of a putter: roll. Specifically, as in past versions, these putters feature face inserts with LA Golf’s “Descending Loft Technology”. Originally developed by SIK Golf, the face features four loft planes that start with four degrees at the top and descend to one degree in the bottom fourth of the face. The end result is that whether the stroke is level, slightly upward or slightly downward, the varying loft will yield a consistent launch angle. That consistent launch angle of 1.5 degrees yields a more consistent forward roll for better distance control.

The post Cobra 3D Printed, Vintage putters: What you need to know appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Cobra Darkspeed fairway woods and hybrids use an L-shaped face that wraps around the front of the sole combined with an internal weight bar that’s suspended like a bridge low and forward in the head to create the ideal blend of high launch and low spin with more speed all across the face. The fairway woods include three models: there’s the oversized Max for low-profile forgiveness, the X for broad appeal with low spin and high launch, and the compact LS with a titanium body and face along with heavy tungsten weighting for fast speed with ultra-low spin.

OPTIONS AND PRICE: Fairway woods: Darkspeed X (15, 18, 21 degrees with eight-way adjustable hosel); Darkspeed Max (15.5, 18.5, 21.5 degrees with eight-way adjustable hosel); Darkspeed LS (13, 14.5, 17.5 degrees with eight-way adjustable hosel). Hybrids (17, 19, 21, 24, 28 degrees, fixed hosel). Available for pre-order now; at retail from January 19. Stay tuned for Australian pricing.

Cobra Darkspeed X, LS, Max drivers: What you need to know

3 COOL THINGS

1. Unseen power. Like most technologies in golf these days, the most remarkable aspect of the Cobra Darkspeed fairway woods and hybrids isn’t visible. Rather than gathering some heavy pad of steel pooled in the sole, all three fairway woods and the hybrids use an internal weight bar that’s suspended like a bridge above the sole and close to the back of the face without touching it. Called “PWR-BRIDGE”, it positions mass low and forward to help shots launch with less spin and higher flight for better distance potential. Carbon-composite crowns on the fairway woods further help to lower the CG for reduced spin.

2. Facial recognition. What makes the PWR-BRIDGE design most special is not just the weighting advantage from ideally locating the centre of gravity; it’s how the suspended bridge-like design of the weight bar allows the face to wrap around the leading edge of the face and underneath the PWR-BRIDGE. That makes the overall face larger and creates more flexible areas, particularly low on the face.

Cobra enhanced the face designs on the fairway woods and hybrids with a new variable thickness pattern that optimises thicknesses across 15 different regions. It results in better retention of off-centre ball speeds, while at the same time saving weight in the face that can be redistributed elsewhere for forgiveness. On the X fairway wood, that means a fixed eight-gram sole weight in the rear for extra stability on off-centre hits. For the larger Max fairway wood, there are two sole weights (15 grams and three grams) in the deep centre and the heel. Placing the heavier weight in the rear port increases stability on off-centre hits and creates more dynamic loft for higher launch. Placing the heavier weight in the heel side of the sole creates more slice-fighting draw bias.

Cobra Darkspeed irons: What you need to know

3. Fairway special. The Darkspeed LS fairway wood is an aggressive option for better players, thanks to its titanium construction (using a high-strength Ti-811 alloy) that is built for better rebound off the face. More importantly, though, the massive weight savings from the lighter titanium construction helps to make this fairway wood Cobra’s lowest, most forward CG option.

The lightweight construction, which includes a carbon-composite crown, means the body weighs less than 100 grams, freeing engineers to use more than 120 grams to push the centre of gravity lower. That includes three movable sole weights (two 15-gram weights and a three-gram weight in the rear centre, heel and toe). Arranging the heavier weight in either the heel or toe can encourage fades or draws, while pushing both heavy weights to the heel and toe creates the lowest spin setting for maximum energy transfer. In addition to the PWR-BRIDGE internal weighting, there are two heel and toe internal weight pads of tungsten of 19 grams each.

The post Cobra Darkspeed fairway woods, hybrids: What you need to know appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cobra seeks to build on its Aerojet irons with its follow-up, the Darkspeed. More than just a modest tweak, the Darkspeed makes meaningful moves forward with a new hollow-body construction that is filled with a lightweight foam. Combined with a revised internal “bridge” and face design it results in perhaps Cobra’s longest iron to date.

AVAILABILITY/PRICE: Available from January 19, the Darkspeed and Darkspeed One Length irons are available in a 4-PW set in steel or 5-iron through gap wedge in graphite. Stay tuned for Australian pricing.

Cobra Darkspeed X, LS, Max drivers: What you need to know

3 COOL THINGS

1. Speed in a (PWR)Shell. It’s amazing how faces continue to get not only thinner in irons, but significantly so. The predecessor to Darkspeed – the Aerojet – had a face as thin as 1.9 millimetres at its thinnest. Darkspeed, however, has slimmed that down even further to a skinny 1.6 millimetres at its thinnest area.

The face, referred to by the company as PWRSHELL, is an L-face insert used in the irons up to the pitching wedge (where part of the face wraps around the sole of the club to enhance shots hit low on the face, where most iron impacts occur. The face also has a 21-percent greater “H.O.T.” (Highly Optimised Topology) insert created with the assistance of artificial intelligence to bring plenty of ball speed by producing the best variable thickness pattern for a larger sweet spot to provide help on both centre and off-centre hits.

The hollow-body construction utilises a lightweight foam (just 3 grams) in the irons up to the 8-iron that saves 4 grams of weight that was added to the power bridge (more on that later). “The foam is firm but does not impeded face flex,” said Tom Olsavsky, vice-president of R&D for Cobra. “The saved weight helped lower the centre of gravity while helping sound and feel.”

Cobra Darkspeed fairway woods, hybrids: What you need to know

2. Bridge to the past. Cobra went way back for part of this design. Digging into the historical archives to the 1500s for a bridge design by Leonardo Da Vinci, Cobra created an internal weight bar. Originally, like da Vinci’s design, it was welded onto a pair of posts. In Darkspeed, however, the weight is suspended on a single post, allowing it to be nearly free-floating within the head.

The idea of this “bridge” is to suspend the weight above the bottom of the club, allowing for the bottom of the face insert (up to the 7-iron) to maximise energy transfer to the ball at impact. That face flexibility extends out to the toe area, a spot where traditional face designs typically are rigid.

3. All for One? Snicker all you want the concept of One Length irons, but Cobra has sold more than 50,000 sets to date, accounting for nearly one-third of its iron sales.

The irons boast the same technology of the variable-length irons, but do so in a uniform 37.25-inch length created to foster a reliable, consistent setup and swing path. Wider soles and slightly weaker lofts in the 4 through 6-irons help assist any launch issues created by the shorter shaft. If you’re struggling with iron consistency, these might be worth a look.

The post Cobra Darkspeed irons: What you need to know appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Cobra Darkspeed drivers (X, LS and Max) take a multi-faceted and player-specific approach to speed in all its forms. That means a new variable-thickness face design built from artificial intelligence simulations to inject more ball speed all across an array of 15 impact zones. It also means more speed via improved launch conditions and extra forgiveness on off-centre hits, all brought about by weight-saving carbon composite and reconfigured model-specific internal weighting. Finally, there’s a cascading series of shape changes to each of the three models to enhance how smoothly the clubhead moves through the air, with the most aggressive aerodynamics package targeted for high-swing speed, low-spin LS model.

OPTIONS, AVAILABILITY AND PRICE: Darkspeed X: 9, 10.5, 12 degrees with eight-way adjustable hosel; Darkspeed LS: 8, 9, 10 degrees with eight-way adjustable hosel; Darkspeed Max: 9, 10.5, 12 degrees with eight-way adjustable hosel. Available for pre-sale now; at retail from January 19. Stay tuned for Australian pricing.

Cobra Darkspeed fairway woods, hybrids: What you need to know

3 COOL THINGS

1. New faces in new places. The first order of business in getting a driver to produce faster ball speeds for more distance focuses on the face. Specifically, that means manipulating the varying thicknesses to create more potential speed, especially on locations away from the centre.

In the past, Cobra drivers have used nine areas of the face to improve performance, but the Darkspeed X, LS and Max expand the thickness regions to 15 separate locations. That meant each region could be studied in thousands of impact scenarios to see how they might work differently if those thicknesses could be tweaked independently. That involved not only exploring a more flexible face (as in rebounding at impact), but a more flexible design space (as in more possibilities) than in any previous Cobra driver. That required next-level thinking, specifically artificial intelligence and machine learning, said Tom Olsavsky, Cobra’s vice-president of research and development.

“Some of the changes we’ve made is to make the face larger, and what that does is give us a little bit more high-strength material and a little bit wider spaces to help us thin that out a little bit more,” he said, noting the new faces are about 13 percent larger but use less actual material because of a new laser welding process.

The faces again are an L-shape that wraps around the front leading edge and into the first part of the sole. Called “PWRSHELL”, the new 15-zone face design was optimised by thousands of simulations that let designers optimise each separate zone. This is different than past versions where any time an area of the face had to be slowed down (thickened) to stay conforming the rest of the face often got slower, too.

2. Weight lifting. The three different drivers make use of the lighter overall face design and use of extensive weight-saving carbon-composite panels in the crown and sole that are 30 percent thinner than in past Cobra drivers. The mass is redistributed differently in the models.

Both the X and LS feature an internal bridge-like weight bar that sits low and forward, just above the sole and just barely behind the face. Introduced in last year’s Aerojet drivers, the new PWR-BRIDGE actually weighs less but because it now bows downward to the sole (rather than straight across from heel to toe) and is farther forward, it dials in the specific (but different) performance needs of the typical X and LS players. That means the better energy transfer and reduced spin of a more forward and lower CG.

“We’re able to use less weight and that allows us to use it for something else in another place in the head,” Olsavsky said, noting that the redesign of the bridge resulted in an additional five grams of savings. “We’re able to maintain and improve CG positions even though we’re using lighter weight.”

Both the X and LS models use some of that saved mass in movable sole weights, which from an aerodynamic standpoint are now more flush with the frame for smoother air flow.

Meanwhile, the Max version eschews the forward CG benefits of the PWR-BRIDGE and concentrates more of that mass in the rear perimeter to produce what the target audience for this driver needs most: forgiveness.

“When you look at all that weight in the back, we kept it low so that gives us the ability to make this the most stable driver by sacrificing the forward CG, which this golfer doesn’t need,” Olsavsky said, noting that there’s also a bit of mass towards the heel to produce more anti-slice effect. “This player needs launch and forgiveness. And with the weight back it makes the face easier to close, too.”

Meanwhile, for the X model, Olsavsky said its mix of forward and rearward weight provides an answer that might work for the broadest audience. “The X really is kind of that unicorn we like to talk about that is a combination of distance and forgiveness that every player wants,” he said.

Cobra Darkspeed irons: What you need to know

3. Feeling the flow. With all its recent work with fast-swinging players like World Long Drive champion Kyle Berkshire and former Cobra staffer Bryson DeChambeau, Cobra’s team has been figuring out how to make drivers that move through the air faster. What’s noticeable about the three shapes of this year’s models is how the Max, which is aimed at more average to below-average swing speed players, features the least aggressive aerodynamic features and shape, while the LS, which targets the fastest swingers, features the most aggressive shaping, including a raised rear section.

All three designs feature softened edges and smoother overall shapes for a cleaner trip through the air, but while the aerodynamics pattern on the LS might seem to put the CG too high, the internal weighting and large use of lightweight carbon composite in the crown and sole counteract the effect of that shape.

“You wouldn’t give that shape to a Max player because they just wouldn’t benefit from it,” said Mike Yagley, Cobra’s vice-president of innovation. But Yagley just as quickly pointed out that the LS model can feature a slightly taller face for better centre-hit ball speed while reducing the face area on the heel and toe “because that player isn’t going to hit it out there.”

And while the rounding of areas at the perimeter of the face might make it more aerodynamically streamlined for this player, it can stiffen those regions, so making the centre face area taller creates more flexibility to compensate. “So you get the benefit of the aerodynamics without offsetting the benefit of the face flexibility for that specific player.”

The post Cobra Darkspeed X, LS, Max drivers: What you need to know appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cobra debuts the latest version of its Air-X line of clubs, including drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons designed with lighter weights to appeal to more moderate swing speeds. Among the notable improvements are a major boost in off-centre hit forgiveness (moment of inertia) and slice-fighting technologies on the driver (an offset option, heel weighting, more upright lie angle) and a thinner face and shallower face heights on the irons.

AUSTRALIAN PRICING: $599 (driver); $399 (fairway wood); $329 (hybrid); $179 steel or $199 graphite (irons). Available at retail from 9am today.

3 COOL THINGS

1. Built for speed. There are two things upon which the Air-X family has built its foundation: giving the moderate-swing-speed golfer opportunities to maximise his or her swing speed and making sure as much of the potential ball speed these golfers throw away through incompetence is restored in spite of their ineptitude. Once again, the Air-X goes about those twin tasks in two ways that involve weight. First, this latest Air-X checks in at 290 grams, or about 40 grams less than Cobra’s main Aerojet driver. But the grip and shaft are not as feathery as past models, or some other designs that have been popular in Japan. In fact, this new Air-X driver is almost 15 grams heavier than its predecessor. Said Tom Olsavsky, Cobra’s vice-president of research and development, “You can save weight in the grip but if you get too light there, you start to really mess with the feel of the club. And we have chased the lightest club possible, but you can only do that if you start taking weight out of the head, and that’s going to lead to a detriment in the performance of your head.”

The Air-X clearly walks that tightrope of lightweight and performance by using a lighter carbon-composite crown and 15-percent thinner (and lighter) face, but then redistributing that weight with a 26-gram weight pad that spans an area from the heel to the rear centre of the sole. Together, that builds more stability in the head to improve mis-hits while at the same time helping less-skilled swingers return the clubface to square and keep slice shots more online. A more upright lie angle and a version with offset further improves the average golfer’s potential for more playable results.

2. Set ‘em up, Joe. Olsavsky and the Cobra team believe the Air-X line shouldn’t be a niche product. Specifically, the line targets male golfers with a driver swing speed of less than 90 miles per hour, and Olsavsky believes that “niche” is more than half of all golfers today. That’s a large part of why the Air-X irons use a more conventional look to appeal to all sorts of golfers while still providing the technological boost to ball flight they need. The irons feature a lower-profile design with a lower blade height on the long and mid-irons; that lowers the centre of gravity on the clubs players need to hit higher. Meanwhile, the short irons feature taller blade heights to produce a flatter, more controlled trajectory. This year’s Air-X offers a little more offset than in the past to further help to launch shots higher with a more square face at impact.

The irons are coupled with a hybrid line-up that includes a 30-degree 7-hybrid, as well as fairway woods that start at a 16-degree high-lofted 3-wood and include a 5-wood and 22-degree 7-wood, as well. Both fairway woods and hybrids benefit from a new variable-face-thickness pattern on an overall thinner face than past versions.

3. And Joanne, too. The Air-X line-up of woods and irons features women’s versions, too. The Air-X women’s driver and fairway woods offer higher lofts, including a 15-degree driver and 26-degree 7-wood. The Air-X women’s irons also include a combo set option that includes two hybrids and five irons (5H, 6H, 7-PW and SW).

• • •

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com

The post Cobra’s new Air-X woods and irons: What you need to know appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cobra’s latest iteration of its Snakebite wedges comes in three models: Snakebite, Snakebite One Length and SnakebiteX. The grooves are produced using a CNC milling process and feature a new face blast to help improve performance in wet conditions. Also new is a progressive notch design based off the old Phil Rodgers notch design of Cobra wedges in the past that were well-received by players.

PRICE/AVAILABILITY: Stay tuned for Australian pricing and availability.

WHAT IT DOES: This wedge maintains its groove philosophy of having narrow, deep grooves for the 48 to 54-degree wedges and grooves that stretch across the entire face on the higher lofts. What’s new, however, is a face-mill blast that is applied after the chrome finish has been added to the head. Doing this helps mitigate the loss of spin in wet conditions. For those with the company’s One Length irons, there are wedges to match.

WHY WE LIKE IT: Wedge aficionados might recall the Phil Rodgers heelward notch grinds in the high-lofted wedges named for him. Cobra has brought them back. When opening the blade on the 58 and 60-degree models, contact will be in the heel area, and the notch allows the heel to glide through the grass with greater ease.

THE DEEP DIVE: We’ll get to the three versions in a bit, but wedges are nothing without spin and versatility. To address the former, Cobra is employing a groove design that produces sharper edges to allow for more grab on short shots.

The wedges also feature narrow, deeper grooves for the 48 to 54-degree wedges while providing full-face grooves that stretch across the entire face on the higher lofts and are narrower and deeper. What’s new, however, is a face-mill blast that is applied after the chrome finish has been added to the head. Doing so helps mitigate the loss of spin in wet conditions.

For versatility, Cobra went back in time and updated the popular “notch” grinds in the high-lofted wedges based off the old designs produced by short-game guru Phil Rodgers. The progressive notch design allows the contact area in the heel to glide through faster when opening the blade on the 58 and 60-degree models.

The Snakebite model is available in two finishes (satin and black) and three grinds: Versatile featuring toe, heel and trailing edge relief; Classic with a progressive sole width from heel-to-toe, with trailing edge relief, for neutral to steeper swings, and Widelow boasting a low bounce sole that works well out of soft bunkers and lush turf conditions while preventing the leading edge from digging.

The Snakebite wedges again offer a single-length option to go with the company’s single-length iron sets. The new Snakebite One Length wedges (37.5 inches) feature the same grooves and notch technologies are the standard version, but with a flatter lie angle. The One Length is offered in 48, 52, 54, 56 and 60-degree lofts with the Versatile grind.

For those needing a little more game-improvement in their short game, the SnakebiteX features a hollow cavity-back design with a thermoplastic urethane insert. The X version has an oversize shape with teardrop grind and offers the full-face groove design on all lofts (48, 52, 56 and 60 degrees) and boasts a satin chrome finish.

All Snakebite wedges come with a black Lamkin Crossline grip. The standard Snakebite and One Length models come with an aftermarket KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 (125 grams) steel shaft. The SnakebiteX has a KBS Max 85 (102 grams) steel shaft.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cobra’s latest iron introductions include a revamped King Tour model and an update to the company’s CB/MB model. All employ a five-step forging process that not only produces repeatable shapes and spec tolerances, but enhances the feel of the iron as well. A King Tec utility iron also was introduced for those needing more help getting their long irons airborne.

PRICE/AVAILABILITY: The Cobra King CB/MB irons are $299 (steel) per iron while the King Tour irons cost $299 (steel) each. The King Tec utility irons are $379 in steel and $399 in graphite. All are in stores across Australia on February 10.

RELATED: Cobra King Tec hybrid, King Tec utility iron – what you need to know

3 COOL THINGS

1. A heavy hit. The word “forged” is bandied about so freely in golf that many assume all forms of forging are the same. That’s nowhere close to the truth, and all three of Cobra’s new irons (King CB, King MB and King Tour) illustrate that point well. That’s because each goes through a five-step forging process to deliver irons with not only a pleasing feel, but a more precise shape.

Most forgings are a four-step process, so what’s the big deal about an extra hit? As it turns out, quite a bit. During the final step, each iron is struck with 2,000 tonnes of pressure at 700 degrees Celsius. That allows the irons to require less polishing, which can reduce inconsistencies and improve weight tolerances. It also allows for more uniformity with face flatness and loft and lie angles.

“The five-step forging process is critical to both the feel produced at impact by each of our new King irons as well the consistency of performance,” said Tom Olsavsky, vice-president of R&D for Cobra Golf. “Players who desire the feel of forged want a soft sensation at impact rather than one that’s overly crisp, and our process delivers the desired sensation. But forgings can also be lacking in consistency due to the challenges involved in the forging process, all of which we’ve improved on by creating forged irons with superior precision from clubhead to clubhead. Players who favour forged irons now have the option to enjoy all the benefits of a forging with the consistency normally associated with cast products.”

2. Same name, different club. Although carrying on the King Tour name from its predecessor, the latest version is a bit of a departure. For starters, while the previous King Tour used a metal-injection-molding (MIM) process to create the clubhead, that’s no longer the case. Instead, the aforementioned forging process delivers the consistency of MIM while delivering a pleasing feel.

A key to the forgiveness factor is the CNC-milled undercut in the back cavity of each iron, which allows weight to be repositioned from high centre to lower centre and the heel and toe areas of the clubhead. This not only increases launch but provides more forgiveness on off-centre strikes. These cavities progress from deeper in the long irons (for enhanced stability) to shallower in the short irons (for better control with the scoring clubs). A thermoplastic urethane fills the cavities to keep the feel just right. The company is also introducing its latest King Tec utility irons for those needing more help with their long irons.

3. The choice is yours. This progressive set – where more forgiving cavity-backs are used up to the 6-iron before transitioning to more controllable muscle-back irons for the rest of the set – might not appeal to the largest audience, but it is a discerning one. Which is why some of the smaller details should not be overlooked. Take the milled face and grooves to enhance spin control or the added bonus of Cobra Connect – electronically enabled Lamkin Crossline grips with the Arccos system that, when paired with the Arccos Caddie app, allow players to track their stats. There’s also the ability for golfers to choose where the break in the set occurs or go full cavity-back or muscle-back.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cobra is updating two long-iron alternatives with the release of the latest versions of the King Tec hybrid and King Utility iron. Both use hollow heads that are designed with faces that wrap around the sole for better ball speed, but their similarities end there. The King Tec hybrid adjusts for loft and has three interchangeable sole weights, while the King Utility removes the adjustable hosel it had in a former iteration but offers a handful of lofts to fit your driving-iron needs.

PRICE & AVAILABILITY: King Tec hybrid, $499 (17, 19, 21, 24 degrees; adjustable). King Utility iron, $379 in steel, $399 in graphite (17, 19, 22, 25 degrees; 19, 22, 25 degrees in single-length). All are in stores across Australia on February 10.

RELATED: Cobra King Tour, King Tour CB/MB irons – what you need to know

3 COOL THINGS

1. A face only a driver could love. The reason to switch out of a long iron for a hybrid or utility iron like these two is to take advantage of the amped-up speed and launch of a faster face. Both the King Tec hybrid and King Utility iron use a version of the variable thickness face design developed for the company’s Aerojet drivers. Called “PWRShell”, the face insert on both the hollow-iron designed King Utility and the King Tec hybrid wraps around the sole in an L-face shape. Wrapping the insert into the sole of the club creates more thin face area in the bottom half of the face. That means you have better ball speed and distance potential on the section of the face most often contacted by these clubs.

That structure also allowed Cobra’s engineers to utilise artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop new multiple thickness face patterns in as many as 15 separate regions on the face to improve both on-centre and off-centre hits. The inserts on both the hybrid and utility iron are made of a high strength ST-118 steel alloy that’s ultra-thin for better deflection at impact.

2. The case for, and against, adjustability. The King Tec hybrid, which benefits from a carbon-composite crown among other weight saving features, is the most adjustable hybrid in the entire Cobra line-up. It features both an eight-way adjustable hosel to tweak loft and lie settings as well as three interchangeable sole weights to alter forgiveness, spin, launch and direction. “That adjustability lets you raise the spin up a little bit and launch up a little bit within the same head,” said Tom Olsavsky, vice-president of research and development. The moveable weights (two 12-gram weights and a 2-gram weight) create greater differences in center of gravity to yield different trajectories. The heavier weight in the heel yields a draw-biased flight, while putting it in the toe side of the heel will produce a fade-biased flight. With the two heavy weights in both the heel and toe, the result is a lower-spinning, lower-flight option.

The King Utility iron, unlike past versions, has gone away from the adjustable hosel. The reason is based on better player preferences. Tour players who have gravitated to utility irons prefer the ability to bend a club in individual loft and lie preferences that aren’t always accommodated by the adjustable hosel, or more simply play the lofts as they are. Compounding that is the fact that the adjustable hosel added weight high and in the heel, not where you want it if you’re a better playing looking to gain more launch, distance and control with a utility iron. Losing the adjustable hosel also frees up the King Utility iron to utilise as much as 61 grams of tungsten within the sole and in a toe weight for improved launch, better forgiveness and lower spin.

3. Which one is right for me? The simple answer is that for most players the King Tec hybrid is going to provide more forgiveness, easier launch and more overall distance than the King Utility iron. With its adjustability it also covers a broader range, running from 15.5 degrees to 25.5 degrees. The King Utility iron is an excellent option for players who may only need a little assistance versus a comparable iron, as well as those who like the ability to work shots both left and right. While the King Tec hybrid is more forgiving, it has been retooled with some better player features, including less onset, a shorter blade length and a more square look at address. Meanwhile, the King Utility iron also comes in a one-length shaft option at a 7-iron length of 37.25 inches.

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