Cobra SpeedZone Xtreme - Unofficial Review by xOldBenKenobiX

[xOldBenKenobiX]

Most of you know me, just your friendly Jedi Master living in Michigan.

I am a 17.1 handicap, My current set up is a full Titleist set up, TS2 Driver and 3 Wood, T-MB 716 3 Iron, T-MB 718 4 Iron, 714 AP1 5 to PW. Vokey 48, 52 56 and 58 wedges. Tommy amours Impact 3 Putter, I arrived at this set up by trial and error.

First impressions

This is a gorgeous driver.

The yellow and black are absolutely beautiful, I love the way it shimmers under the sun light.

This Driver is the 10.5 with the UST Helium 5 shaft.

A pretty good contrast to the Titleist TS2 with the Kuro Kage 50 shaft.

Side by side, the TS2 is 1/4 of an inch longer than the SZX, barely noticeable on the picture of both side by side.

Both heads are the same size, 460ccs, but the SZX feels larger than the TS2. but not bulky.

The milling on the face is intriguing and beautifully done, I wasn't sure if the milling would affect the ball flight and shape as my concern being a slicer is that there would be a lot friction on the face, leading to extra side spin.

Grading

Looks 10/10

Cobra have not skipped on the beauty of this driver for forgiveness and with a few different color combinations and special editions, you can get a pretty unique driver for your game style.

I chose the yellow and back combination as if fitted my eyes and I was instantly in love with the colors.

 

Sound/Feel 10/10

This driver has a nice clean sound at impact, even on shots that are not necessarily center of the face. Per my playing partner "it makes a great ping sound on every shot"

Basic Characteristics 20/20

The driver is very well made and it checks all of the boxes that are claimed by cobra.

The over sized profile gives you a good visual at address without being overwhelming. 

The choices of shafts without extra charge allows you to customize a driver for your game, the UST Helium 5 is solid, yet very light.

 

 

This driver is definitely very forgiven, my Arccos data from the TS2 usage for this year, shows how inconsistent I am off the tee.

As for the Cobra, despite Arcoss indicating that I missed the fairway to the right a few times, those were actually fairway hits, I am not sure why the app marked those as misses.

The most important aspect for someone like me, a high handicapper, it is that most shots were straight as an arrow.

The launch of the tee is high, without any effort at all.

On the course performance 30/30

The one bad shot I had, it was on me, I came very steep and had a miss hit, a duck hook short and left.

Overall I gained 9 yards on average of the tee, getting longer towards the end of the round as I got more confident with the club.

Due to my back restrictions I do not generate a lot club-head speed, measuring currently 90 to 95 and flaws on my swing do not help as I do not deliver the club at the optimal angle, however it did not matter how bad I felt my swing was, the end result was a good drive, 13 out 14 fairways hit is a great feat for me.

How, if at all did this product change your impression of Cobra?

My last cobra driver was the S3 back in the day, I was never able to hit that club well, and have instinctively avoided cobra clubs ever since.

This driver changes everything, I am very impressed with the first use of this driver and very interested on what else Cobra has to offer.

In my mind Cobra just went from an off path club brand, to hell yeah this are clubs that I should definitely have in my bag going forward.

What feature would you change or eliminate from the next generation of this model?

Right now there is no changes I would make this club, it is extremely well made with the features that I have been seeking for a long time.

Miscellaneous 10/10

Although this club was an out of the shelf not fitted club, it immediately improved my game, I felt a great connection to the club and it feels made just for me.

Play it or Trade it? 20/20

This is a definitely play it club, (until something new and shiny comes out, then it is sidelined for that club and if it still better, it will be back on my bag)

The TS2 is now on my son's bag, there is no secret that I am a Titleist enthusiast and I am excited to see and maybe test the new TSi line, but as far as performance the SZX has earned it's spot on my bag.

Conclusion.

This is an awesome club with tons of engineering and technology put into it.

I just wish that we have a few more weeks of good weather here in Michigan so I can play a few more rounds and enjoy this gorgeous club.

Final Score 100/100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Nice review! Your Jedi mind tricks really make me want to give this a go. As a high capper, my driver has been killing me with a dreaded two way miss. Even though I got fitted for it, I worry I am due for a change. 

[spring7]

I could not agree more with your findings - This is the best combo of distance, accuracy and forgiveness that I could find.   Only I love the White with matte black model.

 

 

[xOldBenKenobiX]

21 hours ago, rbsiedsc said:

Nice review! Your Jedi mind tricks really make me want to give this a go. As a high capper, my driver has been killing me with a dreaded two way miss. Even though I got fitted for it, I worry I am due for a change. 

The dreaded two way miss is annoying, I always had on my mind that I was going to slice, or try to over correct and block straight left.

With the Cobra, It just felt great, the speedzone xtreme is made for maximum forgiveness and I was able to feel the difference even with very shot, even the ones that where not good swings.

I am sure that with more time and rounds, I will be able to get a better picture.

As I mentioned before, the best thing of getting the driver directly from Cobra, was the number of shafts that I was able to choose without any up-charge.

 

[xOldBenKenobiX]

8 minutes ago, spring7 said:

I could not agree more with your findings - This is the best combo of distance, accuracy and forgiveness that I could find.   Only I love the White with matte black model.

 

 

The white is very nice too, my 12 year old loves yellow, so the yellow it was the logical choice for me.

[Golfspy_CG2]

Nice job.  I'll be adding some thoughts and numbers on my Pars & Stripes SZ Extreme here a well in the coming weeks.  

[Miboy62]

Great write up. Thanks

[xOldBenKenobiX]

8 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Nice job.  I'll be adding some thoughts and numbers on my Pars & Stripes SZ Extreme here a well in the coming weeks.  

The par and stripes is another one with great graphics. 

 

[GolfSpy BOS]

nice write up... but your son was WRONG! as awesome as yellow is... the matte finish is top is far superior in eliminating unwanted side-spin.  Sorry, but its true.

Bryson might have just won the masters if he was using the matte finish club versus the glossy. 

Actually, in the F9 I would have gone yellow/glossy 9 times out of 10... but for the Speedzone the Matte just screamed pick me up.

 

How's the weather holding out there?  any hope of a few more rounds or are you just focused on winning the instragram competitions from now until April?

It's freezing here today, but I'm still holding out hope for a round or two before the simulator is my only escape!