Cobra

Why we like it

Fairway woods are designed to hit off the turf, so making the face larger to increase its trampoline effect could potentially compromise other performance characteristics. Cobra’s design team, however, believes it can make a fairway-wood face bigger (and, therefore, hotter) by wrapping the face around the leading edge and into the sole. This lets the high-strength steel face insert take advantage of an aggressive variable-thickness pattern. A more flexible sole also contributes to faster ball speeds for both on and off-centre strikes.

Darkspeed X

• The centre of gravity is lower and more forward than in the Darkspeed Max for less ball spin and a slightly lower trajectory.
• The face wraps around the sole to improve speed on shots struck lower on the face.
• 15, 16.5, 18, 21 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel).

Top 10 best rated, fairway woods, low-handicaps

Darkspeed max

• The shallow face inspires confidence on tighter lies.
• The wraparound L-shape insert improves on and off-centre face flexing for distance.
• Expect Max to launch higher and with more spin compared to Darkspeed X.
• 15.5, 18.5, 21.5 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel).

Top 5 best sound/feel, fairway woods, high-handicaps