Cobra KING Tour Irons – Key Takeaways
- Cobra’s new KING Tour irons are the first Cobra irons made from Metal Injection Molding (MIM).
- Cobra says the process creates an iron that feels softer than premium forgings.
- KING Tour is a player’s cavity-back iron set with what can be considered “traditional” lofts.
Golf innovation goes by many names. The new Cobra KING Tour irons won’t give you anything fancy-sounding like Thru Slot Speed Pockets or Super Metal L-Face Inserts. But then again, Cobra isn’t promising explosive distance, either.
And when you’re the kid brother in Golf’s Big Five, innovation wears different clothes, too. With the Cobra KING Tour irons, innovation wears work clothes – specifically, a factory worker’s clothes. The innovation is more in how the KING Tours are made, which Cobra says impacts how they perform.
The new Cobra KING irons aren’t forged nor are they cast. In fact, they are Cobra’s first full iron set manufactured using Metal Injection Molding – or MIM – technology.
So when it comes to innovation, MIM’s the word.
The MIM King
Cobra may be the baby of the Big Five family but it takes a backseat to no one when it comes to manufacturing innovation. Whether it’s Metal Injection Molding or 3D Metal Jet printing, Cobra seems intent on reinventing golf club manufacturing. Cobra broke new ground early last year with its KING MIM wedges. But a full set of MIM’d irons? That, dear reader, requires a deeper dive.
What is MIM and why should you care when it comes to your golf clubs?
MIM has its roots in the 1950s as a way to mold ceramics. But it was commercialized in the 1970s by Ray Wiech, the founder of Parmatech. Wiech ultimately patented his process and by the 1980s, MIM was in widespread use in manufacturing. Traditionally, MIM has been used to create small parts for various industrial and commercial applications, including medical and dental equipment, firearms and automotive and aerospace applications. If you’re wearing glasses while reading this on a laptop, chances are the hinges on both were made by MIM.
The MIM industry has grown from around $9 million in the mid-’80s to roughly $2 billion today.
The Parmatech angle is relevant here, as Cobra and Parmatech have already worked together on the KING MIM wedges. The two companies are also collaborating on Cobra’s soon to be released – but as yet unspecified – golf club actually mass-produced using 3D Metal Jet Printing.
MIMming the KING
So, how do you MIM irons? First, you start with a very fine (10-20 microns) 304 stainless steel powder and mix it with a polymer binder. This forms a paste known in the MIM biz as “feedstock.” The feedstock is then heated and injected into a mold to create the rough iron head part.
The raw head is heated again to melt out most of the polymer, leaving only the metal. This is called the “green” part and is still roughly 20 percent larger than the finished product. Finally, the heads go through a high-temperature furnace to remove any remaining binders and fuse the powder particles together. This step is called sintering and heats the metal back up to just below the melting point at 1,340 C° (2,444 F°), which is actually higher than what’s used in traditional forging. This creates a material density of up to 98 percent and shrinks the head to its finished size.
That high density is key when it comes to feel. Any potential voids in the stainless-steel grains are literally cooked out. What’s left is similar in concept to Mizuno’s Grain Flow Forged HD 1025E steel used in the MP-20 irons.
The MIM process is also consistent and repeatable. It creates dimensional tolerance controls difficult to duplicate with traditional manufacturing techniques.
Why Does This Matter?
What does this mean for the Cobra KING Tour irons?
Well, according to Cobra, there’s buddah soft and then there’s MIM soft.
“These irons are softer than any forged offerings on the market,” says Cobra R&D VP Tom Olsavsky. “While soft feel and consistency are important in the short-game, optimizing these attributes throughout an entire iron set will give golfers better performance across a wider range of shot selections.”
The new Cobra KING Tour irons aren’t a one-string MIM banjo, either. The KING Tour is a player’s cavity-back iron, so there are other features better players might find useful.
First is a chunk of tungsten in the toe to reposition each iron’s center of gravity closer to the center of the club, a.k.a. the “hitting zone” (Cobra’s words, not mine). There’s also a TPU (thermoplastic urethane) insert behind the hitting zone to help dampen vibrations and further soften the feel.
And there’s the now-standard COBRA CONNECT with Arccos sensors built into the grips of each club. You get a 90-day free trial of Arccos Caddie when you buy a set of Cobra KING Tour irons.
Specs, Price and Availability
We have yet to try to new KING TOUR irons. But based on how often the word soft was used in the press release, you should be able to use these as a pillow as well as a pin-seeker.
We’ll let you know.
The lofts of the KING TOUR are borderline traditional, whatever that means. There’s a 27-degree 5-iron, a 34-degree 7-iron, and a 46-degree pitching wedge. The standard set is 4-PW, with an optional 3-iron and gap wedge available via custom order.
The KBS $-Taper 120 is the stock, as is the Lamkin Crossline Connect grip in black. A wide selection of shaft and grip options are available through Cobra’s custom department.
Members of the Left-Handed Brigade of Torch and Pitchfork Nation may light your torches and sharpen your pitchforks. The KING TOUR is available in right-handed models only.
KING TOUR irons will be available starting Oct. 30 at retail and on Cobra’s website. The stock set will set for $1,299.
For more info, visit cobragolf.com
David Burgess
1 month agoI like how Cobra have positioned themselves in the market. Their technology is cool and soothes the nerds and geeks out there and their looks are just quirky enough to be appealing to a large swath of people but also still holding on to the individualism of golfers. It’s like they took a guy from the 80’s who’s really big into technology and loves to talk about it and asked him how he would design and build a golf club. Then, he pulls the aviator shades down to the end of his nose, rolls up his sleeves from his linen suit jacket, brushes his hair behind his ears, fires up his CD player and gets to work. Or….(insert 90’s style here). Regardless of what they do, they have fun with it and make it edgy without putting themselves too far out there.
Mark M
1 month agoI currently play the Cobra Tour One irons and was really looking forward to this release. Got a sneek peak from a Cobra rep last Feb at a golf expo – before COVID hit the fan.
IMO they look great and I’m pretty confident they will have good feel because I have a Cobra MIM wedge which does feel excellent. So WTH is up with those offsets?!?!? My Forged Tour 7 iron is 1.3°, how and WHY do you almost double that (2.5° per Cobra website) when you’re placing these clubs in the player/performance category. Makes no sense whatsoever
Marty
1 month agoHi, what is with the lofts and offsets, on the cobra website it is totally different?????
Marty
1 month agoJust watched 2 reviews for these clubs on Youtube, both said the same thing. They’re harsh feeling which explains the addition of the polymer. Cross these off the list.
Mike B
1 month agoThese look like a replacement for the Cobra Forged Tour irons, which had barely changed other than badging, since the late 2012 release of the Amp Forged irons that I’ve been using for the last few years.
I think I’ll stick with my amped forged irons, even though I don’t really care for the color orange.
Ian
1 month agoWhich reviews said they were harsh? I watched two reviews and said they felt and sounded amazing.
Rob
1 month agoRick Sheils dumped on them for being hard feeling but his channel has turned into click bait garbage anyway so I don’t really value his opinion much anymore. He’d rather test infomercial clubs for views than to do serious review anymore.
gabagool
1 month agoShiels is an awful club reviewer.
Mark M
1 month agoCrossfield said they’re as soft feeling as any irons he’s played
sam
1 month agoIve heard that they are a great club for distance shots , shape shots and they are targeted to the low to min HC the only thing it misses out on if feel, but may be it will be the new feel. Time will tell. Not a good looker for me however., too busy.
Christopher
1 month agoThe lofts in the chart aren’t the same as the ones listed on the Cobra site. Cobra’s specs are slightly stronger.
Joe Golfer
1 month agoGood catch. One degree stronger on the website.
And the offset is different as well.
That said, I would guess that the chart listed here is one sent by Cobra to MGS, but then perhaps Cobra changed the specs later.
Mike
1 month agoSome will not agree with this question, but it would be good to know what handicap range these are targeted toward.
For instance the TM P770’s per TM are designed for the 5 and under handicap player. Same here?
dr. bloor
1 month agoComment from Cobra rep on That Other Golf Site said they see them for the pro to single-digit player.
Scott
1 month agoIf the T100 and the Apex had a baby it would look just like this. I do like the look of it though. I’ve been interested in these irons ever since they mysteriously showed up in the GD Hot List and nowhere else.
Rick
1 month agointeresting development. How is metal injection molded any different than cast? People complain about MIM parts from the firearm industry vs machined. Will be interesting to see if it catches on in golf.
Mike Tipton
1 month agoI’ve been using Cobra clubs for the past 15 years, and overall all there clubs are very good. .But I would like to see them make a COMPLETE set of Hybrids. I use a partial set of Cobra Max hybrids (4 – 7), and they are the best clubs that I have used to date. But I have had to fill out the set (8 – SW) with some clubs with a similar design. You should test complete hybrid club sets.
Chris Morgan
1 month agoCobra t-rails?
mizuno29
1 month agoT rail last I checked where all hybrid clubs
Tider992010
1 month agoLove the look. Wish I could play! Maybe the normal irons will look like this!
Mike
1 month agoAny news if the MIM will move down to non-players irons for the rest of us?
John Westall-Eyre
1 month agoThese look amazing. The description is music to my ears and I’ll be trying them as soon as possible. They aren’t as sassy looking as the p770 but hopefully perform better!
TXGOLFJUNKIE
1 month agoTorches lit. Cobra treats lefties with generally the same options as right handers but this… This hurts. Here’s this new tech that’s butter soft… Oh but lefties will only be able to dream about it. Cool cool cool.
JK
1 month agoYeah I saw that as well. I was thinking how nice these would be & then I see No lefty. Cobra usually does a pretty decent job in their left hand offerings so I’m somewhat surprised by this omission Hopefully it’s misinformation.. It did take them til the 3rd generation of their utility iron to make them in left hand though.
kristazio
1 month agoAmen brother!
B.Boston
1 month agoHopefully for you lefties its just a lag in production and next year they will have a model for you guys too. We all know it’s not cheap to get those molds and manufacturing set up. I’m sure Cobra will come through for you guys!
Martin W
1 month agoThey will come in left hand in March, it’s just for the launch they are right hand only.
Rob
1 month ago“There’s also a TPU (thermoplastic urethane) insert behind the hitting zone to help dampen vibrations and further soften the feel.”
If they are that soft, why do you even need a urethane insert to help dampen vibrations?
Can this new metal be bent like a forged club or is it brittle?
Marty
1 month agoSame question, can they be bent? 2 degrees up is my specification. These look fantastic, but if they’re too brittle, it’s a non-starter.
Jasper
1 month agoLie angle can be bent 2 degrees either way. Loft 1 strong or 1 weak.
Andrew
1 month agoBend-ability has little to do with forging vs casting. It has to do with the metal type. You could forge a stainless club from 431 stainless and cast a club from 1020 carbon. The cast club would be easier to bend because the metal it’s made from is less brittle. Since 301 stainless is a very soft metal, I would guess you would have no issues bending these.
Ken Venezio
1 month agoIf they are that soft, will they “wear” faster than tradition forged irons?
Andrew
1 month agoSoftness in feel has almost nothing to do with softness in metal. The “feel” of an iron is almost entirely the sound of it and the vibrations transmitted to you through the shaft and grip. Since sound is really just vibration, “feel” is vibration. The way a club vibrates through impact has to do with the the geometry of the club, followed by the density of the club, followed by the alignment of the metal molecules, followed by the type of metal used.
Forging seeks to eliminate and small empty spots in the club and improve the density by repeatedly pounding and compressing the metal. You could forge a very brittle metal (431 stainless for instance) and it would feel softer than a cast 1020 carbon club of the same geometry. The 431 would be harder to bend and wear less.