While not quite as well known as its big brother in the Acushnet golf family, Cobra golf has a reputation for producing products so ridiculously popular with the golfers that use them, that one could almost call it the Cult of Cobra.

The conventional wisdom has been that the Titleist brand is designed for pros and other low handicap golfers - guys better than you, while the Cobra brand is more for the average golfer. To some extent that has certainly been true but, take a look at Cobra’s PGA roster (which includes Camilo Villegas, Ian Poulter, and now fan favorite, Jason Gore), and it’s clear; Cobra is making serious sticks for serious golfers.

In 2008, the big news from Cobra is the follow up to its HUGELY popular Baffler Hybrid. Check any golf forum, anywhere; you won’t find a more highly regarded, more frequently praised club. No doubt that demand for the the highly anticipated 2008 baffler will be high.

While no new fairway woods have been announced yet for 2008 (expect a matching set for the L4V driver series), Cobra’s 2008 lineup sill has a lot to get excited about.

Drivers

As they did last year with the Speed series, Cobra is once again releasing 3 versions of its L4V men’s driver. All 3 feature carbon composite construction on both the sole and crown. The now familiar bullet shape of last year’s model is also common to the L4V lineup. The appearance gives it the look of compromise between a conventionally shaped round driver, and the triangular shape of the Titleist 907D1. The crown of the L4V has a couple of indentions that look (to me anyway) like a large snake bite. My best guess is that Cobra removed material from the crown in order to reposition some of that discretionary weight lower in the clubhead.

For the faster swingers among us, the guys who generate enough ball speed to carry 265+, the L4V X is the club. Like all L4V drivers, it comes stock with a Mitsubishi Diamana RedBoard shaft. Even on the X model, the stock shaft weighs a relatively light 62 grams.

For most golfers, the L4V F will likely prove to be the right choice. With the F model, Cobra is targeting golfers with swings speeds from 87-108 MPH, or who carry the ball 220-275 yards. The L4V F also comes stock with the Diamana RedBoard shaft, however, at just under 58 grams it’s lighter than the X version. Cobra is claiming, as Nike did with the SUMO², that the L4V reaches the USGA limitations on MOI. This means the L4V F should be the most forgiving driver Cobra has ever produced.

For golfers with slower swing speeds (I won’t say how slow, we don’t want to embarrass anybody), Cobra offers the L4V M. What’s most significant about the M is that it’s the first Cobra driver with a draw bias built into the head. The other bit of noteworthiness about the M driver is it comes stock with what I’d call and ultra-ultra-lightweight RedBoard shaft.

The shaft on last year’s TaylorMade Burner was considered ultra-light at 55 grams. By way of comparison, the shaft on the new Cobra L4V M weighs in at an astoundingly light 52 grams. Even if your a huge hitter, the M might be worth a look, if for no other reason than to find out how much clubhead speed you can generate.

It’s a point I’ve made before; as club manufacturers reach the limits of COR and MOI they’re going to have to look elsewhere to find the added distance to differentiate their products from the pack. We’ve seen so far both Nike and Callaway are looking to the ball. I’m guessing that Cobra and other’s are attempting to find that same bit of oomf from the shaft.

I could go either way with a Cobra driver. My swing characteristics put me on the cusp between the X and the F models. I’m going to let foolish pride get in the way of forgiveness. Let’s bag the L4V X and move on.

Fairway Woods

As I’ve already said, there is nothing new yet. I’m expecting that in the very near future we’ll see a 3 pack to match the drivers.

Hybrids

While I’m a little more likely than the average golfer to get excited about things like interchangeable shafts, and new custom fitting systems, the new 2008 Baffler hybrid is enough to make just about any golfer excited, or at least twitch like he’s had too much caffeine.

The 2008 Baffler is available in men’s, women’s, senior, and Pro models. At the risk of offending some people, I’m not a senior, and I’m not a woman, so I won’t be covering either of those in detail. Granted, I’m also not a pro, but a man has to have his dreams, and I won’t let you take that from me. I won’t.

While you could almost argue that the previous Baffler was so good, and so popular that it didn’t really need an update, Cobra went ahead and updated it anyway. By the looks of things, they did one hell of a job.

The new Baffler features a new heal to toe weighting system which increases MOI and promotes forgiveness. Now I’m not about to get excited about MOI (don’t get me wrong, it’s a very good thing, but everyone is doing it, so it’s just not that exciting anymore), but what I will get excited about is the stock shaft on this bad boy. The 2008 comes stock, right from the factory, no custom ordering needed, with an Aldila VS Proto-HL 65 gram shaft. I’m seriously salivating right now. Would you look at that, I just drooled on my keyboard.

In addition to the MOI-increasing weight system, the new Baffler features a larger head, that sets up slightly closed at address. While the sole of this club looks a lot like the original baffler, a view from the top has me flashing back (fondly I might add) to the last time I stood over my Titleist 585H. The no frills black meets brushed nickel crown is simple, yet incredibly effective at helping to focus your attention on the ball.

The men’s Baffler is available in lofts of 16°, 18°, 20°, 23°, 26°, and 29°. That’s enough to replace everything from a 1-iron right down to a 6-iron.

Designed for the lower handicap player, 2008 Baffler Pro is vastly different from the standard men’s model. It features a smaller, more compact head, a longer hosel, and a “Tour Preferred Setup”, which basically means the club sets up neutral rather than closed.

The Baffler Pro also has a single weight port. Unlike the TaylorMade system, which is designed primarily to modify ball flight, the weight port in the Baffler is used to modify swing weight based on the shaft/head combination.

Speaking of shafts (more sweet segway action), the Baffler pro comes stock with an 85 gram Fujikura Speeder shaft, although the Dynamic Gold S300 steel shaft is also an option. The view from above shows the Baffler Pro looks even more like the 585H, showing almost no brushed nickel on the crown.

Even though I’m not the more accomplished player the Baffler Pro is designed for, I prefer a hybrid with a neutral setup (and before this year they weren’t easy to find), so I’ll forgo the forgiveness of the men’s standard model, and take my chances with the Pro.

If you need me I’ll be in the woods looking for my ball…

The Baffler Pro is available in lofts of 16°, 18°, 20°, and 23°.

Irons

While you can expect to see new version of the Cobra Pro MB (Project X shafts) and CB irons in stores in the very near future, I’ll forgo the discussion on those and concentrate on Cobra’s latest iron for the masses.

The brand new “Ultimate Forgiveness” iron or UFi as Cobra calls it, is the company’s latest foray into the ultra-game-improvement market.

The UFi features a “Metal Matrix” face with a polymer topline. The metal matrix face is actually a proprietary alloy composed of 9 different metals. The result is a material 65% lighter than steel, and 35% lighter than titanium.

What I’m most intrigued by is the UFi’s polymer topline. As we’ve learned over the last couple of years, the key to increasing the MOI (forgiveness) of a golf club is to remove as much discretionary weight as possible from the parts of the clubhead that matter less (the top), and move it to where it matters most (low and to the edges).

Cobra is the first company that I’m aware of that has actually replaced some of the metal along the topline with something else (in this case a durable plastic polymer). This allows Cobra to allocate more of that discretionary mass than ever before to the heel to toe Tungsten weights. By doing so, Cobra has created their highest MOI, most forgiving iron to date. It also happens to be the first truly innovative iron I’ve seen this year.

A set of Cobra UFi irons (4-GW) will run you $899 for Nippon NS900 steel shafts, or $999 for GraphiteDesign YS+55 or YS+65 graphite shafts.

Wedges
Cobra currently doesn’t offer wedges, and with Bob Vokey as part of your extended family, why would you?

Putters

Last year Cobra released it’s Optica SL line of putters. While I’m not one to provide in depth commentary on a product I’ve never used, I will say that the Optica design flies in the face of the Nike idea of eliminating distracting features. Instead, the Optica design features a series of green dots, which look a lot like runway lights.

There is some logic to it, I guess, in terms of lining up your putts, but from the look of it, I’m not sure if I should be striking a golf ball with it, or landing a plane on it.

No word on the roll, or feel, but from an aesthetic stand-point, the Optica series doesn’t do it for me.

Bags

There really isn’t anything in the Cobra bag lineup that truly stands out. That said, I like the look, if not the function, of the King Cobra 10″ staff bag. It features 7 pockets (2 of the for beverages), and 10″ with full-length, fleece lined dividers.

It’s the first really nice looking staff bag I’ve seen this year, so I’ll take it. Now I just need someone to carry it for me.

Without Fairway woods or wedges, it’s tough to get a read on the total cost of a Cobra bag, but let’s call it $1800-$2100 and be on our way.