Cobra Golf has some serious heat with the new 2020 SpeedZone drivers.

Cobra Golf had a banner year in 2019, and now for 2020, the R&D team is again pushing the boundaries of manufacturing technology to maximize speed and forgiveness with the Cobra King SpeedZone and SpeedZone Xtreme drivers.

It was just over a year ago that Cobra Golf introduced the F9 SpeedBack driver, and it quickly became a contender for Best Driver of 2019—it was twice in the top 5 on the GolfWRX Best drivers of 2019 list. The SpeedBack was a low spin, fast golf club with great acoustics and a sleek profile.

So how did Cobra Golf engineers improve on a driver that had few flaws? In the age of high science golf club manufacturing where the majority of the differences between the OEMs from a performance standpoint has become a granular conversation, Cobra decided to subtly fine-tune what it did in 2019, and in that effort, hopefully, attract the players who weren’t 100 percent sold on F9.

Cobra, like most OEMs, relies on professional tours to help develop new products, and with the help of Rickie, Bryson, Lexi, and now Jason Dufner, Cobra is offering yet again a club that not only pleases the masses but also satisfies those playing at the highest level.

“Tour feedback is very relevant as we use our tour staff to help us design the products. We work w Rick, Bryson and Lexi on multiple occasions during the design and development process to help us create the best product, both for tour players and golfers in the market.” – Tom “T.O” Olsavsky, Head of R&D Cobra Golf

• Cobra SpeedZone driver, SpeedZone Xtreme driver (in-hand photos)

Let’s Get Into The Zones

The hot topic around the F9 SpeedBack was a very low CG, high MOI, and a precision milled face. All three have become the foundation of Cobra metal woods across the board. For 2020, Cobra Golf has done something completely unique to the market with the SpeedZone and Speed Zone Xtreme drivers.

The Zones tackle all the hotbeds of driver performance speed, stability, weight, CG, and overall performance.

1. POWER ZONE: (highlighted by the CNC Infinity Milled Face). Cobra has used CNC milling in its woods for a few years now and with great success. But what’s the step up from that? How do you build more consistency into a face that is already basically flaw proof? Well, you expand the milling even more—95 percent more. With the milling crawling all the way over the topline, the SpeedZone can now offer even more consistency across the face and ensure that each face is exactly the same. Quality control is taken a step further with 100 percent of the heads inspected.

“Infinity face is continuing our leadership in CNC milling by having more control over the structure of the face and the front of the head. So the benefits are more precise control of the face and head geometries.” – Tom “T.O” Olsavsky, Head of R&D Cobra Golf

2. STRENGTH ZONE: The 2020 Cobra Speedzone Drivers are all equipped with a Titanium T-Bar Speed Chassis that allows R&D to remove weight from the crown (25 grams total) and utilize it in the hot spots of the golf club (i.e. the perimeter and discretionary placements). The goal here is an even lower CG and higher MOI. Simple enough.

3. LOW CG ZONE: A really low and dead-center CG is what, in my opinion, made the F9 a winner. In the SpeedZone, Cobra went even further. 69 grams of mass (an increase for 40 grams in F9) have been strategically placed around the head to fine-tune launch conditions for any type of player.

4. AERO ZONE: This is the airflow portion of this machine. In the rear end of the crown, you will find what appears to be an exhaust area. This addition limits air drag, which in turn means increased clubhead speed.

LOOKS

The F9 not only looked fast but from a topline perspective sat as square as any head on the market. The only knock I ever had with it was optically it looked like a club that would be a challenge to turn over, it was almost too square if that’s possible. Although it’s a personal thing, I did hear that critique from better players over the past year. The Speed Zone has addressed that with the incorporation of the Infinity Face.

Having the milling bleed into the topline, it gives the appearance (at least for me) that there is a little curvature in the face which inspires a full release with little doubt that the toe will rollover. The paint schemes are carried over from F9 with a very noticeable black head, yellow detailing, and red racing touches. The SpeedZone is also available in a black/white finish.

• Cobra SpeedZone driver, SpeedZone Xtreme driver (in-hand photos)

It has an overall modern yet classic shape with plenty of bulge and roll in the face and a slightly open appearance at address. Definitely has the look of a “players driver.”

I believe that players who weren’t 100 percent sold off of the buzz of the F9 will find that the SpeedZone will be a hard one to pass over for the 2020 season if looks are what you seek.

FEEL/SOUND

I mentioned this numerous times over the past season: The F9 felt and sounded like a hammer. It had a classic thump in the acoustics and with the weight, placement has that heavy head feel that I love. The 2020 SpeedZone Driver is no different. In my opinion, the drivers are apples to apples in this category. This is always the biggest concern I have when new models are released. Yes, the tech is new, but is the impact experience altered at all? In this case, no. If you liked the F9’s sound and feel at impact, you will get more of the same in the SpeedZone. That’s a big win these days.

SPEEDZONE XTREME

This was perhaps the biggest surprise coming out of this release for CPG. The 2020 Cobra Speed Zone Xtreme is a blast to hit. For players looking for a stable, fast, forgiving and overall good time, this is your stick. Even myself, who always sprints towards the more “player” driven clubhead, I found the Extreme to be hard to pass up. It’s just so much fun.

“The EXTREME is expected to be very successful and will be terrific for many players out there in the market. Golfers are looking for distance and forgiveness/accuracy and want both in their driver. The EXTREME is our most forgiving driver ever and also provides great distance. The benefits of a larger address sized head are that the CG is further back, and this helps many golfers to square the face at impact while creating high launch but low spin trajectories which are benchmarks for distance.” – Tom “T.O” Olsavsky, Head of R&D Cobra Golf

TECH

The 2020 Cobra Speed Zone Xtreme carries with it a slightly larger profile that allows more weight around the perimeter and a 17-gram weight that is placed behind the exhaust in the rear of the clubhead. Additional weighting and in contrast to its sibling, The Xtreme has only one visible weight placed at the back end of the sole creating the highest MOI Cobra has ever had and a high launch/low spin profile for the player.

Keep in mind, the Xtreme will satisfy all level of golfers—don’t be surprised if Bryson and Dufner have this in play in 2020.

LOOKS

Although the Xtreme has a larger playing profile than the SpeedZone, it’s not drastically different. Optically, it’s a bit of a longer profile face-to-back, and the top-to-bottom look is a bit shallower. Other than that, both drivers live in a similar “looks” sandbox and as a testament to all OEMs these days; the “player” drivers and “playable” drivers seem to ask less from players from a sacrifice point of view.

FEEL/SOUND

No surprise here: the 2020 Cobra Speed Zone Xtreme driver feels and sounds amazing. If anything, there is a slightly less heavy head sound/feel, but it’s minuscule and only gear fanatics like myself will even notice.

THE TAKEAWAY

Winner on all fronts, Cobra had a rockstar driver in 2019 and got five percent better in 2020. Five percent better these days is a big deal. Simple as that. If you were on the fence with the F9, the slight tweaks to this year’s offering should kick you off the edge.

SPECS (Provided by Cobra Golf)

Both the 9 and 10.5-degree driver are available in a Tour Length offering, featuring a shorter shaft length (44.50”) and a six gram and 18-gram weight in the front and back to dial in swing weight. Inspired by Rickie Fowler’s 43.50” driver.

King SpeedZone Xtreme driver specifications for both men and women

All lofts in the Xtreme model are available in a Tour Length configuration in the 44.50” length with a 14 g weight in the back to dial in swing weight.  Each driver is available in the golfer’s choice of Gloss Black/Yellow or Matte Black/White head colors (Women’s is available in Gloss Black/Rose Gold) and comes equipped with a Lamkin Crossline (58+) Connect – Black grip and 4 premium aftermarket shaft options: a high-launch/mid-spin UST Helium (4 F2– A-Flex or 5 F3– Regular Flex); a mid-launch/mid spin Tensei CK AV Blue 65 (Stiff and Regular); a mid-launch/low spin Project X HZRDUS Smoke Yellow 60 (X-Stiff and Stiff); or the low launch/low spin Aldila Rogue Silver 60 (X-Stiff, Stiff). In addition, 20-plus no-charge premium shaft upgrades are available through custom. 

All SpeedZone products are available at retail and online, January 17, 2020.

• Cobra SpeedZone driver, SpeedZone Xtreme driver (in-hand photos)