Cobra Limited Edition 50th Anniversary AEROJET Drivers – Key Takeaways
· Special AEROJET and AEROJET LS models to celebrate COBRA’s 50th anniversary.
· Black and gold color scheme with 50th anniversary graphics and head cover
· $599 each, available starting today
The new COBRA Golf Limited Edition 50th Anniversary AEROJET golf drivers couldn’t come at a better time. Not only do these new drivers celebrate COBRA’s first half-century as a corporate entity but they also break the Special/Limited Edition release gap that’s lasted all of 22 days.
Sure, it’s black paint and gold accents on regular AEROJET drivers. But c’mon, 50 years in business is worthy of celebration. And if you’re a COBRA Golf fan, it just might be a collectible you just might want to, uhhh, collect.
COBRA’s First 50 Years
COBRA’s genesis goes back to the early 1960s in Australia and leading amateur golfer Thomas Crow. With his playing days winding down, Crow became director of R&D for PGF Golf, one of Australia’s leading equipment manufacturers. In the early ‘70s, he met up with Bud Leach who was trying to promote his new graphite golf shaft.
Leach wanted to start a golf venture in the U.S. and needed someone with Crow’s expertise to make it happen. At the same time, Crow was becoming disillusioned with PGF’s direction, as it was being purchased by Colgate-Palmolive. In 1973, Crow moved to the U.S. With Leach, he launched COBRA in a 1,000-square-foot facility in San Diego. Within a year, Crow assembled a group of 22 investors to buy out Leach and COBRA was on its way.
In 1975, COBRA made its mark with the Baffler, golf’s first utility club. Crow was inspired to create the Baffler’s unique—and patented—rail sole by watching catamarans skim around Sydney harbor. It was a further refinement of a club called the Little Slammer that Crow designed for PGF back in Australia.
Baffler-Fueled Growth
Legend has it that Crow would go from pro shop to pro shop throughout Southern California demonstrating his new creation. He’d close the sale by hitting golf balls right off the parking lot pavement. COBRA Golf teetered financially through the mid-’70s. But once Tour pros saw the Baffler’s value and started putting it in their bags, COBRA took off.
Between 1989 and 1994, COBRA grew from $26 million in sales to more than $56 million. Not coincidentally, that growth coincided with becoming publicly listed and its sponsorship/ownership deal with Greg Norman. Throughout the ‘90s, COBRA released winner after winner with its KING COBRA metalwoods, oversized irons and others. By 1996, COBRA reached $300 million in sales. Later that year, Acushnet bought COBRA for $754 million. Thirteen years later, it was sold to PUMA. Crow remained active in product innovation through 2016. He died in 2020.
50th Anniversary AEROJET Drivers
We’ve done the deep dive on AEROJET drivers already. They feature Advanced Aerodynamic Shaping, PWR-BRIDGE Weighting and PWRSHELL with H.O.T Face technology. If you want to know what all that means and if any of it makes a difference, Tony gives AEROJET a pretty thorough analysis in our January launch article.
The COBRA AEROJET LS was a strong performer in this year’s MyGolfSpy Most Wanted testing. It finished first in distance and second overall despite a lower-end forgiveness score. The standard AEROJET was a middle-of-the-pack performer, ranking 13th out of 30 drivers tested. It features rear weighting and, in theory, should be more forgiving than the LS. Our testing showed that it is, but only slightly. It’s still long though, finishing sixth overall.
Are Limited Editions “Worth It?”
That depends.
Do you consider your golf clubs to be utilitarian tools and thus frills need not apply? And do you think “special releases” are thinly disguised money grabs by OEMs? If you do, then, no, they aren’t worth it. And they’ll probably elicit an eye roll or two.
But if you’re looking to get a new driver anyway, and owning a “limited edition” anything makes you happy, then there’s a different answer, isn’t there?
And in 2023, an extra fifty bucks for a Limited Edition might just qualify as a bargain.
Are you getting anything new and better? Nope. But you are getting something unique. And 50 years is worth celebrating. When you hit the half-century mark, you’re allowed to come out with a Limited Edition Anniversary driver.
The COBRA Limited Edition 50th Anniversary AEROJET drivers are available in both the standard and LS models. They feature a black and gold color scheme with 50th Anniversary graphics and head cover.
They retail for $599 and are available starting today at retail and online.
For more information, visit www.cobragolf.com.
