Cobra Aerojet Fairway Review | Cobra Aerojet fairway

Tom Irwin tested all of Cobra’s 2023 fairways, the Aerojet is the centre piece of a range also featuring a max forgiveness and low spin iteration, read the reviews here…

How does Aerojet is the centre piece of the Cobra 2023 Fairway wood range? We tested it alongside the Max and LS iterations, so how did it stack up

Cobra Aerojet fairway wood review: NCG Summary

NCG SUMMARY

All of the fairways in the Cobra Aerojet range are great looking, and as you would expect, the Aerojet itself is no exception.

The view from the top is classic and curvy. While the LS and Max take the low spin, and high launch characteristics to extremes, the centrepiece of the range is undoubtedly the best balanced.

PROS

Exceptionally good looking
Low spinning
Very forgiving

CONS

Still with the fat grips…

First Impressions of the Cobra Aerojet Fairway Wood 2023

The Cobra Aerojet fairway woods match up with the drivers, so as you would expect there are three models in the range. The Aerojet is the base product that sits alongside the super fast Cobra Aerojet LS fairway wood and the super forgiving Cobra Aerojet Max fairway wood. Cobra says the LS is low spinning, as well as being fast and forgiving, which sounds, you know, quite good.

All of the clubs in the Aerojet range look outstanding. Red, white and blue is the colourway but is only visible on the sole, which you never actually see. The crown and the view from above are incredibly classic. I love this. I think it is analogous to an Aston Martin, super fast under the hood and all old-school charm up top.

Across the Cobra Aerojet Fairway range the key tech is the Pwr Bridge which offers a higher MOI and lower, more forward, CG. The difference between the three models is essentially the weight and positioning of the bar. This brings down spin and increases ball speed.

All also feature a patented HOT face which is designed to maintain ball speeds from strikes anywhere on the face. I have to say this was noticeable across all three, supported by the data, I was able to achieve really consistent ball speeds almost regardless of strike.

The looks do let you know about the tech, the speckled crown speaks to the carbon construction and Pwrr Bridge is annotated on to the typically jazzy sole.

NCG Review

I think this tech achieves what it sets out to do. There are marked performance differences across the range from Max via this base product to LS, but the ball speeds throughout are tremendous. The hottest iteration is certainly the LS, but for me, there were some compromises in launch and workability. The Max is definitely easy to launch but retains thorough ball speeds. The Aerojet is a good compromise but leans more towards the LS as it produces a really powerful flight from the standard 15-degree head.

You need to know that I had torn my calf on the morning between testing the Max & LS and this Aerojet, so my club head speed is somewhat compromised. Despite this the ball speeds were still acceptable and super consistent. I was able to get quite an agreeable rising ball flight, that was launching reasonably low and, if anything falling off left to right. I would expect this from my path numbers. The Aerojet felt like a proper golf club, not tricked up to achieve extreme results.

I keep coming back to those looks, I mean, how classic do you want to be? The alignment is so pure you can just see the grooves and are able to match them up with the simple Cobra symbol on the crown.

The Cobra Aerojet fairway wood is in the middle of the range in terms of head size and depth. At 29mm though the head is still pretty deep for me. I am looking for a 3 wood that is primarily a 2nd shot club, rather than for use off the tee. This means I tend to err towards low profile heads as standard. The Cobra Aerojet feels more suited to tee shots, the face depth and the strong ball flight all speak to that. I would be recommending this to someone comfortable with 3 wood off the tee and recommending they gap it with another lofted fairway or hybrid for higher flying 2nd shots.

I guess a concern with this club, for me, would be that ability to use it off the deck. I only carry one fairway metal, and I specifically looking for something high flying, and soft landing. Instinctively I would reach for driver or long iron if I wanted to see a lower ball flight. A powerful 3-wood is something I would need set up correctly, and it maybe that in the Cobra I would go for the maximum loft the adjustability affords or even a 5-wood head in a 3-wood shaft. As ever it comes down to personal preference and a good fitting.

On Course

I went out on to the course at Royal Obidos and hit some shots with this 3-wood from 3 different tees, a fade, a draw and a high downwind hole. It really is super powerful on all the tee shots I tested it on it was one of the longest on test, and you can work it both ways. It is a really powerful, compelling choice as a driving club.

It feels really versatile, able to pick up of downhill and tight lies but also a club that you can dial up and open your shoulders with when required. I feel like you could step on it and get more out of it if the situation required it.

As with the Max, I would game this club, just because they performance from the tee box and the looks are so good. To do so though I would either tweak the set up to add loft or take out my longest iron and add in a very lofted fairway to retain that versatility at the top of the bag.

Testing Protocol

To test this product we travelled to West Cliffs a leading European golf course just North of Lisbon. The idea was to get some warmer weather and escape our frozen British courses. It of course rained, a lot, was very windy. Each of our test team were allocated a category of golf clubs, fairways, or a specific type of driver or iron.

We gathered data on a Trackman 4 or FlightScope. We used Titleist Pro V1 for all tests. Our samples are either fully fitted for our testers or ordered in our assumed specs. We can then optimise performance by swapping shafts and playing with the adjustability.

As well as that dry testing all of the product was tested on course in a comparative environment with other product from the same category. We recognise that no testing process is perfect and just aim to be fair in our treatment, transparent in our process and candid in our feedback.

Cobra Aerojet Fairway Wood review: The Details

Available: 3rd February

RRP: £269

Right-handed lofts: 15° 3, 18° 5, 21° 7

Shafts: Kai’Li Blue 60 R & S or UST Helium Nanocore 5F2

More information: Cobra website

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