Cobra releases first commercially available additively manufactured golf irons
May 21, 2024
Cobra Golf, headquartered in Carlsbad, California, USA, has announced its new LIMIT3D irons, reported to be the world’s first set of commercially available additively manufactured steel irons. Cobra partnered with nTop, an engineering design software company headquartered in New York City, USA, to create a compact blade profile that offers a similar level of forgiveness as an oversized, game-improvement club, with the feel of a forged iron.
Cobra was the first golf company to introduce an additively manufactured steel putter in 2020, followed up with a full line of KING additively manufactured multi-material putters in 2021.
“Cobra is always looking for meaningful ways to use new technology to create superior products and performance,” stated Mike Yagley, Vice President of Innovation and 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, designing a golf iron with more forgiveness meant sacrificing the look and feel of the iron by making it larger in profile. Cobra aimed to design an iron with the shape and feel of a compact blade desired by better players and the forgiveness that the aspirational player needs. Before, this was unachievable due to design and manufacturing constraints of traditional methods such as casting and forging.
The fully additively manufactured 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 Additive Manufacturing, allows for up to 100g of tungsten to be placed in the heel and toe areas of the clubhead, creating a low centre of gravity and a high moment of inertia relative to the shape and size of the club.
Utilising the combination of nTop’s design software and Additive Manufacturing meant that Cobra engineers were also able to create and test prototypes faster. 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 optimise 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,” stated Jose Miraflor, Vice President of Product Architecture at 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.”
Just 500 sets of the new LIMIT3D additively manufactured irons are expected to be made available worldwide.
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