Cobra 2024

[mogc60]

Just received my 8* LS. Ordered Saturday arrived today. Awfully quick. 
First impression. It looks incredible. I’m not understanding the big reaction to the shape. Comparing it to my Aerojet LS, it’s not a big change. Rear is a bit further back and the aerodynamic shape is a bit more pronounced. The last 5-6 iterations of Cobra drivers have been a bit triangular and honestly haven’t made a pear shape head in ages. Biggest difference is the deeper face especially in the toe side of center. The lead edge sits so clean and just slightly open. Too bad it’s so cold where I live but I’ll get some swings in when I can. Sorry the lighting wasn’t the best 

Edited January 25 by mogc60

[Flyers99]

Well I am extremely disappointed in the Darkspeed irons. They were on my short list to try but the finish appears to be, let’s say not good, so that is a deal breaker for me.  Every review seems to show major wear after a single range session.  If that happens I cannot imagine how crappy they would look after a season. With many options out there, I’ll look elsewhere. 

[Lefty87]

11 hours ago, Flyers99 said:

Well I am extremely disappointed in the Darkspeed irons. They were on my short list to try but the finish appears to be, let’s say not good, so that is a deal breaker for me.  Every review seems to show major wear after a single range session.  If that happens I cannot imagine how crappy they would look after a season. With many options out there, I’ll look elsewhere. 

I’ve still only seen one review from How Good Golf that expressed concerns with the finish. I’ll reserve judgement until I swing them. 

[DatSliceDoe]

Is it really true that Cobra are charging $500 for the Darkspeed fwy woods? Is this PXG now?

[boggyman]

2 minutes ago, DatSliceDoe said:

Is it really true that Cobra are charging $500 for the Darkspeed fwy woods? Is this PXG now?

LS is $449…. Most are in this range in a tour,low spin model these days. It’s out of hand everywhere on everything. 

[BirdieBob]

31 minutes ago, DatSliceDoe said:

Is it really true that Cobra are charging $500 for the Darkspeed fwy woods? Is this PXG now?

Discountdansgolf.com is your friend

and remember FREE shipping and NO SALES TAX!

Edited January 25 by BirdieBob

[gioguy21]

1 minute ago, BirdieBob said:

Discountdansgolf.com is your friend

and remember FREE shipping and NO SALES TAX!

yup. buy all my stuff and send everyone i know to them. 

 

Edited January 25 by gioguy21

[IvanDrago]

Anyone know the difference between the new agera putters?

[pdiddy3]

I have access to puma/cobra!!! 8 degree heads are back in stock after a quick restock!!

[Lord Helmet]

Im not going thru 16 pages.

 

Can anyone link me or tell me what page there is a direct comparison for aerojet standard and darkspeed x drivers.  Thanks.

[BirdieBob]

9 minutes ago, Lord Helmet said:

Im not going thru 16 pages.

 

Can anyone link me or tell me what page there is a direct comparison for aerojet standard and darkspeed x drivers.  Thanks.

 

 

 

 

[Lord Helmet]

1 hour ago, BirdieBob said:

 

 

 

 

Thx.  Watched the 1st vid.  Wish I had that guys skill lol.  So basically little difference, amiright?  I dont play LS so I will have to see about the non LS versions.

[snagy2000]

On 1/25/2024 at 9:12 AM, DatSliceDoe said:

Is it really true that Cobra are charging $500 for the Darkspeed fwy woods? Is this PXG now?

Darkspeed LS fairway retail price is $449, the same retail price as the TaylorMade Qi10 Tour fairway. PXG Black Ops is $349. But, there's more accomodating pricing to be had If you try hard enough...

Edited January 27 by snagy2000

[mlwenzlick]

1 hour ago, snagy2000 said:

Darkspeed LS fairway retail price is $449, the same retail price as the TaylorMade Qi10 Tour fairway. PXG Black Ops is $349. But, there's more accomodating pricing to be had If you try hard enough...

The appeal of cobra was they ran a little cheaper. I won’t be upgrading my aerojet fwys for that price that’s for sure.

[rgk5]

Today I will be testing the Dark Speed, Qi10, AI Smoke, and Ping G430 10K at Club Champion (AKA TXG) in Mississauga. They are up against my beloved F9 Tour (se below).  🫠

[eric61]

2 hours ago, rgk5 said:

Today I will be testing the Dark Speed, Qi10, AI Smoke, and Ping G430 10K at Club Champion (AKA TXG) in Mississauga. They are up against my beloved F9 Tour (se below).  🫠

Please post a recap with as much detail as possible! Really interested to see how it goes and what your impressions are.

[Ghostwedge]

2 hours ago, rgk5 said:

Today I will be testing the Dark Speed, Qi10, AI Smoke, and Ping G430 10K at Club Champion (AKA TXG) in Mississauga. They are up against my beloved F9 Tour (se below).  🫠

I'll say its the Dark Speed....☺

[rgk5]

2 hours ago, eric61 said:

Please post a recap with as much detail as possible! Really interested to see how it goes and what your impressions are.

Here are the results.  Keep in mind that I will be 77 in May.  The Callaway AI Smoke was the winner.

 

Results

 

1. Gained 10 yds. carry and 15 yards total over the F9. Total of 200 yds. Have not swung since late October.

2. Spin rate reduced to 2700. I need this amount of spin.

3. Dispersion was 3* better than the F9 and did not vary by more than 12 yds.

4. Launch angle was consistent at 13.5*.

 

Ranking

 

1. Callaway AI Smoke;  best feel and best performance.

2. Cobra Dark Speed; equal ball speed but less gains in carry, total and dispersion.

3. Qi10; inferior in all caregories to the above, mushy feel.

4. Ping 430; upon assembly for test was far too heavy.  Did not bother with it.

 

Final Configuration.

 

AI Smoke 9*, set to 11*, Mitsubishi Vanquish A Flex @ 40 grams, Tour Velvet 360 Midsize grip.

 

Interesting Note

 

I spoke to my friend Ian Fraser(TXG and now Club Champion) after my son did the fitting and Ian was putting together an AI Smoke driver and 3-wood for himself.

[eric61]

10 minutes ago, rgk5 said:

Here are the results.  Keep in mind that I will be 77 in May.  The Callaway AI Smoke was the winner.

 

Results

 

1. Gained 10 yds. carry and 15 yards total over the F9. Total of 200 yds. Have not swung since late October.

2. Spin rate reduced to 2700. I need this amount of spin.

3. Dispersion was 3* better than the F9 and did not vary by more than 12 yds.

4. Launch angle was consistent at 13.5*.

 

Ranking

 

1. Callaway AI Smoke;  best feel and best performance.

2. Cobra Dark Speed; equal ball speed but less gains in carry, total and dispersion.

3. Qi10; inferior in all caregories to the above, mushy feel.

4. Ping 430; upon assembly for test was far too heavy.  Did not bother with it.

 

Final Configuration.

 

AI Smoke 9*, set to 11*, Mitsubishi Vanquish A Flex @ 40 grams, Tour Velvet 360 Midsize grip.

 

Interesting Note

 

I spoke to my friend Ian Fraser(TXG and now Club Champion) after my son did the fitting and Ian was putting together an AI Smoke driver and 3-wood for himself.

Sounds like a great result and some nice gains! Congratulations.

 

Did Ian say if he was building the Max or Triple Diamond models? I’d assume TD, but he hit the Max really well in their review.

[rgk5]

3 hours ago, eric61 said:

Sounds like a great result and some nice gains! Congratulations.

 

Did Ian say if he was building the Max or Triple Diamond models? I’d assume TD, but he hit the Max really well in their review.

Triple Diamond I would surmise but I did not look.  Ventus 60 X Black in the driver and probably 70 in the 3-wood.

[Haber]

I got to hit the X today and it is definitely on my short list. It is definitely the nicest looking head of all the new releases. Just got to compare ball speed numbers to my Stealth 2 on SC200 and it was similar with a shorter stock shaft. 
 

it definitely definitely more consistent and forgiving than Stealth. The only thing that disappointed me was the sound. It’s more of a muted hollow ping compared to the crunch of the stealth. Tempted to try the LS head and see if it gives better ball speeds and sounds better.

[gioguy21]

took the DS X driver to the range yesterday first time outside and not on a sim. yes, i'm officially smitten with this driver  - dispersion and forgiveness was pretty incredible. distance and spin was consistent as well - all seemed to land within the same area. also, lofted it down -1.5* from the 10.5* std setting - and was hitting mid flight laser beams. went back to std loft setting and hit high low spin bombs. 

the feel was very good but the sound outside was a bit higher pitched than indoors. still love it. 

[crcunningham]

Had a fitting late last week with Darkspeed LS being the the winner after not really even being on the radar.

Coming from Stealth+ 9* w/ Ventus Black 6-TX (that somehow just works for me with a measly gamer ~115 CS) and very low single-digit HC. Really shouldn't be shopping for another driver as that setup has been a huge asset to the game this year and have never come close to hitting the ball better with the big stick, but alas, this is WRX... Stuck with a Ventus TR Black 6x for the fitting across heads, ProV1 RCT for the ball on Trackman. 

Started with Qi10 LS and core Qi10 and was initially sold on the TM this year to where I almost just ordered it before my fitting. Club face went from ~1* to 5-6* closed no matter what setting or weight placement I put those heads in. Was kinda crazy how hard the face was slamming closed after some good sessions at big box stores and messing around with friends who got the head early. 

Hit a handful of balls with the AI Smoke TD and Ping 430LST. Dont love the head-shape/aesthetics of the AI Smokes they def have some ball speed and is a great driver if you are all over the face. Hit two balls with the Ping and was way too heavy.

Next up was TSr4 which was the first real contender. Being a Titleist fanboy def had some weight there, but it performed great with 1.47-1.48 very, very consistently with an avg of ~2500 spin across ~20+ balls. was kinda ready to stop there and wrap things up as was super happy with the results.

Enter Darkspeed LS.... 
 

Since the DS was the only major OEM I had not hit, I asked to just give it a quick go and man, I am glad I did. Numbers wise, it was very similar to the TSr4, but the consistency in those numbers across the face was borderline unbelievable. Smash was more toward 1.48-49, but the spin never wanted to leave the 2000's. Heel slappers still retained ball speed/smash and spin was living in the 2700 range and high/toe balls would dip to ~2000-2100. Out of ~30 balls I had one get to 3100 and one down to 1900. really, really consistent club. All of this was about ~120 driver swings into the fitting so was pretty gassed at this point which is a huge plus in my mind.

The other great thing with the DS LS was the dispersion/shot shape. As someone who is super neutral with the driver, it is definitely a gift that keeps on giving two-way misses. The DS LS never once snapped on me and produced baby cuts on all sorts of swings and strikes. yes, open-faced balls were going to be in the right rough (trees on bad ones), but I could turn on the ball hard and felt very protected on the left miss. This is ultimately what has me ordering the Cobra over the Titleist despite being an Acushnet fanboy and how much I do not want to play a Cobra after some bad results with some of their other woods in the last couple of years. Only concern is how fade biased it is for days when that miss is more heavily in play.

Few other things that really stood out to me, sound is pretty muted but in a very pleasing way in the bay. sounds like a TSr with a suppressor on it. The feel is also great, feels super fast and actually kinda soft. Also, wasn't really a fan of the shape at first, but the toppling of the face is very, very straight and almost felt easier to hit a straight ball compared to some of the more pear shaped heads I tested that have more roll off the toe.

Regardless, kudos to Cobra. They definitely made a winner for me this year....

 

Edited January 30 by crcunningham
Grammar

[gioguy21]

17 minutes ago, crcunningham said:

Had a fitting late last week with Darkspeed LS being the the winner after not really even being on the radar.

Coming from Stealth+ 9* w/ Ventus Black 6-TX (that somehow just works for me with a measly gamer ~115 CS) and very low single-digit HC. Really shouldn't be shopping for another driver as that setup has been a huge asset to the game this year and have never come close to hitting the ball better with the big stick, but alas, this is WRX... Stuck with a Ventus TR Black 6x for the fitting across heads, ProV1 RCT for the ball on Trackman. 

Started with Qi10 LS and core Qi10 and was initially sold on the TM this year to where I almost just ordered it before my fitting. Club face went from ~1* to 5-6* closed no matter what setting or weight placement I put those heads in. Was kinda crazy how hard the face was slamming closed after some good sessions at big box stores and messing around with friends who got the head early. 

Hit a handful of balls with the AI Smoke TD and Ping 430LST. Dont love the head-shape/aesthetics of the AI Smokes they def have some ball speed and is a great driver if you are all over the face. Hit two balls with the Ping and was way too heavy.

Next up was TSr4 which was the first real contender. Being a Titleist fanboy def had some weight there, but it performed great with 1.47-1.48 very, very consistently with an avg of ~2500 spin across ~20+ balls. was kinda ready to stop there and wrap things up as was super happy with the results.

Enter Darkspeed LS.... 
 

Since the DS was the only major OEM I had not hit, I asked to just give it a quick go and man, I am glad I did. Numbers wise, it was very similar to the TSr4, but the consistency in those numbers across the face was borderline unbelievable. Smash was more toward 1.48-49, but the spin never wanted to leave the 2000's. Heel slappers still retained ball speed/smash and spin was living in the 2700 range and high/toe balls would dip to ~2000-2100. Out of ~30 balls I had one get to 3100 and one down to 1900. really, really consistent club. All of this was about ~120 driver swings into the fitting so was pretty gassed at this point which is a huge plus in my mind.

The other great thing with the DS LS was the dispersion/shot shape. As someone who is super neutral with the driver, it is definitely a gift that keeps on giving two-way misses. The DS LS never once snapped on me and produced baby cuts on all sorts of swings and strikes. yes, open-faced balls were going to be in the right rough (trees on bad ones), but I could turn on the ball hard and felt very protected on the left miss. This is ultimately what has me ordering the Cobra over the Titleist despite being an Acushnet fanboy and how much I do not want to play a Cobra after some bad results with some of their other woods in the last couple of years. Only concern is how fade biased it is for days when that miss is more heavily in play.

Few other things that really stood out to me, sound is pretty muted but in a very pleasing way in the bay. sounds like a TSr with a suppressor on it. The feel is also great, feels super fast and actually kinda soft. Also, wasn't really a fan of the shape at first, but the toppling of the face is very, very straight and almost felt easier to hit a straight ball compared to some of the more pear shaped heads I tested that have more roll off the toe.

Regardless, kudos to Cobra. They definitely made a winner for me this year....

 

welcome to cobra converted. lol

have a seat - there's donuts in the back, maybe some cold coffee. 

 

[Gtyler14]

3 hours ago, gioguy21 said:

took the DS X driver to the range yesterday first time outside and not on a sim. yes, i'm officially smitten with this driver  - dispersion and forgiveness was pretty incredible. distance and spin was consistent as well - all seemed to land within the same area. also, lofted it down -1.5* from the 10.5* std setting - and was hitting mid flight laser beams. went back to std loft setting and hit high low spin bombs. 

the feel was very good but the sound outside was a bit higher pitched than indoors. still love it. 

Still with the Kai’li?

[gioguy21]

12 minutes ago, Gtyler14 said:

Still with the Kai’li?

nope...made some swing changes. not as aggressive from the top anymore. got the UB6TX in it is somethin...for now. 

i'm getting a cobra DS LS 3w...deciding on what to put in that right now. 

 

[Golfballwackerguy17]

Went and got fit for the Darkspeed LS... Surprising results. Really wanted the ping 10k max but the results were just not there. Ping was crazy forgiving but ballspeed and overall clubhead speed was so down. It's just so heavy... 

 

The closet driver was the Callaway Triple D. Came down to this and the darkspeed LS but the darkspeed was just faster and surprisingly more forgiving for me. 

 

The thing that shocked me the most was I have always been a low spin low launch (played venturs TR black, Orange 1k, etc) shaft guy but the cobra darkspeed was so nasty in the ventus TR red... 

 

Really looking forward to hitting bombs with the Cobra. 

[Nickiet55]

I am going to be getting one of the DarkSpeed models this year, but I guess I am seeking advice from others in regards to what I should be looking for! I swing it about 108-112, just depending on if I am stretched/loose. I have been playing LTDxLS for the last two years and it is the best driver I have owned! I work for a retail store so I have been able to hit both the DarkSpeed LS and X, but they are just both so similar! I think the LS looks better but the X is definitely more forgiving so I am not sure what everyone's opinions are on which would be better! Thank you very much in advance 

[gioguy21]

21 minutes ago, Nickiet55 said:

I am going to be getting one of the DarkSpeed models this year, but I guess I am seeking advice from others in regards to what I should be looking for! I swing it about 108-112, just depending on if I am stretched/loose. I have been playing LTDxLS for the last two years and it is the best driver I have owned! I work for a retail store so I have been able to hit both the DarkSpeed LS and X, but they are just both so similar! I think the LS looks better but the X is definitely more forgiving so I am not sure what everyone's opinions are on which would be better! Thank you very much in advance 

my ss is 115-118 and i went with the x. added forgiveness and honestly spun very close to the LS for me. 

 

[Nickiet55]

That is kind of what I have been seeing as well @gioguy21 - thank you for the information! I haven't been able to get onto a launch monitor fully (I have hit probably 5-10 shots with each on the GCQuad). I have hit probably 20-30 with each outdoors, but it is in Indiana, so cold range balls and not swinging well. It was one of those random 45-50* days so that helped, but yeah I just didn't notice a ton of drop off in distance or I couldn't see the ball spinning up a lot more, so the X seems like a really good option!