Cobra Baffler T-Rail Fairway Wood

New from Cobra golf is the Baffler T Rail. As the name suggest, its got a T-shaped rail on the bottom that’s supposed to improve the play from all sorts of lies, while filling the typical design principle of moving the weight down and to the rear.

But that’s not what attracts me. I like a low profile on a fairway wood, and this one fits the bill. For whatever reason, it makes me feel more positive about being able to hit the sweet spot and send the ball soaring. With the taller faced fairway clubs, I always have this thought in the back of my mind that the sweet spot is above the equator of the ball.

One of the big thrills each year at the Detroit Auto Show (this week!) is the unveiling of various concept cars: state of the art vehicles that likely will never see the showroom floor but some of whose ideas probably will make it into production models.

Nike’s Method Concept putter, on the other hand, will soon make it to a pro shop near you. “Inspired by the notion of the Concept car,” Nike says, it “blends art with science without sacrificing the game-changing performance that Nike Method technology delivers – a smoother stroke and a truer roll with far less skid.”

It’s certainly original looking. The idea is to to give the impression of a blade, while offering the stability of a mallet. The red, contrasted with the black, certainly seems to give the desired impression.

It’ll be available February 17, and you no doubt will be able to buy it at You can get it at Golfsmith Golf & Tennis

The complete press release follows

With the R11 S driver, TaylorMade continues its drive toward the ultimate in club adaptability. Players can adjust the loft up or down as much as one and a half degrees with Flight Control Technology, the face to five different angles (plus or minus three degrees) with the Adjustable Sole Plate, and use movable weights to shift the center of gravity toward the heel or toe.

It’s also got some other non-movable features in the 460cc titanium head: Thick-Thin Crown design lowers that center of gravity and Inverted Cone Technology (ICT) to promote more ball speed on off-center hits.  The R11 driver also has the striking white crown and black face that TaylorMade says improves alignment and reduces glare.

Intriguing.

You can get it at Golfsmith Golf & Tennis—Best Selection. Best Brands. Best Prices. Guaranteed.

Cobra’s new AMP Driver is available for preorder at Golfsmith. Here’s the skinny:

Cobra Amp Irons

Golfsmith is taking preorders on Cobra Golf’s new AMP club line.

AMP stands for Advanced Material Placement (I wonder if companies like this have entire departments who do nothing but sit around and think up cute names), a nod to the clubs’ multi alloy design. As with so much in club design, the goal is to position weight to achieve the desired ball flight. The clubs also have a full cavity TPU layer to dampen vibration and uses Cobra’s previously established E9 Face Technology.

What gets me about the clubs though, are the striking orange graphics. I think you’re either going to love them or hate them.

Hireko Golf sent me one of their new Hindsight Putters for a test, and it is without a doubt one of the most unusual I’ve encountered. Indeed, at first glance, I thought it it was a left handed model. That’s because the centered shaft leans forward, putting the head behind the shaft. It just looks wrong. Once I set up with it, though,  I saw immediately what Hireko’s designers had done. The club hangs naturally, and is in perfect position for a forward press stroke. Belying its looks, the Hindsight is perfectly balanced.

Here’s what the literature says:

The Dynacraft Hindsight putter was scientifically designed to get the ball rolling forward sooner by using two key features in unison - a forward press and roll face technology. The forward hand press is said to create a fluid, rhythmic stroke, but more importantly to keep the hands moving through the stroke. The Hindsight putter incorporates a 3 degree forward press or just enough to position the hands even with the leading edge.

With roll face technology as incorporated into the Dynacraft Hindsight putter, it normalizes the effective loft at impact to create the proper amount of loft to extract the ball from any indentation and get the ball rolling as quickly as possible for better distance control.

Lastly it is completed with grooves into the roll face as well as face balanced. The Dynacraft Hindsight is a unique putter producing extraordinary results!

In a short putting session on the carpet at GolfBlogger World Headquarters, I found I liked the putter’s performance. My preference has always been for straight-in center shafts, so it sets up well for my eye. The forward angled shaft works for me, too.

I like it.

The latest set of clubs in my mailbox are these Dynacraft Avatar Hybrid Irons from Hireko Golf. From the promotional literature.

Part hollow-bodied iron, part hybrid, the Dynacraft Avatar Evolution set takes on a progressive appearance throughout the set. For the weekend warrior who wants to improve their game this set perfectly integrates all the necessary tools to help them achieve that goal.

The #3 and 4 irons have a more a typical hybrid footprint that has an increased breadth and a shallow face to position the center of gravity much lower and more rearward within the design to allow even less skilled players added confidence with the ability to easily get the ball airborne and increase the solidness of contact.

The mid-irons progressively become narrower as less game improvement is required and bridge the gap between conventional iron appearances.

The scoring clubs starting with the #8 look traditional at address as the additional loft beautifully hides the hollow-body but still to help increase the moment of inertia. These have the rounded top line to provide plenty of face area and help to raise the center of gravity enough to control the trajectory. The inclusion of three wedges provide for better course management by eliminating distance gaps.

Unlike most hybrids on the market, the Evolution are designed to be direct replacement in terms of distance and club length to irons where accuracy is at a premium. That way customers don’t have to ask which hybrid replaces what iron.

Winter being what it is here in Michigan, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to give these a worthwhile test until March or April. But from a few swings in the sunroom I like the feel of these things.