WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Consumers can now play the same iron as Rickie Fowler, the Cobra RF proto blades with a eye-catching copper-coloured finish. The entire set is designed around a 7-iron appearance, Fowler’s favourite iron shape, and boasts distinct sharp edges on the toe and topline area that suit Fowler’s eyes.
PRICE: The limited-edition RF Proto Irons are available in right-hand only and ship in a custom box, complete with a card of authenticity, stamped by R&D and autographed by Fowler. The standard set is 4-iron through pitching wedge and sells for $3,999. Available for pre-order through cobragolf.com.au starting January 25 and will be available at retail January 29.
THE DEEP DIVE: Rickie Fowler has been using his RF proto irons since last year. Better players who drooled over the sleek, copper-coloured sticks now have an opportunity to play them, too. Cobra is making a limited number of sets available to consumers starting January 29 at select retailers and cobragolf.com.au.
Fowler, who first put the irons in play at the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins game at Seminole and had them in play (5-iron through pitching wedge) at The American Express, was heavily involved in the design of the irons – a year-long process that saw Fowler and Cobra go through 33 revisions before arriving at the finished product.
The irons employ some similarities and some significant differences from Fowler’s previous Cobra MB irons. “The clubs from a playability standpoint that a player would feel – sole, sole width, blade length – those are identical,” says Ben Schomin, Cobra’s PGA Tour rep who worked with Fowler throughout the process. “The shape, bounce, camber we worked on years ago and he continues to like it. We didn’t want to mess with that.”
The entire set is designed around a 7-iron appearance, Fowler’s favourite iron shape, and boasts distinct sharp edges on the toe and topline area to suit Fowler’s eye. Each iron is forged two times from a soft 1025 carbon steel then machined using a CNC milling process. According to Cobra, the entire milling process takes a total of 155 minutes per iron.
Still, there are significant differences from Fowler’s previous irons, starting with the colour. The new irons boast an eye-catching copper colour. “Rickie wanted a unique look that hasn’t been used recently,” said Schomin. “He had used black irons previously, but he really liked the copper look.”
Also noticeable is the lack of offset. Fowler’s previous irons didn’t have much offset, only about 40/1000ths of an inch due to a tapered hosel. But the new irons feature a parallel hosel that eliminates all offset. Additionally, the topline at address is ultra-thin thanks to a chamfer that slims it down while not altering the sound properties of the iron.
On the back of the club is stamped RF on one side and REV33 on the other – a homage to the 33 revisions it took to fully dial in the clubs to Fowler’s liking.
“It was fun to do,” said Schomin. “Rickie had a vision, and when he shared it with me, I could see what he was talking about.”
The limited-edition RF Proto Irons are available in right-hand only and ship in a custom box, complete with a card of authenticity, stamped by R&D and autographed by Fowler.
For more information on all of Cobra’s innovative new products, visit www.cobragolf.com.au and follow @cobrapumagolfau on Instagram.
