GM Cobra day at London golf club

Shooter McPowick

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Firstly, a huge thank you to Golf Monthly and Jake for selecting me as one of the readers to experience the cobra utility iron and Cobra F6 baffler. A big thanks to Joe at Cobra too - first class!

The London Golf Club is something else, from the manned gatehouse to the clubhouse the driveway is about a mile long with views over the course and manicured grass either side. I was told to pull up at drop off and a caddy would take my clubs.... Err I don't think so, this is me - not Justin Rose!

After a friendly greeting from Jake and Joe at the range I was handed a bucket of Callaway range balls and asked to warm up, it was needed; it was rather gusty and a bit chilly. What a venue, the quality of the grass on the range is better than most of the fairways at my local track - so much so that the first few balls were thinned in fear of ruining the turf. They cycle between 3 huge tee boxes so I'd imagine it's immaculate year round.

Onto the clubs, both were set at 18 degrees with a draw bias. According to Joe at Cobra I have an "old school" swing - fairly shallow, sweeping the ball away instead of the new era steep and aggressive styles like Fowler. Due to this I struggled a bit with consistency with the F6 baffler. Despite the small head it was very easy to hit - for me there was just no consistency with direction. Some left, some right, some straight but all somewhere in the region of 220 yards, I just didn't know where it was going or where to aim but this was my swing, not the club. It really came into its own as a recovery club - playing out of divots and rough grass was very easy indeed and I think these were my best shots.
The King utility iron was next, first shot off the deck was straight as an arrow and 230 yards.... Must be a fluke I thought and Joe lined up another.... 225 and straight down the middle. You get the picture, my swing was suited to this club very well and apart from a few wayward shots which weren't too bad I think the longest was bordering on 240, I fatted one 190 and averaged the same distance as the F6 at 220. For an iron it's amazingly easy to hit well and every shot felt sweet.

I must be honest here, I've been a taylormade driver and Mizuno iron fan for many years and wouldn't ordinarily consider any other manufacturers. It's nothing personal, just what I like but I can assure you, the King utility iron will without a shadow of a doubt be in my bag for the foreseeable future!

Thanks again GM and thanks to Jake and Joe, it's appreciated more than you know.
 

selwood90

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Congratulations sounds like a great day. Brilliant opportunity at what sounds like a cracking venue with some great gear. Well done that man
 

Oddsocks

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I still think the cobra stuff is massively under rated. I still remember my GM fitting in 2012, despite not wanting the Amp and trying everything else against it nothing could get close to it.

Congrats on the new gear!
 

Sybez

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I was also one of the lucky winners of this comp, so thanks to GM, Jake and Joe at Cobra for the opportunity to hit the new clubs.

I echo Joss's comments about London Golf Club - magnificent drive in. They had just had the British Mens Amateur there the week before so the course was looking superb and tough. Think 25 yard wide fairways, 8-10 yards of semi rough at about 2" then deep (2 feet) of fescue/meadow type stuff!

The range was stunning too, shame about the 25mph head wind blowing straight in our faces, it made for some interesting swings, but with Joe at the controls of Trackman at least we'd get some normalized figures for ball striking. Just to note - I have NEVER hit any Cobra products before so was really looking forward to this, as I had read a lot of good content over the last year or so about them being good clubs. Also a big Rickie fan, so great to see what he uses.

I hit the King Utility first. Already a Callaway lumpy 18deg ultility iron owner, but struggling with it off the deck, we started ripping the King "3 iron" set down to 18deg. Personally I preferred the graphite shaft over the steel, felt easier to launch. Shots were giving a great penetrating flight at around 28-30 yards peak height, and it was really workable - draw, fade, high and low. Off the perfect tee box fairway lie it was very easy and encouraging to hit. Out of the rough, you'd have to have high confidence in your strike ability or a pretty good lie, to get it doing it's thing and getting you back into play. That being said it was certainly easier to hit than my Callaway lumpy and was giving great numbers distance wise for a gap I have in my bag, I just din't quite feel it had the launch and peak height I was looking for.

On to the F6 Baffler. Again, a great looking club. Nice squat size for a fairway wood type club, but felt like a hybrid in shaft length. I think they are cira 40" or just below, and it really makes it controllable to swing. With the F6 Baffler rails on the bottom, it really does promote a downward AoA, even on the fairway lie. I can tend to try and "pick" longer length clubs off the turf (something I'm working on improving to a steeper AoA).

However, when you do strike with a slight downward blow, the F6 Baffler just flies! Peak heights were much more suiting to my eye, around 35 yards, and still with a great ball flight and carry. It was flying a little further for me than the King Ultility, which I would understand with the extra shaft length and launch angle. Where this club IS REALLY UNBELIEVABLE is out of a divot or semi rough! If anyone's watched the Rick Shiels video of testing at the PGA show in the states (youtube it) you'll know what I mean. It's insanely easy to strike from those "sat down" lies. The rails just glide the club head straight and true through the mud/sand/turf/grass... I even think you could wack it off a bowl of treacle and it would get the ball out! Joe was chucking range balls into the semi rough and bottom of divots, and I was just wacking them back out again! Seriously, anyone looking for a recovery club from rough and dodgy lies, go test this the F6, but make sure you try it on those dodgy lies, a range mat will not do it justice!

It was a great couple of hours hitting some really impressive clubs (man I wish I had Jake or Joe's job, what great fun they must have everyday). Thanks again GM for the invite, I look forward to receiving my new Cobra F6 Baffler, reading the article and reporting back on it's first outing, as it's going straight in the bag!!!! :thup:

.... anyone wanna but a Callaway lumpy? ;)

cobra.jpg
 

Tiger

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Thanks for the write ups guys. I went to a Cobra demo day and tried the F6 fairway but wasn't swinging as consistently by that time do just bought the F6 hybrid. Then this club came out and I thought it was even better as I'm looking for a 4 wood really.

Need to find somewhere to try one now... :thup:
 

Sybez

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Always nice when long boxes are delivered to your house, especially free ones!
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Great looking club straight out the box! Love the way the head cover neck piches in to actually resemble a Cobra snakes hood too! all round very happy with my new toy and can't wait to go give it a wack! Question is do I put it straight in the bag for my mixed pairs match on Sunday not really knowing how far it's going to go!
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Thanks GM and Cobra very much! I'll report back on my first round with it!
 

stokie_93

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Always nice when long boxes are delivered to your house, especially free ones!
View attachment 20117
View attachment 20118

Great looking club straight out the box! Love the way the head cover neck piches in to actually resemble a Cobra snakes hood too! all round very happy with my new toy and can't wait to go give it a wack! Question is do I put it straight in the bag for my mixed pairs match on Sunday not really knowing how far it's going to go!
View attachment 20119View attachment 20120View attachment 20121

Thanks GM and Cobra very much! I'll report back on my first round with it!

love the look of the top of that!
love the patterning and how sleek it looks!
 

Shooter McPowick

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Always nice when long boxes are delivered to your house, especially free ones!
View attachment 20117
View attachment 20118

Great looking club straight out the box! Love the way the head cover neck piches in to actually resemble a Cobra snakes hood too! all round very happy with my new toy and can't wait to go give it a wack! Question is do I put it straight in the bag for my mixed pairs match on Sunday not really knowing how far it's going to go!
View attachment 20119View attachment 20120View attachment 20121

Thanks GM and Cobra very much! I'll report back on my first round with it!

Awesome stuff!!

DPD tried to deliver mine today but I was out :( I'm surprised at how quickly they've dispatched them, I wasn't expecting it for another week really.

Ill be. Collecting mine first thing in the morning :)

pics to follow.
 
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