Cobra Connect Five-Pre Challenge Chatter-Testers Announced.

[Brian A]

On 7/14/2021 at 12:21 PM, txgolfjunkie said:

Good (is that the right word to use?) to hear that you notice this as well and it's not a sudden swing change on my end. Crazy arrows, it's never the Indian!

It all seriousness, I'm hoping the added weight in the driver head, and some lead tape out on the toe of the 3W will help straighten out the ball flight. You would think the added weight will keep the head from closing down too fast at impact. 

Never the magician, always the wand… Just ask Bryson 

[txgolfjunkie]

1 hour ago, Brian A said:

Never the magician, always the wand… Just ask Bryson 

After reading what Bryson requires of Cobra and his urgency to get him new driver heads, that's probably the reason why there's a delay in getting our product from Cobra (kidding, of course).

In my world, I picture a daily dilemma at Cobra : Do we assemble these irons for the guys at MyGolfSpy or cad some new driver heads and ship it out to where ever Bryson is located? 

[null]

2 hours ago, txgolfjunkie said:

After reading what Bryson requires of Cobra and his urgency to get him new driver heads, that's probably the reason why there's a delay in getting our product from Cobra (kidding, of course).

In my world, I picture a daily dilemma at Cobra : Do we assemble these irons for the guys at MyGolfSpy or cad some new driver heads and ship it out to where ever Bryson is located? 

Im going to draw up some sketches on MS Paint and tweet them out to Chad and Yags and see what they can do for us

[Mtbryant01]

Got to play a round in Chattanooga today. I still haven’t received my driver/woods/hybrid yet from Cobra so I’m playing a little bit of a mixed bag. 
 

I am really loving my Snakebite wedges. I had 5 up and downs today and should have had two more out of the sand, but missed a couple 6-7 footers. The 58 degree full face groove is awesome and has a ton of bite. I’ve mainly used my 58 around the greens so far, the 54 40 yards and in along with chips needing to get on the ground fast and run some, and the 50 for shots 100 and in out in the fairway.

The MIM irons have been great as well. I’ve been really surprised with my long irons (5 and 6 irons). I’ve struggled with these in the past, but have been flushing them the past couple rounds. I used to own Taylormade irons with 90g shafts (did not get fit), and now the Cobra irons have 120g shafts in them. I really have a nice feel for them and can fee the club face coming through during impact.

Pictures and more details will be posted later when I receive the rest of my clubs.

[goaliewales14]

How are the Snakebite wedges when you open up the face?  Does the leading edge stay relatively flat or does it come up a lot?

[Mtbryant01]

28 minutes ago, goaliewales14 said:

How are the Snakebite wedges when you open up the face?  Does the leading edge stay relatively flat or does it come up a lot?

I’ll take some pictures tomorrow as I’m playing again. When you open them up, the leading edge is going to come up some naturally, but to me it’s really not bad at all. It feels really easy/not as forced as others to open up the wedges.

[txgolfjunkie]

I worked on straightening out the Radspeed driver and 3W over the weekend...this was all indoors so I'll need to test these out on the course before deeming it worthy...

Driver

My biggest concern about opening up the driver face to -1.5* is my launch will get too low and I'll start losing carry distance. I have the 16g weight up front and a 8g weight in the back. This is 10g more weight than the stock weights and I do feel the head better during the swing. The added weight provided a more consistent strike, however, I still saw the hard draw on almost every swing. I added 4g of lead tape to the toe and immediately started to see results. My only issue is that the tape wouldn't stick to the matte paint and would fly off at impact. The hard draws straightened out to a more playable draw but I noticed some wild swings with driver spin. Keep in mind I'm using the Left Dash Pro V1x in all of my tests. I do throw in a Bridgestone Tour BX occasionally if I think the driver head is too low spin and I need something with a little more spin to keep the ball in the air. I'll say I've never seen such wild swings in launch and spin than with this driver. It's a little frustrating and I feel like this is a complex Rubik's cube and I've only got one side complete. Open the face, launch gets too low but spin is perfect. Square the face, launch is perfect but spin is counter-productive and ball moves right. Move weight forward, spin is reduced but I'm seeing ball fly further right. Move weight back, straighter ball flight but with excess spin. I love tinkering with clubs but I'm about out of ideas. 

Big Tour 3W

I added 4g of lead tape to the toe of the BT and it was an instant success. I averaged 23 yards right of target without the tape, and only 6 yards right of target with it in place. The Left Dash paired with the BT is giving me driver-esk launch numbers (161mph ball speed, 12* launch @ 2400rpms - 278y carry). The left dash is a little bit more active (left-right movement) off the tee than the Bridgestone but both balls performed well. Regardless, my confidence in the 3 wood greatly increased and with the carry distance I'm seeing, I see it as a great sub in case the driver isn't behaving. 

[null]

10 minutes ago, txgolfjunkie said:

I worked on straightening out the Radspeed driver and 3W over the weekend...this was all indoors so I'll need to test these out on the course before deeming it worthy...

Driver

My biggest concern about opening up the driver face to -1.5* is my launch will get too low and I'll start losing carry distance. I have the 16g weight up front and a 8g weight in the back. This is 10g more weight than the stock weights and I do feel the head better during the swing. The added weight provided a more consistent strike, however, I still saw the hard draw on almost every swing. I added 4g of lead tape to the toe and immediately started to see results. My only issue is that the tape wouldn't stick to the matte paint and would fly off at impact. The hard draws straightened out to a more playable draw but I noticed some wild swings with driver spin. Keep in mind I'm using the Left Dash Pro V1x in all of my tests. I do throw in a Bridgestone Tour BX occasionally if I think the driver head is too low spin and I need something with a little more spin to keep the ball in the air. I'll say I've never seen such wild swings in launch and spin than with this driver. It's a little frustrating and I feel like this is a complex Rubik's cube and I've only got one side complete. Open the face, launch gets too low but spin is perfect. Square the face, launch is perfect but spin is counter-productive and ball moves right. Move weight forward, spin is reduced but I'm seeing ball fly further right. Move weight back, straighter ball flight but with excess spin. I love tinkering with clubs but I'm about out of ideas. 

Big Tour 3W

I added 4g of lead tape to the toe of the BT and it was an instant success. I averaged 23 yards right of target without the tape, and only 6 yards right of target with it in place. The Left Dash paired with the BT is giving me driver-esk launch numbers (161mph ball speed, 12* launch @ 2400rpms - 278y carry). The left dash is a little bit more active (left-right movement) off the tee than the Bridgestone but both balls performed well. Regardless, my confidence in the 3 wood greatly increased and with the carry distance I'm seeing, I see it as a great sub in case the driver isn't behaving. 

I found by moving the weight back in my driver and lowering the loft to open the face I’ve been able to mitigate many of the over draws without sacrificing launch and spin. 

[null]

Just got back from the range.  Good news is I was absolutely flushing my 5 7 and 9 irons. Bad news is that was my mizunos I brought to the range along with my cobra irons.
 

The cobras are still a major struggle due to the shaft.  Hit them side by side today and had no idea where the ball was going with the cobras

Both my fitter and my old instructor watched me hit a bunch and my fitter said “if you were thinking about buying either club I’d hide the cobras from you so you couldn’t hit them again”

Instructor said be careful a don’t develop bad habits trying to get the shaft to work for me

Driver, 3w, 7w and utility iron were all good.  The 7w and utility iron continue to impress me for how easy they are to launch  

 

 

[GolfSpy AFG]

17 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Just got back from the range.  Good news is I was absolutely flushing my 5 7 and 9 irons. Bad news is that was my mizunos I brought to the range along with my cobra irons.
 

The cobras are still a major struggle due to the shaft.  Hit them side by side today and had no idea where the ball was going with the cobras

Both my fitter and my old instructor watched me hit a bunch and my fitter said “if you were thinking about buying either club I’d hide the cobras from you so you couldn’t hit them again”

Instructor said be careful a don’t develop bad habits trying to get the shaft to work for me

Driver, 3w, 7w and utility iron were all good.  The 7w and utility iron continue to impress me for how easy they are to launch  

 

 

Sad/disappointing to hear.  Are we talking spraying it or a consistent miss?

[null]

5 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

Sad/disappointing to hear.  Are we talking spraying it or a consistent miss?

All over the face contact.  Pulls 25 yards left followed by high fades.  The only way I can seem to make solid contact is by getting really steep into impact, but even then I am not delivering a consistent face to path.  I honestly have no feel for where the clubhead is in my backswing so my transition is completely out of whack with them.

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

1 minute ago, jlukes said:

All over the face contact.  Pulls 25 yards left followed by high fades.  The only way I can seem to make solid contact is by getting really steep into impact, but even then I am not delivering a consistent face to path.  I honestly have no feel for where the clubhead is in my backswing so my transition is completely out of whack with them.

Can you somewhat surmise that its pretty much all shaft related? On any crisp shots are you comfortable with the head otherwise? Really unfortunate if the shaft is the issue and you just couldnt get the right one.

[chisag]

32 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Just got back from the range.  Good news is I was absolutely flushing my 5 7 and 9 irons. Bad news is that was my mizunos I brought to the range along with my cobra irons.
 

The cobras are still a major struggle due to the shaft.  Hit them side by side today and had no idea where the ball was going with the cobras

Both my fitter and my old instructor watched me hit a bunch and my fitter said “if you were thinking about buying either club I’d hide the cobras from you so you couldn’t hit them again”

Instructor said be careful a don’t develop bad habits trying to get the shaft to work for me

Driver, 3w, 7w and utility iron were all good.  The 7w and utility iron continue to impress me for how easy they are to launch  

 

... Bummer. Posted elsewhere but I took out my 588TT's last week just to see what Game Improvement irons would be like after playing Z Forged and King Tours for a full season. When I played them with Recoil 110 shafts they performed very well for me. A little higher flight than ideal and not the solid feel of my Players Irons but excellent performers. Getting another year older I thought it might be an interesting idea to re-shaft them with the lighter VS Proto 85's as the VS Proto 100's are still some of my favorite iron shafts. 

... But like you they were just all over the place. It didn't take long to lose confidence standing over the ball and not knowing what kind of shot they were going to produce. To be fair to the 588TT's and VS Proto 85's, they are an amazing combo but just a bad fit for me. Too light and I had no feel for them at all. As a feel player that ain't good and once you put doubt in your head it is tough to swing normally. Went back to my Cobra's with Steelfiber 95's the next round and was right back in my comfort zone. It clearly was not the heads but the shafts and as you know all too well, that can make aaaallllll the difference. 

[GolfSpy AFG]

4 minutes ago, jlukes said:

All over the face contact.  Pulls 25 yards left followed by high fades.  The only way I can seem to make solid contact is by getting really steep into impact, but even then I am not delivering a consistent face to path.  I honestly have no feel for where the clubhead is in my backswing so my transition is completely out of whack with them.

So, hate to ask a difficult question, but any dialog with Cobra about potential remedies?  I mean, if I was in your shoes this might suck the fun right out of it, make it very hard to make an honest clubhead assessment, and worst start negatively impacting your swing and your game. 

[null]

2 minutes ago, Lacassem said:

Can you somewhat surmise that its pretty much all shaft related? On any crisp shots are you comfortable with the head otherwise? Really unfortunate if the shaft is the issue and you just couldnt get the right one.

100% shaft. 
 

I requested 3 other shafts before being told I’d have to go with this one due to stock issues. 

[null]

1 minute ago, Getoffmylawn said:

So, hate to ask a difficult question, but any dialog with Cobra about potential remedies?  I mean, if I was in your shoes this might suck the fun right out of it, make it very hard to make an honest clubhead assessment, and worst start negatively impacting your swing and your game. 

Full transparency? Nothing. The main contact that set this all up is out on maternity leave and the guys backing her up haven’t been responding to the mods inquiries. We haven’t gotten any updates on the remaining clubs we’ve yet to receive, nor the bags. 
 

I get these are unprecedented times, but I’m really surprised how little Cobra seems to care about the challenge this year. The stock issues are one thing. I get that. The lack of communication is something I don’t get. 
 

And my own 2 cents, if I am an OEM putting together some sort of testing Opportunity for a website or influencer, I’d want to make sure the people reviewing my stuff received equipment that fit them (from the no up charge options available to consumers). I’d rather postpone testing altogether rather then send people ill-fitting equipment 

[GolfSpy AFG]

6 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Full transparency? Nothing. The main contact that set this all up is out on maternity leave and the guys backing her up haven’t been responding to the mods inquiries. We haven’t gotten any updates on the remaining clubs we’ve yet to receive, nor the bags. 
 

I get these are unprecedented times, but I’m really surprised how little Cobra seems to care about the challenge this year. The stock issues are one thing. I get that. The lack of communication is something I don’t get. 
 

And my own 2 cents, if I am an OEM putting together some sort of testing Opportunity for a website or influencer, I’d want to make sure the people reviewing my stuff received equipment that fit them (from the no up charge options available to consumers). I’d rather postpone testing altogether rather then send people ill-fitting equipment 

Yeah, that's why I said difficult question...knew you might have some not-so-positive observations to share which I know we all don't share lightly on the forum.  Thanks for the candor.

Like you said, you would think an OEM would really want to pull out all the stops to make it work.  Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures...shame you can't find the shafts elsewhere, have them built locally, and look to the OEM to settle the cost.  

Really sorry this has been your experience to date.  Hopefully something gets done; perhaps as a community we should get behind a postponed challenge until everyone has properly fit gear.  Starting to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, but this is damned unfortunate to say the least.

[null]

4 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

Yeah, that's why I said difficult question...knew you might have some not-so-positive observations to share which I know we all don't share lightly on the forum.  Thanks for the candor.

Like you said, you would think an OEM would really want to pull out all the stops to make it work.  Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures...shame you can't find the shafts elsewhere, have them built locally, and look to the OEM to settle the cost.  

Really sorry this has been your experience to date.  Hopefully something gets done; perhaps as a community we should get behind a postponed challenge until everyone has properly fit gear.  Starting to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, but this is damned unfortunate to say the least.

One thing I always strive for with my reviews is complete transparency. I know the mods are doing everything they can possibly due to keep everything moving with the OEMs but unfortunately it’s seems as if there are some speed bumps this year. 

[null]

For those wondering who is waiting for what still:

txgolfjunkie - Bag

jlukes - Wedges/Bag

Mtbryant01 - Woods/Bag

LeftyMatt89 - Irons/Wedges/Bag

Brian A - Woods/Irons/Bag

gavanski91 - Woods/Irons/Wedges/Bag

 

Orders were submitted to Cobra on May 19th

[Shankster]

At least you guys aren’t on TV saying that their Drivers Suck.  I hear that is a big deal.

[Brian A]

@jlukes for those of us who arent shaft experts, can you explain the differences between what you prefer vs what you got? And how it makes the issues you have happen?

[null]

2 minutes ago, Brian A said:

@jlukes for those of us who arent shaft experts, can you explain the differences between what you prefer vs what you got? And how it makes the issues you have happen?

Absolutely. 

I have learned over the years, through experimentation, through online learning (TXG) and through my fitting at True Spec, that I perform best with shafts that are softer in the butt section (handle).  For some players, including me, a softer butt section translates to better feel.  It really lets me know when the shaft is loading and helps me time my transition.  It is why my first two shaft choices were Modus 105x and Modus 120x.  Those models have a relatively softer handle and give me a great feel throughout the swing - and they are most similar to the Oban CT 115 shafts I was fit into at True Spec (the Modus shafts were the runners up in this fitting).

With the DG X100s, they are stiffer in the handle and thus I lose a ton of that feel that I love.  I am really struggling to feel the head during the swing and thus my transition is wildly inconsistent which leads to my delivery numbers (face, path, and angle of attack) to be inconsistent as well.

Now the X100s are one of the most popular irons shafts on tour, so it's obviously not a bad shaft.  What it does show is that some players are more effected by different profiles of shafts and I happen to be one of them.

[Brian A]

11 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Absolutely. 

I have learned over the years, through experimentation, through online learning (TXG) and through my fitting at True Spec, that I perform best with shafts that are softer in the butt section (handle).  For some players, including me, a softer butt section translates to better feel.  It really lets me know when the shaft is loading and helps me time my transition.  It is why my first two shaft choices were Modus 105x and Modus 120x.  Those models have a relatively softer handle and give me a great feel throughout the swing - and they are most similar to the Oban CT 115 shafts I was fit into at True Spec (the Modus shafts were the runners up in this fitting).

With the DG X100s, they are stiffer in the handle and thus I lose a ton of that feel that I love.  I am really struggling to feel the head during the swing and thus my transition is wildly inconsistent which leads to my delivery numbers (face, path, and angle of attack) to be inconsistent as well.

Now the X100s are one of the most popular irons shafts on tour, so it's obviously not a bad shaft.  What it does show is that some players are more effected by different profiles of shafts and I happen to be one of them.

Thanks, makes sense! 

[null]

17 minutes ago, Brian A said:

Thanks, makes sense! 

I remember the first time I had an experience where the shaft made a big difference.  It was at a demo day in 2018 where I was looking for a new hybrid.  I was at the Titleist booth and was hitting the 818 H2 Hybrid.  I was hitting it with the evenflow shaft and every strike was off the bottom.  When I switched to the Atmos Blue TS shaft, everything was out of the middle.  Switched back to the Evenflow and everything again was out of the bottom; switched back to the Atmos and again everything was flushed.  It really showed me that fitting was paramount and that experimentation was really a coin flip unless you really know what you like and why you may gravitate towards certain shafts.

[goaliewales14]

17 hours ago, jlukes said:

For those wondering who is waiting for what still:

txgolfjunkie - Bag

jlukes - Wedges/Bag

Mtbryant01 - Woods/Bag

LeftyMatt89 - Irons/Wedges/Bag

Brian A - Woods/Irons/Bag

gavanski91 - Woods/Irons/Wedges/Bag

 

Orders were submitted to Cobra on May 19th

I know you mentioned that there was a struggle in terms of communication, but did they mention what part of the club is causing the delay for the remaining items?  I know when I ordered my SIM2 driver a few weeks ago, and talking with some friends in the industry, the grips have been a HUGE hold up.  Which I would image most of us would say, throw the closest thing on there, or nothing at all, and we'll correct it ourselves.

If I didn't order the "stock grip" on my driver, I wasn't going to get it until November.  By ordering the stock grip, I got it in 2 weeks.

[txgolfjunkie]

11 minutes ago, goaliewales14 said:

I know you mentioned that there was a struggle in terms of communication, but did they mention what part of the club is causing the delay for the remaining items?  I know when I ordered my SIM2 driver a few weeks ago, and talking with some friends in the industry, the grips have been a HUGE hold up.  Which I would image most of us would say, throw the closest thing on there, or nothing at all, and we'll correct it ourselves.

If I didn't order the "stock grip" on my driver, I wasn't going to get it until November.  By ordering the stock grip, I got it in 2 weeks.

It's every component right now...you may get shafts in but you'll be out of golf pride grips. Then you'll get grips in and be out of a certain shaft. Or you'll have grips and shafts but the club head is out of stock. Getting everything lined up is extremely difficult right now. As @jlukes will attest, don't waiver on your shaft of choice, but for grips, just have them throw whatever on and you can make do until your grip is in stock somewhere. 

[Josh Ross]

5 minutes ago, goaliewales14 said:

I know you mentioned that there was a struggle in terms of communication, but did they mention what part of the club is causing the delay for the remaining items?  I know when I ordered my SIM2 driver a few weeks ago, and talking with some friends in the industry, the grips have been a HUGE hold up.  Which I would image most of us would say, throw the closest thing on there, or nothing at all, and we'll correct it ourselves.

If I didn't order the "stock grip" on my driver, I wasn't going to get it until November.  By ordering the stock grip, I got it in 2 weeks.

I'd imagine it's pretty important for the grips to come from Cobra seeing as they have the Arccos preinstalled and that's a big part of the challenge. I guess they could always send the standard Arccos sensors if that was truly the holdup.

I'm honestly floored that in a day and age where fitting is pushed so much, they would send anything out that was completely wrong. I'm with ya @jlukes, the wrong shaft can absolutely ruin a club and I've experienced similar fitting results like you did with the Titleist hybrid. Amazing what swapping a shaft can do and my friends at TXG show it time and time again. Shafts can change your strike location way more than most people realize. 

[russtopherb]

Shortages on components are understandable, given the supply chain issues literally every industry is seeing right now. However, that doesn't excuse lack of communication about the status of shipments, especially when what's being sent to the testers is going to be publicly discussed in a forum that has the readership (and advertising power) that MGS does. The problem @jlukes is having is going to be doubly worse - how can someone give an accurate review of something that's clearly not the right fit for them? 

I'm all for giving credit to an OEM like Cobra who has always been ready and willing to sponsor tests and reviews, and take an active role at times in what's going on. However, knowing how huge the CCC is here at MGS, and the amount of publicity they get from it (let's be honest, companies see opportunities like this as huge word of mouth advertising which is worth way more than the equipment they are providing) I'm kind of dumbfounded at how things have gone so far.

[null]

1 hour ago, goaliewales14 said:

I know you mentioned that there was a struggle in terms of communication, but did they mention what part of the club is causing the delay for the remaining items?  I know when I ordered my SIM2 driver a few weeks ago, and talking with some friends in the industry, the grips have been a HUGE hold up.  Which I would image most of us would say, throw the closest thing on there, or nothing at all, and we'll correct it ourselves.

If I didn't order the "stock grip" on my driver, I wasn't going to get it until November.  By ordering the stock grip, I got it in 2 weeks.

No - not communication since late June.  We were already informed we would all be getting the same grips since the grips were a stock issue so nobody got their first choice (or 2nd or 3rd or 4th in some cases) in grips.

 

[golfish!]

Still sitting here waiting for those prop bets lol.