While having a look around all of the best Black Friday golf deals I noticed that the irons I play are available at a good discount. I say good discount, it's more of a great discount as its a whopping $200 below the RRP. That's great value for a set of irons that I can't say enough good things about.
I invested in a set of Cobra Darkspeed irons around 18 months ago on the recommendation of my esteemed colleague here at Golf Monthly, Joe ‘the Pro’ Ferguson. When it comes to golf equipment, Joe knows more than most people will ever know so his opinion always carries great weight to me, and his review of the Darkspeed irons grabbed my attention. I didn’t particularly need new irons as I was happy enough with the set I was using, but sometimes you just want to freshen up with something new and exciting, right?
So after reading Joe’s review of the Darkspeed irons, which was glowing, I asked him if he’d recommend them for a golfer of my distinctly average skillset. Darkspeed irons aren’t aimed at the likes of Joe, yet despite that he really enjoyed testing them and he put them up there as the best game improvement irons of 2024. I’ve played with Joe and he knows my strengths (ball striking) and weaknesses (putting!), so when he said these were a perfect iron for my game that was all I needed to hear.
I pulled the trigger and bought a set and it has turned out to be a great decision. They've been in the bag for 18 months and I don’t expect to change them for at least a couple more years as they deliver exactly what I need; distance, consistency, feel, forgiveness and great looks.
The distance comes from the strong lofts. They’re very strong in fact. The 7 iron is 27°. For context, the 7 iron Joe normally plays (and what you would tend to find in the bags of the better players) is 34°. That’s a big difference, but what it means in layman’s terms is that shorter hitters like myself can still compete with playing partners when they say “I’m hitting 9 iron here” and you can say “me too!” even though your 9 iron is basically their 7 iron!
So essentially, game improvement - or distance irons - such as Darkspeed will go further than traditional irons because the lofts are stronger. Sometimes with these stronger lofted, game improvement irons, there is a trade off to be had in terms of ball flight and especially with looks. Darkspeed bucks that trend as they still deliver a relatively high, penetrating flight, and they look fantastic - both in the bag and at address.
The look when standing over the ball is unusual for an iron in this category. My previous irons were Wilson Staff D9s and then I switched up to Dynapower, both of which delivered excellent performance but looked exactly what they are - chunky, game improvement irons with a thickish topline. The Darkspeed irons have a more slender look which is further aided by the charcoal colored heads which add to that slimmer visual. In my opinion they’re one of the most stylish looking irons on the market, certainly in the category in which they sit anyway.
I’d say these are an ideal iron for a mid-handicap player who needs a bit more forgiveness and distance. I see myself as a pretty consistent ball striker and I could easily play a set of irons aimed at lower handicap players, but I’d be losing too much distance by doing so. Hitting a 7 iron into a 130 yard par 3 just isn’t good for my ego. I know it shouldn't matter, but it does. I can’t help it. Darkspeed irons allow me to hit a nine iron into that par 3 and that makes life easier, both in terms of psychology but also the shot itself. Even leaving loft out of it, it’s just easier to hit a nine iron than a seven iron isn’t it?
So if you are looking for some extra oomph in your iron game, or perhaps you already have that but are thinking of freshening things up with a new set, you could do a lot worse than pick up a set of Darkspeed irons in this Black Friday sale.
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