50 Words or Less
The Cobra Fly-Z+ fairway wood is a moderate update to last year’s impressive BiO CELL+ fairway woods with some improved performance.
Introduction
Looking back at my fairway wood reviews on this website, there’s a common theme of me looking for the optimal fairway wood for my game (or in some cases, lack there of). Last year, the Cobra BiO CELL+ fairway wood was a winner and actually stayed in my bag all year long which was a great relief to me. Based on my success last year with the BiO CELL+, I was really looking forward to putting the new Cobra Fly-Z+ fairway wood to the test this season to see if Cobra’s latest “player’s” fairway wood was any good and if Cobra was able to improve on their previous design.
Looks
The Cobra Fly-Z+ fairway wood should appeal to BiO CELL+ fans like myself. Generally speaking, the appearance of the club did not change too much. The shape is still a smaller pear shape with a smaller to medium face. With Cobra’s SmartPad, the Fly-Z+ sets up well at address and looks great behind the ball. The crown is still available in a variety of colors – white, black, orange, red, blue, and green – with minimal extra graphics or print. In the Fly-Z+ fariway wood, I would say Cobra has simplified the look at address. We only photographed the white crown, but the flake/sparkle in the plain white crown really popped in the sun and gave quite a bit of character you wouldn’t expect out of a simple white paint scheme. The most noticeable cosmetic difference is the gold weight located closer to the face on the sole of the club.
Sound & Feel
Cobra has introduced the new Speed Channel in the face of their woods for 2015 and this really has an impact on the sound and feel of the club in the Fly-Z+ fairway wood. The Speed Channel is designed to minimize the face thickness to increase ball speeds, but this is obviously going to change how the club sounds and feels quite a bit. To Cobra’s credit, they managed to make this change and maintain a muted thwack which is fairly consistent on mishits. Again, I would say the sound is very comparable to the BiO CELL+ fairway woods.
In regards to feel, it does feel like the ball jumps off the face a little bit more. I wouldn’t tell you the feel is forgiving all over the face, but the Fly-Z+ does have incredible responsiveness and provides excellent feedback on all shots.
Performance
The big theme in Cobra’s equipment this year seems to be sole weights and center of gravity placement. In the Fly-Z+ fairway wood, Cobra has added a weight close to the face in the sole of the club to move the CG forward. This is done to create a lower, more penetrating flight with more roll. The flight was definitely a mid-level penetrating flight, and my spin was a touch lower than I saw out of the BiO CELL+ so the results were as advertised if you ask me. I was getting decent carry with just under 20 yards of roll which I’m more than fine with in a fairway wood, especially if I can control it. The Speed Channel face is designed to increase ball speed and I did have a few shots that I was able to poke out there a little bit extra so maybe it made a little bit of a difference. As mentioned before, the Fly-Z+ certainly did feel like the ball jumped off the face a little more than the BiO CELL+ fairway wood.
Conclusion
The crown jewel of Cobra’s 2015 lineup is without question the Fly-Z+ driver, but the Cobra Fly-Z+ fairway wood is a nice compliment to the bigger club. As other companies have started to make CG adjustable in their fairway woods, I’m hopeful that Cobra will do the same in their next generation of fairway woods. It has made a world of difference in their Fly-Z+ driver, and the Fly-Z+ fairway wood is already a strong golf club that could be a giant killer with “Flipzone” weighting technology.
Watch the Video
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FlyZ+ FW LM Data
Bill plays Scott Readman Concepts putters and accessories.
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