What new irons are the equivalent of King Cobra II Oversize Tour irons from 1998?

[LCP]

 

In the last year I've resumed playing golf with some regularity and am fixing what I used to do wrong with my swing (most of it anyway!) and of course have been upgrading equipment.

I bought Cobra's King Cobra II Oversize Tour irons in 1998 shortly after I began working. I hit them great when I hit them properly. I'm a tall, strong golfer that has a digging swing. I play over length (by 1.5" form most clubs, but 2" in wedges) DG X100 shafts and usually hit a mid/high semi-penetrating but soft landing shot (that's my way of saying I like the trajectory) with this combination. My usual miss is either massively fat (pure swing fault and/or set up fault that I'm not looking at the club for help on) or hitting them on the toe, with the toe hits usually costing at least a full club in distance for a bad miss or even half a club on a barely perceptible slight miss. Upgrading these irons is next on my list. So I'm trying to find out what their equivalent would be today as a starting point. I also have a Ping ISI SW and LW. I find they play complimentary in my bag, but of course slightly different, and probably more forgiving, at least for toe misses, although they're rare with those short clubs.

Here is an excerpt from the press release from Cobra when the "Tour" models of these clubs were released:

Jan. 17, 1997--Cobra Golf Inc., the leading manufacturer of oversize irons, has designed a new line of high performance irons to complement its highly successful King Cobra II iron line.

Developed with the input and expertise of Cobra's prestigious tour staff and teaching advisory staff, the King Cobra II Tour irons will help better players achieve straighter, longer shots with greater workability.

"Cobra is committed to offering golf equipment that will help all golfers," said Tom Crow, Cobra's founder and chief designer. "The King Cobra II Tour model gives shot makers maximum playability and workability, with the benefits of oversize, perimeter weighted technology. These irons were designed with the Tour, for the Tour."

Senior PGA Tour star Hale Irwin was especially involved with the new design. Irwin has seen the benefits of oversize iron technology help his career, and his victory at the MCI Heritage Classic was the first win on Tour using oversize irons. Now, oversize irons on the professional tours are standard, and experienced players agree that oversize technology will help novice and experienced golfers alike.

"Cobra has taken input from their staff members and incorporated it in to the equipment that we now see on the market," commented Irwin. "It's extremely important, at the level that I play, to have performance. The King Cobra II Tour irons are superior for the better player. I've always trusted King Cobra irons, and I believe the King Cobra II Tour irons provide the most superior combination of performance, leading edge technology, and classic aesthetics available in the premium iron market today."

Before Cobra's research and design team developed the new Tour iron, they asked Irwin and other tour and advisory players for feedback on the King Cobra II irons. The players agreed that the four design features of the Integrated Quad System were key elements that could also help the better player.

The King Cobra II Tour irons utilize the Integrated Quad technology, incorporating the four primary game-improvement design elements of the King Cobra II irons; heel-side weighting, shaped graphite shaft, dual-purpose sole, and an oversize, cavity back head.

The Integrated Quad features and benefits are:

King Cobra II IQ Features: Benefit for Players:

1. Heel-side weighting Reduced Droop; more shots toward the center of the face. 2. Shaped shaft Increased club head stability; straighter ball flight. 3. Dual-purpose sole Less "toe drag" in turf; added playability. 4. Oversize cavity back head Larger effective sweet spot, more forgiveness.

"We asked our Tour staff for their input to design the new irons," said Pascal Stolz, vice president of marketing. "The feedback has been outstanding. They basically told us: `Don't change the sole design, it's working great. Don't change the heel-side weighting. Just adapt the specs.' We've taken the proven technology from the King Cobra II irons, and evolved it into a set of irons specifically tailored to the dynamics of better players. We're confident the King Cobra II Tour iron is a winner."

The King Cobra II Tour irons incorporate leading-edge technology with a traditional look. The face is slightly smaller than the King Cobra II irons, and is perfectly square. Designed with the setting preferences of Irwin, the face has less offset.

New King Cobra II Tour vs. King Cobra II: Benefit for Better Players:

1. Less Offset Greater workability. 2. Thinner top line and sole Better playability. 3. Higher center of gravity Lower ball flight, superior trajectory.

The King Cobra II Tour irons are cast from 15-5 stainless steel, a softer alloy for more feedback. Options to fit discriminating golfers include 2 degree upright or flat lie angle capabilities and 1/2 inch and 1 inch over or under length custom options.

I'm leaning toward Ping I20, Mizuno JPX 825 Pro, and Cobra Amp Forged as likely contenders for purchase. Would these be the comparable clubs or not? My gut tells me these would be all more forgiving than what I have now and offer the shaft options, face feel and turf interaction I need. Bridgestone J40, Mizuno JPX 825, Adams Black CB3 (or a soon to be released successor), or Titleist 712 AP2 are other alternatives I've thought about.

I would like more distance forgiveness on toe misses and wouldn't mind a club that didn't dig in as much on slightly fat mishits or in the wet (as a digger), but I really like my Cobras' soles on dry fairway shots. 5-10 more yards on shots would be ok too, but my King Cobra II Oversize Tour irons were ordered as "traditional" loft (32 degree 6 iron), so I suspect anything I'm likely to buy will be at least half a club longer due to 2 or 3 degree lower lofts. 15-20 more yards would be problematic. I don't need a 165-170 yard 8 iron (it's about 148-153 now). As high as I launch the ball, less loft/lower launch isn't a problem for me. Being able to work the ball isn't much of a priority for me, esp. in irons as I suspect I will play a bunch of hybrids in my bag even after buying new irons (I've got five new Adams hybrids ranging from 17 to 28 degrees in loft which I love to hit -- especially how easy they are to hit out of the rough, fairway traps or from damp ground, but I could see me dropping the highest lofted one or two of them). Hitting it straight and on target for the right distance and having it stop on the green is what I want.

Oh, and while I've read a lot of posts here, this is my first post. There will be more. Maybe many more...

[mekender]

Your best bet is to go demo as many as you can... Your list is good so far... But, if you have been playing a set that old (like I have) you may benefit from some of the GI irons as opposed to one designed like you are used to now. Check out the Ping G-25 for starters.

[solarbear88]

Ping I3 would be worth a look.

On a budget? Maybe Adams CB3.

[Sky High Handicap]

I wish I still had my old set of King Cobra II irons. They were oversize, and still gave some feedback.

[LCP]

I want the new equivalent as a reference to start from and improve from, not something like an I3 (which is what my dad plays now). I can pay full fare for these. Maybe the new I25 or Titleist 714 or some new Adams club will have something to offer in the next several months.

[LCP]

[quote name='mekender' timestamp='1373260886' post='7406946']
Your best bet is to go demo as many as you can... Your list is good so far... But, if you have been playing a set that old (like I have) you may benefit from some of the GI irons as opposed to one designed like you are used to now. Check out the Ping G-25 for starters.
[/quote]

It's hard to find clubs to demo on the range that are long enough for me to hit properly and that have a stiff enough shaft to properly assess how I hit them. This is especially the case the closer a club is to a game improvement club when it is likely to have a soft, light, high launching shaft, even in its stiffest offering off the rack.

[goloworgohome]

JPX, AP2, or Rocketbladez would be my suggestions...all three pretty solid


And just for future reference...we didn't need the press release...just saying

[LCP]

Usually I would agree but they were an old enough club played by so few people, especially with the Tour variant, that it seemed to be one of the only descriptions of the club that offered any meaningful info as to its design features.

[goloworgohome]

[quote name='LCP' timestamp='1373296993' post='7408774']
Usually I would agree but they were an old enough club played by so few people, especially with the Tour variant, that it seemed to be one of the only descriptions of the club that offered any meaningful info as to its design features.
[/quote]

I'll respectfully disagree with you there...i knew a ton of people who played them back in the day...they were good sticks...i actually have a buddy who still plays them
Plus...this is golfwrx...some dudes on here know the specs on clubs from the 60's

[kellygreen]

You are in for some pleasant suprises, because iron technology has come a LOONNG way since the King Cobra oversize irons were on the market.

Pretty much anything other than blades, and blade-like player's cavity backs (like the Mizuno MP-64) are going to be more forgiving than KCO IIs. So I think the big issue is what combination of forgiveness-playability-appearance you want...and how much you are willing to spend.

Based on what you say you want, I think the Ping I20s (or the Titleist AP2s) would be an excellent starting point. Both irons have a compact appearence and soles for good playability. But both have tungsten toe-and-or-heel weighting so that you get levels of forgivenss on off-center hits that are equivalent to those of pure GI irons of the 1990s era.

If you want a little more playability, and willing to sacrifice a BIT of foregiveness, the Ping S56s are also a very good choice. Like the I20s and the AP2, they also have tungsten weighting to increase forgiveness...but the S56s are designed to provide more workability (and a more controlled trajectory) than i20s or AP2s.

I would start with clubs in this category....and work from there. I think if you went with club that is a more contemporary GI design, you might have problems with htting the ball TOO high, and miss some of the versatility that a more compact iron gives you off of difficult lies.