Cobra 2022 King Forged Tec Iron Review

Cobra 2022 King Forged Tec Iron Review

Cobra’s King Forged Tec franchise has always firmly sat bang in the middle of the players’ distance irons category. Now into its fourth generation, the range has expanded and been refined to better meet the needs of golfers looking for improved results on their approach shots.

Watch Joel Tadman test the new King Forged Tec iron for 2022 on the course

The previous King Forged Tec iron was a monster in terms of the distance it generated, so the new version for 2022 has its work cut out, but Cobra believes the new five step forged body and face along with the tungsten weighting inside the hollow head should elevate the user experience to loftier heights.

Visually, the 2022 King Forged Tec is a stunner. Clean and elegant, it incorporates more of a V-shape rear section versus the straight lines of the previous generation. The only negative would be the screw on the toe, although this is necessary to insert the lighter and softer foam inside the head and rest against the Pwrshell face. Down at address, the new iron looks a little more streamlined, which is a change we wanted to see. The offset has reduced slightly, as has the thickness of the topline and the width of the sole. It’s now more comparable with other players’ distance irons like the Ping i525 and the TaylorMade P790 in terms of overall size. The finish is also a little lighter.

In terms of specs, not much has changed. The 7-iron is the same loft (29.5°) and the stock shaft remains the KBS $ Taper Lite, which we tested on the Full Swing Kit launch monitor followed by some outdoor testing at Burghley Park Golf Club. The shaft played a little shorter in the new version because there was no Arccos Sensors embedded in the top the grip.

Immediately I was struck by the feel of this iron. Wow, it truly blew me away. It is incredibly powerful, offering up a more metallic sound akin to that of a metalwood. This sound also seemed to be a little more gentle, without detracting from the speed at which the ball flew off the face. Part of this improvement in feel can be attributed to the stability too - you don’t really get those harsh vibrations in your hands here unless you really mishit one. The launch monitor also suggested the 2022 Forged Tec was a touch faster on a more consistent basis, but only fractionally, resulting in one yard longer carries on average. 

Testing outdoors, it looked like the new iron flighted the ball a yard or two higher and a yard or two longer. Not game-changing, but along with the visual improvements would be enough to warrant an upgrade. Cobra didn’t need to reinvent the wheel with the new King Forged Tec iron because of how good the outgoing model was but the refinements that have been made make it one of the best golf irons this year. 

It should instantly appeal to the low-to-mid handicapper wanting extra speed on their iron shots while also being able to manage dispersion with a compact-looking set. Worth noting is that it also comes in One Length for those seeking more consistency and for golfers after even more distance, there’s now the option of the larger, stronger lofted Forged Tec-X iron that I'm hoping to review very soon.