Cobra 3DP MB and 3DP X irons: What you need to know

What you need to know: Cobra builds on its expertise in 3D-printing with a new players iron (3DP MB) as well as a game-improvement model (3DP X). The irons are completely 3D-printed, allowing for a level of precision and intricacy not available in clubs that are forged or cast. 3D-printing also allows for a soft, forged-like feel.

Price/Availability: $330 per iron; available Jan. 9.

3 Cool Things

1. Layer-by-layer. Both irons are fully 3D-printed from 316 stainless-steel using a DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering) process, a metal 3D-printing technology that builds metal parts with exceptional mechanical properties and precision. This manufacturing method produces complex designs that cannot be achieved using traditional casting or forging methods, according to the company. “We’ve been working on 3D-printing since 2009,” said Ryan Roach, director of innovation for Cobra. “We got serious in 2017-18. Originally it didn’t seem to make sense commercially from a cost and scale standpoint, but now we’re able to achieve both of those.

2. Max Homa has his say on the MB. Cobra officials had a couple of great partners on the 3DP MB. First, they worked with Cobra staffer Max Homa and based the iron off the thinner topline and more offset look he favors. Cobra also partnered with nTop, a world leader in advanced engineering design software (NASA and Airbus use its design tools), to develop the internal lattice structure of these irons.

nTop’s computational design tools enabled Cobra engineers to create a lattice geometry not possible previously in a golf club. The lattice redistributes more than 40 grams of discretionary weight into high-density tungsten components to optimize center-of-gravity placement in each iron, while also maintaining the rigidity and stiffness required for consistent sound and feel.

CNC milling lets the face and grooves to get as close as possible to the USGA limits. That’s due to the added precision that milling provides, which allowed for the creation of a more aggressive groove design.

3. A 3D-printed iron for the masses. Designed for those in the 10- to 20-handicap range, the game-improvement 3DP X offers a high MOI club in a relatively compact shape.

Like other Cobra 3D-printed irons, an internal lattiace is used to save weight. In this instance 115 grams is repositioned via tungsten weighting in the low perimeter areas of the club to lower the center of gravity and increase the moment of inertia, increasing launch and stability—two traits middle-handicappers need. The lattice also maintains the rigidity and stiffness required for consistent sound and feel.

The grooves are CNC milled and utilize the same groove design featured in the company’s 50- through 54-degree specialty wedges to produce maximum spin and trajectory control.