Cobra KING Jr set review: a caution

[GolfSpy MPR]

A little over a year ago, my son set eyes on this set of clubs:

Like many kids his age, @Kirke loves Rickie Fowler, and when he saw that Cobra offered a complete set of clubs endorsed by Rickie, it was love at first sight.

Now, a couple points about Kirke as we begin. Kirke is an avid golfer, and has been since he was 2. This presents us some problems when buying golf equipment. Most club sets for kids under 10 or so are not made for serious play. Kirke has well-honed yardage gaps, so a set with a driver, an iron, and a putter (pretty typical for sets marketed to five year olds) isn't going to work for his game. Also, Kirke is just smaller than average size for his age, so going up a club size isn't an option for him.

His love for these Cobras, along with the fact that it was a legitimate club setup (driver, hybrid, 7 and 9 irons, wedge, and putter), certainly made me want to buy these for him. And while they don't cost nearly what an adult set does, the list price ($199) isn't insignificant. Late last year, my parents agreed to chip in with my wife and I and we bought this set (on sale) for Kirke's birthday.

I was pumped. Kirke's birthday is in late December; I placed in the order in late October, and the clubs were going to stay with my parents until Kirke's birthday.

The first red flag came last year when I decided to make a DIY set of Junior SuperSpeed sticks for Kirke. I wanted to base their weights off the driver he would be playing, so I first decided to contact Cobra to get the detailed specs for these clubs. Eventually, I received this message from Cobra Golf on Facebook:

Interesting. So that was important: this set of Cobra clubs isn't made by Cobra at all.

The second red flag came when I asked my dad to open the box and measure the driver himself. When he texted back the specs, I was skeptical:

For reference, the SuperSpeed PeeWee specs (for kids 5–7) are 186, 210, and 245g. For the Cobra driver to be over 300g seemed really unusual.

Kirke got his clubs on his birthday, and he was as thrilled as I had hoped. Even though it was the dead of winter here in the UP, he hit his first tee shot right away:

We still had months to go before opening day here. Kirke did some practice in the garage with his new Cobras in the winter months, though I found it disconcerting that he kept drifting back to his old clubs (which were mostly my builds of junior components from Diamond Tour golf). About a month or so before the opening of the season, I decided that the Cobras needed to be trimmed down. That wasn't a surprise to me: they are listed as being for ages 5–8, and since Kirke is on the lower end of that spectrum, trimming them down a bit made sense.

Kirke's season has started well. He had back-to-back nine hole rounds where he shot 1-over in each 9. His touch with the wedge is outstanding, and his putting  has been really sharp.

In the main, the Cobras performed pretty well for him. I had two concerns, however: the weight of the clubs still seemed off, and the driver head especially just seemed dead.

Last week, Kirke and I traveled together to the Twin Cities to attend a practice round of the 3M Open. Being in a metropolitan areas gives us opportunities we don't get in our very remote, rural area, so we also stopped in at a PGA Tour Superstore. After playing on the giant putting green for a while, we ventured over in the kids' clubs section. I noted that the US Kids driver for Kirke's height (48") was only $40. My curiosity was piqued. I know that US Kids clubs are very highly regarded in youth golf as being well-designed for children. Was this driver going to be substantially different than Kirke's Cobra?

We took the driver to the simulator bay (I can't tell if the sales guy was taking Kirke seriously—until Kirke hit). Immediately, Kirke starts hitting drives near 90 yards, which is normally a great drive for him. I decided we needed to compare it on the sim against his Cobra, so we went to the car and got his driver. There was a pretty consistent 10-yard gap between the Cobra and the US Kids drivers. For an adult, 10 yards is significant but not enormous. For Kirke, it's like adding 10% to his drive. It's a big deal.

We bought the driver.

__________________________

Kirke's been playing his Cobras for almost three months now. There are lots of good things we can say about this set. The bag has been very good: enough pockets for his things, durable, and a good looking bag. Really no complaints at all on the bag.

The hat headcover is still cool, though the stitching came undone on the sock. The hat part still holds securely on the driver. Again, no complaints here, and it's something I think Kirke still really likes:

As I mentioned above, I think Kirke really likes the putter and wedge. The kid is a little short game wizard (far better around the greens than I am), and so these are tools for him. He spends hours (quite literally) chipping and pitching balls in our backyard. He doesn't abuse clubs (hitting them on concrete, etc.), and check on the sole wear on his wedge:

But I have no complaints on the wedge and putter.

The Cobra set comes with a 7 and 9 irons, and Kirke hits these well. We know that irons aren't distance clubs; they're accuracy clubs. It doesn't particularly matter how far you hit a 7 iron; what matters is that you hit your 7 iron to a particular distance. On that criteria, these are good clubs. That said, they are heavy. Here's a picture comparing the Cobra 7 iron with Kirke's old Diamond Tour 6 iron:

That's an enormous difference, and while there are some factors that contribute (the new club has a slightly longer shaft, and a 7 iron will normally have more mass than a 6 iron), there is no legitimate reason for the Cobra to be almost 40% heavier than Kirke's older iron.

But I think the problems with this Cobra set manifest themselves most clearly in the driver. Here's the Cobra driver (remember, with 2–3" of shaft trimmed off) compared to his new US Kids driver:

Once again, the Cobra club is significantly heavier than a junior club should be.You can see that the Cobra has a giant head, and the shaft is noticeably thicker as well.

Last night, I had Kirke hit five shots with his old Cobra, and then he hit a whole bunch with his new driver. I excluded the obvious mishits from both, and here are the numbers:

And those differences were borne out in on-course performance as well. Kirke and I played nine holes this past Saturday, and he was consistently 5–10 yards ahead of his usual spots.

__________________________

Here's my takeaway on this whole review: this set isn't awful, but I do feel a bit scammed for having bought it. When you purchase a set of major name OEM clubs, you expect that you're getting major name OEM clubs. Instead, at a major markup, you're getting a set of house-brand clubs that aren't designed for kids, covered in (admittedly) cool graphics.

I should issue one clarification: I'm here reviewing the set that the box lists from ages 5–8. There is a set of Cobra KING Jr clubs for older kids as well. Examining the stock photos, it looks like the older kids' set may well be using the same heads as they use for the younger kids' clubs, and those may be the right size and weight for older kids.

But knowing what I know now, I wouldn't purchase these clubs for ages 5–8 again, nor would I recommend them to others. Kirke is going to continue to play these clubs (with the driver switched out, obviously). He may even end up using this bag with whatever clubs come next. But if your junior player is serious about his game, and you're looking for a set of serious kids' golf clubs, I'm convinced your money would be best spent elsewhere.

[null]

Good stuff.  I think the true problem isn't that the clubs are heavy, but that they are marketed to an age range and not a height.  On top of that, it is an age range of 3 years (5 to 8 ) which is a big time of growth for kids.

To say a 5 year old can swing the same clubs as an 8 year old is foolish.  And what about a smaller 5 year old vs a larger 8 year old?

Cobra has a fantastic Junior Driver  that is made by cobra and they even run a shaft upgrade program, so I wouldn't worry about those clubs at all.  https://www.cobragolf.com/junior-shaft-upgrade

I would be skeptical of any golf clubs that are marketed to a specific age range vs a specific height

[THEZIPR23]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

 

I should issue one clarification: I'm here reviewing the set that the box lists from ages 5–8. There is a set of Cobra KING Jr clubs for older kids as well. Examining the stock photos, it looks like the older kids' set may well be using the same heads as they use for the younger kids' clubs, and those may be the right size and weight for older kids.

 

Curious if the weight is the same on both sets. 

[russtopherb]

My son has the set designed for older kids and he loves it. So much so that he’s loathe to give it up even though he’s now too tall for it.

IMO, and based on experience, US Kids clubs are far better built and designed than a boxed set designed to be sold at a big box store. Those sets are purely there to capture Rickie fans. I think that’s incredibly smart. However I wouldn’t expect them to have the same build quality as those of US Kids or the junior Callaway sets they offer. You get what you pay for.


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[PlaidJacket]

17 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

But if your junior player is serious about his game, and you're looking for a set of serious kids' golf clubs, I'm convinced your money would be best spent elsewhere.

I found this information to be useful. I've been collecting many sets of jr. clubs for our First Tee program. Although our goal isn't to churn-out competitive golfers it's still important that the kids have decent equipment. Most of the sets I've been given are various sets/sizes of US Kids brand. I do have one Cobra set and a couple of Callaway sets. I've thought at times about acquiring a few more sets by TopFlight or others but was concerned about the quality. Doesn't Ping make Jr.s sets also?

[Bucky CC]

Thanks for this very insightful post.  My 5 year old is just getting into golf and we're looking at purchasing a new set for him.  Right now he's using some clubs we found at the local Goodwill because they were the right size and didn't cost much since we didn't know if he'd want to keep playing golf.  We've now gone out to the course 4 straight Sundays and he absolutely loves hitting driver off the tee, dropping a ball near my drive to hit an iron, and then taking his iron and putter out once we get to the green.

I've been looking at the US Kids sets a lot but my course also sells Epec golf clubs.  Apparently you can buy different shafts and club head weights at a cheaper cost each year to make sure they always have something that fits them properly.  Considering how much kids grow from year to year this seems like it may be a great option.

@GolfSpy MPR, being that you seem to be taking the mantle as the MGS kid's club expert, have you ever heard of Epec and if so what are your thoughts?

https://epecgolf.com/

[bens197]

I’ll be in your shoes soon enough. I’m planning on building my daughter her first set. My grandfather built mine and I’d love to use his tools and workbench to pass it forward.

Thanks for sharing


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[Jmikecpa]

Nice write up.  My younger daughter has a set of Callaway clubs and they work good for her at age 8.  The weights were very consistent and the swing weights were on the lighter end.  My older daughter is on her second set of US Kids clubs and they are great for her.  My 13 year old son is using a mix of adult clubs and kids clubs right now but will be fully in adult clubs by next year.  For the money the US Kids line is very good and affordable and if your junior is serious about the game the US Kids TS series is really good but on the pricey end.  I think my sons last set was around $700 for a full set.

As a side note, the customer service for US Kids is not exactly the greatest.  My son cracked is US Kids TS driver hitting a tee shot and they would not warranty it (only had it for a month).  They said there was no way it happened during a normal round and it was not their issue.  Also, their "free club" offer is a bit misleading as they only give you a credit towards additional clubs that does not come close to covering the cost.  I think I paid about 70% of the cost for the wedges that I got for my son from them.

[golfertrb]

My kids used US Kids and I had no complaints. We bought a fee at a time but they were excellent quality - from clubs to bags to towels - all of it was outstanding. Ping has some really great clubs for kids too - Prodi G. I'm looking to by for grandkids now but I can't say enough good things about US Kids.


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[Kanoito]

Holy s***... the little guy with just a t-shirt out in the snow

Thanks for sharing! My daughter is 4.5 and using the beginner US Kids set (driver, iron, putter). I'm still looking for her next upgrade.

[GolfSpy MPR]

On 7/9/2019 at 10:27 AM, Bucky CC said:

Thanks for this very insightful post.  My 5 year old is just getting into golf and we're looking at purchasing a new set for him.  Right now he's using some clubs we found at the local Goodwill because they were the right size and didn't cost much since we didn't know if he'd want to keep playing golf.  We've now gone out to the course 4 straight Sundays and he absolutely loves hitting driver off the tee, dropping a ball near my drive to hit an iron, and then taking his iron and putter out once we get to the green.

I've been looking at the US Kids sets a lot but my course also sells Epec golf clubs.  Apparently you can buy different shafts and club head weights at a cheaper cost each year to make sure they always have something that fits them properly.  Considering how much kids grow from year to year this seems like it may be a great option.

@GolfSpy MPR, being that you seem to be taking the mantle as the MGS kid's club expert, have you ever heard of Epec and if so what are your thoughts?

https://epecgolf.com/

@Bucky CC: interesting that you should ask about Epec. Someone on Twitter mentioned them as well, and I just assumed they had misspelled "Epic," that it was a set of junior clubs from Callaway. Browsing their website, their idea is certainly intriguing. I wish that the club specs on the website included the weight of the club. Obviously, I'm a bit jaded from my experience with the Cobras, but that is now one of the key things I'll be looking at with any kids' clubs.

[Bucky CC]

10 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

@Bucky CC: interesting that you should ask about Epec. Someone on Twitter mentioned them as well, and I just assumed they had misspelled "Epic," that it was a set of junior clubs from Callaway. Browsing their website, their idea is certainly intriguing. I wish that the club specs on the website included the weight of the club. Obviously, I'm a bit jaded from my experience with the Cobras, but that is now one of the key things I'll be looking at with any kids' clubs.

By the way, tell Kirke he has a nice hat.  I bought the exact same one for the Cobra Connect Challenge.

[chershey]

Going back to the EPEC clubs, one of the kids that does Summer golf camps with my son has the EPEC clubs and hits them really well. They seem like a good option. I just wish I would have known about them when my son was younger. With his height, he'll be playing all adult clubs in a couple of years, so it wouldn't be worth the investment at this point. Your son has a great swing btw.

[Jtom2012]

was thinking about getting these for my son as well