What do golfers really want from a new set of irons? More distance? More forgiveness? Better looks? Awesome feel? Before Cobra went about designing its new family of irons, its leadership wanted the answers from real golfers.

The consensus? Easy-to-hit irons were important, but feel also scored high in the minds of golfers. With that in mind, Cobra built the Fly-Z family of irons with a focus on feel.

Fly-Z Pro Irons

The Rickie Fowler’s.

If the Fly-Z Pro’s look like the AMP Cell Pro’s to you with a “Fly-Z” badge on them, that observation isn’t terribly far off. According to Cobra, Fowler loves his irons, and doesn’t want to change too much.

[quote_box_center]”Other irons feel crisp, ours feel soft,” Fowler says.[/quote_box_center]

There is one major difference between the AMP Cell Pro irons and the Fly-Z Pro’s, however, which better golfers will notice and tour professionals have had in their irons for years. The Fly-Z Pro’s have a tungsten screw in the toe, a trick that Rickie Fowler uses in his irons to move the center of gravity toward the center of the face, away from the heel.

To improve feel, Cobra uses a five-press forging process, giving the 1020 Carbon Steel forged irons consistent weight, texture and smooth feel throughout the set. They also have milled faces for spin control and small blade lengths with minimal offset — exactly what you’d expect from a tour-caliber iron.

The Fly-Z Pro’s employ a progressive flow-set design — from full muscle (9-PW), to single cavity in the 7-8 irons, to dual cavity in the 3-6 irons. A full set of muscleback irons can be ordered through Cobra’s custom department.

The Fly-Z Pro’s ($899, 3-PW) will be available March 1 and come stock with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts.

Fly-Z+ Irons

If the thought of blades scares you, but you’re a better player looking for a forged feel, the Fly-Z+ irons are a good iron to test.

The majority of complaints about last year’s Bio Cell+ irons were that they were clanky, clunky and clicky. Cobra took note, and decided to make some changes that will benefit feel players and add a bit more distance and forgiveness as well.

Cobra uses the same 5-press forging process in the Fly-Z+ irons — as well as the same 1020 Carbon Steel — to give them a softer, blade-like feel. There’s also an array of engineering improvements throughout the set for more forgiveness and control where golfers need it.

The mid-to-long irons (3-8) have milled undercuts behind the face to increase perimeter weighting, which leads to more forgiveness on off-center hits. The 3-7 irons have three tungsten weights in the toe and one in the heel to further improve forgiveness on mishits. The tungsten weights also move the center of gravity closer to the center of the face, which improves feel and energy transfer. To further improve feel, each iron has a thermoplastic urethane (TPU) insert with an aluminum backplate that reduces vibrations.

Fly-Z+ irons ($899, 3-PW) will be in stores March 1 and come stock with KBS’ Tour shaft.

Fly-Z Irons

Cobra’s Fly-Z irons have deep undercuts behind their face, creating a hollow-back design that improves ball speed (for more distance) and adds forgiveness.

The irons also have Cobra’s new Speed Channels on their soles and faces — you might recall them from the company’s  Fly-Z driver and woods line — which help the club faces flex more at impact for more distance.

In order to dampen the sound and feel from the hollow-body construction, Cobra used a harmonic insert in the cavity behind the face.

The Fly-Z irons have the wide soles that are typical of game-improvement irons, but use thinner top lines, medium offset and a more compact shape than previous models for a better look at address.

Cobra also used what it calls progressive spin technology in the irons. The long irons (3-6) have V-grooves for more distance, while the shorter irons (7-PW) have U-shaped grooves for more spin.

The Fly-Z irons ($699, 4-PW) are available in Black, Blue, Orange, Red and White, and will be in retail stores on March 1. Combo sets that include Cobra’s Fly-Z hybrids are also available.