Cobra Air-X irons: What you need to know

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Improving on its lightest iron design to date, Cobra’s Air-X irons saved 8 grams of weight to help slower swingers swing faster. Through weighting, center-of-gravity placement and relatively weaker lofts, the irons also provide the kind of launch angle boost slower swingers need to generate distance.

AVAILABILITY/PRICE: Available Jan. 28 (with full-bag sets available March 4), the iron sets will be offered at $699 in steel and $799 for the graphite-shafted combo set (which includes two hybrids) for seven clubs. Men’s graphite iron sets are available in custom only for $749. A women’s version of the Air-X graphite combo set is $799. Full-bag sets include 12 clubs plus a bag for $1,499 (which if bought separately would total more than $2,000).

THE DEEP DIVE: Although Cobra is highly known for its association with stars such as Bryson DeChambeau, Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson, those familiar with the company’s heritage realize that it also has a long-held expertise in designing and developing clubs for those at the other end of the golf talent spectrum. It is with those players in mind that Cobra is introducing its latest iron, the Air-X.

Cobra’s Air-X irons provide easy-to-hit, affordable designs for moderate speed golfers. When designing irons for those players, making them light enough to generate speed is a key component of the design goal. In this instance, Cobra needed to improve on an already feathery club as its F-Max Airspeed predecessor already was the lightest iron in company history.

The lightweight push for Air-X starts with a cast clubhead that is two grams lighter and a 41-gram soft rubber grip that is six grams lighter. By saving eight grams of weight, it makes the club easier to swing faster. Also helping boost ball speed is a variable thickness face that is thinner in the heel and toe areas to promote more yards on off-center hits. A more upright lie angle in the long irons also makes it easier to square the club at impact, thus fostering more solid contact while heel-biased weighting promotes a slight draw bias.

However, speed for distance alone is not enough. “These irons are designed for people who need help with launch,” said Tom Olsavsky, vice president of R&D for Cobra. “At slower swing speeds, improving launch is the main avenue to increased distance.”

Aiding in that endeavor is a low-profile head design with a deep undercut cavity, offset hosel and wide soles that help lower the center of gravity position. This combined with eschewing strong lofts in favor of more traditional ones (a 45-degree pitching wedge is one to three degrees weaker than most irons the Air-X would compete with) provide a useful height assist.

Available Jan. 28 (with full-bag sets available March 4), the iron sets will be offered at $699 in steel and $799 for the graphite-shafted combo set (which includes two hybrids) for seven clubs. Men’s graphite iron sets are available in custom only for $749. A women’s version of the Air-X graphite combo set is $799. Full-bag sets include 12 clubs plus a bag for $1,499 (which if bought separately would total more than $2,000).