Cobra Golf founder Thomas Crow has died, the equipment manufacturer confirmed to Golfweek Saturday.
A former Australian amateur golf champion who won more than 20 club championships at Kingston Heath, Royal Melbourne and Royal Sydney according to Australian Golf Digest, Crow founded Cobra Golf in 1973.
Crow’s age and cause of death were not immediately known.
“Tom Crow’s impact on the game will always be remembered, especially within the walls of our Cobra Golf headquarters,” President of PUMA North America & COBRA-PUMA GOLF Bob Philion said. “He was an incredible talent and innovator, founding Cobra and transforming it into one of the most recognizable equipment brands in golf.
“I remember sitting down with him after we purchased Cobra in 2010, and he was still so passionate about the brand, and always pushing innovation to make a better golf club. He was truly the original King Cobra. And his impact goes well beyond his creations, he was a great man, a family man and someone who will truly be missed.”
In 1975, Crow developed one of Cobra Golf’s most famous pieces of equipment: the first ever utility wood named the “Baffler”.
The Baffler was a state-of-the-art club that could hit from a wide variety of lies thanks to its unique railed sole design. That technology is still being used today in the company’s new Speedzone fairway woods and hybrids.
Toward the end of the decade, the Baffler revolutionized golf as it began to show up in the bags of big name golfers like Gene Littler. As the club gained notoriety from professionals all the way down to recreational players, so did Cobra Golf.
Cobra is located in Carlsbad, California.
Greg Norman, one of Cobra’s partners, posted about Crow’s death on Instagram Saturday afternoon, writing in part, “Tom was a true innovator and pioneer in golf club design and I am proud to be Cobra’s long-standing partner since 1991. He challenged me always to understand and build a better golf club. RIP my dear friend I will miss you and the golf industry now has a void.”
According to the company’s web site, Norman signed an endorsement deal with Cobra in 1991 and helped Crow develope the company’s first line of forged irons.
In April 2010, Cobra Golf was sold by Acushnet, the parent company of Titleist and FootJoy, and purchased by Puma AG and the new company was called COBRA-PUMA GOLF.
Norman, Rickie Fowler, Lexi Thompson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jason Dufner are part of the Cobra family.