Gear: Cobra T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set
Price: $999.99 (4-hybrid, 5-iron through pitching wedge) with Cobra Ultralite graphite shafts and Lamkin Crossline grips
Specs: Hybrid and hollow-bodied irons are made with stainless steel bodies, faces and railed soles.
Available: Nov. 4
Who It’s For: Slower-swinging golfers who struggle to generate ball speed, distance and height off the tee on par 3s and from the fairway.
The Skinny: Combining hybrids (instead of long irons) with hollow-bodied irons, Cobra’s T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set is designed to increase ball speed and produce a higher flight, while their unique railed-sole design helps golfers overcome poor contact.
The Deep Dive: Elite golfers such as Lexi Thompson, Rickie Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau swing fast and make solid contact on their iron shots nearly every time, but golfers who are new to the game and players who struggle to generate clubhead speed make inconsistent contact with unpredictable results. While the pros are looking for equipment that will give them more control and let them curve the ball around the course, many players just want to hit it more solidly, see the ball pop high into the air and hopefully go a little farther.
The updated T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set was designed to do that, replacing hard-to-hit long irons with uniquely designed hybrids and combining them with irons designed like miniature hybrids.
The T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set comes standard with a 4-hybrid club instead of a long iron. (Cobra)
All the clubs in the set are hollow to allow the hitting area to flex more efficiently at impact. To maximize that trampoline effect, Cobra gave the T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set a redesigned, variable-thickness H.O.T Face insert. Designed with artificial intelligence, it has areas that are thicker in some spots and thinner in others, and Cobra said the result is a sweet spot that is 30 percent larger. That should lead to greater consistency for players who make inconsistent contact and mis-hit their iron shots.
While an internal rib structure enhances sound and feel, the Baffler Split Rail system on the bottom of each club helps players maintain speed through the hitting area. The rails are designed to act like skid plates, letting the clubs skim through the turf more easily, so if a player’s swing is steep and the club makes contact with the ground first instead of the ball, it is less likely to dig and result in a fat shot that doesn’t fly too far. The front portion of each rail is hollow, making the sole and the lower portion of the hitting area more flexible and resulting in a higher launch on low-struck shots.
The Cobra T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set’s irons are hollow-bodied mini hybrids that have railed soles. (Cobra)
The T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set is comprised of a 4-hybrid and hybrid irons as the 5-iron through pitching wedge, and a women’s version of the set is made up of two hybrids (4 and 5) and five irons (6-iron through pitching wedge). A gap wedge and sand wedge are also available for the standard and women’s sets.