Tag: 3D Printing irons

What is the deal with Bryson DeChambeau’s ‘stache (and his 3D irons)?

DeChambeau has been channeling his inner-Johnson Wagner in recent days.

During Wednesday’s presser before LIV Golf Houston, someone mentioned to Bryson DeChambeau that with a number of solid recent finishes, he’s arguably the hottest golfer on the planet right now.

Without missing a beat, the enigmatic star shot back a witty one-liner:

“Is it the ‘stache?”

Indeed, DeChambeau, who rode a hot Sunday at Valhalla Golf Club to a runner-up finish at the 2024 PGA Championship, has been channeling his inner-Johnson Wagner in recent days, sporting a hairy upper lip in a series of photos that appeared on Twitter.

In fact, the two-time LIV Golf champion posted to social media in full argyle and hickory, a look that grabbed plenty of attention, something the former NCAA and U.S. Amateur champ has rarely shied away from.

“I had someone say you might look good in a ‘stache, and I was like, all right, I’ll try it,” he said. “I had a big scruff, and I shaved it all down. There’s a video that’s coming out on YouTube that is old-school style. I think I posted about it almost a week ago now, and it looked good, I thought, with the outfit. I don’t know if you guys saw it, but it’s the old school with the hickory clubs and got the beret on and the whole getup, the long socks and shoes, all that.

“It definitely fit the outfit. We’ll see how long this lasts though. If I play bad the first day, I’m probably just going to shave it.”

What’s interesting about the photo is that DeChambeau is holding hickory golf clubs, especially in light of his affection for technology.

For example, at Augusta National Golf Club DeChambeau surprised many by showing up with a custom set of single-length irons made by little-known clubmaker Avoda done by 3D printing. The clubs weren’t approved by the USGA until the Monday on which players arrived at the Masters. With no hesitation, DeChambeau inserted them into his bag and fired a 65 in the opening round, before settling for a sixth-place finish.

And while he’s been playing the clubs ever since, he’s uncertain if all golf clubs will eventually come from a 3D printer.

“I don’t know about that. I think the process as of right now is a lot easier CNC milling a lot of heads compared to 3D printing. Once it gets to a price point that makes sense, then maybe, but it is somewhat expensive. I don’t think it’s for mass consumption yet,” he said on Wednesday. “But it will get there, and I’m certainly looking forward to some improvements in the technology because man, it would be so cool.

“Imagine having a 3D printer at your house, and you just print your own iron or do whatever. You can put it together and go hit it that afternoon. That’s really cool, compared to having a six-month process of prototyping it out and measuring it up and doing a couple iterations; maybe one of them is right, one of them is wrong, but you just 3D print in an hour or so a metal head and you stick a shaft on it and you go hit it.”

2024 PGA Championship
Bryson DeChambeau tees off on the eighth hole during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. (Photo: Clare Grant-USA TODAY Sports)

While he thinks 3D clubs for a mass audience might be off in the distance, he’s relishing the thought.

“Those days are coming,” he said. “I don’t know how quickly it’s coming, but it’s certainly a really cool technology that we utilize, and hopefully it gets more widely known because that is the future. It’s just not here fully yet for mass consumption.

“I want it to be. I want it to be for sure. The price point just needs to come down quite a bit.”

Cobra’s 3D-printed Limit3d Irons

The Cobra Limit3d irons are 3D printed to create a unique internal shape and enhance performance.

Gear: Cobra Limit3d Irons
Price: $2,999.99 (4-PW) with KBS Tour $-Taper shafts
Specs: 3D printed 316L stainless steel body and face with internal tungsten weights.
Available: June 7

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Who It’s For: Golfers with deep pockets who want an iron that looks like a muscleback blade but plays like a game-improvement iron.

The Skinny: By 3D printing the Limit3d irons, Cobra removed a massive amount of weight from the middle of each clubhead, then added tungsten weights to boost perimeter weighting and stability without increasing head size.

The Deep Dive: Every iron you have ever owned or seen in pro shops was made in one of two ways: casting or forging. Casting involves heating metal until it melts, then pouring the liquid metal into molds, allowing it to cool and then breaking open the molds before sanding and polishing the heads. The forging process superheats metal rods before they are pressed under massive pressure into the shape of a club. In most cases, the metal is forged several times to produce the final shape.

Both casting and forging have pros and cons, but with the release of the Limit3d irons, Cobra may be providing a glimpse of the future of golf club manufacturing. The Limit3d irons are 3D printed, and this process opens up a world of designs that would be impossible to create using either casting or forging.

Cobra has used 3D printing to create pieces of putters for a few years and quietly 3D printing wedges for staff players like Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland. However, the 500 sets of Limit3d irons are the brand’s first foray into 3D printing irons.

The shape of the Limit3d irons was based on the forged King Tour irons, the clubs Fowler plays on the PGA Tour. They have a compact blade length, a touch of offset and a thin topline. 

To make each Limited iron, a computer controls a direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) process that applies tiny layers of 316L stainless steel powder. With each pass of the machine, another layer of powdered metal is added on top of the previous layer and bonds to it. In all, there are more than 2,600 layers of stainless steel powder applied to make each head and it takes about 24 hours for the process to be completed. The computer applies the powdered metal in exact locations, adding more layers to some places, less to others, and none where Cobra designers don’t want it.

Cobra Limit3d irons
The Cobra Limit3d irons have an internal lattice and tungsten weights. (Cobra)

After studying several different internal structures and options, Cobra engineers decided that an intricate internal lattice structure was ideal because it provided enough strength while reducing the weight of the central area of the club by about 100 grams. Typically, engineers sweat and work to save a few grams here and there, so creating 100 grams of discretionary weight is a massive savings. 

Much of that weight was repurposed in the form of three tungsten weights. Each Limit3d iron has a small weight in the hosel, along with massive weights in the heel and toe area that boost the moment of inertia (MOI) and make the Limit3d irons significantly more stable. So, while the Limit3d irons look like the King Tour irons in the address position and are similar in size, they are much more forgiving and stable on mis-hits, like a game-improvement club.

Cobra Limit3d irons
The hitting area is 3D printed using the same 316L stainless steel powder used to create the internal lattice structure. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The lattice is encased in a traditional-looking outer layer of 3D-printed 316L stainless steel,-and tungsten weights are covered by 316L 3D-printed caps that help keep them in position and hide them from view. The hitting area, back of each club and body structures are also 3D-printed using 316L stainless steel. 

The lattice structure you see on the back of each Limit3d head is cosmetic. While Cobra is eager to show off its technologies, exposing the open lattice would allow water and debris to get inside the clubheads.

According to Cobra, the Limit3d generates about 3 miles per hour more ball speed than the King Tour irons, which translates to about 5 more yards of distance. The Limit3d and King Tour create nearly identical peak heights and descent angles.

Cobra Limit3d irons
In the address position, the Cobra Limit3d irons looks very similar to the King Tour irons. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

With a price of $2,999.99 and with only 500 sets being offered worldwide, the Limit3d irons are not something you are likely to see in person. However, Cobra designers point out that the price of this seven-club set five to seven years ago would have been 10 times more. Like other technologies, the cost of 3D printing metal is coming down, so at some point in the future, it may be affordable to the masses. 

So, think of the Limit3d irons like a Formula One car, a demonstration of what Cobra designers and new technologies are capable of doing and what may be on the way to more golfers in the years ahead.

Below are several close-up looks at the Cobra Limit3d irons: