OFFICIAL #CobraCONNECT CHALLENGE 2018

[hckymeyer]

In conjunction with Cobra/Puma/Arccos

MyGolfSpy is proud to present:

#CobraCONNECT Challenge 2018 - Full Bag Edition

They say all good things come to those who wait. The time has come for the event of the summer. This year's challenge promises to be the biggest, baddest, and most data-centric event on MyGolfSpy to date! You won't want to miss a single post. Our competitors have been tirelessly preparing themselves for 8 weeks of good-natured competition fueled by the best community and some of the best equipment on the market. Many prizes will be up for grabs and you'll be sure to love every single one.

Challenge Overview:

• The 5 competitors will be participating in 8 unique challenges over the course of 8 weeks
  • Stats will be tracked using Arccos
  • At the end of each week, the competitors will post their stats and be ranked from 1-5
  • Baseline HCs with their previous gamers will be used for field leveling
• At the completion of the challenge, a final, overall ranking will be tallied, ranked, and weighted to a value of 2 weeks (10 total for you math majors)
  • ​Handicap improvement by category (overall, driving, approach, chipping, sand, putting)
  • Number of "Personal Bests" with Cobra clubs
  • Most total rounds with Cobra clubs
  • Best Presence (Social Media + Forum Thread)
• ​Final Prizes will be determined by sum of all rankings (10 points = perfect score)

PRIZES:
Competitors

• 1st Place: Head-to-toe PUMA Makeover (hat, polo, pants/shorts, shoes)
• 2nd Place: PUMA Hat, Polo, Shoes
• 3rd Place: PUMA Hat, Polo
• 4th/5th Place: Still get to keep the full set & bag

"What's in it for me?" You ask. Forum members with stellar participation skills will be eligible to win weekly prizes as well as a GRAND PRIZE.

Be sure to tune in every Sunday night to learn details on this week's challenge!

​
Forum Members

• Weekly Prizes: PUMA Gear
  • ​Challenges will vary by week
  • Max 2 wins (still eligible for grand prize)
• GRAND PRIZE: Full set of F8 Irons and Arccos 360!
  • ​Hand-picked by moderator staff based on overall participation

THE HEAT HAS BEEN BROUGHT

This lead post will act as your hub for all announcements in the challenge. Be sure to check back here to see where we stand. Links to the announcements can be found below:


fozcycle
Introduction -- Best Shot / Best Hole
HardcoreLooper
Introduction -- Best Shot / Best Hole
MDGolfHacker
Introduction -- Best Shot / Best Hole
ReeseDW
Introduction -- Best Shot / Best Hole
Joyzee10
Introduction -- Best Shot / Best Hole



Challenge Announcements:

Throughout this season, we've set up the challenges to be as even as possible. We want guys to have a chance to succeed whether they play 9 or 90 holes during the week and weight it according to baseline handicaps. Each Sunday night at approximately 6PM EST, we'll be announcing the results from the previous week as well as the new challenge for competitors AND forum members for the upcoming week.

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Week 1:https://forum.mygolfspy.com/index.php?/topic/24440-OFFICIAL-%23CobraCONNECT-CHALLENGE-2018%3A-Week-2-of-8/page__view__findpost__p__436318
Competitors: Introductions
The 5 competitors will be introducing themselves and hyping up the smack talk to get this challenge started. Forum members will vote for their favorite introduction by placing a comment in the thread like so: "I vote for X because Y and Z"
Competitors are being ranked 1-5 so be sure to vote for your favorite even if they're a ways back from the lead.
*1 vote max

Forum Members: Introduction Votes (Random)
Prior to next week's announcements, one lucky member who votes for their favorite intro will be the proud owner of a Puma/Cobra hat! A random draw will determine the winner of this week's challenge. All you have to do is read the introductions and vote for your favorite!
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Week 2: https://forum.mygolfspy.com/index.php?/topic/24440-OFFICIAL-%23CobraCONNECT-CHALLENGE-2018%3A-Week-1-of-8/page__view__findpost__p__439552
Competitors: FIR%
Easy peasy lemon squeezie. Just getting started, let's hit some fairways. Doesn't matter what club you use but just keep in mind you're still evaluated on total season stats so don't be too conservative. Players get bonuses based on baseline driving HC so it's possible for someone to score over 100%

Forum Members: Trivia
Hope you guys read the intros closely. A trivia question based on the introductions will be posted SATURDAY @6PM EST. First correct answer wins the prize.
Number of Competitors
✖️
Number of Challenge Weeks
[emoji809]
# of years fozcycle has been around golf
[emoji809]
Combined age of HardcoreLooper's daughters
[emoji809]
MDGolfHacker's score his first time out (before he stopped counting)
[emoji811]
# of tests on ReeseDW's resume
[emoji809]
Joyzee10's longest drive
[emoji810]
Total number of votes cast for intros
[emoji809]
The meaning of life
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Week 3: https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/24440-official-cobraconnect-challenge-2018-week-2-of-8/?p=442875

Competitors: GIR%
Not quite as easy peasy lemon squeezie, these guys will be shooting at greens. Get yourselves in position and listen to your caddie! In addition to the ongoing contest, the competitors will be sharing their thoughts on the hybrids and irons this week as they shoot at the green.

Forum Members: Staff-Selected Member of the Thread
Time for some chatter huh? We'd like to hear some more questions, find out you're rooting for, who's been the most entertaining on SM, and while you're at it, talk some smack!. The winning forum member will be voted on by the MGS moderator team based on overall thread participation. Let's see what you people have got!
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Week 4: https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/24440-official-cobraconnect-challenge-2018-week-3-of-8/?p=445378

Competitors: Up and Down
Week 4 marks the halfway point of this year's challenge. For reference, last year's Cobra Challenge was 4 weeks in total. This week, the competitors will be looking to get up and down from everywhere. Chipping and Sand shots will be combined and weighted according to baseline HCs. In addition to the ongoing contest, the competitors will be sharing their thoughts on the Cobra wedges they're gaming.

Forum Members: Best Rickie Fowler Impression
Now we're entering some of the more creative contests for all to enjoy. Everyone knows Rickie Fowler has got some serious style. It's what he built his reputation upon and now YOU get to tap into it. The rules are simple, submit a picture or video of you doing your best Rickie impression and the MGS moderator staff will choose their favorite for Week 4's winner of Puma gear. Photoshop is allowable. Deadline for entry is Sunday at 6pm EST.
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Week 5: https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/24440-official-cobraconnect-challenge-2018-week-4-of-8/?p=447921

Competitors: Driving Efficiency
As we make the turn to the back nine, we enter into the math-heavy categories. Driving Efficiency is a made-up stat for this challenge but the goal is simple: Hit it long and hit the fairway. Smart Distance for all clubs will be factored into the FIR% and weighted by baseline driving handicaps. Let's drop some bombs!

Forum Members: Bryson DeChambeau Impression
Now that we got warmed up with the Rickie impressions, this week's winner will be the best impression of the mad professor himself. A compass may be illegal on the course, but it's fair game in this contest. Photoshop is allowable. Pencils down Sunday at 6pm EST.
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Week 6: https://forum.mygolfspy.com/index.php?/topic/24440-OFFICIAL-%23CobraCONNECT-CHALLENGE-2018%3A-Week-5-of-8/page__view__findpost__p__452923

Competitors: Approach Efficiency
Another math-heavy category coming down the pike. Approach Efficiency is a made-up stat for this challenge but the goal is simple: Hit the green and hit it close. Competitors will be evaluated based on their proximity to pin on GIR, proximity on all approaches, and GIR% weighted by baseline HC. Let's see if you guys can stuff it close!

Forum Member Contest: Equipment Questions
We've had some excellent Q&A thus far and want to kick it up a notch and really dig into the characteristics of the equipment. The competitors have shared their thoughts on all of the clubs and will talk about the Most Wanted winning bag itself this week. To be entered for a random Charlie drawing this week, just ask the competitors equipment-related questions. 1 Question = 1 Entry. No Limit. We want to encourage solid debates with quality questions so for your entry to count, IT MUST BE ANSWERED BY AT LEAST ONE OF THE COMPETITORS. Who wants some Puma gear this week?
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Week 7: https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/24440-official-cobraconnect-challenge-2018-week-7-of-8/?p=455132

Competitors: Best Shot / Best Hole
Some of you have noticed that there's a placeholder up front for the "Week 7 Challenge." Now, you can be let in on the secret. The competitors will be telling a tale of the best shot or best hole they've had at any point in the challenge including an Arccos snapshot and potentially picture/video to supplement. Just like the intros, they will be ranked based on the number of forum member votes they receive.

Forum Member Contest: Best Shot / Best Hole Vote Random Draw
WE NEED YOU to vote for your favorite story of a competitor's best shot or best hole. Just make a post that says "I vote for X because of Y" and you'll be entered into a random draw for some sweet sweet Puma gear.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Week 8: https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/24440-official-cobraconnect-challenge-2018-week-7-of-8/?p=460544

Competitors: Best Net Score
The whole challenge has been building to this point. We've focused on many of the small-picture items and now it's time to focus on the BIG picture that answers the BIG question. Are our competitors able to go lowww??? The winner this week will be the one that can shoot the lowest net score. A proprietary formula has been created to take into account course difficulty as well as baseline handicap. This should allow each of our players to compete on a level playing field no matter the difficulty or par of their course. Since week 7 was a non-play week, they got a head start and will be submitting their best score that occurred between August 19 - September 2

Forum Member Contest: Guess the Net Improvement
As part of the overall rankings, our competitors will be posting their challenge handicap to indicate just how good they're now playing with the Cobra F8 line of clubs. To win this week's contest (and the final weekly contest of the season), guess the net improvement across the 5 competitors. Closest to the number wins. If there's a tie, the win goes to whoever got their guess posted first. For a hint, the baseline handicaps are listed in the very first post of this thread.

Hypothetical Example: Foz stays the same; HardcoreLooper lowers his by 2; Joyzee goes up by 4; ReeseDW goes down by 6; MDGH drops by 3
0-2+4-6-3 = 7 HC points net group improvement
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Week 8 Results: https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/24440-official-cobraconnect-challenge-2018-week-8-of-8/?p=464965

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Overall Results:
https://forum.mygolfspy.com/index.php?/topic/24440-OFFICIAL-%23CobraCONNECT-CHALLENGE-2018%3A-RESULTS-POSTED/page__view__findpost__p__466328




Also, Congrats to GeekingGolf for winning the forum member Grand Prize!

[fozcycle]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1959, the City of Frankfort, Kentucky opened a new park called Juniper Hills, located just west of the city. Juniper Hills included a Par 72, 18 Hole rolling terrain golf course. My Grandfather and his buddies joined the club and began playing every week. I was only 8 yrs old, but my Grandfather decided I was old enough to be his caddy. So I began my golfing career pulling a Bagboy cart filled with Powerbilt golf clubs up and down the rolling terrain of Juniper Hills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a caddy, I learned the rules of golf and how the game was played. My first set of clubs were a hodgepodge set of old hickory shafted clubs, leftovers from my Grandfather's old clubs. Ones that he took to Africa when he was building a sawmill to harvest mahogany wood for office furniture in 1948-49. He was a Civil Engineer. They carved out some land in the jungles of the Gold Coast(now Ghana) for a 9 hole course and played it for their recreation. Sadly, today I only have the putter left, so it hangs onthe wall above my desk at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I progressed from the hickory sticks to used Powerbilts that were my Grandfather's. At age 10, I got my first set of cleats(steel spikes of course). I felt like I was king of the world when I walked around the clubhouse area going clickety-clack, clickety-clack. I spent my summers at Juniper Hills, just a mile from my home, caddying in the mornings then either hawking lost balls, putting for pennies or playing in the hot Summer afternoons. I witnessed a Hole in one at age 13 when one of my friends aced the 140 yard Par 3 #6. For my High School Graduation, my Grandfather gave me a new set of Powerbilt irons. I got my Ace in August, 1985 at Pine Ridge Country Club in Winnfield, LA.

When I moved to Florida in 1987, I was a 10 Handicap, gaming Nicklaus Muirfield irons. Unfortunately, I was either working, or playing with my 4yr old daughter so I did not get much time to retain my handicap and watched it slip to an 18. Fast forward through the years to now, I have been playing with a 6” steel plate, 13 screws & an inch of my left hip bone in my left wrist (ice skating accident in 1998). The inch of my left hip was to make both arms the same length again. Because of the injury, my handicap ballooned to the mid 20's for several years, so I moved to graphite irons to reduce as much vibration as possible. I was able to get my handicap back down to 13 for a few months in 2011, but that did not last. For the past several years, I have been bouncing between 17 and 22. I also have two Ligaments damaged in my Left Ankle(too many ankle sprains). The Dr's offered surgery but I declined because I was not ready to stay off of it for 4 months. I am an Accountant(Ky State Univ. 1977) that retired in Jan 2017 and played 4 days a week wearing an ankle brace. I got tired of the brace and decided to play without it. I joined a 16 week nutrition class at the V.A., watched my intake and began excercising, losing 24 lbs this year. Now I can walk around the neighborhood without pain and ride a stationary recumbent bike. If I can lose another 15 lbs, I will be very happy. My drives usually range from 185 to 205, with an occasional 220 and my 6i is my 150 yard club. I am 67 years old, with an 18 Handicap, and play golf 3 to 4 times every week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• I play at Pebble Creek Golf Club, located in New Tampa, just 7 miles from my home. Been playing there for 10 years. Now retired, I Ranger there 2 mornings a week and play 3 times. The course plays 6436 from the Blues(71.1/127), 6032 from the Whites(69.1/122) & 5516 from the Gold(Senior Tees 66.3/111). I now play the Gold Tees. I have been running the Saturday Game at Pebble Creek for 10 years. We average between 30 - 50 players each week in our Stableford Points game. Twice a year we have a 2 day tourney. Annually, I book a 12 to 24 man Buddy Trip to the Kissimmee FL area. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• I have previously reviewed Cobra Bio Cell and Cobra F6 irons for My Golf Spy. Both were excellent sticks for a mid to high Handicaper. Still game the F6's. My buddy games the Bio Cells that I re-shafted with Project X 5.5 graphite Shafts. They still have game as he sometimes beats me….LOL. My typical drive is a mid launch straight to slight fade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• My Bag is as follows: University of Kentucky Team Effort Bucket Bag, Wilson Triton DvD Driver(Paderson Kinetix imrt regular set to 10.5*), Cobra F6 3-4 Wood(14.5*) with Matrix Ozik regular shaft, Cobra F6 Baffler 4W(16*) with Matrix Ozik regular shaft, Cobra Bio Cell 2 Hybrid(17.5*) w/stock Cobra shaft(regular), Cobra F6 irons 4i-SW(2* flat with Matrix Ozik Red Tie regular shafts). Note: the wedges are 45/50/55. Putter is Evnroll ER6 33” w/285 gram head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• After 20 rounds, my Baseline Stats with Arccoss 360 are as follows: Avg Drive 205 yds; Avg 6 Iron 148 yds; Avg 8 Iron 130 yds; Avg PW 106 yds; Putts per Round: 34.57; Driver Accuracy: 58.5% Center, 15.9% Left & 25.6% Right; 6 Iron: 50% Center, 50% Right; 8 Iron: 46.2% GIR, 7.7% Long, 7.7% Short, 3.8% Right, 34.6% Left; PW: 50% GIR, 8.3% Long, 33.3% Short, 8.3% Left. Handicaps: Overall 17.2, Driving 29.4, Approach 25.1 Chipping 15.9 Snd 4.6 Putting 5.8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• My Cobra Connect Challenge Bag: Cobra Ultralight Cart Bag(Peacoat/Silver), F8 Driver(10.5*) & F8 3-4(14.5*) Fairway & 5-6(18.5*) Fairway w/Mitsubishi Tensei ck Blue regular shafts, F8 3 Hybrid, 5 Hybrid & 6 - LW w/Mamiya Recoil 460 ES graphite regular shafts. The irons are all 2* Flat . All clubs have the Cobra Connect Lamkin Grip with Arccoss Tracking Sensors. I went to Golf Galaxy, where the staff worked with me to identify the best combination of Cobra F8's for me. I warmed up with my F6 6 Iron, they then put the same shaft in the F8 6 Iron and I was pulling it, so we tried a couple others, settling on the Recoil 460 ES. I started with the F8+ Driver and was fading them. When I tried the F8, they launched straight. After a couple hours, I settled on the shafts and was good to go. I want to thank Golf Galaxy for their support.

 

I thank My Golf Spy for having confidence in my abilities to review golf equipment. I plan to provide a thorough and honest review of the Cobra F8's. This is truly a challenge, a #CobraCONNECT Challenge. Tune in to My Golf Spy, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram for the results.

[fozcycle]

Here is my Shot of the Cobra Connect Challenge:

 

 

Par 5, 475 yard hole #13 at my club, Pebble Creek, located in the New Tampa area of Tampa, FL. I got well under the ball on my drive, which looked more like a Lob Wedge, LOL, than a drive. It did clear the big Oak tree that sits on the right side of the fairway about 140 from the Senior Tee. The drive plugged in the fairway at 151 yards. I knew I still had a chance to get on in three shots as we must lay up at 90 yards due to the lake. So I looked at the layup shot on my Arccos and decided the 5W was the club. I striped it clean and it went 169 yards, stopping just a yard from the end of the fairway. Next up is my PW, averaging about 106 yards. I hit the PW absolutely perfect and the ball flew right at the cup, coming to rest just about 2” from the cup! Holy Guacamole Batman! I almost had an Eagle! I could hardly wait to get up to the pin. This was a shot I wanted to preserve, so I snapped a pic......

 

 

Yes, I did make the Birdie putt!

 

I finished the round with a 40/41:81. Looking back, that PW shot put me in a tie for first place on Saturday, grabbing $134 as my share! We had 49 players in our weekly game making this the biggest pot of the summer.

 

If there is a Cobra King F8 club that fits my game, it is the PW!

[HardcoreLooper]

First of all, let me say that I'm truly honored to be selected to be a part of the Cobra Connect Challenge II. I know I'm following in some big footsteps, and I hope I can live up to the assignment.

 

All of you know me as HardcoreLooper, but my family calls me Mike. I hail from the Jersey Shore - Springsteen country, and we all have a “brush with Springsteen” story.

 

 

But I came down to Virginia for college (William and Mary), met and married a Virginia woman and never did leave. I've been living in the greater Richmond area for the last 20 years. I'm an internet thousandaire ;-) having gotten into IT a few years after college, and I've been working for the greatest software company on the planet (Red Hat) for two years now.

 

My two amazing daughters (ages 17 and 10) both play golf. The 17 year old stopped playing golf about 7 years ago, after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Thanks to her insulin pump and glucose monitor, controlling her blood sugar is much easier, and she picked the game back up two years ago and plays for her high school team. My wife is an incredible woman, but we just can't seem to get her to pick up the game.

 

My grandfather introduced both my dad and me to the game nearly 40 years ago (I still have Pop's old Titleist box blades in my attic), but it wasn't until high school when I started caddying that I took the game seriously. In addition to looping, I worked in the shop and cart barn all through high school and college, and I wouldn't trade those years (or those stories) for anything in the world. I was extremely fortunate that my boss (our head pro) wanted all his guys in the shop to be better than the members' kids, so I received quite a bit of free instruction. I was actually the worst player in the shop at a handicap that bounced between 5 and 6. I wasn't quite good enough to play in college, so I more or less put the clubs away for a few years, until I could afford to pay greens fees.

 

I belonged to a private club for a few years, but with no junior program there to speak of, I started taking my daughter to the First Tee of Greater Richmond. I started volunteering not long after that, and I've been a volunteer coach for the last 7 or so years. I'm truly fortunate to give back to both the community and the game.

 

I turned in nearly 50 scores last year, and I usually take at least one of my classes out onto the course when I volunteer. I posted the following to the goals thread for this year:

• Get back down under 6 (working on it, but heading the wrong direction until the last revision).
• Win our parent/child tournament lower division with my younger daughter. We didn't win, but we did improve on last year's score by three shots.
• Win the upper division with my older daughter. We finished second to a kid who plays AJGA and his scratch father. I'll take that.
• I'll need to wait another year to see if my dad and I can win his member-guest one last time; we finished second in our flight this year.

My recovery from surgery this winter left me with quite a bit of time on my hands, and I lost my MGS lurker status when I started posting. I could not ask for a better group of golf fanatics. While golf is my first love, I'm almost as addicted to seeing live music. Check out the concert thread for more info on that. The girls and I also love to ski, but it's up to Mother Nature as to whether it's a ski winter or a golf winter in Virginia.

 

Here's my previous WITB:

Driver - Taylormade R11 - Fujikura Blur (stock) ( R )

3 Wood - Ping G20 - Stock Shaft ( S )

4H - Hogan CFT Hybrid - Apex 4

5H - Walter Hagen - Fujikura Vista (Stock) ( S )

5i - GW - Mizuno MX-200 - Dynalite Gold S300

56* - Cleveland CBX - Dynamic Gold 115

60* - Vokey SM60-04 - Dynamic Gold S300

Putter - Ping Craz-e

Bag - Sun Mountain 2.5

Ball - Titleist Pro V1/Pro V1x

 

I adore the Mizunos - several Hogan-playing friends moved to Mizuno after Callaway killed the brand off, and I followed suit. I pulled the R11 out of a buddy's bag, hit it a few times and told him to name his price. Others have come to claim its place, but so far nothing has knocked it off the throne.

 

My baseline stats from my rounds with Arccos on my old clubs:

The handicaps are a nice shorthand for strokes gained. The numbers are important, but the arrows are the key. Am I improving, or am I getting worse?

 

And here are my smart yardages

 

The driver swing looks like this:

 

And an 8 iron looks like this:

 

They say the camera adds 20 pounds, so there must be three cameras on me.

 

My handicap has been as low as 5.9 at the end of last year. I peaked at 8.3 after taking a few months off to recover from surgery and now I'm finally heading back down a little.

 

My tempo is fairly moderate; I have trouble when I get quick. I can swing the driver right around 100 MPH; my oldest and I are working on improving this with the Drive 400 program. My 150 club was an 8 with the Mizunos, but it's now a 9 with the Cobras. I draw everything but the driver, having developed a paralyzing fear of the quick duck hook with the old TMAG R7. I had the R11 lofted down to open the face up to try to play a little fade in the hopes of keeping the ball on the golf course.

 

My typical miss is left, although I can easily hit it left of left, into another zip code to the left or onto another planet to the left. But just to make things interesting, I'll sometimes fail to square the clubface and my push draw turns into a cold block.

 

I scramble like hell on the golf course. Always have. If I have more than 32 putts, I'm not turning in a good score. I'd love to be able to shoot boring 77s by making 13 boring pars and 5 boring bogeys, but when I break 80, I've usually made a birdie or two and stolen a few shots by getting up and down from someplace I had no business being. I have trouble avoiding making a double bogey in a round unless I'm either unusually straight off the tee or I play extremely conservatively. I'd love to be able to routinely hit 14 tee balls in play and add one or two GIRs to make my game a little more boring and give me more chances to beat my Personal Best of +2 for 18 holes.

 

I've always had a great deal of respect for Cobra; I was in love with my old wooden Baffler 4 wood in high school until I split the head on it (as I've done with nearly every wooden wood I've ever owned). I love their youthful, aggressive styling and their approach to technology. I'm taking a bit of a leap moving into full-on Game Improvement irons, but I appreciate that Cobra sees the difference between a 4 iron, an 8 iron and a lob wedge.

Thanks to MGS for the cross-sections

 

If I'm hitting a 4 iron (and I've put it back in my bag with the F8s), I need all of the tech you can throw at me. I need a little help with the 8 iron, but I don't need a full-on power bat. And with the wedges, I need… wedges. Cobra has delivered the goods on all accounts. The topline notch at the hosel is not my favorite look in the world, but it isn't noticeable when you stand over the ball. The topline itself is substantial, but it's not obnoxious. I've stood over GI irons that say “you suck at golf - you deserve a crappy looking club like me.” In contrast, the F8 says “hit me - everything will turn out OK.” I can get with that.

 

I'm not really looking for more distance from my irons, but I'm not going to turn it down either, as long as I don't get that crazy rocket that sails 20 yards over the green. That will most assuredly result in a quick exit from the bag. I am keen on finding more forgiveness, as most of my range sessions these days consist of hitting about five balls in between my daughters calling me over to make sure they're properly working on the things their coach is teaching. Don't cry for me though; having kids that play golf is a great “problem” to have.

 

Where the look of the irons is confidence inspiring, the woods are sports car sexy. I wasn't all that sure about the carbon fiber with the Nardo gray, but frankly it's stunning. They win the looks game hands down. But both the woods and irons need to perform. If my driving and approach handicaps don't drop below my baselines above, they get kicked to the curb.

 

 

Team Photo

 

The new WITB:

Driver - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S )

3 Wood (14.5*) - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S )

3 Hybrid - F8 - Aldila Rogue Pro 75 ( S )

4i - LW - F8 - N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour105 ( S )

Putter - Craz-e

Bag - Ultralight (Blue/Grey)

 

 

And speaking of Arccos, this is the fourth shot tracking system I've used which includes:

• An online database I created
• GolfPad GPS (no tags, all manual shot tracking)
• A Strokes Gained Excel spreadsheet

So you know I'm interested in the data, but I don't want to pull my phone out of my pocket when I'm playing. Will this be the data gathering holy grail I've been seeking? We'll find out.

 

We have a fantastic eight weeks ahead for all of you. We'll put these clubs, the Arccos system, and each other through their paces. We'll play lots of golf, write lots of posts, and probably talk a little junk while we're at it. And so, so many questions...

 

Will the F8 finally knock the R11 out of the bag?

Will a set wedge replace my beloved CBX?

Will I give up on my Sun Mountain 2.5 bag in favor of the Ultralight?

Will my daughter wind up liking my driver better than me?

Will I be able to hit a 4 iron after all these years?

 

Stay folks tuned… it's gonna be a blast.

[HardcoreLooper]

So we've finally made it to week 7. We're all 7 weeks older, and hopefully much wiser. I've had a blast in the challenge so far, even if my results haven't been stellar. The Q&A has been so much fun, and you Spies have definitely kept us on our toes and made us think.

 

Picking out a single shot from the 12 rounds I've played so far with these clubs has been tough. You would think that I'd have to pick a shot from that 74 I shot, tying my personal best, right? I mean c'mon, I haven't played a round like that in over a decade.

 

 

There was that crazy 188 yard 7i off the side of a hill, but I wound up bogeying that hole. And there weren't really any bombed drives or flagged irons. It was a super-steady round, only one birdie, no doubles. Some pretty good putting from the looks of it. Was there one shot where I was really starting to feel the pressure of the round weighing on me? One shot where I was starting to get nervous and just had to pull it off? One shot to save the round?

 

Yes there was.

 

 

My tee shot on 16 was nothing to write home about, pulled left into fluffy rough, and the second with the pitching wedge was a crazy flier (I guessed that correctly) that jumped straight right on me (didn't see that part coming) and left me with a tough shot over a bunker to save par.

 

 

The pin was kind of front left, but what you can't see from a satellite photo is that the bunker I was pitching over has a very high lip, flowing into a pretty severe downslope onto the green. Land a pitch shot on that, and it's kicking off the green. So there I am, forced to hit a flop shot (my least favorite of all shots) out of thick rough over a bunker to a tight pin placement. Luckily, I had developed quite a bit of confidence in the F8 lob wedge, so I opened it up and let it do its job.

 

It didn't fail me.

 

I'd love to say that I dropped it in there to a foot, but in actuality, I left myself an 8 footer for par. But given the circumstances and the fact that I knew a bad shot would leave me scrambling for a double, I was thrilled to be 8 feet from the hole. And I drained the putt.

 

That par kept my round alive and gave me a putt on 18 for my all-time personal best. I didn't make it, but I'll take a 74 any day.

[MDGolfHacker]

A big thank you to MyGolfSpy, Cobra Golf and Arccos for allowing me to test their equipment!

 

 

 

If you can't wait to see the photos, check out my youtube link. Make sure you have the volume turned on

 

https://youtu.be/22duIdXTsi0

 

My story began when I was growing up in Maryland. The only sport I played was competitive tennis throughout middle and high school.

 

 

Some of my friends golfed, but I never took an interest in the sport at all. When tournaments were shown on TV, I never wanted to watch it and viewed the sport as boring.

 

 

Fast forward quite a few years…I no longer actively played tennis as my job was taking up a lot of time. My girlfriend (now my wife), wanted to find a sport we both could do as a couple (we played tennis a few times but she got mad at me because I didn't hit the ball to her (kind of what the point of tennis is, LOL) so SHE decided we needed to invest in a sport new to both of us). Her brother was into golfing and suggested we take up golfing. I resisted as I had zero interest in the sport. I didn't have golf clubs, didn't know how to hold a club; didn't see the point of hitting this little white ball further down the fairway, didn't know how to putt, didn't know the rules and had no interest in the history of the game. Regardless, I was dragged to the Willow Springs Golf Course in Maryland. It was an executive 18 course with no par 5's.

 

I had to rent clubs. Luckily, the pro shop had a single set for a lefty. Willow Springs didn't have the latest and greatest sets to rent; on the contrary, the set I was given was built circa 1965. The driver itself was no larger than today's 5 wood and had a BABY BLUE head on it (thought it was a strange color for the driver and not manly at all, but what did I know, I didn't golf) and the rest of the irons were a mishmash of blades hobbled together from probably 4 or 5 different sets. I was given a quick lesson by my now brother in law on how to hold the club and was told to swing away.

 

 

Standing on that elevated first tee, I took the first swing of the start of my love for golf. A swing and a whiff! I was given a mulligan (didn't know what that was at the time) and made contact on my second swing – high, straight and far. That one shot is what hooked me on the game. It didn't matter that I hacked my way around the course the rest of the day (I lost count of the number of swings I took after 120), what mattered that day was my love and interest of the game was born.

 

I started to watch the golf channel 24/7, started to see how fun golf could be,

 

 

picked up a starter set from Dicks Sporting Goods, and started to practice every day at the local range 5 minutes from my house. I should have taken lessons right at the beginning, but I didn't know better. I started trying to get out every weekend to golf, first with my girlfriend and her brother, then with co-workers.

 

My handicap started from the high 20's to the mid-teens and finally dropped down to a low of 7.8. I became a club junkie, attending every demo day every week of every month. I purchased several iron sets, drivers and putters. I even jokingly considered renting out storage space to put all the excess clubs and maybe install a loft and lie machine too, kind of make it a hangout spot for golfers, all located in public storage facility, LOL. I had the financial resources and more importantly, the time to devote to Golf. It was a great time as I golfed twice a week and sometimes more. I loved the comradery the game has brought to me, the deep history that I have learned to appreciate and the challenge of repeating something as simple as putter swing. I have really enjoyed being out on the course during the sunniest of days to the windiest and wettest of storms. Those that know me will say that I try and keep things light and funny, but determined and focused to shoot my best score.

 

Since then I married my wife, had several job changes and had two children. I had to step back from the game to devote my efforts to my family. As a result, my golfing tricked to maybe once a month if I was lucky and a few select tournaments I always played in. My handicapped shot up and the daily hours I spent at the range all but dried up.

 

Now to the present - the kids are a bit older and have shown an interest in the game and I am once again working on my game to bring it down from the current 16.8 handicap to single digits. I have only played this game for 17 years but have felt the wide range of emotions this game elicits. I play in a weekly 9 hole league and have started to go to local demo days (it never hurts to look, or so they tell me ) The current strength of my game is driving the ball (more like less of a weakness than a strength at times ). I am unfortunately an average putter. I can go through some hot streaks but more often than not struggle for even those short 2 footers. I went back to the basics this year (think grip, stance, and body turn) and reviewed earlier golf school videos to figure out what was going wrong. My typical ball flight is a medium flight, not high and definitely not the penetrating trajectory that the Pros have. My typical miss has changed throughout the years. When I started, my typical miss was a push to the left (since I'm a lefty) but the past few years, my misses are now more pull hooks for the driver and irons. My swing tempo is pretty even but with a medium-quick take away and medium-quick downswing. This causes problems as my upper body often times doesn't keep up with the arms so I'm working on getting this more in sync. My current driver speed ranges from 92 MPH to 96 MPH.

 

I play mostly out of Maryland, but have traveled to the surrounding states and as far south as Florida. I haven't played north of Pennsylvania or west of Virginia. I have played in the Caribbean – Aruba, St. Kitts and Nevis and have not played in Europe or Asia, though I hope to change that one day.

 

In the past, I've chosen equipment based on the look and feel of the club. For the irons, I have the Mizuno MP-57's with Project X 5.5 shafts (3-PW) in the bag. My stock 150 yard club, for reference, is a 6 iron. My driver is a TaylorMade R15 with an Aldila Rogue MSI 95 Black 70g stiff shaft. I was fitted for this driver after reviewing a few other drivers. While I saw some distance gains with the R15, I felt that I was still leaving a few yards out there. I picked up a Titleist 816H1 3 hybrid as my previous hybrids (TaylorMade Aero Burners) were costing me shots. My wedges are the original Titleist Spin Mills. The putter spot in my bag has been a revolving door. I normally putt with a Bettinardi C03, but when it needs a time out, I switch to a Nike Method Matter M5-10 counter flex center shafted 35” putter. I also utilize a Sky Caddie SG-5 and the Precision Pro NX7 Pro for distance information.

 

Now, onto the good stuff

 

When the Cobra Challenge II testing opportunity came up, I had to be pretty honest with myself on what I wanted to test for if I won. I am no longer that single digit, daily practicing, twice plus a week playing golfer. I am now a 16+ handicap, maybe once a week practicing, weekly 9-hole league golfer. While I would have loved to try and play the F8+ series irons and woods, I better fit in the Cobra F8 line with more forgiveness needed. Additionally, I was very intrigued by Cobra's one length irons, with the thought of eliminating variables such as ball placement and shaft length helping to simplify my swing even more. As luck would have it, I was selected for the challenge and the Cobra One Length irons were on their way! Even better, Arccos had sent us sensors to attach to our current set so we can get a baseline and see what our true weaknesses and strengths were. While most golfers always remembers their 280 yard drive, lob wedge from 140 yards or that 70 yard putt, most, including me, never know what their true consistent distances are from club to club, driver to wedge to putter. What I am hoping to get out of this testing opportunity is to solidify my game by dropping my handicap through the use of Arccos' shot by shot analysis and through the use of Cobra's updated technology allowing better forgiveness in its irons, and woods.

 

Cobra Set Makeup:

 

Just to refresh your memory, I ordered the following after being fitted by a local Cobra representative (all left handed of course ). While the fitting wasn't as extensive as would have preferred, it gave me enough information to choose what I believe will be a set that I can go low with.

 

Driver: Cobra F8 10.5° Project X Even Flow Blue 65g shaft Draw setting

Fairway Woods: Cobra F8 3W Project X Even Flow Blue 75g shaft

Fairway Woods: Cobra F8 5W Project X Even Flow Blue 75g shaft

Irons: Cobra F8 One Length 4-LW with the Nippon NS Pro Modus3 Tour 120

Bag: Cobra Ultralight Stand Bag Black

Shot Tracking Tour Analytics: Arccos

 

First Impressions Arccos:

 

For this testing opportunity, Arccos sent out the sensors to attach to my current set so that I could create a baseline to compare the Cobra F8 One Lengths when they arrived and were put into play. The Arccos sensors were packaged pretty well and the process to pair the sensors to the app was very easy.

 

 

 

The black sensor is specifically designed for the putter. All the other sensors can be mated to what ever club you wish. Assignment of the sensor to the club happens during the pairing process.

 

Just for those that haven't read about Arccos, Arccos does real time tracking of the shots you hit, allowing for analysis during and post round. It will show you how far you are hitting your driver versus what you think you are hitting your driver, and statistical analysis of your over all game. This is my baseline with the Mizuno MP-57's

 

Arccos scoring - what your scoring breakdown is over multiple rounds. Easy to see where you are losing strokes - whether it 's on par 5's, 4's or 3's.

 

Arccos smart distance and range - stats that tell you your average driving distance, fairway accuracy (whether you tend to hit the middle, left or right side of the fairways), and how well you hit your approaches (for me, I tend to hit my approaches short ).

 

 

First Impressions Cobra F8 One Length Irons:

 

I'm not going to post a photo of the box here – you've all seen what a box full of irons look like . I was one of the first testers to receive the Cobra one length irons, but I was the last tester to open the box since I wanted to open them all when the woods arrived. The fit and finish on the irons were flawless. What I did notice, and what the pictures won't show, is that the head weight for the long irons (4 and 5 irons) felt heavy. Also, it was a bit odd seeing that the Lob wedge and 4 irons were the exact same length! The Arccos sensors were pre-installed in the Arccos grips.

 

 

 

Note the carbon fiber pattern on the back of the 7 iron

 

First Impressions Cobra F8 Driver & Fairway Woods:

 

Well, I waited almost a month an a half to get the woods. Not sure if there was an issue in the supply chain or that the demand was high, but like a kid in a candy store, the driver and fairwoods finally arrived...but...

 

 

Yep, that's right. Cobra sent the shafts without the grips attached and to make matters worse, they also didn't include the Arccos sensors for the Arccos grips (which prevented me from regripping the shafts myself). A few emails and calls later, all was resolved a week later. As an apology, Cobra was nice enough to include 3 hats with the corrected driver and fairway woods! What you first notice about the driver is the carbon fiber weave pattern on the top along with the Cobra logo to align the center of the club face. The CNC milled pattern definitely stands out against the crowd of smooth faced drivers. Per Cobra, the F8 driver features "... COBRA's thinnest and hottest face, the KING® F8 driver delivers the perfect blend of speed and forgiveness with precision face milling, aero and adjustable weight technology". On the fairway woods, it also has the carbon fiber weave pattern on to top along with the Cobra logo for alignment. On the bottom the fairway woods have the rails which features "...the industry's only Baffler® Dual Rail system, the KING® F8 Fairway provides more versatility and forgiveness from every lie". Interestingly enough, Cobra did not apply the same CNC milled face to the fairway woods as they did with the driver. Testing will tell if these claims prove true!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall thoughts:

 

The Cobra F8 One Length Irons are a definite departure from my Mizuno MP-57's. What stands out to me when I first started to actually hold the irons is the head weight that I mentioned earlier on the long irons, and the fact that the wedges (Lob, Sand and Gap) are the same length as the 7 iron. I choke up on the wedges as it is, so there's definitely going to be some re-learning that will need to happen on my part. Overall, with F8's One length concept, increased forgiveness and Arccos' analytics, there shouldn't be any reason why I don't start consistently shooting lower scores as the season progresses! As the only lefty and only one length tester, I welcome your questions and thoughts on this journey we are all sharing!

 

 

MDGolfHacker

 

#CobraCONNECT Challenge 2018 - Full Bag Edition

[MDGolfHacker]

Reserved Week 7

[Reesedw]

I'm on the left with my Father in law and Son...

 

First off let me thank My Golf Spy, Cobra Golf, Puma Golf, Arccos, and last but not least my wife, Thank you all..

Who am I?? 

 

 

I am a 49 yr. husband, father, grandfather, who has been golfing for 20+ yrs. When I started out it was something to do with friends, then it grew into an obsession the more and better I played. Not that I play great but I do ok. I play to a 16ish handicap, probably a little higher right now.

How did I get here?

 

Growing up I was a target shooter, which I started because to any red-blooded boy growing up in the 60's and 70's guns were just guns, and cool. I had very good success as a shooter and Hunter. My next thing was Dirt bikes and ATV's, I started racing them. So I spent the better part of my 20's doing REALLY stupid things. It was during this time that I went with a friend to a Sprint car race. On the way home we stopped and played golf. Why would want to do that, I'm not old and I still have bones that I have not broken yet. Anyhow I got suckered into playing (Beer was involved). It was fun something different to do. My girlfriend (now Wife) bought me a starter set of MacGregor's a few weeks later. For a few years it was always “hey wanna play golf on Fri? I wish I could but”. I got playing better and got new clubs, Cobra Gravity back mid-sized. Then I get invited to join a golf league by a co-worker, SO I touch base with my good friend, Jim (known him since High school), we worked at same place different areas to see if he was interested. We joined the Company golf league playing every Thursday Morning. We would play 10 courses twice over 21 weeks starting in March ending in Sept, ended in a 2 day championship at two great courses. I won each Flight once and finished second once over 9 years, better yet made some great friends. I changed jobs and was unable to continue in the league. I still played regularly, just not in the league. My lowest Hdcp was 15.8 I have not kept a handicap since I left the league.

Jim and I have taken some great boys trips with my Father in law and his best friend golfing, they are 81 and 70 respectively. We've Played Coeur D' Alene twice, Circling Raven twice, Gamble Sands once, had had a blast doing so.  I'm now obsessed and have been for several years.

Last year I saw an article about Kirkland Signature balls. I was shocked I live in Washington and shop at Costco regularly and new nothing about them. The article was on My Golf Spy. So I started poking around Holy CRAP there are other poor B@stards like me. And even a few worse, you know who you are. So I joined and I got the chance to take part in the Bridgestone E6 test last year.

 

How eye opening, instead of just playing golf with a ball that felt good, I had to really think about stuff. It was enough to make my head spin, but I had a great time and hope I was insightful. Then came the Wilson D300 iron test. Sh!t I got that one, now my wife is not sure what to think. AT first she didn't believe that I was going to test and keep a new set of clubs, but I was hehehehe... The D300's were going head to head against MY Ping G25's, there is no way the D300's are better, these are PING's.. Now I'm gaming Wilson irons... LOL. They played great, they felt great, the G25's became my back up clubs... Earlier this spring I applied for the Cobra Connect Challenge II, and got selected. Now I will be testing an entire Bag of Cobra F8 clubs.

 

Where do we go from here??  

As you know this is a full bag challenge. Cobra wanted to compare the New F8 line to our current clubs. They sent us an Arccos system to gather data from our current set-up to compare to the New F8's. We got a custom fit set of F8 clubs, Driver-wedges. Whatever the make-up we decided on.

 

I got my arccos system first, this is to establish and baseline set of stats. 1 of my baseline rounds was my first round under 80, a 79, what the heck… lol.. these were super easy to install they just screw into the butt of your club then all that you need to do is pair them to the app you download onto your phone. When it comes time to play you open the arccos app and start a new round. It tracks your shot and once you have a certain number of rounds/holes it will work as your personal caddy. I really liked the idea of being able to track shots and have all the data in the palm of my hand..  Here are my numbers.

 

Here is the set that I went with. Same make-up and my current set so I will be comparing straight across..

Driver: F8+ Nardo Grey, Project X Hzrdus Red 65 Stiff, with REL connect in Nardo Grey, standard length

 

 

Fairway: F8+ 3-4 Nardo Grey, Project X Hzrdus Red 65 Stiff, with REL connect in Nardo Grey, standard length

 

 

 

 

Hybrids: F8 3H and 4H, Aldila Rogue Pro 75 Stiff, with REL connect in Nardo Grey, standard length

 

 

 

Irons: F8 Irons, 5-GW, KBS Tour 90 stiff shafts, with REL connect in Nardo Grey, standard length

 

 

 

Wedges: King Blk wdges 54* versatile and 58* versatile, KBS tour 90 stiff, with REL connect in Nardo Grey, standard length.

 

Bag: King Ultralight Cart Bag, Blue/Silver

 

 

 

All clubs RH, Standard Lie, Loft, and length. All grips Nardo grey, REL connect. 

 

 

 

I received the irons a couple of weeks later then the next day I got the woods, hybrids and wedges. They all were packaged the same plastic sleeve covering the clubs. I was fortunate to get all the clubs, but not the bag. The bag showed up a month later. This worked out ok since we needed to play our current set-up to get our baseline numbers.

Here are the Base line numbers from Arccos:

 

My Initial impressions:

 

These clubs are beautiful.

 

The irons are progressive with the longer irons (4-7) being a full hollow iron, mid irons (8-Pw) cavity back, and wedges (Gw- Lw) are a wedge design. These irons feel heavier than my previous sets. I am still working out distances; the longer irons seem about the same as I am used to. The short irons and wedges is really where I am, not struggling, but inconsistent. And I know it's just me adjusting to the differences, but they are long.

 

8 iron - is showing a distance of 155, for me that would have been a 7 iron with previous clubs. typical 8 iron would have been 150 on a good day but more like 147.

 

 

3H- is showing 208, typically my 3 hybrid would get me 200 on a good day in august.

 

 

Ok now what do I think of the Big Dog?? Long and straight. I've seen areas on the course I normally pass with my second shot on my drives. Very forgiving, toe and heel strikes still go great.

 

 

 

It's going to be a great summer…

Follow me on:

Twitter @GolfCrazyWA

Instagram @GolfcrazyWA

 

[Reesedw]

Foz that's a great shot, I too love the wedges... But I love the Irons also more specifically the 8 iron.

 

As most of you know I crapped the bed this week, I was on vacation and played not so well... NO excuses. So for Best shot/hole I put up #16 from Alta Lake Golf Course, in Eastern Washington…

I added sprinkles to my crap sandwich.

 

#16 @ Alta lake is a 331 par 4 from the Whites, playing back at the tee box and pin in the back left corner... To reach the fairway requires a forced carry of 30-40 yards slightly uphill over sage brush and other brush obscuring the view. The teebox is off to the right and below the fairway. The fairway is slightly uphill most of the ways to the green making it play longer then it actually is.

 

I play a 3hybrid to get it up and keep it in the fairway but on the right side, 153 to the flag. The green is guarded by a bunker on each side and a 2 foot high ridge across it. The Pin Back left on the upper shelf. Not much room to work with. NO hesitation I pull the 8 iron… Take dead aim and pull the trigger, Click, the ball just rockets off the face tracking right at the pin… It finally leaks a little left 1 hops and stops... Cleared the bunker on the fringe and stopped 8 feet from the pin. 4 in off the green... when I get to the green I realize I made a fantastic shot. I had about 4 feet behind and  2.5 feet front of the flag ( or it catches the hill and rolls possibly off the front) and 7' and change to the left. Had I actually hit the green It might not have stuck.. Now I have an 8 footer for Birdie, I give it too much and go 30 inches past it's down the hill and Gone… Aim left edge hoping it dives into the center, catches left edge but falls.. BIRDIE.. Heres what it looks like..

 

I hope your all enjoying this years challenge.. Thank you all for the questions and support...

 

Thanks 

Dave

[Joyzee10]

Hey there forum legends…. I appreciate you stopping by to read my intro - I know it's quite a commitment to read all 5 of our intros!

Soooooo… Cobra Connect Challenge II….. You have been asked to follow the journey of myself and four others as we go head to head in challenges with these spiffy new Cobra F8's.. Well, here's how it's gonna go….

 

*Link is a video - YouTube upload not supported*

 

https://www.captiongenerator.com/1023122/cobraConnect-Challenge

- Captions on!

*Disclaimer – Banter was/is encouraged between the Challenge guys!!*

 

My name is Clint Joy, 35, living in Pitt Meadows (A city of the Vancouver Area) and I am addicted to golf!

 

Being in the Vancouver area, I am subjected to classic Pacific Northwest Golf – Which some would argue is the toughest conditions to play in nearly anywhere in the world. One week its muddy, boggy and no run and the next its bounding roll. It's a mixed bag! Playing various courses also presents challenges in these conditions. But hey, I am golfing, havin a beer and enjoying the greatest game on the planet.

 

I am incredibly grateful and honored to have been selected to participate in the Cobra Connect Challenge II and I look forward to talking to as many of you as I can throughout the challenge. I am very laid back, can take a joke and enjoy some chirpin – so don't hesitate to have a dig at me if I am not keeping up with the old boys in the weekly challenges!

 

I like to have a beer, a laugh and more beer. I enjoy every minute of being out on the course. I used to take it serious and then it hit me one day – Just have fun you dumb son of a B@#*%!! So that's what I did. I drink beers on the course, listen to music, tuck into the odd stogie and most of all – enjoy my mates company. If you play with me, we are laughing… and most likely pulling the piss out of each other.

 

I am originally from a little town in Australia, called Denmark and moved to Vancouver back in January of 2009. Not exactly the best time to leave one of the best paying jobs in the mining industry in Aus – Drilling – But nevertheless, here I am nearly 10 years later. Sometimes I wonder what the hell I am doing here and why I moved, especially when it rains for 30 out of 31 days some months…. Oh yeah that's right…. Missus and kids. I guess I will just have to live with it lol.

 

I am married to a lovely Canadian girl and have two beautiful children. Scarlett, 6 and Huck, 3. They are the holders of my heart. I just adore them! I got the kids into golf this year and they have taken to it like my ball to water. It's great. Love taking them to the range and I look forward to taking my daughter out for a twilight sometime soon.

 

I was introduced to My Golf Spy by Dan Mann – GolfSpyMBP. Bloke is a beauty. I met him through Instagram. Funny story actually… I basically begged him to come play the tourney I host. He did, his team won and now we are good mates!

The tournament is to raise money for the BC Childrens Hospital; My son was born with TGA (Transposition of the great Arteries). I won't go into too much detail, but if you feel compelled to read about it and why I host a tournament, you can do so HERE

 

I can use many words to describe my current game… most of them will not be permitted on here! I like to hit the ball hard. I like to hit the ball far. I prefer not to hit it too often! I am an aggressive golfer and more often than not, if I can go for it in 2… I am going for it. I have been playing since I was 15 and fell in love from the very first time I played out on the course proper.

 

Here is an interesting fact for you all - When I was growing up in Denmark, the local course had sand greens. Ever seen/heard of them? If not, have a quick google - You will be amazed! So the thing with Sand greens is you don't typically land an approach shot on them like you do grass. That means "bump and runs" and punched approach shots from even 100+ out. Hence, I have never been a master of chipping on grass greens or using lofted clubs to do so. it just wasn't taught! But, rest assured, the King wedges will fix that!

Problem with my game and the fact I have little to zero practice time means I can run white hot…. Or colder than you're mother in law's kiss. It is always a mixed bag. I am the KING of recovery golf and being “creative” lol. I have made a few bucks on the side during games off buddies who doubt I can pull something off. It's kind of my M.O.

 

OK on to the nitty gritty.

 

Previous WITB:

 

Driver TM R11s 9* Fujikara 75g S

3 Wood TM Rocketballz Stage 2 TP 15* X Stiff

3 Hybrid Adams Golf 19* R Flex

Irons 4-PW TM R11 KBS X Stiff

Wedges TM TP 52*, 56*, 60* KBS Wedge Flex

Putter TM Rossa Mallet

 

 

Arrcos Baseline Stats:

 

I used the Arccos 360 (screw in) system for 5 rounds to gather my baseline stats before switching to the F8s. I found it really interesting being able to digitally track stats and learn more about your game. Somethings I wish I didn't learn lol.

 

Overall Performance:

 

 

Scoring:

 

 

 

Usage:

 

 

Rounds:

 

 

Averages:

 

 

Smart Range:

 

 

Longest:

Don't buy too much into that 329 folks. Hit the down slope of a hill and then took a big bound of a cart path…..

 

 

 

If you would like to read more about the Arccos system and my introduction to it, I created a post when I first began using it.

 

https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/23431-arccos-1st-round/?p=402870

 

 

 

Swing Tempo – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcQ_RVi6lNs

Handicap – 4 (was 8… but we will get to that…)

Ball Flight – High

Typical Miss – Harrrrrrrrrd Hook

Swing Speed – 115 (Driver)

150 Yard Club – PW

 

Strengths: Distance, Recovery Shots, Creativity, Shot Shaping, Putting – Very, very rarely 3 putt.

 

Weaknesses: Driving accuracy, Consistency, Chipping, Wedge proximity to hole, Putting – Need to sink more good looks at bird!

 

I am hoping to gain consistency through the challenge by using the Cobra F8s. Cobra markets these as game improvement – the addition of the arccos/cobra connect is a great marketing tool so lets see if it delivers what they promise. Game improvement.

 

Being in direct competition with the other testers will make me accountable and also bring some course management into my game! After being fit and now making some slight tweaks to the clubs, I feel I am ready to take my game to the next level and improve my overall numbers in all facets.

 

I have a few rounds under the belt with the new weapons but I don't want to give away too much about them just yet

 

The driver is geared to a player of my calibre – Low handicap/Faster swing speed. Time will tell!

 

@joyzee1010 on Instagram – Follow along!

 

Cobra WITB Now:

 

Driver: RH F8+ 8*-11* Set at 9.5* HZRDUS Yellow 76g 6.0 Shaft

3 Wood: RH F8+ 13*-15* Set at 14.5* HZRDUS Yellow 76g 6.0 Shaft

3 Hybrid: RH F8 19* Rogue Pro 75 X-Stiff Shaft

Irons: RH F8 4 - GW with Dynamic Gold X100 Shaft

Wedges: King 54* 58* Dynamic Gold Wedge Flex

Putter: RH Rossa Mallet - Mid size Super Stroke Grip

 

 

 

First Impressions

 

Time to connect!

 

 

 

The CNC Milled face is definitely a different look. I like it. Geez…. Straighten the tee ffs lol!

 

 

Forward and back weighted.

 

 

The carbon fibre crown is very cool. At address it's easy on the eye.

 

 

Baffler Technology

 

 

First range session….. mmmmm….

 

 

Just me and the boy grindin

 

 

Long irons are sexy!

 

 

King wedges!! The matte black King wedges are beautiful. Looking forward to throwin some darts with these bad boys!

 

 

 

 

Once again, really looking forward to the 8 weeks! FORE!!

 

@joyzee1010 Instagram

[Joyzee10]

Alright, Alright.... ALRIGHT!!! Week 7! Holy sh*t its been fun. You blokes are a bunch of beauties and I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute off it. The lads in the challenge are all top notch and I have enjoyed getting to know them. I am actually trying to organize a round with Dave in Washington next month. Stay tuned! 

 

Called in a favor to try and grab a couple extra votes..... 

 

https://www.captiongenerator.com/1071932/cobraConnect-Week-7#.W3udw2qrCNI.email

 

 

.... OK! 

 

So let me tell you more. Now for the record, I am a decent size lad. 5'11, 235 lbs, used to drywall, worked on the iron ore drill rigs in Australia and played high level Aussie rules football. This will all make sense to my good friend Nunfa0

 

I like to make sure the ball knows that it has just had an interaction with a Cobra CNC milled face if ya know what I mean.. eh... eh?!?! Go deep, amirite?!?! Anyways... here it is. 

 

I was enjoying a nice little round "up the hill" at Westwood Plateau. Lovely mountain course just outside Vancouver. Thing is here, if you don't hit fairways... my word, its a long day. You can be way behind the 8 ball after only 4-5 holes. It's a soul eater! 

 

Now let's turn the attention  to the "shot". 

 

As mentioned by my good friend on the intro, this is a monster par 5 and a very tough driving hole. Go right and it's heavy fescue on a dramatic hill or straight into the high lipped bunker. Go left and it's no chance. Straight into bear country. 

 

 

With how my driving runs hot and cold, it's a damn lottery everytime I get on this tee box. Not gonna lie, I do consider 3 Hybrid, 5/6 iron wedge some times... But then I say F it! Give the fans what they want!!! The fans want a BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMB!!!! 

 

 

As Bubba would say - "You're welcome" LOL

 

 

AND BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE!!! 

 

 

 

 

I did make birdie here but it was tougher than planned. I thinned a 9 iron just enough that it ran off the back of the green. Being a back pin, you run the risk of that on an elevated shot. Middle or front pin and I am laughing. Not to worry, I play a great ship back up to a pretty much blind pin and sink a healthy 6 footer for bird. Order is restored

 

Thanks for stopping by everyone. I am off to continue the John Daly diet and keep giving the people not what they need, but what they deserve.... 

 

#bombs

[bardle]

It's like Christmas in July. This is gonna be fun.

 

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[Nunfa0]

Oh my god, this is going to be awesome!!

[russtopherb]

This thread is going to be EPIC. I can't wait for the intros to start rolling in!

[tommc23]

Just really reading this guess I somehow read over this when it was posted, but the plan is intro then week 7 on the front page only? Everything else in between will be in the forum as we go?

 

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[STUDque]

Just really reading this guess I somehow read over this when it was posted, but the plan is intro then week 7 on the front page only? Everything else in between will be in the forum as we go?

 

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Don't feel bad, it's just been invisible until today.

 

But yes, week 7 is special and needs to be up front for....reasons. The rest of the week reports will fall in line of the thread progression.

[tommc23]

Don't feel bad, it's just been invisible until today.

 

But yes, week 7 is special and needs to be up front for....reasons. The rest of the week reports will fall in line of the thread progression.

Just making sure I understood how this was going so I don't skip anything good.

 

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[Bucky CC]

Excited to see the results!

 

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[Joyzee10]

Hey everyone! My intro is posted back on page one! 

 

Really looking forward to the challenge and giving you all feedback. Any questions... hit me up!

[null]

Been waiting for this one. Really good group of guys and I'm particularly interested in the arccos sensors and how accurate the testers find things.

 

Also interested to see what ends up being the testers favorite cobra club. I have a hunch it's going to be the fairway wood

[bardle]

Are any of our testers using Android devices with arccos? I'm curious if there's a difference between the iOS and Android versions as they always seem behind on their release cycles with Android.

 

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[null]

Are any of our testers using Android devices with arccos? I'm curious if there's a difference between the iOS and Android versions as they always seem behind on their release cycles with Android.

 

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I was going to ask you this - especially because the arccos forum testing had an ios requirement but I don't believe this group had the same restrictions.

[STUDque]

Are any of our testers using Android devices with arccos? I'm curious if there's a difference between the iOS and Android versions as they always seem behind on their release cycles with Android.

 

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By my count, we have 2.5 testers with Android and 2.5 with iPhone. HardcoreLooper has both. The big reason the Arccos forum test was "iPhone only" is that Caddie 2.0 isn't yet available on Android.

 

We're relying heavily on Arccos for this challenge so I sure hope it's accurate!

[bardle]

I was going to ask you this - especially because the arccos forum testing had an ios requirement but I don't believe this group had the same restrictions.

Yeah. I use the driver Version of arccos because it came with my F7. But it looks nothing like the product photos on the site and I heard there are supposed to be leaderboards in it but there are none to be found in my version.

 

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[bardle]

By my count, we have 2.5 testers with Android and 2.5 with iPhone. HardcoreLooper has both. The big reason the Arccos forum test was "iPhone only" is that Caddie 2.0 isn't yet available on Android.

 

We're relying heavily on Arccos for this challenge so I sure hope it's accurate!

Very good to know. I'm hopeful that there are no real differences going on. I look forward to seeing what those testers have to say.

 

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[tommc23]

Hey everyone! My intro is posted back on page one!

 

Really looking forward to the challenge and giving you all feedback. Any questions... hit me up!

Nice start so far

 

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[Nunfa0]

Joyzee10 you have started this just the way I hope it continues, fast and loud with a large dash of entertainment and lashings of beer!!

[null]

I'd love to for the guys to track how many times they go against the arccos caddie recommendations and the results of their rogue behavior haha

[bardle]

I'd love to for the guys to track how many times they go against the arccos caddie recommendations and the results of their rogue behavior haha

"The Tin Cup" challenge - Anytime you have 230 plus to go over water. Start calling your caddie Romeo and tell it to give you your 3wood. Drop until you get there baby. [emoji6]

 

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[tommc23]

"The Tin Cup" challenge - Anytime you have 230 plus to go over water. Start calling your caddie Romeo and tell it to give you your 3wood. Drop until you get there baby. [emoji6]

 

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Or play a par 5 with nothing but a 7i.

 

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