Well 2021 sure has been a year we will all remember, and one of the reasons I will remember it is because I had the honor to review Cobra’s offerings throughout the bag. While the challenge portion of the Cobra Connect Challenge did not come to fruition, it didn’t prevent me from diving into the clubs I received in order to provide a proper review of everything for the MyGolfSpy Forum Community.
A little bit about me for those who I haven’t interacted with before or are new readers to the MGS Forum. My name is Joe, I am 37 and from central New Jersey. As of writing this review I am a 4.8 handicap. I grew up playing multiple sports, but ended up playing Varsity Golf in high school. Now that I am in my mid (err, late) 30s I am married with a job, two kids and a busy life. Thankfully my wife knows how important golf is to me and I still get to the range once a week and play at least every other week. The strength of my game is putting, followed by my driving. My wedge game and approach shots have greatly improved since last year.
I was completely fitted for my gamer bag by True Spec NYC. I went through this fitting in June 2019 and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my golfing career.
My bag going into the Cobra review:
Driver - Ping G410 LST 9* w/ VA Nemesys 65X
Arccos Smart Distance: 294 yards
This setup has been so steady for me. I originally was a forum tester for the G410 Plus Driver and it was phenomenal. The following year I did some speed training and gained about 5mph of clubhead speed and with that I needed to move into a lower spinning head. The LST head has been incredible. The spin isn’t too low and it provides consistency across the head which really helps keep the spin in a manageable range.
Fairway Wood - Ping G425 LST 14.5* w/ GD AD DI 75X
Arccos Smart Distance: 270 yards
I had been gaming my favorite fairway wood of all time, the G410 LST 3 Wood until earlier this summer when I unfortunately noticed that the face was beginning to cave in. Ping customer support was fantastic and I had a replacement within 2 weeks in a G425 LST head. Thankfully there does not appear to be much performance difference between the 410 and 425 heads. I am comfortable playing it off tight fairways as well as off the tee.
Hybrid - Titleist 818H2 20* w/ GD AD DI 85X
Arccos Smart Distance: 236 yards
The oldest club in my bag and for good reason. It is the first hybrid I feel comfortable hitting just about any shot with. Low cut, high cut, bomb draw, high and straight. You name it and I feel I can execute with this club.
4 Iron - Mizuno MP20 HMB w/ GD Tour AD 95X
Arccos Smart Distance: 217 yards
I moved to a slightly more distance oriented 4 iron to help give me a better gap between my hybrid and 5 iron. The Mizuno HMB is a beautiful iron that has manageable offset, a nice topline and not an overly large sole. I feel comfortable hitting this club off the deck and off the tee and it fills the exact gap that I need.
5-PW - Mizuno JPX Tour 919 w/ Oban CT 115X(-)
Arccos Smart Distances: 5(202y), 6(188y), 7(175y), 8(164y), 9(152y) PW(138y)
Just a fantastic iron for me. The thin sole is key for my shallow angle of attack and the shaft gives me confidence on every shot because it just blends perfectly with my swing.
Wedges - Vokey SM7 50F, 54S, 60D w/ Modus 125 Wedge
Arccos Smart Distances: 50(123y), 54 (107y), 60 (77y)
As you can see by the yardages, by 60* is not really used for full shots. It is my swiss army knife around the greens from the fairway, rough and bunkers when I need a bit more carry then runout. Otherwise, I use the 54 around the greens for most of my pitches and chips. My 50 is used for full shots and for chips/pitches where I want to play more roll out. The D grind on my 60 is maybe my favorite wedge grind of all time. It is high bounce, but the shaping of the grind makes it extremely versatile from just about any lie.
Putter: Evnroll 1.2V
A slight change from my ER2. The 1.2 was made with Evnroll’s CustomER program and has the long plumbers neck, no site line, and a lighter headweight. Just absolutely everything I’ve wanted in a putter.
Now that you know a little about me and my golf game, let’s get to the review of the Cobra clubs!
During my fitting, the fitting cart did not have an XB 9* head. Having played with the traditional Radspeed for 3 months, I can say that I would at least want to hit the XB 9* head to see if it could provide a bit more spin than the standard Radspeed. And that is exactly my only issue I had with the Radspeed driver - it is very low spin. When struck on the screws, the Radspeed can go toe to toe with just about any driver out there. However, it does so through a combination of ball speed and low spin. Very low spin. I spin my G410 LST around 2200-2400 RPM and I struggled to keep the Radspeed over 2000. On the course, this led to really big drives, but it also led to more low spin hooks than I have hit in the last two years. If you catch the RadSpeed high on the face, and even more so high and off the toe, the spin struggles to stay above 1700 RPMs. This would be a fantastic driver for someone that is looking to knock spin off their driver, but is not good for someone looking for a bit more stability. I did try the standard Radspeed and XB 10.5* during my fitting, but unfortunately Cobra decided to make the 10.5* heads of both drivers more upright than the 9* head. A puzzling decision for me, because it really alienates the better player who wants a bit more spin, but doesn’t want a head that looks more closed or is more draw biased. Again, it comes down to fitting. The Radspeed driver is a great head, but it is definitely on the low end of the spin spectrum and thus should be left for those who need help dropping spin.
I want to note right away that my 3W came with two paint defects on the crown. I could see them through the plastic and unfortunately they aren’t something that I could remove. They aren’t scratches, but imperfections in the actual paint job. If I was a paying customer, I would have contacted Cobra and requested a replacement head. Being that the clubs were given to me as part of a review and the imperfections did not impact performance I did not escalate these to Cobra.
As for the performance of the club, this was the surprise of the review for me. I was apprehensive that anything could be as good and as comfortable as my G425 LST 3W. I finished the review pondering if the Cobra Radspeed 3W had earned a spot in the bag going forward. Ultimately, the Ping won out for me, but man the Cobra 3W is fantastic. The head is a wonderful shape and with the loft turned down to 13.5* it sits a tad open and looks absolutely perfect at address. The head is not overly big, but it’s definitely a little more compact than some of the other standard fairway woods on the market. The sound and feel is muted and, while feel and sound is subjective, I think it is one of the best sound fairway woods on the market. I had no problem launching the 3W off the fairway or off the tee. The only reason I didn't put the Radspeed 3W in the bag long term is that it simply did not give me the distance I needed off the tee. I believe the main reason for this is that it spun a little higher than my Ping when hit higher on the face. So when teed up, the Ping becomes a straight bomber, while the Cobra is still admirable but just doesn’t have that extra gear.
My brother in law (former assistant pro and low single digit golfer now), has been in search of a 3W he feels comfortable with for the last 5 years. He is a low-spin player and struggles finding a 3W that can give him the launch and spin that he needs. He has now hit the 3W at the range with me a few times and he played his first round with it in his bag on Saturday. During that round I watched him hit a 3W like I’ve never seen him do before. He was actually elevating the ball off the deck and off the tee and he was extremely pleased with the flight. I will update the review discussion thread with his long term thoughts going forward.
7 Wood - Cobra Radspeed 21* w/ PX HZRDUS Blue 70 6.5
Arccos Smart Distance: 225y
I went with the 7 wood over a hybrid because the Radspeed hybrid was too draw biased for me (and the King Tec Hybrid was not available at the time of our orders being placed). Unfortunately, the 7 Wood head was not part of the standard Cobra fitting cart, so I had to go into this a little blind. It is also worth noting that I did request an 80g shaft for the 7 Wood, but that was not available so I had to go with a lighter than preferred shaft. My initial impression of the 7 Wood? WHOA! That’s a lot of loft. Looking down at it in the address position there is a lot of loft staring back. It’s pretty crazy to see because it has the same loft as my Tileist hybrid, but for some reason (perhaps because it is a fairway wood head), the loft just looks so much more drastic. From a performance standpoint, the 7 Wood launches HIGH. Very high. It has a much different launch window than a hybrid of the same loft (understandably so as the 7 Wood has a center of gravity that is lower and more rearward than a hybrid). This high ball flight made it a very desirable ball flight when attacking greens as the ball came down on a steep descent angle.
The 7 Wood was easy to hit off the fairway and the tee, though I did not find it as versatile as a hybrid when hitting out of some shaggier lies and fairway bunkers. I did struggle with manipulating ball flight with the 7 Wood. I did not have the ease of hitting different flight windows that I have with my hybrid. Same goes for shaping the ball left to right. Overall, I think the 7 Wood is a great option for someone who needs a gap filler between their 3 wood and irons, but is not comfortable hitting hybrids. I would also recommend this club to anyone who struggles maximizing carry with their fairway woods.
4 Iron - Cobra King Utility 22* w/ Tensei White Pro 100TX HY
Arccos Smart Distance: 219y
An absolutely bomber off the tee. Really great flight and distance was fantastic. If someone is looking for a driver iron, the King Utility should be at the top of your list. The loft adjustments are a nice touch. I am unaware of any other driving/utility iron on the market that offers adjustability. Where I did struggle with this club was off the fairway. As I mentioned previously, I have a fairly shallow angle of attack with the irons. The wider sole of the King Utility really isn’t a good fit for someone with a shallow angle of attack. If you have a steep attack angle and are looking for something to give you a bit more pop in the long irons, then the King Utility would be a fantastic option to try.
5-PW - Cobra King Tour MIM w/ DG AMT Tour White X100
Arccos Smart Distances: 5(198y), 6(185y), 7(171y), 8(162y), 9(148y), P(136y)
I am not going to rehash what most of you already know - due to supply issues I was sent my 5th choice in iron shafts, which was basically the only iron shaft available and not one that I would ever be fit into. That being said, this is a review of the irons and not a review of the fit. I really enjoyed the King Tour MIM iron heads. Their styling was very clean and classic. The sole is a very middle-of-the-road width which makes it a good fit for just about everybody. While the sole was thicker than my fitted irons, I had no issues with turf interaction with my shallow angle of attack. I found the irons very forgiving - especially low on the fact. My miss with these tended to be very low on the face and many times I looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see the ball still in a high flight window and going further than the strike warranted. Kudos to Cobra for packing some forgiveness into such an attractive looking iron.
One of the big marketing points of the Tour MIM irons is the Metal Injection Molding process and the feel it creates. While the iron is not forged, Cobra claims that the MIM process creates a feel similar or better to a forget iron. My opinion? It feels great, but it doesn’t feel like my Mizunos. The MIMs, when struck well, produce a satisfying sound. However, there is still a hint of a higher pitched click within the strike that differentiates itself from the JPX Tours and other forged irons (Srixons) that I have played.
I have given the King Tour MIM irons to my brother in law to get his thoughts as well. He is a former assistant pro, low single digit handicap, and currently plays Ping iBlade irons. I will be updating the review discussion thread as he tryings out the irons for the remainder of our golf season.
Wedges - Cobra King MIM 50V, 54V, 60WL w/ DG S200
Arccos Smart Distances: 50(120y), 54(103y), 60(72y)
So the first thing everyone will notice in the pictures is that my wedges have a raw look. This was done by soaking them in white vinegar and then scrubbing them with a scotch brite pad. This process is used to remove the black finish on just about any black wedge and it worked just as well with the Cobras.
As for the wedges themselves, they were fantastic. I found spin to be acceptable from the different conditions and lies, and the soles that I chose did exactly what Cobra advertised. I was able to hit nippy spinners from the fairway, high shots out of the rough that landed softly out of the rough, and was able to get out of a variety of bunker conditions. I really don’t have anything negative to say about these wedges. Like any wedge, it is important to pick a loft setup that fills your gaps and a grind/bounce setup that gives you versatility to hit a variety of approach shots from around the green.
I think the Cobra wedges are the most underrated wedges in golf. They have the finish, bounce, grind and loft combinations of any of the more popular wedge brands and they do so with a slightly lower price. If you are in the market for new wedges, you should definitely give the Cobra King MIM wedges a look.
Cobra Ultralight Stand Bag
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As part of the review, we were sent the stand bags as well. What I look for in a stand bag is something that works well on a push cart and that is relatively comfortable to carry. I also have grown accustomed to certain features that my future bags must have. Unfortunately, while the Cobra bag is comfortable and performs well on a push cart and motorized cart, it lacks a lot of features that other bags have. The main feature that the bag doesn’t have is a dedicated putter slot. I get that it comes down to weight savings, but I would sacrifice another couple of ounces to have a dedicated putter slot over having to put my putter in a section with other clubs. The Cobra Ultralight bag also lacks a bit on the storage end. There are fewer pockets than I am used to, and does not have a dedicated rangefinder pouch/pocket. The stand mechanism is built into the base of the bag, which all stand bags should have moving forward (sun mountain and other brands still use a foot mechanism to activate the stand and this is a pain to use on a push cart). My conclusion is that unless you want a Cobra bag, there are other bags in the market at this price point that provide greater utility.
Overall, I would say the entire current Cobra product line from top to bottom is extremely solid. Cobra often gets overlooked when compared to the other big OEMs in the industry, but I think consumers are doing themselves a disservice to not include Cobra in the list of options they try at a demo day or a fitting.
