Cobra F-Max Fairway Wood Review

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The Cobra F-Max fairway wood is a forgiving and draw-biased fairway wood geared toward players with moderate swing speeds.

Introduction

For the past few seasons, Cobra has featured a line for players with slower swing speeds that are seeking extreme forgiveness in their clubs.  In 2017, that is the F-Max lineup – super lightweight clubs designed to launch the ball easier and straighter.  Like the F-Max driver, we tested the F-Max fairway wood with three different golfers to get more accurate research for the target market.  This review will be based off of the experience from those players.

Looks

For such a forgiving club, the Cobra F-Max fairway wood has a surprisingly compact footprint.  The shape is on the rounder size with a shallow face depth that’s supposed to promote a higher launch.  At address, the F-Max fairway wood’s offset is certainly noticeable but isn’t awkward or offensive to look at.

Like the drivers, the F-Max fairway has a glossy black finish with gold accents giving it a rich and silky texture.  Across the back of the crowd is a slick little “stripe” that serves as an alignment aid.  This is designed to make lining up the face to your target an easier task.

Sound & Feel

A slower swing speed won’t produce the infamous driving range boom from a wood.  That said, golfers still want a reaffirming sound that leaves them feeling good about the shot they just hit.  The Cobra F-Max fairway has a quieter sound but still provides solid auditory shot feedback.  When you hit a good shot the sound is a quiet but firm “ping.”  With a fairly large sweet spot, the sound is maintained across much of the face.  Only when you hit the extreme toe or heel do you get a more solid rocky sound.

One of the most consistent pieces of feedback from all of our testers was how good the feel was in the F-Max fairway wood.  Every one of them explained that the face was solid and responsive but you could feel the ball really popping.  With every shot, they were confident in knowing where on the face they hit the ball and how well it was struck.

Performance

There are two main performance factors that Cobra promotes with the F-Max fairway wood – easy launch and straight flight.  After watching all the testers and reviewing their launch monitor data, getting the F-Max fairway wood in the air on a good trajectory was fairly easy.  With a smooth swing, the ball would set off on an elevating ride.

As nice as the easy launch was, the most notable performance characteristic was the draw bias.  The F-Max fairway wood has offset in the hosel and the same draw weighting used in the driver.  This setup certainly would make a huge difference for a fairway wood slicer.  All three testers were hitting pronounced power draws without even trying.  Even bad mishits were doing their best to turn back to the left.  If you’re a slicer the F-Max’s draw bias will be great, but if you’re a straight or draw hitter, you should test to make sure it’s the shot you’re looking for.

Conclusion

If you’re a player looking for a lighter club to generate more speed and help getting the ball in the air, the Cobra F-Max fairway wood is for you.  In a corner of the market that’s largely neglected, Cobra has succeeded in creating quality clubs to make the game easier.

All of our testers claimed the F-Max fairway wood was one of the easiest fairway woods they’ve ever hit.  It was apparent to me that the F-Max was extremely forgiving and lived up to its billing following these trials.

Buy Cobra F-Max Fairway Woods HERE

Cobra F-Max Fairway Wood Price & Specs

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Bill Bush

Co-Founder
Bill is a true golf gear nerd by definition who loves making custom club creations in his garage with tools like sledge hammers, blow torches, and his bare hands. By day, Bill is a technology manager living in the Chicago suburbs with his wife and kids. Bill plays Scott Readman Concepts putters and accessories.

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3 Comments

  1. Tom Maciel
    February 25, 2019 at 6:13 pm  ·  Reply

    The F-Max 3 Fairway Wood is awesome! The most forgiving fairway club I have ever hit. The feel is smooth & solid… let’s you know, immediately, that you have hit it well.

  2. Stan Stanhope
    April 19, 2020 at 6:55 am  ·  Reply

    I can hit this 3-wood and feel confident pulling it from my bag for those shots from the fairway. Had to buy the 5 and 7 woods after playing a few rounds with the 3. I’m 65 and the swing is slowing and the joints are tightening, but I can play with these clubs. Thanks, Cobra.

  3. Mike
    May 8, 2020 at 10:38 pm  ·  Reply

    One word; “incredible”! The Cobra F Max offset superlite 5 wood is just that. Fairway slices, no more. I’m having fun playing golf now.

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