COBRA Golf, a leader in golf club innovation and 3D printing technology, introduces the new LIMIT3D irons, the world’s first set of commercially available 3D printed steel irons. After becoming the first golf company to introduce a 3D printed steel putter in 2020 and then following it up with a full line of KING 3D printed multi-material putters in 2021, engineers at COBRA set out to be the first to apply the new technology to iron design.
COBRA partnered with nTop, a leader in computational design software whose namesake product helps companies create better-performing, state-of-the-art designs that leverage the benefits of additive manufacturing. Leveraging their partnership with nTop, COBRA embarked on an ambitious goal to create a compact player’s blade profile that offers a similar level of forgiveness as an oversized, game-improvement club with the feel of a forged iron. The LIMIT3D irons are the product of these innovative advancements and are an industry first in performance and manufacturing.
“COBRA is always looking for meaningful ways to use new technology to create superior products and performance,” said Mike Yagley, Vice President of Innovation & AI, COBRA Golf.“ nTop’s computational design tools integrated with 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, allowed us to create an incredible new design that looks and feels like a forged blade but performs like a larger, game-improvement iron. No one has done this before, and we’re excited to introduce these unique irons to the world.”
Traditionally, to design an iron with more forgiveness meant sacrificing the look and feel of the iron by making it larger in profile. COBRA’s mission was to design an iron that had the shape and feel of a compact blade desired by better players, with the forgiveness that the aspirational player needs. Before now, an iron like this has never existed or been achievable due to design and manufacturing constraints with traditional methods like casting and forging. Designed using nTop’s software and manufactured with 3D printing technology, COBRA’S LIMIT3D 3D printed irons feature a compact shape (slightly smaller in size than the Cobra KING Tour iron).
The fully 3D printed 316L stainless steel body features an innovative internal lattice structure that allows 33% of the overall clubhead weight to be repositioned without sacrificing strength. This unique design, which is only possible using 3D printing, allows for up to 100g of tungsten to be placed in the heel and toe areas of the clubhead, creating a low CG and an exceptionally high moment of inertia (MOI) relative to the shape and size of the club. The result is a compact blade shape with a low CG location, high forgiveness, and distance comparable to that of a player’s distance or game improvement model like COBRA’s KING TEC or TEC-X irons.
An additional benefit of nTop’s design software coupled with the use of additive manufacturing is the speed at which COBRA engineers were able to create and test prototypes. nTop’s software capabilities allowed COBRA to automate the design exploration process and make iterations two times faster to speed up the development process significantly. The faster process also allowed COBRA’s R&D team to test a variety of lattice designs to optimize internal mass distribution and acoustics, resulting in a final product that exceeded expectations in looks, performance, and soft feel to appeal to the most discerning players.
“Our new Limited-Edition 3D Printed irons represent COBRA’s dedication to pushing performance and technology to the limits,” said Jose Miraflor, Vice President of Product Architecture, COBRA Golf. “These incredible new irons are the most significant technological advancement to happen to the category in the past 20 years and offer a look into the future of golf club design and performance.”
ON COURSE FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
So of course I had to take the LIMIT3D immediately to Manakiki and I can sum up the experience by saying these potentially create an entirely new category of irons. LIMIT3D are legitimately something like Players Game Improvement irons.
They have the look and feel of blades (even smaller and softer feeling than KING Tour as you can see in the comparison pics). But LIMIT3D also have the forgiveness (possibly more) and distance of a Players Distance iron like Forged Tec. I didn't bring my Forged Tec out for first testing, but can say absolutely that LIMIT3D are longer than KING Tour.
Two things stood out most for me about LIMIT3D. The first was quite remarkable. Center strikes and mishits low and out towards toe with LIMIT3D have almost identical height, distance, and stopping power. Seriously, nearly identical. Shot after shot after shot (from the fairway and rough) the forgiveness of LIMIT3D is undeniable. Cobra promised game-improvement forgiveness in a smaller head and they completely delivered here. It's really kind of crazy.
Second, in addition to the soft feel, LIMIT3D also has a strong, solid feel. And this was surprising given that most GI irons feel hollow or light. I know some people will try to tell you feel doesn't matter but I completely disagree. We all want that strong, soft feeling of forged blades. The problem is those kinds of irons are usually too difficult to hit or hit well consistently. LIMIT3D absolutely shine in how easy they are to hit and again, how remarkably consistent they are between center strikes and mishits.
Working the ball isn't a big part of my game but I did play around a bit seeing if I could flight the ball higher and lower and it's as easy as putting your ball forward or back in your stance and having at it. I do think KING Tour launch the ball a little higher on center strikes than LIMIT3D (surprising with all the tungsten low in the LIMIT3D). But on mishits (especially low) LIMIT3D launch is much more consistent and similar to center strikes than KING Tour, and you're getting a high launch, with penetrating trajectory, and tons of stopping power that better players demand.
The small variation in trajectory (on quality strikes) between these two irons is almost unimportant in the sense that first, it's so negligible; and second, LIMIT3D has enormous forgiveness and consistency of forgiveness that KING Tour can't replicate. And while I don't want to jump to conclusions after just 9 holes with LIMIT3D, everything in my body is telling me I like these more than my KING Tour (and you already know how much I love these).
There are only 500 sets available worldwide of the new LIMIT3D 3D printed irons (350 in US and Canada). Each of the first run 500 sets are marked with 1/500 which truly make them the “first” of their kind. Beginning on June 7th, these ultra-premium limited-edition irons will be available for custom order only in the US and Canada.
MSRP will be $3,000 for 4-PW set
configurations in RH only with a wide selection of aftermarket steel and
graphite shafts, and grips. For more
information, visit www.cobragolf.com.
These look and sound amazing! Low and toe strikes nearly identical in all aspects to center strikes is absolutely mind blowing and something my game could certainly benefit from since those are my normal misses.
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