Mizuno ST-Max 230 hybrids

The Mizuno ST-Max hybrids are designed to be stable and forgiving.

Gear: Mizuno ST-Max 230 hybrids
Price: $250 with Mitsubishi Lai’ Li Blue, UST-Mamiya LIN-Q Blue Hybrid or Helium NanoCore Hybrid shaft and Lamkin ST Hybrid grip
Specs: MAS1C maraging stainless steel with stainless steel chassis with an adjustable hosel. 19, 22, 25 and 28-degree head options.

Who It’s For: Golfers who want an easy-to-hit replacement for their long irons that produces a high launch angle and extra carry distance.

The Skinny: The new ST-Max 230 hybrids are like miniature fairway woods, with a larger size and high moment of inertia (MOI) to make them easy to hit off the tee and from the fairway for golfers who want more forgiveness and distance than traditional long irons.

The Deep Dive: The new Mizuno ST-Max hybrids are designed to appeal to the same golfers who will benefit from the ST-Max driver and fairway woods, meaning golfers who want to maximize stability and forgiveness.

While the driver and fairway woods utilize multi-material constructions, the hybrids are all stainless steel. Instead of adding a small carbon fiber crown, Mizuno made the top of the club thicker in some areas and thinner in others. The brand refers to it as a Waffle Crown, and while the glossy black top gives the ST-Max hybrids a classic look in the address position, it reduces weight on the top of the head.

Mizuno ST-Max 230 hybrids
The CorTech Chamber helps performance on low-struck shots. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

To increase ball speed, a larger CorTech Chamber complements the MAS1C stainless steel face in the sole. It’s a slot designed behind the leading edge that is then filled with a blue thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), so grass and debris do not get inside the head. Inside the TPU, Mizuno designers have added a stainless steel bar that helps the head maintain forward momentum at the moment of impact. So, while the TPU reduces weight and soaks up excessive vibrations, the CorTech Chamber also helps golfers generate more ball speed.

The larger size, from heel to toe and from front to back, makes the ST-Max 230 hybrids more stable on off-center hits, but the addition of a weight in the back of the sole helps to drive up the MOI and further increase stability.

To help golfers and fitters fill distance gaps and provide clubs that go to precise distances, the ST-Max 230 hybrids are available in four loft options. However, each club’s adjustable hosel allows the stated loft to be increased or decreased by up to 2 degrees. The result is golfers can adjust the clubs to cover lofts from as little as 17 degrees to as much as 30 degrees.

Several close-up images of the ST-Max 230 hybrids are below.

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:

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.