King Cobra strikes back

Reviewing the new King Cobra driver is a bit like reporting back from a holiday, when human nature dictates you always get rid of the bad news first before delivering the good.

King Cobra -sleek but chunky.

"Oh, it rained on the second day and was too cloudy to venture on the beach on Thursday, but apart from that we had a great time!"

With the King Cobra SS 370 Unlimited I have to tell you I pull-hooked my first two drives into deep rough and thought to myself ‘Oh-oh, I’m going to hate this club.’

But as my golf partners would tell you, I’m not one to give up – it’s in my Yorkshire veins – and with a couple of adjustments and a determined confidence, I was able to roll away the dark clouds of first impressions and discover the true potential of this remarkable club.

Eventually, I was able to confidently pull off the somewhat flash headcover – which looks like a golden bread-loaf on the end of a racoon’s tail – and stripe a succession of powerful, penetrating drives which bounded along to new-found distances off the tee.

The extra length is probably down to the thin titanium face, which makes it an illegal weapon within the shores of the USGA’s jurisdiction. But it's perfectly acceptable elsewhere in the world, where the R&A, bless ‘em, continue to encourage the average golfer looking to blast the ball a few extra hard yards to boost his self-esteem.

SS stands for sweet spot.

The ‘SS’ sweet spot identified in its mouthful of a title, is reputed to provide more forgiveness to strikes, hit a little off centre and certainly I couldn’t complain with the distances achieved with a shot not quite out of the centre of the sleek-but-chunky,deep face.

The different sound – a ‘ting’, from a mishit, as opposed to a ‘thwack’ - was also a dead give-away.

The lightweight Aldila regular shaft, which purports to produce a higher launch angle, plays its part, too.

A further measure of this driver’s versatility is its ability, in confident hands, to pick the ball clean off a good lie in the fairway, when its handler is trying to cut a few par-5s down to size.

But I’d recommend the 10.5 or 12-degree loft versions for these type of shots. Even with the King Cobra’s low centre of gravity, the 7.5 and 9-degree models would probably produce a succession of worm-burners.

With a price tag of £295, the King Cobra SS 370, available in right and left-hand versions, is set to provide a stiff challenge to its major big-headed, non-conforming rivals.

And certainly it can break new ground by delivering nothing but good news for the holiday golfer.

Golfmagic rating: 9/10