Cobra King TEC irons

Gear: Cobra King TEC irons
Price: $1,299 (4−PW) with KBS-Taper Lite steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline grips
Specs: Hollow-body design with forged 1025 carbon steel body, internal tungsten weight, and urethane microspheres
Available: Nov. 8

Who it’s for: Golfers with a handicap between five and 15 who want an iron that looks like a better-player’s distance club and has a soft feel, but also enhances distance and forgiveness.

What you should know: The King TEC is a hollow-body, better-player’s distance iron designed to look and feel like a blade but deliver more distance and forgiveness for players.

The deep dive: Better-player distance irons have been one of the hottest categories in golf equipment because there is a growing number of players who want a compact blade length and clean looks but are open to hidden distance-enhancing technologies. With the updates made to the King TEC, Cobra is keeping one of its most popular irons squarely in that mix.

The King TEC features a hollow-body construction with a chassis made from forged 1025 carbon steel. The forging process involves five presses or strikes, which enhances the grain flow of the red-hot metal as the irons are formed, resulting in a better feel.

The PWRShell face wraps under the leading edge to extend the sweet spot down. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Once again, Cobra has designed the King TEC irons with a variable-thickness face the company calls HOT Face. In addition to being thicker in the center and thinner around the perimeter, the face plate itself is shaped like an L and wraps under the leading edge and into the sole. The edges in the toe and at the top also cup around the side of the head. The result is the sweet spot is enlarged, especially lower in the hitting area, and more of the hitting area can flex efficiently at the moment of impact for greater ball speed and distance.

The previous King TEC irons were made with a 15-gram weight inside the hollow chamber, but the 2025 version now features an internal 20-gram tungsten weight in the 4-7 irons. The tungsten drives the center of gravity (CG) location lower and encourages a higher launch angle in the long and mid-irons. The 8-iron through gap wedge do not contain tungsten, which allows the CG location to elevate. In scoring clubs, that’s good because 8-irons, 9-irons, and wedges have enough loft to get the ball in the air easily. Many players prefer to flight their scoring clubs down and keep the trajectory low for better distance control.

The Cobra King TEC irons have a relatively-thin topline and modest offset. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

To enhance the sound and feel, Cobra has added urethane microspheres inside the King TEC irons that soak up vibration. The material, which is filled with millions of tiny glass bubbles, is softer than the foam that had previously been used in the King TEC, so the new clubs should feel softer while also providing more ball speed.

The lofts of the King TEC irons are modern, with the 5-iron at 26 degrees and the pitching wedge at 44 degrees. In addition to the standard 4-iron through pitching wedge, there is a 3-iron (19 degrees) and a gap wedge (49 degrees) also available.

Below are several close-up images of the Cobra King TEC irons: