Lady Blue Hens Invitational coming again to Cape Region
October 23, 2026
The University of Delaware Lady Blue Hens women’s golf team hosts its 13th annual Battle at the Beach at Rehoboth Beach Country Club Oct. 24-25.
Cape Region golf fans are welcome to come to the Club to watch the action.
Participating teams include host UD, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, Howard, University of Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart University, Seton Hall, St. John’s University, and Youngstown State.
After a Friday practice round, the competition begins early Saturday morning with a shotgun start for two 18-hole rounds. The event concludes with a third 18-hole round Sunday, followed by the awards presentation.
As in prior years, RBCC members helped with lodging for several teams, which comes in handy when the tournament runs concurrent with the Sea Witch weekend.
Cobra drivers feature tighter dispersion design
At the 2026 PGA Show I met once again with Cobra Golf representative Caitlyn Farley. The former college golfer discussed this year’s edition of the company’s new OPTM drivers.
“No one knows exactly what happens to the golf ball when you hit on the high toe or the low heel,” she said. “There are certain dynamics when you hit the ball in those locations that cause the clubhead to twist diagonally.”
OPTM drivers in four configurations
Cobra’s engineers worked on what the industry calls “product of inertia, or POI.” Farley said the company “studied multiple impact locations on the face, and where certain mass positions within the clubhead impacted overall clubhead stability.”
She said the new design “prioritizes low POI.” As Farley explained, this feature “reduc[es] the twisting that occurs when you hit the ball on those high toe or low heel areas. All in all, you have a more stable clubhead that no matter where you hit it on the clubface, it will help the ball start closer to the intended target line, and land closer to the intended target line. Based on our testing, users should expect to see 23% tighter dispersion downrange.”
“Now we’re offering golfers the opportunity to hit a spot on the fairway when they’re strategizing the hole from tee to green and where they want to make their approach shot from.”
As with Cobra’s prior models, the OPTM comes in four basic driver configurations.
“The LS is our low spin compact tour shape that allows for the most workability,” Farley said. “We have the X model, which continues to have low spin and workability but more forgiveness heel/toe. We have our Max K, which is our 10K MOI driver. Very stable across the entire face, little bit bigger profile, designed for the player who wants to be able to hit it all over the face but still hit fairways. It creates a little higher spin than you’ll find in the X and the LS, and a higher launch.”
“And then there’s the Max E, with a similar profile size and player target, but with draw bias,” she said. “The unique part of its design is that it is low spin. A better player who does fight a slice can use the Max E and still retain speed and distance with all the slice-correcting power that they need.”
Static loft options cover the full expected range of driver lofts, depending on the model. “We offer 9 degree, 10 ½, and 12,” Farley said. “The Max K and the Max E are available with the 12-degree loft. The LS is up to a 10 ½.”
The company continues to offer last year’s innovation, a Future Fit 33 sleeve, on all models. The adjustable hosel can be changed up to 2 degrees maximum for loft or lie in either direction and independently of each other.
We also discussed Cobra’s new mini driver. Farley said, “It’s a popular product these days, across all companies.”
“At 300 ccs in size, this product is good for two types of people,” she continued. “Our best players who are looking for a second driver off the tee, targeting tight aiming spots and narrow fairways, or somebody would doesn’t have great success hitting a 460-cc driver. They might have a hard time squaring up the club face, so they don’t see a lot of accuracy. With the smaller club they have an easier time getting it squared up and hit more accurate tee shots. You can also hit this off the deck if you want to. If you hit the golf ball low on the face, you’re still going to get the launch and speed that you need.”
Farley said some of the retailers Cobra works with “are seeing 20% of the total driver sales in the mini category.” She also said golfers are using the club as the longest fairway wood in their bag. “For the player who struggles with a 3 wood this is a great option for them either off the tee or off the deck. It really serves a wide range of players. It’s not necessarily relegated to the tour players, even though that’s where it gained its current popularity,” Farley said.
“It’s capturing a new category of customers who we weren’t serving with our regular fairway woods. It’s a nice complement to the existing lineup,” she said.