The SZ fairway woods look a lot like the SZ drivers and they even share some of the same technologies. The SZ fairway is made from a material called Hyper Steel… a cooler way of saying 355 Maraging Steel. The word “hyper” makes anything sound better… try it. I drive a “hyper” car. Wow that sounds fast! Ok, ok… back to the review. Maraging steel is harder than traditional steel and Cobra is able to do a lot with it. Using a harder material allows the company to make the club walls and face thinner and stronger. The club features heel and toe weighting to help keep the head stable on miss hits. The SZ’s overall size is slightly larger compared to many other fairway woods on the market. Cobra is hoping that consumers feel more confident hitting a larger club. Cobra’s fairway woods are also one of the few available in an offset version. Offset helps close the face through the impact zone… helping correct a slice. Keep one thing in mind… if you want to use the fairway wood off the tee, you may want to consider the non-offset version. It has a much deeper face and would be a lot easier to hit off of the tee or out of the rough. The overall look of the SZ fairway is good… it’s fairly clean and it’s a nice club to look down on. The stock shafts are good for the average player. The club is available in both steel and graphite although the steel shafted ones have been a bit tricky to get since being released last year. Most customers go with the graphite version to match their Cobra SZ drivers.
This club is really easy to hit. The ball flight is high and customers really like having the option of offset or non-offset. I find that most people buy the driver first, enjoy it a lot and then come back to add the matching fairway woods. Remember that this club is designed for the a mid to high handicapper and a good player may have trouble controlling it. A player that hits a fairly straight ball may develop a bit of a hook with this one… meaning the technology is working but not working for you! A lower handicap may want to look elsewhere. Extreme forgiveness, an offset option, a fairly hot face and decent stock shafts make the Cobra SZ fairway a winner.
Overall Rating – 80%
Target Handicap – 10 and above
Ball Flight – High
Lofts – 13, 15.5, 16.5, 18, 21, 24 degree – although not all are available in an offset version
Shafts – Nippon NS950 steel, Aldila HM Tour 60