A reader recently asked: “Do you see 3D printed clubs as a fad or the way of the future?” It’s an excellent question about a technology that’s already transforming golf equipment manufacturing.
3D printing in golf clubs isn’t some futuristic concept we’re waiting on – it’s already here and has been for a while. Players like Bryson DeChambeau, Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, Kyle Westmoreland, and Max Homa have all put 3D printed clubs in play on Tour. To date, COBRA has 3D printed irons, utility irons, wedges, and putters. And that’s the stuff we know about. I’d bet good money that there are some metalwood prototypes somewhere in COBRA’s R&D department.
Why 3D Printing makes sense for golf clubs
The magic of 3D printing (or additive manufacturing) lies in its fundamental difference from traditional methods. When you forge or mill a clubhead, you start with a big chunk of metal and shape it down – trimming edges, milling pockets, essentially taking away a bunch of material you don’t need until you arrive at your final shape.
3D printing flips this approach on its head. Instead of removing what you don’t want, you’re only adding what you need – building the club layer by layer from the ground up. This makes creating complex geometries significantly easier and allows designers to avoid having to work around what I suppose qualifies as mandatory weight where it isn’t desirable, instead placing mass only where it benefits performance.
What we’ve seen so far
To date, we’ve seen products like the COBRA 3DP Tour Irons (a full market release of what was the LIMIT3D), which deliver game-improvement-like performance in a compact package typically reserved for better players’ irons. And while that’s cool in and of itself, it’s just the first of what will likely be several 3D printed golf clubs offered to consumers.






