At the beginning of the 1970's Thomas L Crow, a former winner of the Australian Amateur Championship, started up a small custom made club brand to target the high end American market. He called his company Cobra and, within two years, thanks to his "Baffler" design he had singlehandedly created the utility club market.
From those small beginnings, Cobra has become one one of the best known and most cutting edge brands in golf. Always at the forefront of golfing technology Cobra was the first brand to truly spot the potential of grahphite shafts and was the first manufacturer to offer complete sets of graphite shafted clubs.
King Cobra
Cobra continued to develop and, inspired by the hugely popular Big Bertha driver from Callaway, launched the King Cobra brand in 1993: the advertising campaign was led by reigning Open champion Greg Norman who was, at that time, the most iconic golfer in the world. The King Cobra range took Big Bertha's oversized principle a few steps further. King Cobra drivers were large but so to were King Cobra irons.
In a market often dominated by company's that seem to have been around almost as long as the Royal and Ancient itself, Cobra struck a blow for the new kids on the block. By 1996 Cobra has fully established itself as a major player in golf equipment and the company was more than happy to hold its own against the more established firms.
Buoyed by the confidence of success Cobra continued to develop and advance throughout the 1990's and into the new millennium. Cobra's drivers, Cobra woods and irons were joined by specialised wedges designed by short game tsar Phil Rodgers and the Cobra Baffler continued to evolve, impress and sell in massive volumes.
If traditionalists had scoffed at some of the places Cobra seemed to be taking the game, the paying public lapped it up. Thanks to their championing of graphite Cobra also attained cross market appeal: Ladies, Seniors and Juniors all found benefits in the lightweight Cobra drivers and Cobra irons.
Cobra Golf Clubs Back On Tour
In 2006 Cobra announced it was going back on Tour and it was to prove an incredibly successful comeback. Six months later Geoff Ogilvy was the proud winner of the US Open and Jang had her used her Cobra clubs as she retained her British Women's Open title. The year ended on a high when Jason Zuback used his Cobra driver to win his fifth World Long Drive Championship. If any further proof were needed that Cobra were a major player this was surely it.
In 2009 Cobra was sold by Acushnet, the parent company of Titleist and FootJoy, to Puma and the new company of Cobra Puma Golf started an new chapter in the life of Cobra.