Equipment
Somewhere In Between
Bridging the gap between fairway woods and long irons by SCOTT KRAMER
YOU ENCOUNTER INSTANCES ON THE COURSE when you don’ t want to hit a driver or fairway wood— maybe there’ s a tight landing area— but a long iron isn’ t enough to get you there. That’ s typically when you still need some distance but want to use a club that’ s not as tough to get airborne as a fairway wood or even a 4-iron. In some cases, a traditional hybrid will suffice. In other cases, you might long for something that looks more like an iron but with some heft. Almost every manufacturer offers hybrids, and many have come out with hollow-body irons that play longer than traditional irons.
What’ s best for you? You’ ll never know until you try a few options— like these:
COBRA KING F8 hybrid
Cobra initially made its mark on the golf industry with the Baffler club line years ago. Those popular fairway woods / trouble clubs had sole rails that helped the club move easily through grass. The brand’ s latest KING F8 hybrid continues that tradition, with the Baffler Dual Rail system that’ s designed to provide versatility and forgiveness from every lie. Geared for 5-to-25-handicappers with moderate to higher swing speeds, it makes getting the ball airborne a snap. And a high peak trajectory means it will stop easier on greens once it lands. A smart grip is standard and relays swing data to smartphones via Bluetooth. $ 199. cobragolf. com
CALLAWAY X Forged Utility Iron
Utility irons have become increasingly popular with Tour pros who use them primarily as a versatile option off the tee on narrow holes where they need to find the fairway. Enter Callaway’ s X Forged Utility Iron, which was used by Aaron Wise, Marc Leishman and Branden Grace when they finished 1-2-3 at the recent AT & T Byron Nelson. Its forged design provides accuracy and control, and its CG location is positioned in line with the center of the clubface, so ball flight is lower and penetrating with less right-left curve than with a wood. Callaway’ s proprietary 360 Face Cup helps increase ball speed across the entire face, as well. It’ s offered in five different lofts. $ 250. cmp. callawaygolf. com
38 V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ULY / A UGUST 2018 vsga. org