Cobra Pro CB (short n long term) vs AP2 vs MP57

hi guys....this is ironhead, a new GR

I know this isn't a new product from Cobra but what the heck, this is what I use and I hereby offer you a non biased opinion of these irons.

4 weeks after laying my hands on a set of custom fitted pro MB and managed to play about 4-5 rounds, I got a chance to play with these and now has my approved seal.

''impressions

From a traditionalist view point, not as pretty as the Pro MB (still very attractive nevertheless and i am been nic-picking), these have a slightly thicker top line and sole but still have the same minimal offset to allow those to work the balls if desire. The Pro CB felt exactly the same as the Pro MB and sounded a bit more... i mean just a tad softer than J33 (i said sounded not felt softer). With the same shaft specs fitted, the ball trajectory was higher with the CB compared to those Pro MB/J33. i suspect this was due to the shorter hosel. Anyhow, I will grow to like it, just not on a windy day!!

Forgiveness with the CB was much improved to that of the MB as the manufacturer correctly claims, slight mis hits toward the heel did not seem to affect the distance. Where as a toe shot resulted in an apparent drop in the distance roughly by half a club length.

A bonus that came with the clubs was the shaft stickers that bear your name and the shaft specs (in case you inadvertently leave the club behind). I think Cobra only do these for the NS Pro shafts as they are sticker-less, cool huh? I have masked the name for my preferred anonymity.
Oh man, can't wait till the weekend to try out these baby..... ''



8 iron





6 iron





4 iron





Now, that was abt 5 months ago. Swapping the pro MB for Pro CB definitely was not a mistake. I did not sacrifice any feel or distance with Pro CB and they are no doubt play better than all my previous sets (Pro MB, Bridgestone J33, Srixon i201 but Ping i3 blade has come to a very close second place). On top of that, I can sleep better knowing that at times when my swing is having an off day or I am too tired to swing properly, this baby will look after me and nudge the ball back into the right path. The chrome still shines, not many dings on the leading edges/soles thankfully so in terms of QC and longevity, it stands shoulder to shoulder with all the top brands out there.

When I set out to buy a new set, Cobra was never on my list. My options were narrowed down to MP57 or AP2. Boy, am I glad that I gave Cobra the benefit of a doubt or what. Up until 2008, Cobra is synonymous with big ugly game improvement irons with very colourful paint fill's and buffers. It was the Pro MB with all the right design in the right places that caught my eyes and also the price tag!!! It was and is still considerably cheaper than others of similar design. The price tag was the one thing that managed to sway the pendulum and subsequently lightened my wallet. (also in return, I used the same excuse when my wife questioned the rational behind the new set the second I commented on her cooking )

Regrettably, there is a dark cloud looming in the air. I read reports that Cobra will not be extending their endorsement with all their current tour players and will play a lesser role as a club manufacturer for advance to mid handicap players. I find this to be a sad news, just as I think Cobra has finally headed at the right path. Like many business, they have to make appropriate business decision, afterall like Footjoy and Titliest, they all belong to parent company Acushnet. There is too much overlapping and you can not use your own brand to compete against your other brands.

so, while they are still around, go grab yourself a bargain. I promise you that you will not regret it.

hey bro...clap clap for that detail view of your cobra.....I believed we have a reply fm Cobra itself that the rumor of them withdrawing fm tour is unfounded....so rest easy.

This is one good iron!!! Got an offered way back but missed it cos my decision takes too long...

Great review. Thumbs up.

not sure abt review....

but saw the "print" on the club face.... good hit!!!!
very consistent n "central" right onto the sweet spot....

another high hand....

i have never written any review but this was an exception, they have performed more than what I asked from them and beyond.
as mentioned I also tried
MP57 - has lower trajectory wt same shaft specs and despite its renown forging, it felt 'dead'. and I am being very honest (though I am fully aware that I might be killed by the mizzies militants in GR after this)
AP2 - this felt softer than MP57 and on par with Pro CB, pretty forgiving too but the AP2 has a thicker top line that I didnt like plus the were a few hundred dollars more expensive. I had to ask myself if I was buying with my heart or my brain.

that was why I settled on the Pro MB initially, until I lent them to my friends. he liked the MB so much so that he bought them from me on the very same day. That was when I decided to try out the Pro CB and the rest as they said is history.

The bottom line is for those who is looking to buy a new set, I urge you to give Cobra a look. The same goes for the woods and drivers. Not very fond of the fashionable tweak-able set up that are in the markets nowadays. Experience tells me that once you tend to stay with a set up and not change it. Remember TM R7/R5. I swear I set mine to weak draw when new and I have never changed it since.

another secret, if u come across FP 2008 model, do not let go......., i believe they are selling close to nothing and these FPs are truly great clubs in my opinion. lastly, get them custom fitted.

Not really a review, just a feedback... I don't own one but I hit MT's iron when he brought it to the den for re-shafting (Eric's LSE fitter)... man, I swear if MT did not keep checking his bag, I would have brought some home. It looks thin from top (for a CB), it feels soft to hit, almost buttery and boy did it shoot like rocket. in my humble opinion I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. I may be Titleist fan but ... this sista is HOT HOT HOT...

Good writeup, Ironhead.

Just a few questions:
1. Is the pro cb cast iron or forged?
2. What's the loft on the 6 iron and pw?
3. What are your customizations on the club? Lie angle, loft, grip, grip size, etc.
4. Distance compared to your MB?
5. Could you reveal your handicap? Seems like you are a low handicap judging from the ball marks on the 8 iron.

rocky.. ironhead.. playing off +3 if I remember correctly
That means he needs to play 3 under for nett even par...

rocky,

some info from the intro topic by ironhead...






hi everyone.

i have played golf for almost 10yrs now albeit there was a cold spell of 2-3 years. Became serious again abt 2-3 years ago and now played off +3.

look forward to meeting new friends and sharing views.

Equipment
Bag = some crappy old Callaway stand bag, a Bridgestone cart bag a white Ping 10" Tour bag to keep my other junks.

In the bag =
Drivers
Callaway FT-3 Tour in Aldila NVS (S),
Cobra S9-1 F Speed in Aldila DVS (S)
Taylor made R7 in fujikura speeder 757(R)
Titleist 975D in 43" stock shaft (S)
Woods/Hybrid
Srixon 403 AD 3 woods (S),
Ping G10 3 and 5 woods (S)
Ping i3 5 wood (S)
Bridgestone J33 21 degree hybrid in Aldila (S),
Mizuno CLK Fli Hi 20 degree in Exsar HS2 (R)
Irons
Srixon i201 3-PW iron set in DGS300
Cobra Pro MB 4-PW irons in Nippon NS PRO 1050 in R flex SOLD,
Cobra Pro CB 4-PW irons in Nippon NS PRO 1030 in R flex
Bridgestone J33 combo 3-PW irons Dynamic Gold Superlite in S flex.
Wedges
Titliest Vokey Spin Milled wedges in 52, 56 and 60 degrees.
Cleveland 588 Tour Action 56 degree wedge,
Cleveland G14 58 degree wedge.
(All wedges in 8 degree bounce)
Putters
S-yard titanium mallet putter in graphite shaft,
Yes Marilyn putter and
Scotty Cameron Studio style Newport 2 putter.

Bold = currently playing

Ammunitions
Balls >
Any soft feel balls that were bought on sale.
Still have a couple of boxes of Titliest balata tht I played occasionally

the way I see golf can be summarised in 1 sentence

' G O L F is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated..... '

Shotah,

We are waiting for your review on the new AP2!!!!

ironhead, you very bad.... this review is rather tempting for a iron change.

it isnt a new product from cobra, but what the heck. LIke your review

rocky wrote:

Good writeup, Ironhead.

Just a few questions:
1. Is the pro cb cast iron or forged?
2. What's the loft on the 6 iron and pw?
3. What are your customizations on the club? Lie angle, loft, grip, grip size, etc.
4. Distance compared to your MB?
5. Could you reveal your handicap? Seems like you are a low handicap judging from the ball marks on the 8 iron.

1)forged
2)stronger ie 30 and 48 respectively.
3)0.5 inch longer, std grip size n loft, 1 degree flatter.
4)same with Pro MB, but noticed a tad farther than J33 (gained @ 5yrds after customisation)
5)+3, dun b misled by the ball marks.

WaLau wrote:

ironhead, you very bad.... this review is rather tempting for a iron change.

it isnt a new product from cobra, but what the heck. LIke your review

i won't change for the sake of changing, well... unless u hav too. otherwise, it can be quite straining on the pocket. If u do change, you must get them custom fitted regardless whatever playing standard u are at even when u r in the middle of taking lessons (albeit better wait a bit longer if u r changing yr swing thru taking lessons). It costs peanut to alter the spec if and when you become more establish in your better swing later instead of buying a whole new set.

Excellent reviews. I second your views on the FP's! Used it for 6 mths before changing clubs cos the old set was on graphite shafts,.

ironhead wrote:

i have never written any review but this was an exception, they have performed more than what I asked from them and beyond.
as mentioned I also tried
MP57 - has lower trajectory wt same shaft specs and despite its renown forging, it felt 'dead'. and I am being very honest (though I am fully aware that I might be killed by the mizzies militants in GR after this)
AP2 - this felt softer than MP57 and on par with Pro CB, pretty forgiving too but the AP2 has a thicker top line that I didnt like plus the were a few hundred dollars more expensive. I had to ask myself if I was buying with my heart or my brain.

that was why I settled on the Pro MB initially, until I lent them to my friends. he liked the MB so much so that he bought them from me on the very same day. That was when I decided to try out the Pro CB and the rest as they said is history.

The bottom line is for those who is looking to buy a new set, I urge you to give Cobra a look. The same goes for the woods and drivers. Not very fond of the fashionable tweak-able set up that are in the markets nowadays. Experience tells me that once you tend to stay with a set up and not change it. Remember TM R7/R5. I swear I set mine to weak draw when new and I have never changed it since.

another secret, if u come across FP 2008 model, do not let go......., i believe they are selling close to nothing and these FPs are truly great clubs in my opinion. lastly, get them custom fitted.

Good write-up! I'm on the Pro MBs myself (among other sets), but I have found that the S300s made them really unforgiving -- switching to a set of PX 5.0 non-flighted shafts did the trick and they were much easier to play after that.

Been looking at the ProCBs for some time now, and I think you can overcome the higher ball flight by tipping the shaft accordingly. Have a chat with DGman about this.

Hi Ironhead,

I am pleasantly surprised that you use "R" shaft for a +3 handicapper!
That means I got hope for better game! hahahah
May I know what is your distance for 7 iron and Driver?
I suspect you must have great tempo and "smash' ratio?

An R shaft doesn't mean anything -- what counts is that you find a shaft that suits your swing speed and tempo.

I think

it's rare to see +3 ( pro standard) using "R"....... so that means I got hope!hahahah

We all got hope!

I havent hear very often a good golfer that uses a "R" and more often than not an ave golfer, like me, that sticks adamantly to "S".. hmmmmm

JT your avatar is so distracting! can you get the full shot or not!!!!!!

Hi everyone, am new here and saw the review on the pro cb and since I'm gaming it for the past 6 months, thought I share my views on the iron too.

My set came with the stock project X 5.5 and standard loft. The head though smaller than most MB of other brands, is as forgiving if not better. It's so forgiving at time (when I'm swinging well) that sometime you feel it doesn't give you much feedback.

Length wise, I'm hitting about half to 1 club longer if I really go after the ball, when comparing to my previous set, the Taylormade RAC TP 05 with NS Pro regular. Loft wise the cobra is stronger by 1 degree and I'm not sure why there was such a big different in length. Perhaps it was the shaft as I do swing quite fast (but have tested swing speed) and the PX might have suited my swing better. Trajectory wise, Cobra has a lower ball flight which seems to have lower spin (compare to NS pro higher and spining more) and that might have contributed to the length too.

All in all, the cobra is long and forgiving but you do need a better than decent swing to milk the best out of the set as the PX shaft is quite stout. Compare to all my previous sets (TM supersteel with stock precision R shaft, TM RAC OS with precision R shaft, Callaway X-tour with R dynamic gold superlight, TM RAC TP 05) that I have played, this is by far the best set for me in all departments though I'm not sure it is becos I'm a better golfer now than before or that the cobra with the PX shaft suited me better than the rest.

Anyway, just to give all bros who are interested in the cobra cb a guide or comparision, I'm am a 6 handicaper who uses a 69 gram stiff matrix xcon 6 for my J36 driver averaging 240m and 7 iron is about 155m. Hope my feedback helps.

im owning a AP2 now i also tried the pro cb but nothing compare to my IKASU thats all i wanna say

JDM beats US?

TOTALLY AGREE!!!!!!!