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New Looks
World Of Choice
Find a putter through the science of your stroke
By Mike Stachura
Photos By Jim Herity
December 2008
Odyssey has 42 putter models in its 2009 line. Ping has 29. And Scotty Cameron's Titleist offers 17, though Cameron's roster of special models and prototypes easily numbers in the thousands. With so many options, the natural question is: How do I find the right one for me?
"Different hosel configurations will affect how the putter visually sets up, how it swings with the golfer's stroke, and how it feels in the golfer's hands," says Austie Rollinson, principal designer, innovation and advanced design at Odyssey. "Putters are definitely the most personal clubs in the bag." The good news is that it's getting a lot more sophisticated than just choosing something based on looks. More fitters are using diagnostic tools such as the SAM PuttLab (samputtlab.com), Tomi (tomi-golf .com) and the Adams DiXX putter (adamsgolf.com). They're also using multiple-angle cameras to analyze how a change in technique or equipment—toe-hang versus face-balanced, for instance—might improve your stroke.
"There's no question form and function are directly connected," says Blair Philip, director of research and development at Yes! Golf (yesgolf.com). "All these advances in fitting can really help, and we're just scratching the surface."
Not only does shape play a part in matching a putter to a player, but so does weight. Odyssey's White Hot Tour, Ping's iWi, Titleist's Scotty Cameron Studio Select and Never Compromise's GM2 Exchange all incorporate weight elements. Researchers at Ping have found that changing the weight of the putter by as little as 12 grams produces measurable differences for most golfers. "It really gives you the chance to see the difference weight makes in a stroke," says Dave Jones, senior project engineer at Ping. "There's another area where a golfer can customize his putter and improve. For example, we know that the extra weight is going to help performance by increasing inertia and giving the golfer more forgiveness."
Other ideas like internal grip weights (Balance-Certified, $110, balance-certified.com; and Tour Lock Pro $100, tourlockpro .com) shift the shaft balance point toward the hands, which could improve consistency for some players. That philosophy is also used in the Heavy Putter line (heavyputter.com), which features a 250-gram weight in the grip. It's this tinkering that leads to all of those different designs.
"The golfer has to have a liking for the clubhead," says custom-fitter Dana Upshaw, whose Dana Golf store in Warner Robins, Ga., uses a five-camera system for putter fittings. "But it's amazing how we can adapt and like something else if it works better."
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RIFE Abaco
- December 2008
- Milled from 304 stainless steel, the mid-mallet's grooved face is designed to improve initial roll by gripping the ball at impact ($180, rifeputters.com).
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ODSSEY Black Series-i No. 6
- The half-shaft offset carbon-steel blade combines a tungsten flange with an elastomer and urethane face insert. ($270, odysseygolf.com).
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YES! Tracy III Plus
- The heel-toe weighted 303 stainless-steel forged head (with semicircular face grooves) allows for interchangeable hosel configurations ($280, yesgolf.com).
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