50 Words or Less
Designed to optimize performance, the Cobra SPEEDZONE fairway is strong in the looks department, too. Adjustability and premium shaft options are also plusses.
Introduction
As an engineer, I appreciate the straightforward name Cobra chose for its family of clubs. I envision a room full of marketing and sales folks inventing words when the lone tech person suggests combining their obsession with speed and their focus on performance zones, and voila – SPEEDZONE was born. My naming tale may stem from my enjoyment of Dilbert, but the story can’t be far off.
Looks
At address, the SPEEDZONE fairway bears strong family resemblance to its big brother drivers [reviews HERE]. In the matte black/white configuration, the crown has a clean look that allowed my eyes to focus on the distinctive crowned C for ball alignment. For golfers who prefer a bolder color scheme, the SPEEDZONE is also available in yellow with a lustrous clear coat finish over the carbon fiber on the crown.
Flipping the club over, there’s a lot going on with the sole of the SPEEDZONE fairway. Even so, the rails, weight pod and badging harmonize well. To my eyes, this is the best looking fairway face out there.
Sound & Feel
Almost boastful, the solid sounding crack at impact was very satisfying. Contact anywhere within the large milled circle on the face provided a very consistent sound and feel. Strikes on the deep milled horizontal lines were a bit dampened to both my ears and hands.
Performance
In the stock configuration, the SPEEDZONE fairway set up slightly closed, and the low hooks I was producing were not conducive to a fair performance evaluation. I elicited the help of master fitter Jay at my local Club Champion, and we experimented with the 8 position adjustability of the hosel and settled in on a +1.5 setting. Although adding loft also closed the face more, the setup allowed me to produce a mid-high ball trajectory and controllable draw.
Comparing my numbers above with those I achieved with the F9 Speedback I was amazed to find clubhead speed, ball speed, and carry distance to be identical. The lower spin of the SPEEDZONE gave me an extra 5 yards of rollout – a welcome addition for those tempting and taunting par 5s.
As mentioned in the intro, Cobra highlights their performance attributes by zones, of which the SPEEDZONE fairway has four. More than just good looking, the CNC milled face is the Power Zone, precision milled to the USGA limit for coefficient of restitution. The carbon fiber crown constitutes the Light Zone, the design of which enabled 10 grams of weight savings to be moved into the sole for a lower center of gravity. The new split rails make up both the Flex Zone and Stability Zone. As many PIG writers have attested over the year, Baffler Rails truly help glide the club head through grass and along bare ground. New for 2020, hollow rails have been split for flexibility to maximize launch and ball speed.
Conclusion
Cobra packed a lot of performance features into the KING SPEEDZONE fairway, and I found they all translated to strong performance and playability. The fairway wood also comes standard with Cobra Connect making data collection simple via Arcoss Caddie [full review HERE]. And if you prefer a more compact or larger profile, Cobra also offers the SPEEDZONE Tour and SPEEDZONE Big Tour fairways.
Cobra KING SPEEDZONE Fairway Price & Specs
Matt Meeker
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Thanks for providing a review with data that we slower swing speed readers can relate to. This one will be checked out.
Awesome Reviews Matt, how does this compare to the F9 Speedback ?
They are somewhat similar Edward as you might expect for a single year update. I like the look and feel of the SZ over the F9, but really fought with the slightly closed stock setup.
– Meeks
With the Cobra connect system, if I replace the grip, will I still have the option available ?
Yes – you’ll just need to replace the grip with another Cobra Connect grip. The sensor from the old grip gets re-installed in the new grip.
– Meeks
What, if I wanted I wanted an aftermarket jumbo or midsize grip? Would that still work?
For non Cobra grips, ARCCOS offers a few models of Golf Pride and Lamkin grips in standard and midsize. They also offer screw in sensors than can be attached to any grip.
– Meeks
Perfect, thank you for taking the time to reply. Keeping up the good reviews and stay safe and healthy during these time .
I am 81 yrs old and have been playing golf for over 60+yrs in the day I had a3 wood persimmon the i could regularly hit 220plus mtrs off the Tee or fairway it was made by PGF Australia why do you need all these balance weights and lofts make me wonder whether the players are swinging the clubs or the manufacturer are swinging the players