Equipment

Golf irons through the years


Niall McGill

13 November 2023

a-cobra-golf-iron-and-a-silhouette-with-a-question-mark-on-it

Golf is a very old game, and over recent years, the technology found in golf clubs has changed dramatically.

Centuries ago, golf clubs were carved out of wood, and by the mid-18th century, golfers of the time had access to the first iron clubs. Wooden hickory clubs became the norm for the sport right up until the early 20th century, when steel shafts revolutionized the game.

Can you imagine how difficult it must have been to play with crudely carved hickory clubs? How thrilling it must have felt to pull off just the right shot with one?

What about the world’s best golfers of the time? Do you think playing golf to such a level with comparably worse equipment than we have today would make them more talented than our modern players?

We’ve had an awful lot of technological advances in the past 50 years. Modern research and development as well as the convenience of established supply chains means we have a mass production of new and improved golf clubs with each year that passes.

Cobra makes fantastic golf irons, and today we’re going to take a trip down memory lane. We’ll be looking at some staple now decades old Cobra irons and comparing them to this year’s release.

 

Millennial Aesthetics

king-cobra-ss-iron-head

You may or may not have been playing golf back in the early 00s, and if you were, this wonderful golf iron from Cobra might be bringing back some memories.

The head on this club features a deep cavity back with lots of surrounding perimeter weighting. The club’s name is stenciled on the back of the head, and you can’t miss the OVERSIZE insert just above it. One look at the King Cobra and you know it means business.

This club was a real marvel when it was released in 2002. The rounder, more pear-shaped clubhead is an example of how the golf iron as a piece of equipment has transitioned away from the square iron heads that were a staple of the early-to-mid 20th century.

The golf irons we have today don’t only perform better than those of decades-gone, they look better, and help us feel more confident when we’re lining up our approach shots.

 

Recent Tech

cobra-biocell-iron-head

Let’s go back in time a decade, the Biocell that was released in 2014 is the perfect marriage of performance and aesthetics.

It looks and sounds like an industrial marvel. The black vents on the back of the clubhead are chunky and durable, plus the tungsten placement, Cobra logo, and orange highlighting combine to make it look like you’re swinging a race car through the air.

Cobra gave this club plenty of oomph, and if you were playing with it a decade ago, you would have been no doubt taking advantage of the club’s performance-enhancing technologies.

This iron was designed for helping you make excellent turf contact. It has a low center of gravity that helps pop the ball up in the air to give you plenty of height when you’re hitting into the green. These forgiving clubs were an excellent example of the kind of tech and shape it takes to make a superb distance iron.

 

Modern Tech

The golf irons of 2023 are pushing the known limits of how far you can hit a golf ball with this type of club. Not only do they give you tremendous distance, they’re also designed to give you lots of forgiveness and are a lot of fun to play with.

Cobra’s latest iron release, the Aerojet, is the cutting edge of golf iron technology. The iron will give your shots exceptional distance thanks to Cobra’s variable face thickness design. The floating weight design in the PRW-Bridge weighting will give you better face flexion to help your ball go that much further.

This iron is a lot of fun to play with and it will feel great in your hands. Cobra have made use of a soft polymer filler that has a huge affect on the acoustics and feel of the club when making impact with the ball.

You can also pick up the Aerojet One-Length variation. This essentially means that each iron in the set is the same length as a standard 7 iron, so you’ll be able to keep the exact same set-up and feel on all your iron shots.

In the pro shop, we’ll be able to tell you all the ins-and-outs of modern golf clubs in detail so you’ll know exactly how your clubs work. If your current set is looking a little weathered, why not consider getting yourself an upgrade? When you come in for a club fitting we’ll take a look at how you play and give you a recommendation of what kind of golf iron would be most appropriate for you.

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