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Pros-
A “tour” club in the hands of the retail market. Cobra has delivered what we’ve been wanting. Tour proven design, using cavity backs in the long irons and muscle back’s in the short irons that flow together perfectly. Soft 1025 Carbon Steel in a beautifully forged head that will be whistling balls towards the green in effortless fashion.

Cons-
Traditional blade players may not be pleased with the generous sole on the muscle backs and may look for something thinner.

Bottom Line-
A combo set that flows so well together. Soft carbon steel that reminds me of the JDM clubs I usually prefer. I was a little worried about the Cobra brand when Puma purchased it but if the S3 Pro Irons are what we can expect in the future from them, look out!

Review—-

Cobra S3 Pro Irons
1025 Carbon Steel
3-6 irons- Cavity Back
7-PW-Muscle Back
Shafts- True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 +.5”
Grips-White GP Decade
Ball used during rounds tested- Srixon Z Star and Callaway Tour i(s)

Looks- The King Cobra has evolved. The satin finish of the new Cobra S3 Pro irons is very pleasing to the eye. Simple S3 Pro stamped in the middle of the muscle and the time tested and recognizable Cobra name and logo on the toe all finished with black paint fill. These heads have a simple, yet classy and clean appearance unlike many of the gaudy colors and badges that most other clubs are now coming out with. I’m pretty old and have been playing golf for over 37 years now. Although I’m all for high tech and innovation, nothing pleases me more then something that brings me back to when golf clubs were a whole lot simpler.

CB’s- Perimeter weighted cavity back, weighted towards the sole. Cavity not overly large or deep yet enough to provides a mental bit of confidence towards forgiveness.

MB- Clean lines with two pockets to the left/right of the sweet spot. The pockets transferring weight outwards and towards the sole, adding a touch of forgiveness yet still keeping the solid feel behind the sweet spot.

The overall head shapes are done very well. The high semi-pointed toe reminds me of my old Gauge Japan blades.

Performance/playability- A combo set that actually works. Now that’s a nice surprise. I’ve made my own combo sets with two or three different heads and have always been able to look down and know immediately which head I was using. If not, after a shot or two with each one, I’d probably be able to tell even if the backs were taped up! Maybe I wasn’t too good making my combo set but then again, maybe the sets weren’t designed to do a combo as much as I thought they were.

The S3 Pro MB/CB's using a design the hearkens the past King Cobra Pro MB/CB, but evolved with softer lines, mild shifts in weight in the mb/cb and of course that satin finish feel good together. Like chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream…this combo set performs well together.

Mild Cavity backs from 3-6 iron with limited offset, modest toplines and soles perform well from various types of lies. Unlike cb’s with deeper cavities, workability is easily conducted yet enough forgiveness is built in to allow the occasional miss hit.

Musclebacks from 7-PW, the scoring clubs. Again limited offset, modest toplines and slightly thinner soles then the cb’s. Easily workable up/down and side to side. Pockets seem to provide a softer feel on miss hits allowing you to skip the usual sting you would expect.

Feel- Made of 1025 carbon steel this forging really surprised me. I have played numerous forgings from the known Japan forging houses and these worked very comparable to them. The sound at impact was noticeable from my first shot with them. I haven’t played a Cobra iron in probably over eight years. Where I expected a similar sound as those or perhaps a Titleist click, these gave a nice lower pitched whoosh to them. I at first considered it was just because I had struck the ball solidly. After playing a couple rounds and range sessions, unfortunately it wasn’t all me!

The first round I compared the feel with Bridgestone J38’s cb’s and Tourstage 701’s. The sound was lower then the Bridgestone’s and comparable with the Tourstage irons. My playing partner marveled at the sound saying they didn’t sound like the usual American club. Gone was the click of past sets. Gone was the harsh feeling that I’d expect from a US OEM. These S3 Pro’s felt super! I can’t even begin to tell you how surprised I was with them. They truly were the opposite of what I had imagined they would feel like. The softness made the ball feel as if it was stuck to the face just a second longer than you’d expect.

I don't know how Cobra forged the 1025 Carbon but whatever process they used, they got it right.

Overall bottom line- Cobra is in good hands with Puma. Sure this design may have originated while Cobra was with Acushnet but the team moved over and grew. More minds working together to get what we golfers want. The looks, the feel, the flow of combo irons that the Pro’s play.

For the lower handicap golfer who’s looking for the forgiveness of a cavity back and the ability to work the ball with the scoring clubs, look no further. The Cobra S3 Pro irons have made me proud to now have a US branded club back in my bag.

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