Cobra Darkspeed, Darkspeed One-Length hybrids

The Cobra Darkspeed and Darkspeed One-Length hybrids are designed to take the place of long irons.

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Gear: Cobra Darkspeed, Darkspeed One-Length hybrids
Price: $279 with KBS PGI 85 shaft and Lamkin Crossline grip
Specs: 17-4 stainless steel body with 475 stainless steel face with adjustable hosel. Variable length in 2H (17 degrees), 3H (19 degrees), 4H (21 degrees), 5H (24 degrees), 6H (28 degrees). One-Length in 3H (19 degrees), 4H (21 degrees), 5H through custom order (24 degrees)
Available: January 11 (pre-sale), January 19 (in-stores)

Who It’s For: Golfers who want more ball speed and distance in a long-iron alternative. 

The Skinny: The Cobra Darkspeed and Darkspeed One-Length hybrids are designed to take the place of long irons and make it easier for every golfer to hit higher, longer approach shots.

The Deep Dive: Some golfers who reluctantly hand over their longest iron and buy a hybrid still demand a short blade length and the ability to shape shots. For them, Cobra offers the King TEC hybrid, a control-oriented club that has three moveable weights.

Most recreational golfers, however, ditch their long irons and buy hybrids to make the game easier, to hit the ball farther and get it higher in the air so it stops faster on the green. For these players, Cobra is now offering the Darkspeed hybrids.

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Cobra Darkspeed hybrid
The Cobra Darkspeed hybrid. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Like the Darkspeed fairway woods, the Darkspeed hybrids feature a 475 stainless steel PWRShell face that wraps under the leading edge to enhance performance on low-struck shots. The inner-facing side of the hitting area has been studied and designed by computers that broke it into 15 regions. The system then modified the thickness of each area so it produces the most possible ball speed.

Cobra Darkspeed hybrid
Computers divided the H.O.T. Face into regions and them adjusted the thickness of each area to maximize ball speed. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Inside the Darkspeed hybrids, Cobra added an internal PWR Bridge bar that extends from the heel to the toe area. The bar lowers the center of gravity (CG) location, as does the 12-gram weight in the center of the sole. The result should be higher-flying shots that come down more vertically and stop faster on the green.

Cobra Darkspeed hybrid
The Darkspeed and Darkspeed One-Length have matte-black, anti-glare crowns. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

In addition to the standard Darkspeed hybrid, Cobra is offering a One-Length version of the club. Each One-Length hybrid comes standard at 37.25 inches in length, like a typical 7-iron.

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PXG Black Ops hybrids

PXG Black Ops hybrids are loaded with the same features found in the company’s fairway woods.

Gear: PXG Black Ops hybrids
Price: $299.99
Specs: Carbon fiber crown with AM335 stainless steel body, proprietary stainless steel face, moveable weights and adjustable hosel. Available as 2-hybrid (17 degrees), 3-hybrid (19 degrees), 4-hybrid (22 degrees), 5-hybrid (25 degrees), 6-hybrid (28 degrees) and 7-hybrid (31 degrees)
Available: NOW

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Who They’re For: Golfers looking for more distance and forgiveness off the tee and from the turf.

The Skinny: PXG uses multiple materials, including new stainless steel alloys and moveable weights, to boost forgiveness and let players tweak the launch angle and spin rate of its latest hybrids.

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The Deep Dive: Some hybrids are designed to be long-iron replacements for golfers who prefer irons but know they need more forgiveness, height and distance than their 3-iron or 4-iron can deliver. Other players see them as an extension of their fairway woods, acting like a bridge club to their first iron. With the release of the new PXG Black Ops hybrids, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company has made a club loaded with the same technologies and features found in the Black Ops fairways but in a traditional hybrid shape.

The Black Ops are made with a new high-strength stainless steel alloy in the face that PXG said is stronger than other steels used in hybrids. This allowed designers to make the hitting area thinner and lighter, which in turn helps it to be more flexible at impact.

And like the Black Ops fairway woods, the hybrids feature a compression-molded carbon fiber crown that reduces weight and lowers the center of gravity. 

In the sole of the Black Ops hybrids, golfers will see three adjustable screws that can be moved into different locations to modify the club’s performance. Each Black Ops hybrid comes with a 12-gram weight in the back port and 2.5-gram weights in the heel and toe to maximize forgiveness and help create more spin and a higher launch. Moving the heavier weight to the heel will create a draw bias, while adding it to the toe port will encourage a fade.

To help golfers find a club that hits shots to the ideal distance, PXG has made the Black Ops with an adjustable hosel that can increase or decrease the loft by as many as 1.5 degrees and raise or lower the lie angle.

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Below are several images of the Black Ops hybrids:

TaylorMade Qi10, Qi10 Max, Qi10 Tour Rescue clubs

The multimaterial construction and distance-enhancing features of the Qi 10 Rescue clubs help deliver distance and versatility.

Gear: TaylorMade Qi10, Qi10 Max, Qi10 Tour Rescue clubs
Price: $299 each with Fujikura Speeder NX TCS shaft, Fujikura Ventus Blue TR shaft or Mitsubishi Tensei AV Limited Blue shaft and Golf Pride Z-Grip grip.
Specs: Carbon fiber crown with Speed Pocket and stainless steel face for the Qi10 and Qi10 Max; stainless steel crown with adjustable hosel for the Qi10 Tour.
Available: Feb. 2, but available via pre-order NOW

Who They’re For: Golfers who want to maximize forgiveness and distance off the tee and from the fairway (Qi10, Qi10 Max), or accomplished ballstrikers who want adjustability and ball speed from an iron-style hybrid (Qi10 Tour).

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The Skinny: The standard Qi10 and Qi10 Max rescues benefit from a carbon fiber crown that lowers the center of gravity and a fast face design to make them extremely forgiving and easy to launch high into the air. The Qi10 Tour has a compact shape and an adjustable hosel, making it a long-iron replacement for golfers who put a premium on control and shot-making.

The Deep Dive: It has been more than two decades since hybrids gained acceptance and earned a spot in many golfers’ bags. Since that time, the category has been segmented. Some hybrids are miniature fairway woods and some are designed with better players in mind, so they resemble the irons they replace more closely.

As with the Qi10 family of fairway woods, TaylorMade is offering three rescue clubs that share several technologies but are made for three different types of players.

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TaylorMade Qi10 Rescue
The Qi10 Rescue’s carbon fiber crown helps reduce weight on the top of the head and lower the center of gravity. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The standard Qi10 rescue has a large carbon fiber crown that helps reduce weight on the top of the club and lower the center of gravity to encourage higher-flying shots. A significant amount of the weight saved by opting for a carbon fiber crown has been repurposed inside the head and split between the front and back areas for better overall performance. The standard Qi10 is available in 19 (3), 22 (4), 25 (5), 28 (6) and 31 (7) degrees of loft.

The Qi10 Max rescue is bigger from front to back and has a lower profile than the standard Qi10, and it also has a carbon fiber crown to help lower the center of gravity. Designed for golfers who prioritize forgiveness, the Qi10 Max has extra internal weight in the back area, increasing the moment of inertia to make the club more forgiving. The Qi10 Max comes in 20 (3), 23 (4), 27 (5) and 31 (6) degrees of loft.

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TaylorMade Qi10 Tour Rescue
The Qi10 Tour has a compact head and boxy shape that accomplished golfers tend to like. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The Qi10 Tour has been made with better players in mind. It has a forged C300 stainless steel face and a stainless steel crown, a hosel that allows players and fitters to increase or decrease the loft, and it is the smallest of the three rescue clubs. 

The Qi10 Tour has a boxy-shaped face that is taller than the hitting area of either the Qi10 or the Qi10 Max, and it also has the highest center of gravity. That means while its hollow-body design allows the face to flex more for increased ball speed and distance, shots should have an iron-style trajectory. At the same time, TaylorMade added extra weight in the heel and toe areas to make this club more stable on off-center hits.

The Qi10 Tour is available in 17 (2), 19 (3) and 22 (4) degrees.

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[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM Qi10 Tour hybrid” link=”https://globalgolfcreator.pxf.io/zNmbjO”]

Below are several images of the Qi10 rescue clubs:

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids are for golfers who want more distance and height in a fairway wood-style, long-iron replacement

Gear: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids
Price: $279.99 with Project X Cypher 2.0 or Mitsubishi Tensei Blue White shafts and Winn Dri-Tac 2.0 grip
Specs: Forged stainless steel face and body with carbon fiber crown and adjustable hosel
Available: Feb. 2, but available via pre-order NOW

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Who They’re For: Golfers who want more distance and height in a fairway wood-style, long-iron replacement.

The Skinny: With three models designed to fit golfers with different swing speeds, the A.I. Smoke hybrids are made to be long off the tee and from the turf while being forgiving for players who make inconsistent contact.  

The Deep Dive: Todd Hamilton won the 2004 British Open twenty years ago thanks to creatively using a hybrid club from the fairways and around the greens at Royal Troon. He proved that even elite golfers can benefit from the distance, forgiveness and versatility of hybrids.

Today, even in the bags of a top-10 player, hybrid clubs don’t get a second glance. They have become so accepted among recreational golfers that most game-improvement iron sets now start at 4-iron or 5-iron, with manufacturers knowing golfers who shoot in the 80s, 90s and above have no interest in struggling with long irons.

Callaway’s new Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids blend forgiving shapes with distance-enhancing faces and multi-material constructions to give players at different swing speeds more choices when it comes to long-iron replacements.

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Hybrids designed for accomplished golfers tend to have compact heads and iron-style hitting areas, but the Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids are larger and resemble miniature fairway woods. Their size and shape are meant to reassure mid- and higher-handicap golfers.

Like the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers and fairway woods, the hybrids feature faces designed using artificial intelligence. Supercomputers were tasked with studying thousands of swings made by real golfers of various abilities and then making faces that can improve the performance and consistency of different players. The faces look ordinary on the outside, but the inner-facing side is covered with ridges, valleys and wave-like areas. The computers developed different face patterns for each of the three Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids because they have been made with different player types in mind.

Behind the leading edge in the sole, Callaway designers have added a tungsten weight shaped like a boomerang. The company refers to it as a Speed Cartridge, which helps pull the center of gravity down and forward. That should encourage a higher launch with less spin, which, for most golfers, translates to more distance.

To help players and fitters fine-tune the gaps between the Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids and their other clubs, each comes standard with an adjustable, two-cog OptiFit hosel that can increase or decrease the stated loft by as many as 2 degrees. The lie angle also can be adjusted using the hosel.

Golfers who hit their 7-iron 150 yards or farther will likely be happy with the standard Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids, which will be available as a 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-iron replacements.

Players who hit a 7-iron between 135 and 150 yards (and likely swinging a little slower) could be ideally suited for the Paradym Ai Smoke HL hybrids. The HL stands for high launch, and these hybrids have been made with faces designed to produce more lift and a higher apex. The Paradym Ai Smoke HL hybrids will be available in 3-iron through 8-iron replacement.

Finally, for golfers who need help generating clubhead speed and who hit their 7-iron less than 135 yards, Callaway is offering the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast hybrids. These clubs will be offered as a 4-iron through 8-iron and come standard with a lighter shaft and grip so golfers can swing them faster.

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Below are images of the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids.