How 3D printing and MIM are changing club design and performance
How are 3D printing and metal injection molding changing golf club design? Learn the pros, cons and future of these technologies.
Fairway Jockey
Golf club manufacturing isn’t just about forging, casting and a guy in an apron grinding a wedge by hand anymore. The game is evolving, and so are the tools.
Two of the most exciting technologies reshaping how golf clubs are made are 3D printing and metal injection molding (MIM) — and they’re not just buzzwords. These aren’t future ideas either; they’re already being used today by brands like Cobra Golf to push the limits of design, precision and performance.
Let’s take a closer look at what each technology is, how they work and why they are taking golf equipment to the next level.
What is 3D golf club printing?
3D printing, in golf, is a process where club heads are built layer by layer from a digital file. For golf clubs, this usually involves ultra-fine metal powders (like stainless steel or titanium) that are fused together by a laser, creating complex structures that traditional manufacturing methods just can’t match.
Cobra has taken this further than anyone in the industry… so far. Cobra isn’t just printing components or internal structures; it’s fully 3D printing the entire head of their 3DP Tour irons.
That includes the outer shell and the internal lattice framework, all created in a single build process. It’s a bold move, but it opens up new possibilities in terms of weight savings and precision engineering. Head designs like the 3DP Tour wouldn’t be possible with traditional casting or forging.
3D positives:
– Design freedom: Create shapes and internal geometries that can’t be made any other way.
– Weight saving: Remove mass from non-essential areas for better CG control.
– Faster prototyping: Engineers can tweak and test new ideas in days instead of months.
– Customization potential: One-off or player-specific clubs could be printed to complement a specific miss or strike location on the face. (This is a really cool application.)
The struggles:
– Slower production speed and less practical for high-volume parts.
– Higher cost, especially without a way to currently scale production.
– Printed heads may require more finishing after production.
Cobra’s 3D-printed irons pair blade look with game-improvement forgiveness
What is metal injection molding (MIM)?
MIM is kind of like making a golf club out of metal Play-Doh. You take super fine metal powder, mix it with a binder to make it soft and moldable, then inject it into a mold to get the shape you want. After that, it goes into a furnace where the binder burns off and the metal fuses together into one solid piece. It’s an Easy Bake Oven on steroids.
What you end up with is a clubhead that has the design precision of a molded part but the strength and feel of a forged one. Cobra has used this process for its King wedges, and the results speak for themselves — consistent shaping, excellent feel and beautifully clean lines.
Advantages of MIM:
– Tighter tolerances: Ideal for precision shapes like wedge grinds and sole geometries.
– Excellent feel: Uniform grain structure leads to a softer, more consistent strike.
– High-volume efficiency: Great for producing consistent heads at scale.
– Refined finishes: Smooth surfaces and finer details, right out of the mold.
Where MIM is lacking:
– Tooling costs: molds are expensive and take time to develop.
– Less design flexibility: each change requires a new mold.
– Limited internal design: no way to match 3D printing’s lattice-style designs.
Where could these technologies go next?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Both 3D printing and MIM are just getting started in golf. In the next five to 10 years, we could see major breakthroughs in how clubs are designed, built and even customized for individual players.
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Fully 3D-printed club heads
We’re not far from a world where a driver or iron is printed as a single, unified structure — crown, face and internal support all tailored to optimize performance. That could unlock new levels of sound tuning, weight distribution and durability.
Think about it… you could have a fitting and, within a couple weeks, have a 1/1 set of irons or wedges built to exactly what you need. Shape, weight, loft, offset, all built into the head designed just for you. Umm… Yes, please.
Printed shafts, grips and hosels?
3D printing could expand into shafts and grips with integrated flex zones, dampening layers, or ergonomic shaping. It could even allow for multi-material construction within a single component.
Custom player tuning
MIM’s strength in volume and precision could lead to player-specific molds: grinds, shapes and even weight distributions tailored to their swing profile. Combine this with AI-powered fittings, and you’re looking at truly bespoke gear for every skill level or weekend warrior with deep enough pockets.
Cobra KING Custom Wedge
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Let’s take it a step further… hybrid tech
Imagine a MIM shell filled with a 3D-printed internal core. One provides the precision shaping and feel, the other fine-tunes performance from the inside out. This kind of hybrid construction could become the new standard in building the next generation of high-end club design.
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