Is Anyone Excited for the Cobra F9?

[Taylor59]

Hit it on Friday night, even with the 70 grams x and setting down to 7.5 degrees I couldn't get the spin down below 2,600... 2017 M1 still in the bag for me. I also went in with the intentions of buying it because I love the look so much. Loved the feel though, going back to Golf Town with a buddy on Friday, maybe I can make it work then....

[The Yard]

Well sure ... do you feel better now? You are assuming his benchmark driver, the Adams XTD was previously optimized. He has never been on a LM and didn't know any of his #'s. He has never adjusted it past the neutral 9* setting. I just bought 3 components and assembled to his spec's.

Not bad for $100 CAD driver.

You did say in your first post that he was "probably close to being optimized". So just going by the information you gave. So if he's never been on a launch monitor, why say that?

Yes, for $100 you built a good driver on the whim.... there are 1000 people in the GTA that could dream up a retro fitted head (Adams 9015d, Rapture, Rapture V2, Hibore XL, SLDR) with an old shaft and complete with a 2019 stock offering at GT.

[bl8d]

Duane (aka forgedblade) tried the Cobra F9 at Golftown today, compared to his gamer Adams XTD driver.

• Baseline = Adams XTD Ti 9.0* + Grafalloy Prolaunch Axis 60-X (tipped XX-Flex), D6 at 45 inch - averaging 310 yards, w/ longest at 334 yards. This is his $100 driver compared to the new Name Brand offering. Head is probably 5 or 6 years old, and the graphite shaft was manufactured 10 years ago. Highest Longest Ball on all drivers tested.
• Cobra F9 was about 5 to 6 yards longer on average, w/ tight dispersion. Same total distance at 8* (penetrating, more roll) vs. 9* setting (higher Apex, more carry). He liked the 9* setting, since its easier to get over doglegs. Longest hit was 326 yards.
• Ping G400 was close to the Adams XTD on average.
• Callaway Epic was about 5 to 6 yards shorter on average.
• No new model TaylorMade in 9* loft, so none tested.

He won't spend $700 to $1,000 yards to gain 5 yards, since it would mean he hits a wedge 50 yards vs. 55 yards into the green.
He needed 15 yards extra distance to get tempted. He is probably close to being optimized with his older $100 Adams XTD driver.

Agree Duane ,as you say, needs to see more of a difference to justify the expense for him.

for someone who never been fit and plays an off the shelf 8 year old driver, the F9 will be a big leap forward when fit to him.

but most still buy their driver off the rack because they are too self-conscious. They might hit a dozen balls on the Sim and if the sound and distance are good they will buy that driver.

[TourIQ]

You did say in your first post that he was "probably close to being optimized". So just going by the information you gave. So if he's never been on a launch monitor, why say that?

Yes, for $100 you built a good driver on the whim.... there are 1000 people in the GTA that could dream up a retro fitted head (Adams 9015d, Rapture, Rapture V2, Hibore XL, SLDR) with an old shaft and complete with a 2019 stock offering at GT.

Close to optimized, since his gamer driver is long and straight and gives the trajectory to go over mature trees on command when he wants to cut-off a dog leg. In the summer, he will hit a few 350 yard drives. What more can he ask for? Contrary to popular belief, he has never needed a LM to optimize a club. He hits outside and is witness to the flight of the ball - what a novel concept. Furthermore he can hit 1 ball and tell me if the club passes or fails, and hitting additional balls just validates his earlier judgment. He has never changed his mind after hitting the 1st ball with a new club.

Only 2 clubs in his bag would be open to change - driver and putter, but he is not changing a driver for 6 yards for the length of courses he plays. Everything else (3W to LW) is locked in for a decade or two.

I picked a shaft with nearly identical spec's as his gamer driver shaft from 2004 when I ran out of stock. If the old stuff can compete with the 2019 GT offering, then why would any GT customer need to upgrade at 7X's the cost?

Yes we spec'ed it out on a whim, with some research. We got burned on two Ping G20 drivers assembled by PING WRX, which were a direct match to a PING Demo driver. The 2 brand new clubs were about 30 yards shorter and exhibited a lot higher dispersion. Nothing like the demo he hit 6 weeks earlier. So if a Name Brand can't replicate the performance from a demo to an order for the exact same club, then maybe building on a whim at 15 cents on the dollar isn't such a bad idea after all.

[bl8d]

Harry out of curiosity were you able to measure all the specs of that Demo, including FLO, and forward all those exact spec's to Ping?

[The Yard]

Close to optimized, since his gamer driver is long and straight and gives the trajectory to go over mature trees on command when he wants to cut-off a dog leg. In the summer, he will hit a few 350 yard drives. What more can he ask for? Contrary to popular belief, he has never needed a LM to optimize a club. He hits outside and is witness to the flight of the ball - what a novel concept. Furthermore he can hit 1 ball and tell me if the club passes or fails, and hitting additional balls just validates his earlier judgment. He has never changed his mind after hitting the 1st ball with a new club.

Only 2 clubs in his bag would be open to change - driver and putter, but he is not changing a driver for 6 yards for the length of courses he plays. Everything else (3W to LW) is locked in for a decade or two.

I picked a shaft with nearly identical spec's as his gamer driver shaft from 2004 when I ran out of stock. If the old stuff can compete with the 2019 GT offering, then why would any GT customer need to upgrade at 7X's the cost?

Yes we spec'ed it out on a whim, with some research. We got burned on two Ping G20 drivers assembled by PING WRX, which were a direct match to a PING Demo driver. The 2 brand new clubs were about 30 yards shorter and exhibited a lot higher dispersion. Nothing like the demo he hit 6 weeks earlier. So if a Name Brand can't replicate the performance from a demo to an order for the exact same club, then maybe building on a whim at 15 cents on the dollar isn't such a bad idea after all.

This thread is about how awesome the F9 is... especially when properly fit. Not about an Adams XTD worth $15 bucks, a PING demo from 2010, or how great of a player your kid is and how he wouldn't change clubs for 6 yards.

There is no way an Adams XTD built on a whim is better then a Cobra F9. If you had properly fit the f9 to your kids swing and built some real content around the comparison, maybe you'd have a claim. Until that time, you have the leading review company in the world TXG saying the F9 is the fastest ball speed ever tested. It makes what your saying look like a joke. your kid sounds like a good player and you obviously have built some knowledge through building... but I'm sorry, world renowned people in golf are glowing about the f9 release...going to golftown popping a stock shaft in and then claiming a driver you built is better is embarrassing.

[Pingeye2_fan]

wow is all that can be said.

Indeed.

[rgk5]

Duane (aka forgedblade) tried the Cobra F9 at Golftown today, compared to his gamer Adams XTD driver.

• Baseline = Adams XTD Ti 9.0* + Grafalloy Prolaunch Axis 60-X (tipped XX-Flex), D6 at 45 inch - averaging 310 yards, w/ longest at 334 yards. This is his $100 driver compared to the new Name Brand offering. Head is probably 5 or 6 years old, and the graphite shaft was manufactured 10 years ago. Highest Longest Ball on all drivers tested.
• Cobra F9 was about 5 to 6 yards longer on average, w/ tight dispersion. Same total distance at 8* (penetrating, more roll) vs. 9* setting (higher Apex, more carry). He liked the 9* setting, since its easier to get over doglegs. Longest hit was 326 yards.
• Ping G400 was close to the Adams XTD on average.
• Callaway Epic was about 5 to 6 yards shorter on average.
• No new model TaylorMade in 9* loft, so none tested.

He won't spend $700 to $1,000 yards to gain 5 yards, since it would mean he hits a wedge 50 yards vs. 55 yards into the green.
He needed 15 yards extra distance to get tempted. He is probably close to being optimized with his older $100 Adams XTD driver.

Apples to pineapples Harry. If the F9 had been put together with an Atmos Black 7 or Hzrdus Yellow 6.5, both X flex , with the heavier weight forward, then the test would have more validity. It is possible that the XTD would still be slightly better or equal. Until then...........

BTW, the F9 is $549 not $700 and a myriad of great shafts are at no extra cost.

[Phatchrisrules]

Close to optimized, since his gamer driver is long and straight and gives the trajectory to go over mature trees on command when he wants to cut-off a dog leg. In the summer, he will hit a few 350 yard drives. What more can he ask for? Contrary to popular belief, he has never needed a LM to optimize a club. He hits outside and is witness to the flight of the ball - what a novel concept. Furthermore he can hit 1 ball and tell me if the club passes or fails, and hitting additional balls just validates his earlier judgment. He has never changed his mind after hitting the 1st ball with a new club.

Only 2 clubs in his bag would be open to change - driver and putter, but he is not changing a driver for 6 yards for the length of courses he plays. Everything else (3W to LW) is locked in for a decade or two.

I picked a shaft with nearly identical spec's as his gamer driver shaft from 2004 when I ran out of stock. If the old stuff can compete with the 2019 GT offering, then why would any GT customer need to upgrade at 7X's the cost?

Yes we spec'ed it out on a whim, with some research. We got burned on two Ping G20 drivers assembled by PING WRX, which were a direct match to a PING Demo driver. The 2 brand new clubs were about 30 yards shorter and exhibited a lot higher dispersion. Nothing like the demo he hit 6 weeks earlier. So if a Name Brand can't replicate the performance from a demo to an order for the exact same club, then maybe building on a whim at 15 cents on the dollar isn't such a bad idea after all.

Hey Harry, I just wanted to jump in here and say for once I actually agree with you. While this is pretty much a copy-paste brag about your son, as most of your posts are, I do agree to an extent. Your son's driver is optimized but by accident. You said you went through a few trials and error with it to really tweak it in. I still think you and Duane are foolish for discarding something after one swing. I don't care if your son is a +1 handicap, sometimes people make bad swings, and that bad swing will lead to a bad shot. Tiger, Phil, you name them, have all made bad swings and still have many multiple wins on tour. You don't see them with a new driver in the bag the next day when they have an off day with it. To throw a driver out of the mix after that one poor swing is very narrow minded.

At any rate, I do agree with you that pricing has got a touch out of hand for small improvements in tech over the last 2-3 seasons. I also agree that your average GT customer who shoots 90 probably doesn't need that flashy new $600 driver either. I also do agree that the average person could probably grab an R11 or a Callaway XHot or whatever from 5-6 years ago, and get it reshafted for around $150 and have it perform pretty darn close to what they could get out of an off the shelf, half-fit driver of today. The problem is who actually does that? There is no fitting studio that I know of, or club maker that I know of for that matter, that carries a $40 shaft that has the expertise to fit it to some guy who walked in off the street. Places like TXG, Modern Golf, etc. only carry the newest products, and it's not exactly like you click a shaft in and out on the new offerings with those old heads...the fitting locks just don't work with them anymore. You fit your son well because he is your son. You play golf with him regularly and know his swing. I've done fits where I am super amped about this one combination because on paper this is going to be a homerun for them, only to give it to them and they hit it like absolute crap. Golfers are not robots. I have a feeling that $100-$150 dialed in driver is going to take a lot of trial and error to get it right, almost up to the point where you could argue with GT's trade-in bonus it's worthwhile just to pay the extra $100 or so extra you would have if you did find an optimized relic just to save yourself the headache. Further, it's the law of diminishing returns, many people aren't going to bother reshafting a driver that's worth $25 on trade and MAYBE $50-$75 on the used market with a shaft that is going to cost them around $100+ after install and all that.

It looks like the F9 beat out his old faithful. Again, as you tend to do sometimes (and we all do honestly), you put a bit of a negative spin on it saying how it's too much money for the gains seen, how it didn't feel right, or whatever. Here is what I would suggest you do. Try the new Taylormade woods when they are available as Duane's shaft will click into that head, it just won't have the proper adjustment criteria. I bet they will beat his Adams into the ground.

Conversely, I was doing some spec hunting for you and depending on whether he has the blue X or the Red X, is to try the following:

If it is Prolaunch Axis Blue 6x --- Try Tensei Blue 60 X
If it is Prolaunch Axis Red 6x --- Try Aldila NV Green 65X

These two shafts are free in Cobra and all have similar specs to what Duane's current shaft have in terms of weight, bend profile, and torque. I would strongly suggest you try these compared to the Adams and he might see that magical 15+ yard pickup with the weight forward at 9* of loft. Don't rule out the Mizuno ST190 either, it also produced some VERY fast ball speeds and can be had for a lot less than some of the other newer offerings. Shafts in those would be Kuro Kage 60X or Tensei White 7.

[owu23]

This topic is going Déjà vu all over again

[TheSaxemachine]

This topic is going Déjà vu all over again

Never fails.

[Pingeye2_fan]

Never fails.

You are not wrong.

[WhiteWalker]

How far does he hit his 7 iron?

[TourIQ]

Hey Harry, I just wanted to jump in here and say for once I actually agree with you. While this is pretty much a copy-paste brag about your son, as most of your posts are, I do agree to an extent. Your son's driver is optimized but by accident. You said you went through a few trials and error with it to really tweak it in. I still think you and Duane are foolish for discarding something after one swing. I don't care if your son is a +1 handicap, sometimes people make bad swings, and that bad swing will lead to a bad shot. Tiger, Phil, you name them, have all made bad swings and still have many multiple wins on tour. You don't see them with a new driver in the bag the next day when they have an off day with it. To throw a driver out of the mix after that one poor swing is very narrow minded.

At any rate, I do agree with you that pricing has got a touch out of hand for small improvements in tech over the last 2-3 seasons. I also agree that your average GT customer who shoots 90 probably doesn't need that flashy new $600 driver either. I also do agree that the average person could probably grab an R11 or a Callaway XHot or whatever from 5-6 years ago, and get it reshafted for around $150 and have it perform pretty darn close to what they could get out of an off the shelf, half-fit driver of today. The problem is who actually does that? There is no fitting studio that I know of, or club maker that I know of for that matter, that carries a $40 shaft that has the expertise to fit it to some guy who walked in off the street. Places like TXG, Modern Golf, etc. only carry the newest products, and it's not exactly like you click a shaft in and out on the new offerings with those old heads...the fitting locks just don't work with them anymore. You fit your son well because he is your son. You play golf with him regularly and know his swing. I've done fits where I am super amped about this one combination because on paper this is going to be a homerun for them, only to give it to them and they hit it like absolute crap. Golfers are not robots. I have a feeling that $100-$150 dialed in driver is going to take a lot of trial and error to get it right, almost up to the point where you could argue with GT's trade-in bonus it's worthwhile just to pay the extra $100 or so extra you would have if you did find an optimized relic just to save yourself the headache. Further, it's the law of diminishing returns, many people aren't going to bother reshafting a driver that's worth $25 on trade and MAYBE $50-$75 on the used market with a shaft that is going to cost them around $100+ after install and all that.

It looks like the F9 beat out his old faithful. Again, as you tend to do sometimes (and we all do honestly), you put a bit of a negative spin on it saying how it's too much money for the gains seen, how it didn't feel right, or whatever. Here is what I would suggest you do. Try the new Taylormade woods when they are available as Duane's shaft will click into that head, it just won't have the proper adjustment criteria. I bet they will beat his Adams into the ground.

Conversely, I was doing some spec hunting for you and depending on whether he has the blue X or the Red X, is to try the following:

If it is Prolaunch Axis Blue 6x --- Try Tensei Blue 60 X
If it is Prolaunch Axis Red 6x --- Try Aldila NV Green 65X

These two shafts are free in Cobra and all have similar specs to what Duane's current shaft have in terms of weight, bend profile, and torque. I would strongly suggest you try these compared to the Adams and he might see that magical 15+ yard pickup with the weight forward at 9* of loft. Don't rule out the Mizuno ST190 either, it also produced some VERY fast ball speeds and can be had for a lot less than some of the other newer offerings. Shafts in those would be Kuro Kage 60X or Tensei White 7.

Chris I agree when they have TM in stock then he can swap his gamer shaft into the new head and have a real good go at it with the new TM offering, comparing apples to apples. We will disagree, but I learned years ago not to criticize his judgement after 1 swing. He knows what swing he delivered and what the outcome should be.

His current gamer driver was a trial and error on selecting the right components, but there was no tweaking, just built to his previous specifications for Swt., frequency, length, grip size, etc. He hasn't even adjusted the hosel sleeve once to evaluate different settings. Maybe he will do it this summer when he is playing a game.

There are Pros and Cons to all decisions. I did state the Pro that the F9 beat his gamer, so conversely I can state the Con that he isn't going to spend $100 / yard, since he doesn't need the distance.

I do not think his Prolaunch Axis in 60-X is either Blue or Red, and thanks Chris for making a comparable recommendation. I think he found the 9* with forward wt. the best in the F9, so you are spot on.

How far does he hit his 7 iron?

Long enough.

Harry out of curiosity were you able to measure all the specs of that Demo, including FLO, and forward all those exact spec's to Ping?

It was during a Ping Fitting Day, I wasn't there and I didn't have access to the Demo driver. The two I bought were assembled by Ping WRX department, and both were flops.

It was a few years ago, I might have told them over the phone, but no formal complaint. We just moved on.

[racmbs]

This topic is going Déjà vu all over again

Exactly why I never participate in equipment technology posts anymore....it's the never-ending cock wag.