Leveraging Additive Manufacturing + Computational Design to Disrupt Golf

June 7, 2024 was a momentous day at Cobra PUMA Golf.  That is the day that Cobra Golf launched the LIMIT3D irons, the world’s first commercially available iron set made with 3D printing, and the day Cobra’s website was overwhelmed because of the demand.  The online allotment sold out in minutes and customer service staff was forced to do triage to assuage customers that did not want to take NO for an answer.  Glowing product reviews kept piling up, and the limited edition run of 500 sets worldwide was depleted despite being sold at a price that was twice as much as some of Cobra’s other models.

The LIMIT3D irons owe their remarkable performance to a construction only possible with additive manufacturing (AM).  Using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), Cobra replaced over 100 grams of solid steel with an internal lattice structure and added that mass back in the form of tungsten weights, lowering the center of gravity and raising moment of inertia to drive remarkable performance gains.  LIMIT3D’s reception in the market has emboldened Cobra to kick its use of additive manufacturing for commercial products into high gear, and fueled Cobra’s vision that AM has a place to improve product performance and customer experience for all 14 clubs in a golfer’s bag – from driver through putter.

With the LIMIT3D iron, Cobra knows it has a better mousetrap, but to make disruptive headway in the golf industry any follow-on products made with additive manufacturing need to be more accessible to golfers.  To achieve this goal, Cobra needs to tackle the issues of manufacturing cost, throughput, and quality.  It’s a work in progress but headway has been made, and on March 21^st, 2025, less than 1 year from when the LIMIT3D irons hit the market, Cobra will launch the 3DP TOUR iron.  This iron has the same look, feel, and performance as the LIMIT3D, but will now be an inline offering with increased distribution and a price that is 18% below what the LIMIT3D irons sold for.

Recognizing the opportunity that AM presents in the golf equipment space, Cobra has been hard at work to expand AM into other products and is getting tour player testing and validation as part of the verification process.  AM played an important role in the recent signing of PGA Tour star Max Homa to a contract to play Cobra clubs.  Using AM, Cobra was able to get feedback from Max and create bespoke sets of irons in 4 weeks for him to test.  Max is raving about the clubs and loves the feel, look, sound, and performance.  This is product validation at the top of the pyramid that emboldens Cobra even more.

When it comes to additive manufacturing, Cobra is process agnostic.   Cobra’s first foray into metal 3D printing was in putters, back in 2020, when Cobra partnered with HP and Parmatech to produce the Supersport 35 putter using HP’s Metal Jet Process.    Cobra continues to explore the putter space, launching products that take advantage of polymer 3D printing while iterating on high performance 3D printed steel putter designs that Cobra plans to bring to market soon.   Whether its Metal Jet or LPBF, Cobra has shown that each is a viable path for commercialization.

The speed at which Cobra is innovating in this space is remarkable and is a direct result of computational design workflows made with nTop software.  These reusable workflows enable rapid iteration and optimization of the internal lattice geometry during the product creation process.  The workflows are constructed more like code than CAD, which allows them to be manipulated in much the same way to enable automation of complicated and tedious optimization problems that make next-level engineering solutions possible.

Join Ryan Roach, Cobra Golf’s Director of Innovation, at Additive Manufacturing Strategies on Feb. 4^th, 2025 in New York City to hear more details about Cobra Golf’s journey to expand use of additive manufacturing into its product line and continue the disruption that the LIMIT3D irons started.