Equipment
Bryson testing prototype Cobra RadSpeed driver at Augusta National
The ever-testing, ever-questing Bryson DeChambeau is bringing his tireless pursuit of the perfect driver to Augusta National as he prepares for the 2021 Masters Tournament with a prototype Cobra RadSpeed driver in the bag.
With the rumblings of a new driver being put into play echoing among the Georga Pines, and a new driver head spotted on the USGA conforming list, we reached out to Cobra to get the inside information on the new driver being put into play by Bryson.
Here’s what Cobra Tour Manager Ben Schomin and VP of R&D Tom Olsavsky had to say.
GolfWRX: There is lots of talk about a new RadSpeed driver head being put into play this week by Bryson. What can you tell us about the new head that has been specifically tweaked for his high speeds?
Tom Olsavsky: The big thing here is speed and Bryson has a lot of it. To help build a driver specifically tuned for his dynamics, we removed the adjustable weights to save mass from the housings and have focused on internal changes to help him reduce miss-hit variance.
The other thing we did was increase the face thickness of his drivers to prolong durability. Bryson hits a lot of golf balls and with the amount that he hits both in standard practice and his speed training sessions, we wanted to help eliminate any durability concerns. We also suggest that he rotates the heads during sessions—and the adjustability in the hosel makes that easier to do.
Now speaking of the face, we specifically removed the Infinity Face on this new head, because it allows us to change the face radii easier and reduce the toe radius to help with his toe misses.
GolfWRX: Bryson really is unique as far as players you work with, isn’t he?
Ben Schomin: Bryson hitting a 5-degree driver at 200+ mph ball speed certainly presents some different ball/club dynamics than we typically design for, so we’ve had to rethink some of our approaches. This head is our latest iteration to find something that works best for Bryson at extremely high speeds.
Tom Olsavsky: It’s basic physics: higher speed off-center hits result in greater variability due to the greater forces involved. Much of what we are seeing as far as misses are concerned seems to be due to club/ball friction at the interface between the two surfaces, which is very close to some instabilities in the contact physics. We are doing everything we can from an engineering perspective to keep the ball online more often.
To see what others are saying about Bryson new driver, check out the GolfWRX forums to join the discussion: Bryson testing prototype driver at Augusta
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.
Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.
Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX
7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX
Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.
@Lamosteve began:
Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine
Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6
Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
- JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
- jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”
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Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament. Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
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dat
Apr 7, 2021 at 4:36 pm
Can’t wait for him to drive it 11000 yards!
Owgc
Apr 6, 2021 at 10:07 pm
No body noticing the acne on his face. It’s all over
Jbone
Apr 7, 2021 at 1:11 am
Spit it out.
Chuck
Apr 6, 2021 at 9:56 am
I’m starting to love Bryson. He’s clarifying the argument on why the USGA and R&A need to act on equipment regulations like never before.
“Sorry, Mr. Ross” should go down in history as the moment that golf’s ruling bodies were officially put on notice, more than a decade after they admitted that they were on notice.
Bagger
Apr 8, 2021 at 9:12 pm
I disagree…
Should the USGA outlaw nutrition and training? The only thing that has changed in the last 20 years is training, launch monitors and agronomy.
CoR/CT have been in place for nearly 20 years, ball speed has been limited too… athletes change. Should the NBA raise the hoop to 10 ft? Should the football field be lengthened?
Daniel Whitehurst
Apr 6, 2021 at 5:28 am
In short, they built a long drive head. It’s probably the same head Kyle Berkshire is hitting since he moved on over to Cobra from Callaway to join his buddy Bryson. Callaway pretty much had the same club in his hands and has mad them for years. XR ‘16 LD 5, Epic Flash LD 5, and this year an Epic Speed LD 5. They come with a special adjustable sleeve that has a special -2/-1/+1 deg loft option instead of the normal -1/+1+2 sleeve
Adrian
Apr 8, 2021 at 1:36 am
I have the XR 16 LD and noticed that it is much more durable than standard retail drivers and I have been hitting mine for 5 years now with caving in the face. I hear that the face is thicker and there may be some validity to that as any wood that I hit for that long of a period of time will fail. Cobra will definitely be putting out some quality woods if they are to stand up to the beating that Bryson and Berkshire will put on them.