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GolfWRX Spotted: Cobra RF Prototype irons

Published

4 years ago

on

Cobra Golf tour staff members have always had some of the coolest irons in the game. From Bryson’s first single length sets to Rickie’s first black forged CBs—being part of a smaller staff means attention to detail for each player, and in the case of Cobra and Rickie Fowler, that means truly one-off prototypes!

Yesterday, we got a sneak peak when someone at the Floridian Club posted a distance shot of Rickie’s clubs on the back of a cart. Although it was from a distance, an astute eyes quickly noticed that these were not a current model iron and speculation started to swirl.

Starting early this morning photos starting making the rounds on social media after they were initially posted in the GolfWRX Forums by Member J13, featuring what looks to be close up in-hand images of Rickie Fowler Cobra Prototype blades. The telltale signs include Rickie’s signature Tungsten toe weight to help increase head weight in each head, and the obvious RF initials milled into the toe, under a King Cobra Crown.

Although the pictures are now out, we have few details to go on from Cobra. What I do know is at the Cobra SpeedZone event hosted a few weeks ago to showcase the new line, there was lots of hush-hush discussion that we might see something new coming in the better players category soon, but no pictures or other details were released. These pictures certainly indicate that the Cobra iron team has been working on something with Rickie, and gotten them to the point of having them out in the world for testing.

This is merely speculation, but what’s interesting to point out is that nowhere in the iron does it say forged! Could this be because it’s still a prototype and they didn’t want to go the extra step to stamp that on the head or could it mean something else?

The picture above shows the head on a fixed block—something observed during the CNC milling process, but going deeper Cobra has been pushing the limit of iron construction for a long time, and last year did they introduce a (MIM) Metal Injection Molded wedge to the consumer. Could this non-forged blade be the result of using MIM technology to form a mostly finished iron head to then have the face milled?

Like I said, we don’t have any confirmation yet from Cobra and their R&D team, but this could be a very interesting development for full release iron construction come 2020.

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Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

19 Comments

19 Comments

  1. Hamish

    Nov 28, 2019 at 8:20 pm

    Look like Yonex Ezone MB’s

    Reply Report comment

  2. uglande

    Nov 28, 2019 at 8:57 am

    These look fantastic. A lot like the new Titleist 620 MB. It seems like the blade length is a little longer than some blades, which I like, but it also looks like they have a pretty sharp leading edge and no camber, which would worry me. But granted, it’s hard to get a definitive look from these pics alone.

    Reply Report comment

  3. Danny Gray

    Nov 27, 2019 at 1:40 pm

    Reminds me of when Nelly Korda turned pro, I just can’t turn my eyes away ????

    Reply Report comment

  4. Soren Bollerup Hansen

    Nov 27, 2019 at 1:47 am

    They look like Mizuno MP18!!

    Reply Report comment

  5. Seth Riser

    Nov 26, 2019 at 9:35 pm

    Are you on the Cobra payroll? How many articles can you write about Cobra? Enough already.

    Reply Report comment

    • Chris

      Nov 27, 2019 at 11:01 am

      When new product gets released, it’s standard procedure to write about it. Don’t you think? Don’t be so triggered, guy!

      Reply Report comment

      • Hoganben

        Dec 4, 2019 at 11:28 pm

        Trendy new term I am seeing everywhere…’triggered’. People who use the term are so ‘with it’. I am guessing that they are the same guys who used to say ‘zombie thread’ or ‘use the search feature’.

        Reply Report comment

  6. Andy H

    Nov 26, 2019 at 5:36 pm

    Does this squash the water cooler talk of RF going to TM….????

    Reply Report comment

  7. Mower

    Nov 26, 2019 at 5:18 pm

    I’ll get ’em if the price is right. (say… $750)

    Reply Report comment

  8. Bird Is Da Word

    Nov 26, 2019 at 4:45 pm

    I knew there was a reason why ive been sandbagging on replacing my 2017 Cobra MBs. I have a set of the OG TW Nike blades and a set of Mizunos that pretty much just sit around bc the Cobras are that much better.

    Reply Report comment

  9. Philly Mick

    Nov 26, 2019 at 2:46 pm

    Gorgeous looking blades, such a good looking port for the tungsten weight to create COG, hope that they come in Lefty!

    Reply Report comment

  10. Chuckie Baby

    Nov 26, 2019 at 1:50 pm

    With these blades, all I need is a basket of bread and sliced butter! Let’s eat, and add 15 strokes to my scorecard!

    Reply Report comment

    • jgpl001

      Nov 26, 2019 at 3:05 pm

      It’s hard not to disagree with these comments
      They are beautiful, but they are mean, very mean, they make the MP20’s look like GI’s…

      Reply Report comment

    • Brandon

      Nov 26, 2019 at 6:36 pm

      Like most amateurs, I’d imagine your poor rounds are caused by hitting drives ob, chunking chips, and 3 putts. I’ve played everything from blades to SGI’s and my scores never change based on the irons I’m carrying.

      Reply Report comment

      • Jack

        Nov 26, 2019 at 9:01 pm

        Ain’t that the truth. Just play what you like. Nobody has actually quantified how many strokes you lose playing SGI vs blades. Of course, if you have a really slow swing speed and have trouble getting the ball in the air, you should be the SGI since even a good strike will not yield a good shot. But for average speed guys it should be OK.

        Reply Report comment

      • jgpl001

        Nov 27, 2019 at 4:14 am

        I can’t disagree with you, if I keep it in play I score well, very well
        Currently swapping in/out P750’s and MP18’s, and the best irons I ever had were 710MB’s
        Not afraid of blades and never played any type of GI club, but these new Cobra’s remind me of my first set of irons that belonged to my father, a set of Wilson Staff blades….now those gave many a stingy finger

        Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange

Published

9 hours ago

on

May 8, 2024

By

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article. 

…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.

Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.

Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.

Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.

According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.

He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.

Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.

Head over to PGATour.com for the full article. 

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Whats in the Bag

Akshay Bhatia WITB 2024 (May)

Published

10 hours ago

on

May 8, 2024

By

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees @7.2, 2 grams lead tape heel, 4 grams toe)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (44 7/8 inches, tipped 1 inch)

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (15 degrees @13.9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X (43 inches, tipped 1.5)

Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW Prototype (19 degrees @17.8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X

Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (21 degrees) Buy here, Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 125 S+

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S @49, 54-10S, 60-08C @61)
Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X

Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Split

Grips: Iomic

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour

More photos of Akshay Bhatia’s WITB in the forums.

 

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Whats in the Bag

Emiliano Grillo WITB 2024 (May)

Published

10 hours ago

on

May 8, 2024

By

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX

5-wood: Cobra LTDx Prototype (18.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX

Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Wedges: Callaway MD3 Milled (46-08S), Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S, 54-10S, 60-08T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Flatso 1.0

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Check out more in-hand photos of Emiliano Grillo’s clubs here.

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