Cobra King LTD Driver

The Cobra King LTD driver has been one of the longest-tenured members of my golf bag for nearly three seasons now. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that we haven’t had our fair share of ups and downs, but overall it’s been one of the best golf clubs I’ve ever used. Not only does the King LTD look cool as hell, but it’s Cobra’s longest and straightest driver to date.

Looks

Like most people, my first view of the Cobra King LTD driver was through pictures on the internet. I thought it looked cool, but nothing really blew me away and I was cautious about that spaceport. Then when my first King LTD showed up at my door and I opened that box, it was a different story. The original orange and black paint scheme was reminiscent of a finely tuned race car, and that spaceport was a magnet for your eyes. Call it a gimmick or whatever else you want to, it’s still a cool look and it’s fun to add the inside of the head as part of the club’s aesthetic. Since Cobra didn’t cycle the LTD out after one year, they release a blacked out matte version of the same driver.

From a functional-visual perspective, the King LTD has a real nice shape and a moderate footprint behind the ball.

How Does it Feel?

Without a doubt, the Cobra King LTD is one of the most unique feeling drivers on the market. At the risk of ruining this portion of the review, I’d say you have to try it to really understand. It feels solid, responsive, and explosive, but it almost has a buttery persimmons vibe to it. Does that make sense as you read it and say it in your head? Probably not, but I think you’ll understand if you hit one for yourself. There is only one other driver on the market that I think might rival the King LTD’s feel.

How Does it Sound?

Much like the feel, the King LTD’s sound is about as perfect as a driver gets. Admittedly, this is very subjective and I’ll be accused of being a Cobra fanboy, but I’ve heard this repeatedly. I personally know of multiple converts that bagged the King LTD almost solely based on how it sounds and feels.

A ripped drive makes a prototypical muted woody “crack” sound and leaves you feeling pretty good about yourself. At the very least, if you find the center of the face, your playing partners will be impressed based on sound alone. Based on the sound, you’d never believe it was a perfectly hollow driver head.

On-Course Performance

If you read Cobra‘s product page for the King LTD, you’ll see a lot of talk about a “zero CG.” This means that Cobra found a way to place the center of gravity (CG) at the neutral-axis line. “Well that sounds fascinating, Bill, but what does that mean to me?” Great question. What this is designed to do is to get the ball launching higher easier with less spin, and thus equaling more distance.

As you can see from my numbers, I wasn’t exactly hitting the ball as high as the moon. In fact, 8.8º is a fairly low driver for me (like, a lot low). I think this was mostly related to the shaft (aftermarket Matrix), and with a different shaft, I would have been in the 10-11º range. The difference is, I didn’t feel like I was fighting to get the King LTD in the air, and as you can see my spin was low and I had plenty of carry. Hitting controlled shots with the King LTD felt effortless and reliable. I won’t claim the King LTD is a magic bullet for driving woes, but it’s certainly a top performer.

Final Thoughts – Cobra King LTD Driver

I know this review probably comes off super fanboy-ish, but I really do love this driver. My current Cobra King LTD is my third since they were originally released, and for good reason. It’s not a bunch of gimmicks and I literally play better golf with it in my bag so it’s an easy decision.

EDITOR’S NOTE: At the time or writing this, I don’t plan on taking this driver out of my bag. As a gear nerd, I reserve the right to make a sudden and unnecessary change of mind!

Stock Cobra King LTD Driver Specs