Cobra SZ 460 Driver Golf Club

Strengths: Great value, good distance, very forgiving. Cobra claims biggest sweet spot - I believe them!

Weaknesses: Nice sound off the face, but pretty loud. Who designs these headcovers?

Comments:
It's amazing to me that the price of a driver just continues to skyrocket, especially when you consider that you only use it 12-14 times in a round. For comparison, you'll use your PW as many times as your driver and your putter at least TWICE that for a typical round. My point? A disproportionate amount of attention is given to one club that isn't even the most used in your bag.

With that said, nothing sets the tone for a hole (or round for that matter) than a nice drive off the tee. So I consider a driver very important but I keep reminding myself to keep things in perspective.

As I was testing different drivers, it was a nice surprise to stumble upon one that does a lot for you for not a lot of dough (comparatively speaking). The Cobra SZ line is such a driver for me. I was looking at the Callaway FT-3 and found the Cobra SZ for half the price. The FT-3 is a very nice club but is it 2x better than the Cobra SZ? For me, it wasn't.

Look
A clean look at address with the Cobra logo as an alignment guide and two indents on the crown which I presume is further effort to lower the center of gravity of the head. The head is huge! The 460cc volume is the maximum allowable by the USGA. A complaint I have here is that the finish is very shiny (as it is with most drivers these days). While a shiny finish is attractive, it also reflects sunlight and can be a distraction.

The sound off the clubface is a sweet metallic ring - one of the nicest in my opinion. But it's loud so if you don't like that in your club, stay away from the Cobra SZ.

Craftsmanship appears to be first rate although I would fire the people who design their headcovers. Ugly, and hard to use.

Features
As with most drivers, there's a technology sell story that comes along with the SZ460. All the driver makers are trying to get weighting low and back to lower the clubhead's center of gravity (CG). The theory here is that a lower CG will promote an optimum launch angle and an optimum spin rate. Translation: easier for average Joes and Janes to get the ball flying off the clubface for greater overall distance (carry and roll total). Cobra has dual steel inserts placed low and in the back of the club's center of gravity to achieve this. This weight repositioning was made possible by the weight savings from using 6-4 Titanium on the face and body.

The head, as already mentioned earlier, is huge. It's the largest allowable USGA head size at 460cc to promote forgiveness and help with distance. I was thinking it would be very difficult to get such a large head to be square at impact but after a few practice swings, I was going straight with this club.

Performance
So what did this all mean to my golf game? If you play enough and practice the right things, a natural confidence flows through your every swing. No tension, just a smooth, easy swing. Of course, you have to have confidence not only on your mechanics but on your equipment as well. I've got a lot of confidence in the Cobra SZ 460. I won't hit it perfectly every time but an errant drive won't be because of this club.

The Bottom Line: Straight drives, very forgiving. Wonderful club is even better because it's a great value!