PLAYING WITH … COBRA F-MAX FAMILY WOODS & IRONS

Tested by: John Russo, Golf Australia subscriber (GA Handicap 15)

Golf Australia subscriber, John Russo, takes the Cobra F-MAX family for a round and shares his view on the clubs.

MODELS USED: Cobra F-MAX Straight Neck driver (10.5° loft), Cobra F-MAX Fairway Offset (16° loft), F-MAX Hybrid Offset (19° loft) and F-MAX irons (5-iron to sand wedge). FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The way a club looks, before you have even swung the club, is important to me. When I pulled the headcovers off the woods I was immediately impressed.

The sleek black shape of the driver, fairway and hybrid was very appealing, while the gold trim added to the classy look.

The irons have a similar shape to my current set of irons but the chrome finish, with black toe insert, gave these irons a different but appealing look. HOW THEY PERFORMED: As much as I liked the look and feel of the driver I struggled to control it. The distance I was able to get with the club was quite good, but I didn’t have the accuracy I am used to.

I thought this might have been something to do with the regular shaft, but I didn’t have any problems with the remainder of the set – all of which were also fitted with regular shafts. I did, however, persevere with the big stick and my drives were marginally better by the end of the round.

In contrast, the F-MAX fairway wood was a gem. Great looks (I really liked the low-profile of the clubface) were matched by terrific performance. This was such an easy club to hit well and I found myself reaching for it for most long shots from the fairway and even when my ball was lying in light rough. The ball flight was high and the distance I achieved with this club was as good as I would get with my own fairway wood, which has slightly less loft.

The irons were also really enjoyable to use. Not only were they forgiving on the slight mis-hits, but when I got the ball out of the sweetspot the feeling was great and the resulting shot was longer than I’m used to.

These irons are lighter than I am used to playing with, but I found this to be a good thing for my game. They were well-suited to my swing speed and the sight of a high, drawing mid-iron is a welcome one for a player of my standard.

NOT ONLY WERE THEY FORGIVING ON THE SLIGHT MIS-HITS, BUT WHEN I GOT THE BALL OUT OF THE SWEETSPOT THE FEELING WAS GREAT AND THE RESULTING SHOT WAS LONGER THAN I’M USED TO.