Chú thích ảnh

By Robert Bicknell

This last week was absolutely horrible for me, which started when people at the Callaway demo day asked me if I wanted to try their club…and handed me one with a “regular” shaft club. I looked at them and casually asked, “Do you know who I am?”

They said, “Nope.”

With all I’ve done in golf in Việt Nam over the last 27 years, there is nothing in the world which will destroy your ego faster than not being recognized, or even heard of. Yes, the new generation of golfers have no idea who I am.

I toyed with the idea of doing a mock “American Express commercial”…

“Hi, do you know me? I used to be a famous golf professional in Việt Nam, but now nobody even knows my name. That’s why I carry the American Express card… Don’t tee off without it.”

The week gets worse because the 18^th of March was also the anniversary of the deaths of my sister and father.

Normally, when I get this depressed, I usually turn to my favorite two videos on YouTube: “World’s Cutest Thief” (which is about Canadian “Pika” (an animal that looks like a small rabbit, but unlike rabbits, they scream at each other. Go check it out…I’ll wait…), and “Hamster in a blanket eating a carrot.”

Neither of these seemed to help, but fortunately the Cobra guys showed up for their demo day, and I gotta tell you it was nice to see some old faces for a bit and try out the new Cobra King F9 driver and irons.

New clubs can cheer up old golfers.

As I get older, I’m looking for something more forgiving in my irons…ah hell, who am I kidding? I’m looking for irons which will swing themselves, hit the ball dead on target, clean themselves and hop back into the bag.

Yes, getting old sucks.

The King F9 driver has a milled face which felt really solid at impact, but I wasn’t crazy about the shaft they had in there, but this is not unusual as I often hate every shaft on the planet. I’m finicky and grouchy that way. This is another reason why I have my own clubs fitted and it takes two weeks to find the right head / shaft combination that I like. Of course, by this time, the fitter and equipment manufacture are aggravated and pouring petrol on themselves while looking for a lighter.

Yes, I have that effect on people.

The F9 King Speedback driver comes in two options, US or Asian, with the Asian model being slightly lighter. Both models feature the “Speedback” design to allow the club to achieve “true optimization of aerodynamics.”

Yes, you know I copied that from the brochure as I would never talk that way. I’m also cheap with my words and would have simply said, “It’s faster” which is the buzzword in driver technology now. Faster is better.

The F9 irons were very forgiving and felt good at impact and had the ball flight I wanted. I couldn’t complain about it, which irked me. I like complaining.

What’s interesting is that the irons have the ”Cobra Connect” electronically enabled grip system which helps you keep track of your stats and improve your game.

Of course, with me, the grip would be tracking how far the club flew through the air and how many revolutions it went through before crashing to earth. No, I never throw clubs into the lake, its bad form, and also because I’m cheap.

The F9 iron series also comes with a “one length” option where every iron in the set is the same length. This seems to be the latest craze in golf and it makes sense, especially to old people like me who don’t like bending.

The last time I bent forward from the hips, my back cracked so loud people thought they heard thunder.

It’s worth checking out the next Cobra demo day for yourself to see if there is a new potential weapon for your golf bag.

I was going to review the Callaway clubs, but I’m old grouchy and vindictive. Next time they’d better know who the hell I am… and get off my lawn!

Ah, Pika videos… “MEEEEEP!” —VNS