2015 Ultimate Product Reviews: Cobra Fly-Z+ Driver

In the aftermath of Rickie Fowler’s emphatic PLAYERS Championship victory, there’s no better time to review his Cobra Fly-Z+ driver. If you’re still in the market to purchase a new driver, it’s time to hurry up. With the U.S. Open around the corner, we’re almost smack in the middle of the golf season. I hope you’ve been enjoying this ongoing series where I compile all the best product reviews and put them into one place to make it easy for everyone to find. I hope it’s helped you find the perfect club(s) that suits your game! – Matt

Club Name: Fly-Z+ Driver
Brand: Cobra
Category: Better-Player Driver
Price Point: $399
Specs: 9.5° (adjusts 8° to 11°) with Matrix VLCT ST graphite shaft.

Summary

From Cobra: Featuring our revolutionary ‘FlipZone’ weighting technology, the Fly-Z+ Driver is our first ever front & back CG adjustable driver to deliver your ultimate distance. A low front CG setting gives you a penetrating ball flight with more roll, and the low back CG setting gives you a more towering ball flight with more carry. The Fly-Z+ driver also features Speed Channel Technology for increased ball speeds across the face for distance and forgiveness, Forged E9 Zone Face technology for a larger sweet zone and more distance on off-center hits, multi-material construction to maximize discretionary weight and MyFly8 and SmartPad, allowing golfers to select from multiple settings to tune their game.

Special Notes

Read up on all the specs and purchase your own Cobra Fly-Z+ driver by visiting the Cobra Golf website.

COBRA FLY-Z+ DRIVER REVIEWS

1. Golf Digest: Gold Rating. The designers at Cobra have listened to the debate about whether the center of gravity in a driver should be located near the front or tucked in the back and decided to, well, let you decide. A 15-gram sole weight can be placed rearward if you prefer more carry distance, or forward for less spin and a hotter landing angle. The only thing easier to understand? Eight adjustable loft settings, which are marked as numbers, completing a package that is the definition of user-friendly.

2. Golf Magazine: Just OK. DISTANCE: Adequate off the tee but definitely not the longest of the group; similar length to the testers’ normal drivers—not overwhelming distance; solid strikes provide serviceable yardage. ACCURACY/FORGIVENESS: The Fly-Z+ finds the fairway as long as you make decent contact; fairly consistent on better swings; many say the club is average compared with others tested. CONS: Some testers complain of a lack of overall distance compared to other models; muted feel isn’t a favorite; not everyone embraces the bold color scheme.

3. My Golf Spy: Love It. If you’re looking for a driver that can truly deliver on the promise of low spin with comparatively excellent forgiveness, FLY-Z+ is going to be extremely tough, maybe even impossible to beat. When the Flip Zone weight is placed in the rear location, things get really interesting. Although the center of gravity is raised slightly, the shifting of mass towards the rear of the club increases MOI by nearly 600 points; making FLY-Z+ more forgiving than all but a small few mass-market drivers.

4. Rick Shiels: Like It.

5. Golf A Lot: 4 Stars out of 5. The clever part of the Fly-Z+ driver is the 15 gram sole weight in the FlipZone which can be loosened and then flipped and slid to the other end of the central channel on the sole of the club, to move the CG forward and reduce the spin. The Fly-Z+ also features carbon fibre in the sole and crown and this creates a duller sound which is OK in the back setting, but not so great in the forward setting.

6. Plugged In Golf: Love It. The Fly-Z+ is a great reminder for me of why drivers are so much fun to hit. I can’t tell you I think I’ll find myself making CoG adjustments all the time, but the fact that I have the choice in the first place makes for a more dialed-in golf club that is going to serve me better on the golf course. If Cobra Golf hasn’t already grabbed your attention as one of the top players in the golf equipment industry, consider the Fly-Z+ driver as the indicator that you better start.

7. Bunker’s Paradise: 4.6 out of 5. If you are looking for a new driver that has lots of adjustability, is forgiving and has a hot face then the Fly-Z+ driver might just be the club for you. I imagine a lot of golfers are going to be picking up this driver in 2015 and with that, hitting a lot of fairways. I think Cobra did a great job on improving what was already a great driver in the BioCell.