I first showed off my new Puma Union Camo polo during the Masters Tournament a few weeks ago. Thus, the Masters color scheme. What an exciting Masters too. Tiger Woods showed the world he could win another major championship when many had written him off.
With FATHER’S DAY coming up this week I thought I’d post this review because this polo would make a fantastic gift for dad. I’ve put mine through the paces and it’s still super comfortable. Let’s take a look.
Union Camo Polo Features
- Made from 83% polyester, 13% cotton, 4% elastane
- Colors include Juniper green (pictured) and Iron Gate (gray)
- Lightweight and soft
- Provides moisture wicking to keep the wearer dry
- Helps you look as good as Rickie Fowler
The Experience
I can’t stress how soft and comfortable this polo is. It is so smooth. The flexible fabric makes the polo move with my body and never binds or pulls, or feels too tight anywhere. After two months of use my Camo is still as vibrant as when I got it. Since the polo is mostly not cotton, it hasn’t shrunk.
The non-cotton fabrics also help in terms of managing wrinkles. I take it out of the dryer and hang it up and I’m good to go next time. No ironing needed.
Final Thoughts
On or off the golf course the Puma Golf Union Camo is a fantastic choice. Dad would love to have one for Father’s Day. I need to get my offspring to get me the gray one. Pardon me…. “Iron Gate.”
Editor’s Note: This is a thrill for me. I’ve managed to get my 81 year old dad to write his first real blog post, an in-depth review of the Cobra Golf F-Max Complete Set! The complete set includes irons, hybrids, woods, a driver, a sand wedge, a putter, and a full-feature cart bag. The F-Max series is designed for golfers with slower swing speeds ike seniors or lady golfers.
Pops was a sports writer and editor at the Salt Lake Tribune for years and I’m thrilled to to have gotten his hands on this great gear from Cobra. I’m pleased that the F-Max Complete Set has added some spark to his golf game, which has been a struggle in recent years.
Cobra Golf F-Max Complete Golf Set Review
By Mike Korologos
Salt Lake City
After admiring in awe the beauty of my first complete set of golf gear since I can’t remember when, I took a few practice swings with Cobra’s sparkling F-MAX 7-iron to get the feel for its weight and flex. My initial ball contact found it sailing about as straight and as long as any I’d hit a 7-iron in a long, long time.
“I didn’t feel a thing,” I marveled in joy to son, Tony, who was at the next hitting bay on the driving range at Salt Lake City’s Hidden Valley Country Club.
“That’s a good sign,” he offered.
After a few more similar results with the other irons and the bulbous driver, I knew that I was about regenerate my enthusiasm for the game after seeing it dwindle all season-long due to the obvious decline in distance I have been experiencing in recent seasons.
Cobra F-Max Superlight Driver
After admiring the almost straight-back tee “skid marks” on the soles of the woods, I realized even though I’m not a swing analyst, that these clubs’ lighter weight, flexible graphite shafts, and offset face were helping me make straight-away contact with the ball.
With all that techno-wizardry affording me a faster swing speed through the ball, guess what … the ball has a higher trajectory and lots more forward roll once on the ground, not the roll-limiting spin as was the case with fades and pushed shots.
Thus, more distance with the same swing. Hurray!
But before I let my enthusiasm sound like Cobra’s F-MAX clubs are the Fountain of Youth or the panacea for old golfers (OK, senior golfers), it becomes obvious rather quickly that they are not magic wands.
They will not help me hit the ball as far as the young-guns or like I did as a single-digit handicapper in days of yore.
I still have to put a decent swing to them.
That stark reminder came to mind in a nanosecond as I applied my anxious-to-hit-the-ball-hard swing. The result: A worm-burning, topped dribble a few yards down the fairway. Your miss-hits are still miss-hits, even with F-MAX woods that have extra heel weighting to facilitate more loft.
F-Max Combo Set
With each F-MAX club I swing, I keep reminding myself “even with these beauties, you still have to give it a long, smooth backswing, and stay down, through the ball. Then turn your belt buckle to the target on the follow through.”
In my case, I’m delighted with the accuracy these clubs bring me – more fairways, more greens. As for added distance, I was hoping for a lot more, but it is noticeably better than it has been of late, especially on with the 8, 9 and PW clubs.
I’ve found that in my address I look down at the club adjacent to the ball and that visual image conveys a sense of confidence in me: “These clubs are going to help me make good contact — so go for it.”
That thought process usually works! (Notice the word usually.)
The lightweight F-MAX bag (photo below) that handily houses the clubs in individual slots, is as attractive as its contents. Its numerous, easily-accessible pockets have large, silent, easy-flow zippers on the pockets, including one that is insulated to accommodate cool or warm drinks.
An over-sized slot on the front of the bag makes access and housing of the putter a no-effort task and its two large handles on the collar make for easy of handling on and off the cart or in and out of the auto trunk.
Cobra’s blade putter, for me, will take some adjusting as I’ve used a heavier mallet putter for years. The lighter-weight Cobra requires me to strike the ball firmer, a task I find causes me to pull putts.
My biggest frustration with the Cobra gear? The head covers.
Made of attractive black vinyl, they fit so tightly over the clubs that they are nearly impossible to pull off and put them back on. Putting them on, I discovered if I turn the sleeve sideways and slip it over the club head and then firmly pull down on the cover it will eventually slide into place.
Bottom Line
A big shout-out is due Cobra Golf for providing an entire club system for those of us in our golden years who love the game but whose swing skills are more tarnished brass than golden.
Mission: Rekindle my 82 year old dad’s love for golf.
Plan: Get dad into a set of super-light clubs specifically designed for his game to get his swing speed up, distance increased, and accuracy improved.
Solution: Cobra Golf’s NEW F-Max Superlight combo set of irons, hybrids and woods.
Distance in golf is achieved through increased club-head speed. The heavier the clubs and stiffer the shafts, the harder it is to generate that speed. With age my dad has lost some flexibility and swing speed, and that adds up to distance loss. With super-light and easy to swing clubs which are extremely forgiving, the hope is that he’ll rejuvenate his game and his enjoyment.
Cobra F-Max Superlight Driver
Over the next few weeks my dad will be testing out the Cobra Golf F-Max Superlight Combo set, and documenting his experience. Then we will collaborate together on a review which will be posted here at Hooked on Golf Blog to document the results.
F-Max Superlight Combo with Bag
I’m thrilled to get my dad rocking on a new set of clubs to help him return to enjoying his game. Stay tuned for the full review.
F-Max Combo Set
Visit the HOG image gallery for more images of the Cobra Golf F-Max Superlight Combo set.
I’ve been gaming the same driver for about three years. It’s not that I’ve had different drivers to use, it’s that nothing I’ve tried was good enough for my swing/game to dethrone that gamer. That is until this spring. The current driver spot in my starting lineup is the Cobra King F8 adjustable driver with Cobra Connect tracking technology and an extremely interesting milled face. Let’s take a look.
F8 Features
The Cobra Golf F8 driver comes in two flavors, the F8 and F8+. The F8 is the more “forgiving” version with a slightly different moveable weight setup and adjustable hosel. The F8+ is more of a “player’s” club, meaning it is a little less forgiving but more “workable.” By workable I mean the ability to curve and control the trajectory of shots.
Due to the state of my game for the last couple of years, I thought it wise to go with the “forgiving” model. I need all the help I can get at this point. So I went with the F8 and that’s what this review is based on.
First off one can’t help noticing the amazing looking face on the F8. It is milled with hundreds of tiny grooves, unlike any other driver face out there (image above). The CNC milling of the F8 series insures precise thickness in the face, reducing inconsistencies found in other drivers. The helps produce consistent ball speeds on off-center shots. The milling also helps the player control the ball better with a better grip, and a place for the driver to move moisture away from direct contact with the ball.
The face has different curvatures at the top and bottom. This “Dual Roll” technology helps expand the sweet spot vertically above and below center, optimizing launch and spin on shots high or low on the face.
The top (crown) of the F8 features an ultra-light carbon fiber section (photo below). This allows the top of the club to be very light, and help move the COG (center of gravity) lower, which is good. Lower COG helps ball launch higher and with less side-spin.
The “MyFly” adjustable hosel on the Cobra F8 offers numerous settings in terms of loft and lie. There are neutral settings and draw settings for most of the lofts, except the 12 degree only comes in neutral only.
There are two moveable weights on the F8, as with the F8+. The F8’s weights come in 2 gram and 12 grams. They can be placed near the hosel and near the back of the club. This differs from the F8+, which has spots for the weights behind the center of the face, and in the back center.
The shaft I chose for my model is the Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei CK Blue 50. It’s an ultra-light shaft which helps me launch it higher, since I’m a low ball hitter. It’s a stiff shaft, even though the Cobra website says this shaft is only available in Regular and Lite flex. Other shaft options available include: Aldila NV 2KKV Blue 60, Aldila NVv 2KKV Green 65, Project X HZRDUS Yellow 75.
Accessories
The F8 comes with a nice, durable and sharp looking head cover. Putting it on and taking it off is easy and it protects the driver well.
Adjustment tool and head cover
The adjusting tool is solid, and clicks when the club is tightened enough to prevent stripping or damaging the head by applying too much pressure.
The end of the grip contains the “Cobra Connect” sensor. This sensor, when used with the Cobra Connect app allows golfers to track driving statistics like distance and accuracy. The app can even make recommendations on driver settings by analyzing the user data.
Cobra Connect
Colors
The F8 comes in two colors: Black and Nardo (gray theme). The driver pictured here is Nardo.
On The Course
The first thing I do when I start testing an adjustable driver is take it to the range and hit a few shots in the default settings. In this case the settings were 10.5 degrees and a draw bias, with the 12 gram weight in the back of the head and the 2gram weight by the hosel. I hit it fairly well with that setting, but found I was not controlling the side spin as well as I wanted. I was hitting some right shots and fades.
From there I went through every possible setting, such as nine degrees loft, neutral face angle, and the weights in both positions. I found little difference in shot difficulty when changing lofts. The club was still easy to hit, even in the nine degree settings. The 12 degree setting was easy too, and it seemed to launch the ball just a tiny bit higher.
The key for me was the weights. On nearly every loft/lie setting I found the feel and direction of the shots were all better with the 12 gram weight by the hosel and the two gram at the back. When the heavier weight was in the back I saw a little ballooning in the trajectory. With the 12 by the hosel the ballooning went away and the fades straightened out to straight balls.
The setting I finally settled on, and still use after months, is 10.5 degree draw with the heavier weight by the hosel. For my swing, combined with the Tensei shaft, I’m very accurate and long for me. I’m not a bomber, but longer than average.
I’ve gamed the F8 in most imaginable conditions: damp, rain, hard, fast, windy, cold, hot. Had a lot of fun with the F8 in 30-40mph winds at Bandon Dunes recently. On one hole into the wind I crushed it 148 yards! Later with the wind on I hit one 385 yards and nearly drove a 400 yard par-4 on Pacific Dunes. I like going driver-putter-putter-putter for par on par-4s.
My fairway percentage has been up around 80%. During a solid round earlier today I hit a blistering 13/14 fairways for 93%. That will work.
Final Thoughts
The Cobra F8 is a fantastic and easy to hit driver. The F8 offers a massive number of features and settings which will help golfers of all ability levels dial in the best launch conditions for their game.
Now that the big City Amateur tournament ended a couple of weeks ago I’m in full on golf equipment review and testing mode. I’ve got stacks of golf balls, golf clubs, golf accessories, and golf apparel to review. Currently in my gamer bag (and not likely to be dethroned any time soon) is the Cobra King F8 driver.
I’ve been testing the King F8 since a little before the Am, about three weeks. I’ve probably logged 12 rounds with it so far and numerous buckets of balls on the range. The more I get used to it, the better I hit it.
I’m getting more and more confident with the F8. A lot of that confidence is getting the club’s customizable settings right, as well as ball position and tee height. It’s a bit different than my previous driver, not in a better or worse way. Just different. I think I’ve settled in on the weight and loft settings, with the heavy 12gram weight by the hosel and the MYFLY Loft setting at 10.5 degrees and a draw bias.
Note the milled face on the F8 driver
Stay tuned for my full Cobra King F8 driver review soon.
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