Monday, February 13, 2012

First Impression Review: Cobra AMP Iron Set

Having played this past season with Mizuno MP53 irons, I thought that going back to a cast cavity-back iron would be unbearable. But boy was I wrong.

Cobra seems to be putting all their eggs in one basket by marketing clubs around Rickie Fowler. But it is working. The AMP irons are no exception. With the loud orange cavity insert and the flashy orange grip, this club looks more like decoration than a players club. Except when you lay it down at address you would never know it. The club looks so clean at address, and the top line is excellent for a cavity-back. And the offset is not bad either. The face looks great and the shape is awesome for a CB.

Having never played a Cobra club, the iron came as a surprise. It is loooonng. I hit it back to back with an MP53, and the cobra 7 iron was 20-25 yards longer. Now the lofts are stronger in the AMP, I know, but still, the 7 iron was amazing. And the feel was about as good as you would get for a cast CB. The stock shaft in these clubs is the True Temper Dynamic Gold Superlight, which actually plays really well. These irons, I think, are gonna change the dynamic over at Puma Cobra and make them a player in the club market for many years to come. Now the AMP Forged irons need to hurry and come out! And they better send the AMP RF Prototypes to retail.

Grade: A-

18 comments:

  1. I play the Taylormade MC's, and love them. But I was at a golf shop the other day and decided I wanted to try hitting all the new irons to see how they felt. The Cobra Amp was by far my favorite. It kinda reminded me of the R9 TP from a couple years ago, the way it looks at adress, the top line, and it does not have much offset at all. I was 20 yards longer with the iron, and I loved the feel of it as well. The grips have a different, and better feel to them. It feels like they but a strip of something thinker that runs up the underneath side. I don't know how to explain it, but I absolutley loved it. I am trying to figure out how I can get this done in my irons now. probably just put a thicker line of tape running up the underneath side. There were a couple other guys there hitting as well, along with shops employee's, and they all loved the feel of the grips as well. If you are going to buy a CB iron, this is the one I recommend. I'm considering switching to it just to pick up the extra yards. Also, in the past when testing irons I always found the Burner 2.0 to be the longest, but did not like the amount of offset on it. I play a draw and it can easily turn into a hook, and I don't like an offset at all. I also don't like how long they make the shafts in the burner line, and the shafts were too light. But, I was exactly the same length as the Burner 2.0 with this club, and the shafts were a little shorter than the 2.0, and they were light, but in my opinion not too light... I surprisingly really loved this iron, and they need to sell the grips seperately, because they'd be the only ones I'd buy for my irons from now on if they did.

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  2. They were definitely pretty nice for a cast club. I am waiting until the AMP Forged come out, now those look real nice.

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  3. Thanks for your comments. I'm looking to change clubs after about 7 yrs. The AMP is on the top of my list, but I've not found too many good user reviews. My hc is 14, and I'm looking for GI irons. I don't have an opportunity to test them because I live in Asia and have ordered them from the US. What is your opinion on the stock Dynalite 90 steel shafts? I've ordered regular flex (which is what I play with now - irons with NS.Pro 950GH steel shafts). Is it hard to keep your shots straight, if you have a slightly faster than average swing speed?

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    1. Hey man,

      I tested the irons at the shop with the regular flex Dynalite 90s. I was fitted into X100s but usually prefer to play S300s. Even with my faster swing speed, these were able to stay straight. The shafts are light, but not too light. I am used to heavier iron shafts but if you play the NS Pros, I think the weight will be perfect. With a 14 HDCP, these should be real nice for you. Not too bad offset, some workability, but also enough forgiveness for a mid handicap to play very well with. Overall, I think they are a very nice set and can be had at a pretty nice price. Now, the PING I20s are a lot better for CBs than these, and the stock CFS shaft in the I20s are real nice. But if you need more forgiveness these should work out for you. The only complaint I have is the look with all of the orange on it, but that is pretty easy to get over.

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    2. Thanks for that! Ok, I feel a little better now ordering the AMP's! I think I can get over the orange, and I saw some pictures and the heads don't seem too clunky to me, unlike 'super' GI clubs. I was mostly worried about how the shaft would play, but if you're playing S300's normally, and are able to keep it straight then that gives me confidence! I was in fact thinking about getting the i20's, but preferred the AMP's stronger lofts, plus it seemed you had to be a better player to handle the Ping's. Anyway, getting the irons on Friday so this weekend is going to be interesting!

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    3. Good Luck! And make sure to post back and let me know how they work!

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  4. Got the AMP's and took them out for a spin yesterday. First, the looks. My previous set was a forged Nike ProCombo OS, with the NS.Pro 950GH regular steel shafts, and the heads of these are largish. In comparison, I noticed that the AMP irons, from the G-8i were the same size, but were slightly larger through the 7i-4i. Not off-putting, especially since at address, the AMP's looked good. Not too much off-set, a nice top-line, same as the Nike's, pleasing to the eye. The AMP's are a little wider at the sole but becomes thinner as you go up the irons. The 4, 5 and 6i are the same as the Nike's. Since there's been talk about it, I must say the orange cavity back insert does not look bad at all, and I'm a bit finicky! The grips are initially distracting, but at address you forget about them fast. And the grips are GOOD! I've never tried a Lamkin before, but they feel so snug when you hold them, and this adds to the feeling that the club is an extension of the arms.

    Now performance. I'll be honest, "blown away" would be exaggerated, but the AMP's are definitely good! I used to pull my shorter irons and fade my longer irons with the Nike's. With the AMP's, I'm hitting the short irons straight (G-7i), push-fading the longer irons, and all shots are high launching. An improvement for me, which meant yesterday I found a few more greens than I usually do in a round, and played 2 strokes less than usual. A good start! Part of the reason was that it was tempting to just power through the ball, which caused a few mis-hits, but once I slowed it down, the shots were sweet! I am definitely hitting longer now by about 9-12 yds, and what I particularly liked was that I toed a few shots but they still went straight with only a small loss in distance. Center hit shots felt awesome. The AMP's play well from most lies, although I did have some difficulty playing out of the rough. Will revisit this problem in the next round.

    I do have one complaint and that is the performance of the Gap wedge around the greens. Just not feelin' it! I'm a decent wedge player and my goto wedge is a forged Srixon WG-504 with 52* loft. I couldn't get the hang of the G wedge, and kept topping it for chip and pitch shots. Maybe I need more practice since its new, but already thinking of getting a forged P-wedge with weak loft if it doesn't work out. All in all, I give the AMP's a thumbs up!

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  5. Hey, That's awesome. If you would like to write a full review after a few rounds let me know. I will post the full review to this blog then!

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  6. Tested these against TM RBZ, WS Ci11, Callaway RZRX,. No contest. The AMP Cobras were consistently straighter and a full club length longer. Every shot felt clean and the club feels sweet in the hand. I ordered a set on the spot and can't wait to hit the course.

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    1. Hey Ross, thanks for the quick review. I would love to hear more when you get the chance to hit the clubs on course!

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    2. I traded Taylor 2.0 irons with graphite shafts for my graphite amp irons and have been playing them for 3 months now. They are the best irons I have ever used and I've played most major brands over my 50 plus years of golf. They make a 72 year old feel like a kid again. In fact I also put the driver 3 wood and 2 hybrids in my bag.

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    3. That's awesome! I'm sure with your 50+ years of golf experience a club has to perform very well to get into your bag! Glad you like them

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  7. I hit t6he AMP irons at a demo day 2 weeks ago. I am not a good golfer but after a few hits, these clubs made me feel like I could do no wrong. I tried the steel and graphite shafts and I was really impressed with both. My preference is the graphite due to a 2 year fight vs golfers elbow. They seemed effortless and no pain during impact. I'm sold!

    Ben

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    1. Sweet deal! Hopefully they work out for you.

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  8. I just bought the AMPs irons with the stock R flex steel shafts.
    I've been playing for 8 years with the Callaway's Big Bretha 2004. Since then I've improved to a 17 hcp.
    I wanted to move out from the "super" game improvement clubs, but I don't think I'm ready for a set of blades. From all the clubs I tried (callaway Rzr X black, Taylormade Rbz, Ping G20) most of them were either too clunky or to thin from the sole. The AMPs, I think, are right in the middle between both worlds.
    I tried the 4i and the 7i, in both of them I hit 10-15 yds longer than with my Big Bertha's but this could be because of the stronger loft. The biggest difference against my BB's is in the long irons which at address do not look like a cavity back. However, I all hits were straight and the distance was there.
    About the shaft, I tried both the Stiff and the Regular flex. My swing speed averaged 84mph, which is in the overlap between suggesting one or the other (according to the custom fitter R flex is suggested upto speeds of 85mph and S flex is suggested in speeds of minimum 80mph). I went with the R Flex because we're not getting any younger and my speed will surely slow down with time. AS the custom fitter said: "We're not getting any younger!".
    I will try them in a 9 hole round today, let's see how it goes.

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  9. I know this is late I have been hitting cobraim3100ih irons for a while now and am a high jc of 20 will these clubs improve my game i love love the cobras what doto you thinkcl

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  10. Cobra is definitely on its way up! I cannot wait for the release of the AMP Cell irons this season!

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