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Every year, we hear about new ways that golf clubs are going to help our game. With Cobra’s LIMIT3D irons, there really could be a big breakthrough.
You might remember back to last year, when Cobra launched a limited-edition run of their expensive but attractive 3D printed irons. While there was no doubting the incredible performance of these clubs, availability and cost meant they were unattainable for virtually everyone.
Only 500 of these sets were manufactured and if you wanted to get your hands on some, it would have set you back £2,499. Clearly, that wasn’t sustainable.
But that could be about to change. Cobra, having realised the performance benefits of their 3D printed irons, decided that in 2025, they were going to mass produce them. Sure, they’ll still be expensive, but they’re going to be produced in similar quantities to the rest of their range.
• Titleist launches stunning range of T-Series Black irons
That, according to Tom Olsavsky, Vice President of R&D at Cobra, is a very exciting prospect for the brand.
“We survey golfers all the time to understand what they want,” Olsavsky told bunkered. “I tell people this often: everybody wants everything. Everybody wants distance, accuracy, forgiveness and great feel in every club. Sometimes you can’t design all those in one club.
“This 3D printed iron really gives us a lot of those things. It’s got the forgiveness of a game improvement, it’s got the looks of a blade and it’s got the feel of a solid forging. Those are some things we couldn’t make before.
“We couldn’t make a small head that was very forgiving before, but we can now. That’s where it really drives performance for us. We know that when people hit these right away they’re going to say that they feel great, they fly great and they’re forgiving. Typically, you don’t get all those three all at once.”

How is that possible? Put simply, the 3D printing process allows for a lattice structure to be placed behind the face. That helps to massively improve stability throughout the head, without compromising on feel or workability.
Not only do these offer benefits to the golfer, but they help Cobra, too. Making and designing golf clubs is a long process – Cobra work on drivers seven years in advance of their launch to the public – but 3D printing, they say, can speed things up dramatically.
“Typically for us, if we have to make a part on an iron it takes two months and on a wood it takes three months, it’s a long time,” Olsavsky explains.
“Whereas with 3D printing, with CAD, typically that 3D print is about a day. So now, in the same time, you’ve got multiple sets, but you can do so many things. That was where it was a great benefit to us for an R&D and tour testing mode.”
However, there is still the elephant in the room. When these irons are on sale to the public on March 21, they will still be significantly more expensive than a premium forged or casted offering.
Olsavsky is confident, however, that over time that will change.
“We don’t see cost coming down drastically right away, but if you remember back years ago when we first started doing titanium drivers, when we first started doing those, they were very expensive to make too. Over time, we were able to put in more technology, sleeves and weighting and other things, but for about the same cost.
“We do expect the long-term pricing to eventually be better than forging – forgings are still fairly pricey – but more expensive than casting. Whether that’s five, seven years, whatever, it will settle somewhere in that space. We’re far in advance of other companies, we’ve learnt the most I think.
“In the future, I do think 3D printing could be the norm.”
More from Cobra
• Cobra DS-ADAPT driver review
• Cobra DS-ADAPT fairway woods review
• Cobra DS-ADAPT Drivers: How does FutureFit33 work?
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