FIRST LOOK: Cobra’s limited edition Rickie Fowler “RF Proto” Rev33 irons

By: Andrew Tursky January 25, 2021

Rickie Fowler had his hands all over the design of the RF Proto irons.

Cobra

Rickie Fowler is currently using some of the flashiest, and most intimidating-looking, sets of irons in the game. His Cobra RF Proto irons are unique for many reasons, but most of all, Fowler helped design the irons himself.

Since showing up with the custom irons at the 2020 TaylorMade Driving Charity Relief event in May, fans of the clubs were left wondering whether they would ever hit retail. Well, Cobra has officially delivered. The company announced today that it’s releasing limited edition Rickie Fowler “RF Proto” irons to the public, and the heads are designed to match Fowler’s gamers.

As GOLF.com previously reported, Fowler worked directly with Cobra’s team for over a year to develop the eye-catching, copper-finished irons exactly how he wanted them; and it took 33 revisions (thus the “Rev33” stamping) to get them just right.

“He had a vision in his head of what he thought would be really cool, unique and pleasing for him to look at,” Ben Schomin, Cobra’s Tour operation manager, told GOLF.com.

The RF Proto irons are clearly blade-style constructions, but there’s a lot more to them than just thin shapes and a cool color scheme. During the designing process, Fowler mentioned to Schomin that he prefers the look of his 7-iron to the other short irons in the set.

“I remember him telling me, ‘I really love the 7-iron, it’s the best-looking club in the set,’” Schomin said. “But to him, everything below the 7-iron didn’t look nearly as good in the address position.”

Therefore, the irons in the set are designed around the look of Fowler’s 7 iron. Cobra describes the look as having “distinct sharp edges on the toe and topline area to suit Fowler’s eye.”

Here’s how Schomin describes the irons: “If you look at the 7-iron at address, it’s like, OK, that looks kinda crazy. It’s got no loft to it, looks pretty square and has a flat topline. But it’s not outrageous or out of the ordinary. Then you get down into the 8, 9 and pitching wedge and you can tell it has a very unique look to it. But that’s what he was envisioning, wanting the rest of the set to look kind of like the 7-iron.”

Looking down from address, you’ll also notice the drastically reduced offset and extremely thin toplines that Fowler prefers. Remember, these irons were made for Fowler, a five-time PGA Tour winner, so they’re a far cry from game-improvement irons made for average players.

Like Fowler’s set, the retail RF Proto irons go through a rigorous construction process. The heads are forged two times from 1025 soft carbon, and then they’re CNC-milled for an exact build. Cobra says the milling process takes 155 minutes, per head, to complete. Additionally, each head has Tungsten weights in the toe section, helping position CG (center of gravity) directly behind the center of the faces.

Cobra’s new RF Proto irons (4-PW; right-hand only) will sell for $2,499 per set, and they come equipped with KBS C-Taper shafts and Golf Pride Tour Align grips that use Cobra Connect technology. They’re currently available for pre-order and hit retail on January 29. Also, the limited-edition sets come in custom boxes, with a card of authenticity, stamped by Cobra R&D, and signed by Fowler himself.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2021? Visit the expert fitters at our sister company, True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below.