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GolfWRX Spotted: Cobra RF Prototype irons

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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

  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.

  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 ????

  4. Soren Bollerup Hansen

    Nov 27, 2019 at 1:47 am

    They look like Mizuno MP18!!

  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.

    • 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!

      • 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’.

  6. Andy H

    Nov 26, 2019 at 5:36 pm

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

  7. Mower

    Nov 26, 2019 at 5:18 pm

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

  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.

  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!

  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!

    • 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…

    • 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.

      • 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.

      • 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

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Whats in the Bag

Chesson Hadley WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 70 TX

3-wood: Titleist TSR2+ (14.5 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

Irons: Titleist T200 (3), Titleist 620 CB (4, 5), Titleist 620 MB (6-PW)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 105 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball
Grip: Odyssey

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Check out more in-hand photos Chesson Hadley’s clubs here.

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Whats in the Bag

Gary Woodland WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Cobra Darkspeed X (8 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 70 M5

  • The white circle that appears at the top of the face a removable sticker that’s used for launch monitor tracking, and Woodland removes it for competition!

3-wood: Cobra Darkspeed X (14 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

7-wood: Cobra LTDx LS prototype (20 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

Irons: Wilson Staff (18 degrees), Cobra King MB (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X

Wedges: Cobra SB (48), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-08F, 56-14F), Cobra King (60)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X (48 degrees), KBS Tour V-Ten 125

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 3.0P

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

See more in-hand photos of Gary Woodland’s WITB in the forums.

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Equipment

Q&A: Martin Trainer on his Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers” putter, 6.5-degree driver, and “butter knife” 2-iron

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As unbiasedly as I can put it, Martin Trainer has one of the coolest club setups in professional golf. (At some point soon, I’ll put together a top-10 list of “coolest club setups on Tour,” but I know that Trainer will be in the top-10)

What a lineup. He plays a 6.5-degree Wilson prototype driver, a 13-degree Wilson prototype 3-wood, a true blade Wilson Staff Model 2-iron, and a Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers Commemorative” putter!

 

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I mean, look at this 2-iron from address…

To quote the great author R.L. Stine: “Goosebumps.”

On Wednesday at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, I caught up with Trainer to learn more about his bag setup.

Here’s what he had to say:

You have the Internet going crazy over your bag setup, and your putter. Where’d you pick the Bobby Grace-Greg Chalmers putter up? How long have you had it?

MT: This was from when Bobby Grace came to my course in California: Cal Club. And for whatever reason, they just started having them in the shop. So then I took my buddy’s, started using it, and made, like, a million putts in a row, which is how every putter story begins, I guess.

And then, I bought a couple of my own, used it for years, got to the Tour with it, won on Tour with it (the 2019 Puerto Rico Open). Then, about a year later, started using another putter, did that for a couple years, but now it’s back in the bag.

When did it come back in the bag?

MT: December of this past year. So a few months ago.

What year would you say was the first time you threw that in the bag, or, like, when you bought it?

MT: God…Probably, 2016, maybe? 2018?

Do you remember how much you paid for it?

MT: I don’t know, actually. Maybe $100-150 bucks or something. I think that’s the only golf club I’ve bought between high school and now. Well, two, since I bought two of them.

The driver is interesting, too. What went into the prototyping process?

MT: That was a version of the current driver, but it was the prototype that they first came out with for Tour guys to try. And for whatever reason, I just never switched out to the new one.

It’s just 6.5 degrees, right?

MT: Yeah. Very low loft, yeah.

What kind of ball speed do you have with that these days?

MT: Like high 170’s.

Yeah, that’ll work. And then a 2-iron blade? We’re seeing fewer and fewer of those out here.

MT: Yeah. The butter knife.

Very cool thing to have in the bag. Have you done any testing with driving irons? 

MT: Yeah, I used to have a thicker one, but it was a little offset, and I never hit it that well. And then finally, I started messing around with the butter knife. And I remember the first time I looked down at it, I was terrified. And then I ended up getting used to it, putting it in play, and it’s been in place since. It’s a pretty good club for me.

How far do you carry that? 

MT: Like 235.

A good little wind club, I’m sure.

MTL Yeah, exactly. I can hit it very low. It’s great.

I love it. You have people shook looking at that. Thanks for the time, man. 

MT: Absolutely.

To see more photos and discussion of Trainer’s bag, click here.

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