Cobra Fly-Z - Golf Driver

Former Australian amateur golf champion turned golf club designer Thomas Crow founded a small golf club company in 1973 and called it Cobra Golf. Two years later he designed the first utility wood called the "Baffler" to become a new category of golf club. By 1985, he became the first manufacturer in the US to offer stock graphite shafts for woods and irons. In 1991, "The Shark" Greg Norman signed an endorsement contract and assisted him in Cobra's first forged irons. A year later, they introduced the first full set of over-sized irons. By 2006, Geoff Ogilvy, J.B. Holmes, Ian Poulter, Kevin Na and Camilo Villegas were on their tour sponsorship. Of course they started winning and the rest is history. I could go on and on but this was how far they have come. While adidas owns TaylorMade Golf now, Puma owns Cobra and both adidas (Adolf Dassler) and Puma (Rudolph Dassler) founders were German brothers. Who says the Germans are not so into golf?

My only previous experience with Cobra was when I owned a Baffler utility wood some years back. Many golfers tend to stick to a certain brand of golf clubs and never experimented. I have even once used a Tour Edge hybrid. Some folks may not even have heard about it. I am totally unbiased and believe that underdogs must never be written off. Look at Leicester City in the EPL now. Everyone in life start from a zero base at the beginning. Most golfers do not train or work out at the range. Besides, they buy themselves into the wrong type of clubs - wrong loft, wrong shaft flex, etc. My simple golf philosophy is that the game itself is tough enough so you do not want to go into a game having to fight with your golf clubs.

Funny thing was that I was actually looking for some suitable golf T-shirts or socks which I may like, could not find any and was leaving the golf shop when I chanced upon something I saw that caught my eye. There, lo and behold in one section was a golf driver which I knew is very good, right at the top with the rest - the Cobra Fly-Z released not too long ago. It was at a very good price, too good to refuse and I can resist anything except temptation. The deal was instantaneously clinched when the sales assistant came over and said "sir, if you buy it now during this weekend you get another $20 discount". As some of my friends used to say in Hokkien dialect when talking about buying golf clubs, car or anything - "mai tu liao", literally translated do not delay anymore. I have so many such good friends that I do not need enemies in life. Life is short, go for it they would say. 

It comes in an old fashioned cover. Plain looking even and it has no grip to help you pull it off as is currently common. Just simple elegance. It looks like something you may have 5-10 years ago. Like flying budget airline but why would I border with something insignificant. I thought it look quite good actually.

The thing about Cobra is that they come in very wonderfully bright and vibrant colours therefore, the cover is a stark contrast. Driver heads are in six colours - Black, White, Blue, Green, Red and Orange. It is a fashion statement. I chose the Ricky Fowler dress code. It is as bright as the sun. I believe that even if I am not having an 'A' game, it will cheer me up. The colours are will turn heads on the golf course. There is light graphics at the perimeter of the crown that perhaps made it look smaller than it is (460cc). 

At 45.5 inches, it is not excessively long and it came with a Matrix VLCT (Velocity) shaft which is not too bad. Drivers today are mostly fitted with branded shafts like Mitsubishi, Graphite Design, Tour AD, Aldila, Fujikura, etc. but I still have doubts that they are fitted with top end after-market shafts which are expensive. It is to me perhaps a branding exercise as it makes sense for shaft companies to be fitted on big golf brands and vice versa so they are still being mass-produced shafts, perhaps better shafts than previous generations of generic shafts. 

A key technology here is the 'SmartPad' sole that helps the club face angle remains square even if you have adjusted the loft. You see, when you increase the loft of a club, the face of the club opens up. In this head, there are no consequences to face angle despite any of the loft you choose.

The golden piece is a sole weight is positioned so that it is low and right at the back to increase forgiveness and MOI (Moment Of Inertia which means resistance to twisting) and achieving a deeper CG (Centre of Gravity). 

The sweet spot is huge so it is hard to miss and gives  you consistency. What you get is repeatable results across the face.  Its supreme stability helps you to erase mistakes and has a bright metallic resonance on impact. Easy to get airborne with a mid to high trajectory. You could even hit baby draws and fades. It has a footprint of a woolly mammoth and will inspire confidence for you to go for it. Just rip it!

A new feature is the 'Speed Channel' at the outer rim of the face, like a mountain ridge which is supposed to enable it to flex at impact for extra ball speed and the face is a forged E9 face for even more forgiveness even when you do not crush it perfectly on the face. I have never seen a face construction like this before. Cobra engineers moved 2 grams of weight lower in the club head which increased its sweet spot by 18 per cent giving greater distance even on mishits. 

Every club they sell you today especially the driver, they will tell you it is long. I do not buy into clubs that are made longer (longer shaft) or lighter to generate speed and distance. There are better ways to hit longer and straighter. I prefer club heads that are stable, consistent and forgiving. This one does not lose much on poorer contacts. 

There is a tiny window at the hosel which is ingenious  that allows you to see the loft you have set instantly unlike most other drivers. You could adjust flight patterns say from 9, 9.5, 9.5 Draw, 10.5, 10.5 Draw,etc. 

Since I have an excellent Tour AD-DI shaft, I decided to get the Cobra Fly-Z fitted to it. Coincidentally the shaft colour of the Tour AD-DI shaft has identical and matching colour with the driver club head. Tour AD is from Graphite Design, a Japanese shaft company that produces after market high end shafts with many different specification. Tiger Woods once used the Tour AD-DI shaft, exactly the same one here and Tour AD became even more popular. After market shafts are like high end audio cable but even more important and critical. It is the only part of the golf club that delivers correct loading and timing for impact. More on this some other time.

As you are aware, the Cobra is a poisonous snake. Other poisonous snakes, besides, having a diamond-shaped head, usually have colourful rings around its body. The Tour AD-DI shaft has silver and green rings around the shaft body as you can see here. I have since used it once with the original OEM shaft and then once with the Tour AD-DI shaft without even trying it out on the range. It has an original swing weight of D3 but I changed it to a D4 so that I could feel a bit more head weight through the swing. (The thing is that I got it at such a good price and fitted it to a high end shaft so funnily enough, the shaft costs more than the club!). Let me tell you that this is now a very venomous snake! If you do not believe, meet me on the golf course.

In life, everyone should be given a chance, just like every golf club, brand, etc. It is a journey. If you are not curious, if you are not into discovery, life is but a mundane existence. And I always love the underdogs. Every underdog has its day! Ask Rocky Balboa. 

This is a stunning club that looks entirely high end, effortless to swing and always finding the fairways. I will be utterly shocked and surprise why not more golfers are using this stick. It has the looks, the sound and the feel. 

I shall not proclaim it the best driver, the longest ever but it is one of the most consistent and forgiving drivers out there. It is indeed a game-changer. Get a suitable shaft and you can pull the rabbit out of the hat and onto the middle of the fairways. Every time. 

There are many long hitters and forgiving drivers out there. The last time I reported the Ping G30 and declare it the most forgiving and consistent driver out there. Ladies and gentlemen, I now declare the Cobra Fly-Z highly potent, venomous and a potential Ping G30 killer! This is definitely the best driver you have never tried! You owe it to yourself to check this out before your next purchase.

Golf as in life. Play as it lies.