Your Brand Opinion: Cobra Golf

[david636]

Good, but not great.

[Shrek74]

First, I'd call them innovative. They've been pushing boundaries for years. Sometimes to their determent, and other times to their benefit. But always looking ahead for the next thing. Just look at things like 3D printed irons and 3D printed putters. Successful and high quality.

I'd also call them underrated. They don't always win tests or awards or other things like that, but they're always around and always in the hunt. Plus, they're usually a little less costly than their rivals, which is a smart marketing strategy.

[Steve Bedosky]

I've been using a Cobra driver for the past 2 season and have loved every swing.  As a 17-18 handicapper, it's certainly forgiving while not sacrificing any distance.  When going through the fitting process it fit my eye and my swing tremendously, making the transition from the Ping driver I was using very easy.  Plenty of confidence as I step to the tee with their driver.  I've not had a chance to sample their fairways or hybrids, but they will certainly get a look when the time comes to replace my current set.

[Desous17]

I have owned the Baffler hybrids and can't say enough good things about them. They are super cheap on the used market, and they just work! They have great turf interaction and good sound and feel. It's hard to beat them for the price point. 

I have hit my brother-in-law snake bite wedges that we scored a deal on at PGA superstore, again for the price they just perform. I personally wasn't the biggest fan of the design and look but the feel and performance were there, I'd say maybe a step below Ping, TM and Vokey wedges on the look and feel. 

I have also tried out my buddy's LTDx driver and Forged Tec irons. I really got along with the driver and think that Cobra drivers in general are pretty slept on. As far as the Irons go I have owned a set the Amp Cell irons and those felt and performed great I think I still have a lonely 8 iron lying around in the basement. The Forged Tec irons my buddy has look and feel great, the interesting part was that the lofts are similar to a Game improvement iron but on the simulator, my numbers were better with my traditional lofted Ping iblades so that was kinda an interesting comparison. I thought they would be closer to my Mizuno JPX 921 HM that they seem to be spec'd similarly to. 

I think the reason why Cobra doesn't get as much love as the bigger brands might be that I couldn't name another player who reps their stuff outside of Rickie and formerly Bryson which I think the comments he made on the Radspeed is still something they are working to overcome. I believe that they are a decent brand and deserve a look. one of the most overlooked brands for a different topic of conversation might be Tour Edge....

[HSGC]

6 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Second up in our series of these to get your takes on different brands is Cobra Golf. Good, bad, great or ugly - we want to know your take on the featured brand. 

Cobra was once known for being bold colors and a little out there for some, while they have toned down the orange in many respects their history goes a lot further back than the Ricky orange era. 

What do you think of Cobra and their golf clubs?

I just bought a new set of Cobra Forged Tec irons, they are just simply, UNBELIEVABLY good!!! Forgiveness and also distance is unequalled……

[JeB]

I’ve tried to hit a few of their clubs over the years. Most notably the infamous baffler, and a driver or two but never really felt like I hit them as well as other brands. At this point, to me they are more of an after thought club manufacturer

[Mob]

I like Cobra.  I think they make really good golf clubs overall.  It's amazing how susceptible we all are to marketing.  There are a very large number of golf club manufacturers who make excellent golf clubs, who aren't named: Titleist, Callaway, or Taylor Made.

[JRCorb]

In 2019, I went for a fitting and ended up buying King forged tec irons 4-GW.  I thought they felt pretty good and I was getting good results.  However, it turned out that the PW head was dead...I could not achieve my normal distance.  My (+2 handicap) son tried them and confirmed it was dead.  They replaced it saying they had seen this before with the PW but it took 6 months to deliver during covid.  I then had 3 heads twist out of alignment and then 2 KBS shafts snapped at the top of the hosel.  They had heard there was a bad batch of KBS shafts.  So I had problems with 6 of the 8 irons!  Cobra sales rep agreed that that was no good and for my troubles he replaced my entire set with a King Cobra Tour MIM set.  A very nice looking club.  Problem was it was going to take 6 months to get them due to covid.  I could not wait that long so I went for a PXG fitting and they delivered my new PXG 0311P Gen 3 irons in less than 3 weeks!  Phoenix to Canada! I eventually did get the Cobra clubs and have compared the 2 sets on my simulator.   Data for both is very similar.  I prefer the PXG as they feel softer at impact.  The Cobra irons just a little clicky but they are nice.  I will probably stay with PXG now as my son's 0311P Gen 6 irons feel really good.

[BigMood]

I like Cobra, my bag is not exclusive to cobra but I have cobra irons, driver and 3 wood. Good quality and better price than some of the bigger name brands.

[MarvChamp]

I own and play an LTDx driver and a Fly-Z adjustable 5-7 fairway (in bright red). In the run-up to those clubs I used older SZ 5 and 7 fairways. I have an older set of Cobra S9 irons to give to first tee.

All of those have helped me improve distance and accuracy. I attribute this to Cobra's long-time commitment to engineering, manufacturing and marketing game improver clubs for the masses of mid- and high HCP players as well as clubs for the better player.

Few others (Cleveland and Adams come to mind) did that until recently. I have found recent Mizuno hybrids to be very easy to hit with the proper shaft. 

I would love to get fitted for the newer game improver Cobra or Mizuno irons (JPX923HL!), but I can't bring myself to desert my old Mizuno JPX800HD's. I have found recent Mizuno hybrids to be very easy to launch with the proper shaft. So I just keep adding the Mizzy hybrids in higher lofts.

Forgive the length of my old man wanderings. Best, -Marv

 

 

[dhosford11]

Being newer to the game I always knew Cobra as a big brand years ago, but they just don’t seem to carry the same weight now

[JAFERD]

I have ForgedTec X irons in my bag and still love them.  I was well fitted into them last year, narrowly beating out Srixon and Mizuno irons in distance and dispersion.  
 

This year, I was fitted into a TSR3 driver and Cobra was a close second.  

[Leonvdwesthuizen]

I think Cobra has come a long way, gone a bit fuzzy in the middle, but are finally finding themselves again in the last few years.

I really like their last few drivers, the Aerojet and the Darkspeed, and are worth a look for anyone wanting to replace their drivers.

They do make darn good irons, think King Forged Tec, pleasing-to-the-eye Darkspeed irons and easy to hit Aerojet.

I can't fault their putters as they are just what I like, soft contact and very good feel in the hands, so Cobra is definitely doing some things well.

Their wedges are no where near the best for me, so still work to be done..

But I think the biggest issue they have is one can see they don't have the budgets that likes of TM, Callaway and Titleist has in terms of marketing. They rely very heavily on the partnerships they have and hope consumers will buy their products because these well known players endorse them.

All of their products are just good, but nothing stands out that is head and shoulders above the rest, so they disappear in the sea of manufacturers.

 

[Lou Caracappa]

I have a generally favorable view of Cobra golf. Have had several sets of Cobra irons and liked them.  Have not owned their woods.  Tried them in fittings and they were never the best performer for me.  

[ScottM440]

Cobra products IMO are very underrated !! The Fly Z series clubs I think were the best stuff they had come out with in a long time ! I understand they push boundaries in different way , they need to stop being gimmicky ! Not sure how well the new 3D printed irons are but for metals off the tee , they usually compared well to the big 4 

[CFreddie]

I'm biased like @sirchunksalot, but I believe Cobra is one of the most underrated brands out there, especially in irons.  VERY excited to see what they have in store for 2025!

[Medfloat]

17 minutes ago, HSGC said:

I just bought a new set of Cobra Forged Tec irons, they are just simply, UNBELIEVABLY good!!! Forgiveness and also distance is unequalled……

Those look great!

[Yorkie07]

Kinda indifferent to them which might be the worst place to be. Most people dont seek passionate one way or the other. I've done multiple fittings where I come in open minded and they don't do bad, they just don't stand out where some others have. I am Titleist woods and Mizuno irons so it's not just a brand loyalty thing. 

 

From reading reviews and doing research it seems like they make great woods but for some reason they don't seem to be something people "get excited about" when released. 

 

Maybe offsetting release dates like Titleist does would help draw some attention. 

[Medfloat]

I do not have Cobra clubs. However, they seem to be making some good products, especially drivers.  Next fitting I have they are definitely on the list to test.  The Web is full of Cobra tests and opinions but they just don’t seem to break into the big 4 marketshare.  

[toncol]

Cobra - today - is a legitimate manufacturer of high quality products.  Their Cobra King Irons are excellent products (this is coming from a Mizuno fanboy), their wedges (going back to the Trusty Rusty) have always been solid, and they make really good fairways. I game a 3W and 5W in their F9 series because I can't find anything from the so-called "majors" that performs better both off the tee and off the deck.  This is the company that first intro'd the Baffler sole, something that still shows up in fairways today.  This is also the brand that Crenshaw carried when he won his second masters.  I suspect that they have never fully recovered from the negative perception created when they went "mass market" for a while selling beginner and game improvement sets If I remember my history correctly.  I sometimes wonder if the way they market their products hurts them, relying as heavily as they seem to do on Rickie Fowler's popularity.  Despite his talent, I'm not sure Rickie is always taken seriously (unfairly, IMO). Today they are a "real" manufacturer and deserve to be seen as such.

[Ben_Howell34]

I have the Cobra LTD driver and 3 wood. I love it. Looks great, easy to adjust, seems to jump off the face, etc. Have not played their irons but have a buddy who has some and he likes them a lot. Has the bronze finish too which looks cool and unique. 

[rkj427]

Cobra makes some great products, but in my opinion they seem to have too many model releases, more along the lines of TaylorMade or Callaway.

If their product release cycles were longer, and models were given a chance in the marketplace before being replaced, they may do better with sales.

I have played Cobra woods and irons a long time ago, but when they went "bold and brash" that was kind of a turn-off for me.

[OldElvis]

I purchased a set a Fly Xl's about 4 years ago,and they were a huge step up from the 35 year old clubs that I had. I use mostly the Irons and Hybrids from the set still as I have upgraded the woods with Taylormade, and added 2 Cleveland wedges. 

  The reason that I have not had a chance to look at new Irons is the fact no one really stocks them for me try. I have the same issue with the Cleveland Halo XL's.  It's a catch 22 that people won't buy them cause they can't try them, and if people won't buy them Stores are going to stock them

[ShortGameSavesLies]

I'll start with what I have in the bag:

Aerojet LS 5W

King Tec 3H

Aerojet Irons 5i-Pw

I *had* an Aerojet Max driver.

This particular setup was my first venture into cobra clubs. The 5w is long and workable... Generally my favorite club in the bag. If I'm not feeling confident off the tee with driver, this is my 220-240 yard safety club.

 

I'm not surprised that the King Tec hybrid scored so high in MGS testing. I actually fit into it in 2023 and it's become a main stay in my bag. Long and forgiving - and having adjustability is a huge bonus. 

 

Aerojet Irons - I've gamed these for a full season now. The jury is still out on whether I love the ridiculously strong lofts. They're forgiving enough,  and I will say there's something to that "hot" face. A clean strike yields a LONG ball. I don't know that the lofts are really appropriate for a game improvement iron though. I'll game them another year and check back in. 

 

 

Aerojet Max Driver:  I spent a ton of time working on my swing path this year and just couldn't get the duck hook out with that club. After spending some time on the sim, it just wasn't the right club for me. Too spinny (3400 rpm), 16 deg launch, 105mph club head. 

 

I've only had Cobra in the bag for two seasons.. But based on my experience I'd absolutely recommend others give them a try. 

 

Unfortunately, their presence is similar to Srixon in the market. I don't think I've ever seen a Cobra demo day(or Srixon). My local Golf Galaxy doesn't even stock their putters (and with my limited experience playing with the 3d printed models, they're actually pretty good). I'd really like to see them make a push to be more accessible in general. One of my local courses has multiple Titleist, Ping, and Taylormade fittings per year.

 

There was a really interesting article written about the history of Cobra a while back. If I can find it I'll come back and post it via edit. Definitely worth a read. 

 

Great products, limited accessibility. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9 by ShortGameSavesLies

[golffun]

Have not played any Cobra clubs since I used the Cobra Baffler 7 wood...   At the time, was a great get out of trouble club.

[Mdf]

I think they’re a very underrated brand. I also they often offer higher levels of value than many other brands.

[Postell]

I love the brand. I’d love to see more marketing by them to the youth audience and social media such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. I think that could help them compete better with Callaway, Taylormade, and other major brands.

I’ll never forget my father driving me to Tallapoosa, Georgia to get my first set of irons and they were king cobra oversized. I still have them to this day.

[RoverRick]

I was never a Cobra fan, except their Trusty Rusty wedge LOOKED good, but I never even hit a Cobra club. Then a couple of years ago I was putting together my bag of fairway woods and hybrids. I had Ping G425 3, 7, and 9 woods and 5, 6, 7 hybrids. I came across some Cobra ForgedTec Black 8 & 9 heads only on eBay for $30 brand new. So I thought what the heck give them a shot. 

I loved them. Ultimately, the lofted fm’s and hybrids didn’t work out but I ended up playing a complete set of Cobra ForgedTec Black (2018 model) for well over a year. 

I have still never hit a Cobra woods, and I would say that’s because their nomenclature doesn’t attract me. At one time I would have considered them second tier. Their irons proved me wrong, but I prefer the simpler names of the Mizuno, Pings and Titleist. It takes a lot for me to go with a club named something like “Callaway Paradigm A.I. Smoke Triple Diamond”. Even though that’s currently in my bag, the name alone is slightly embarrassing.  Same with many if the Cobra clubs. 

[ronald bay]

I have gamed Cobra hybrids for years and think they provide forgiveness and length. Recently got fitted for Dark Speed irons and I love them. I am a senior with swing speed in the low 90’s and their lightweight shaft made it easier to swing the club through the ball. This gave me much higher ball flight on my irons and more distance. Love them!!

[Quigleyd]

Cobra has probably been my favorite brand. The first set of clubs I bought with my own money were some KING Cobra oversized irons in the early or mid 90s.