As it becomes more mass-market prices will obviously come down. There’s no doubt this is a big moment in terms of technological advancement in irons (as was Bryson putting 3D printed irons in the bag for the US PGA). What is really exciting is the prospect of irons that are customised with specific weight distribution for people who slice, hook, have too steep an attack angle etc. And they will be able to work out algorithms for what amount of tungsten needs to goes where in the club for this. That will cost big bucks, but we’re talking genuine bespoke irons!! The next 5 years is going to be fun to see where this goes.
Simon and Neil, thanks for the excellent review of Cobra's new 3D printed irons. In listening to your presentation I found myself wondering what Cobra's strategy is for these irons and why they only produced 500 sets. Are they waiting to see if there's sufficient demand at the $3K price point before scaling up production? Do 3D irons take considerably more time to manufacture? Are there more or less quality control issues w/ 3D? And where does Cobra see the 3D irons fitting in their existing lineup (between Forged Tec X and Forged Tec)? Sorry for all the questions -- I'm just really curious what the long term plan is. I'm guessing we'll see other manufacturers coming out w/ their own 3D irons fairly soon -- and at much lower price points. Thanks again for the great content.
Thanks Brian, like you we have a ton of questions around what the future could hold. This does appear to be really interesting tech. Our gut feel is that this could just be a trial run, dipping their toe in the water to gauge reaction. If the feedback is positive there will need to be significant investment into the 3D printers that can create products in this way. When there is costs will fall, to what extent we don't yet know, but perhaps in a similar way to how the cost of a set of PXG's has dropped significantly over time. We feel it's really telling about how Cobra say they could go much lighter for the lattice network inside, they've just used this design (it's twice as heavy as it needs to be to support the face etc) as it gives a forged iron sound/feel. If you put a much lighter version into a set of game improver irons it would be possible to get a set of much more forgiving irons without going bigger. That's an idea that sounds very exciting for average club golfers.
Having played these now for about six months and several dozen rounds, the problem is that once or twice around you catch dynamite and these clubs go 10 or 20 yards long. That and they don’t have great stopping power on the greens. I’m entertaining re-shafting to see if that helps and going back to blades if not.
Can see this really kicking off manufacturers are running out of new feature to market this would give them years on year in year out innovation selling you the latest and greatest new tech.
Thanks for your input, Cobra are talking about needing to scale up production with more 3D printers if the idea takes off. Seems like there are some real world benefits.
As it becomes more mass-market prices will obviously come down. There’s no doubt this is a big moment in terms of technological advancement in irons (as was Bryson putting 3D printed irons in the bag for the US PGA). What is really exciting is the prospect of irons that are customised with specific weight distribution for people who slice, hook, have too steep an attack angle etc. And they will be able to work out algorithms for what amount of tungsten needs to goes where in the club for this. That will cost big bucks, but we’re talking genuine bespoke irons!! The next 5 years is going to be fun to see where this goes.
Great test as usual. Thnx guys.
Thanks for the feedback, appreciate you taking the time. 👍
Simon and Neil, thanks for the excellent review of Cobra's new 3D printed irons. In listening to your presentation I found myself wondering what Cobra's strategy is for these irons and why they only produced 500 sets. Are they waiting to see if there's sufficient demand at the $3K price point before scaling up production? Do 3D irons take considerably more time to manufacture? Are there more or less quality control issues w/ 3D? And where does Cobra see the 3D irons fitting in their existing lineup (between Forged Tec X and Forged Tec)? Sorry for all the questions -- I'm just really curious what the long term plan is. I'm guessing we'll see other manufacturers coming out w/ their own 3D irons fairly soon -- and at much lower price points. Thanks again for the great content.
Thanks Brian, like you we have a ton of questions around what the future could hold. This does appear to be really interesting tech.
Our gut feel is that this could just be a trial run, dipping their toe in the water to gauge reaction. If the feedback is positive there will need to be significant investment into the 3D printers that can create products in this way. When there is costs will fall, to what extent we don't yet know, but perhaps in a similar way to how the cost of a set of PXG's has dropped significantly over time.
We feel it's really telling about how Cobra say they could go much lighter for the lattice network inside, they've just used this design (it's twice as heavy as it needs to be to support the face etc) as it gives a forged iron sound/feel.
If you put a much lighter version into a set of game improver irons it would be possible to get a set of much more forgiving irons without going bigger. That's an idea that sounds very exciting for average club golfers.
Having played these now for about six months and several dozen rounds, the problem is that once or twice around you catch dynamite and these clubs go 10 or 20 yards long. That and they don’t have great stopping power on the greens. I’m entertaining re-shafting to see if that helps and going back to blades if not.
Can see this really kicking off manufacturers are running out of new feature to market this would give them years on year in year out innovation selling you the latest and greatest new tech.
Innovation will undoubtedly take over at some point but forged irons are the now…. I would be curious to see how good these bad boys perform though!
It's a really interesting concept for sure, just never going to be mass market at this price.
when you were comparing the other irons cobras, printed irons, it would've been interesting for you to compare each irons Dispersion
It’s hard to msss market when they take so long to make. But there is definitely a market. They sold out. I just got an email that more are available
Thanks for your input, Cobra are talking about needing to scale up production with more 3D printers if the idea takes off.
Seems like there are some real world benefits.
@@todaysgolfer I’m sure those printers cost a fortune