Product spotlight: Cobra King SpeedZone driver

Cobra has long had a focus on precision when it comes to its equipment and the new Cobra King SpeedZone driver certainly has taken this to a new level.

While others build driver faces with the human element of being forged, soldered onto the chassis before being hand-ground and polished, Cobra mills the face of its drivers with computer-controlled robots in order to get a precise and consistent face thickness.

Now with the new CNC Infinity Milled Face, the Cobra King SpeedZone driver has expanded the milled area by an incredible 95 percent. The milling extends all the way around the face of the club and also into the leading edge, the toe and the topline. This effectively enlarges the sweet spot and protects ball speed on off-center hits more effectively.

Without the human error element to account for, the Infinity Face brings its absolute best game to all golfers.

Cobra also made significant changes in the chassis from its previous models by bringing in a new and lighter Titanium T-Bar strip that connects the club from front to back.

The removal of some of the metal has allowed different weight distribution while still providing enough strength to handle PGA TOUR-level swing speeds from the likes of Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau and beyond. Now a 360-degree Carbon Wrap Crown covers 50 percent of the club body, adding stiffness to the chassis while saving 25 grams of weight that has been repositioned.

Most of the saved weight went into a 69-gram internal weight that is positioned at the back of the sole. This pulls the center of gravity down and away from the hitting area, allowing for higher launch angles with reduced spin and also creates stability. The company added further weights internally to reduce the amount of head-twisting on off-center hits, once again protecting ball speed in these instances.

“Our TOUR players help us with the design, with the shaping, with the looks, with the colors, and then a lot of performance feedback. Rickie has always been a big part of what we do and we had Bryson in here a lot last fall working on his driver,” said Cobra’s Vice President of Research and Development Tom Olsavsky.

“By improving the face, improving speed off the face and providing better weight properties, we feel we get what every golfer wants, TOUR player or not. They want forgiveness, they want distance, and they want great ball flight. That's what you get with the new SpeedZone.”

Further adjustability is provided thanks to a pair of movable weights. The red 14-gram and black 2-gram weight can allow a player to reduce spin and create a lower ball flight by putting the red weight up front or boost forgiveness and spin by having it in back.

Aerodynamics also remain a focus with a new look. With the help of the milled perimeter edges, the clubhead harnesses airflow for maximum drag reduction and increased clubhead speed.

The SpeedZone driver comes at 9 or 10.5 degrees in Gloss Black/Yellow or Matte Black/White. Stock shafts include UST Helium, Mitsubishi Tensei CK AV Blue, Project X HZRDUS Smoke Yellow and Aldila Rogue Silver, but over 20 shafts are available at no upcharge through custom orders.

Retail price is $449.