FIX YOUR PUTTING
PUTTER FACE INSERT
TEST irtually every new putter launched How we measured roll skidded and how much back or topspin V comes with the promise of better Quintic Ball Roll is the system used by was imparted. roll. Whether the improvement the R&D teams at many of the top putter And because we realise golfers aren’t comes from face grooves, a new insert or manufacturers. A camera captures an robots, we spent a day at The Putting milling pattern, the designer’s intention is astonishing 360 frames per second to Studio at Crews Hill Golf Club, near always to reduce the amount putts skid, reveal how putts launch off the face, Enfield, testing each putter from the same impart more top spin and get putts rolling turning that information into digital images distance on a Quintic system. After Roll smoother, sooner. If they do that, they’re and data. The system’s also used by many crunching all the data we averaged our more likely to hole their line – and go in. of the world’s best putting instructors. findings across all three testers (the robot, TaylorMade’s Spider Tour Red – used by We chose three of our favourite putters James and Simon) and came up with our Masters champion Sergio Garcia among from each of the blade, mallet and MOI conclusions on which is the best rolling other big-name tour players – sports categories within our 2017 Top Gear tests, putter in each of our three categories. 45-degree grooves on its insert. Odyssey’s featuring the latest face tech. O-Works ‘microhinge’ insert is said to We collaborated with putting guru Dr The testers redefine what golfers consider to be good Paul Hurrion and used the putting robot James Wood, PGA Pro roll; and Ping says its variable width and and high-speed Ball Roll camera set up at Crews Hill Golf Club, Accredited models depth groove geometry adds consistency. his Quintic lab in Birmingham. Every putter Quintic Ball Roll Centre. What’s the best putter face to help you hole more? We tested this We, like you, would love to know which was mounted in the robot and hit 10 putts year’s most popular models on a Quintic Ball Roll system to find out putter actually rolls putts the best. It from 18 feet, while the camera and Simon Daddow sounds like a simple test, but we soon software looked on. We measured how Handicap 10 WORDS SIMON DADDOW PICTURES TOM CRITCHELL realised there’s a lot more to it... every putt launched off the face, how far it TG Equipment Editor ➔
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Odyssey BLADES Odyssey O-Works MALLETS O-Works #1 £179 R-Line £179
● www.odysseygolf.com ● Toe hang: Moderate ● www.odysseygolf.com ● Toe hang: Face balanced ● Average skid distance: 21.7 inches ● Average topspin: 31.91rpm ● Average skid distance: 22.9 inches ● Average topspin: 48.6rpm EVN Roll TaylorMade TP TECH: Odyssey says the new O-Works blades tested, it also generated the TECH: The mallet R-Line has obvious green’s surface, so it’s no surprise the insert promotes immediate topspin, most topspin, too. ER2 £249 differences to the bladed #1 but for the R-Line, with the O-Works insert and its Berwick £199 reducing skid and improving accuracy It’s important to remember personal purposes of this test – which focuses on forgiving, wide and stable head, regardless of your stroke. The insert is a preference came into it for our human ● www.evnroll.com ● Toe hang: Slight face technology – the two are the same. generated the highest average topspin ● www.taylormadegolf.com ● Toe hang: blend of 150 stainless steel ‘microhinges’ testers as it’s impossible to hide the ● Average skid distance: 22.5 inches R-Line’s face features the same blend for all putters tested. For Simon, it Face balanced ● Average skid distance: (which help lift the ball into roll at looks, feel, grip type and how different ● Average topspin: 21.31rpm of 150 stainless steel ‘microhinges’, produced a whopping 82.4rpm of 22.7 inches ● Average topspin: 34.6rpm impact) and a thermoplastic elastomer amounts of toe hang better suited our designed to deliver quick roll, and the topspin, which is really impressive. surround to ensure great feel and human strokes. But across the board TECH: Milled grooves are wider in the thermoplastic elastomer surround to For James it was second only to the TECH: The head is milled from 303 feedback. the O-Works is really strong. centre of the face and narrower towards promote feel and feedback. TaylorMade TP Collection Berwick. Skid stainless steel yet the insert is 6061 Interestingly, the blade category the toe and heel. Designer Guerin Rife distance wasn’t right at the very top of aluminium. Face grooves are milled at a VERDICT: Odyssey promised the new skidded putts for longer with less says “more face is more hit” so the VERDICT: Odyssey’s blurb on the the pile, but it was right on the test 45° angle up into the insert, which they O-Works insert would deliver better roll topspin (than the mallets), which we same energy is transmitted to off and on O-Works insert talks about better roll, average. For us, it shows there’s real roll say gets putts rolling 10-20% sooner. – and our results totally back up their reckon can be partly explained thanks centre hits, improving distance control. and boy does it deliver when housed in benefits from that new insert, which is VERDICT: The Berwick might look claims. The #1 not only produced the to the centre of gravity being closer to VERDICT: EVNRoll have burst onto the the R-Line’s mallet head. It’s widely now available on 10 different models, ordinary, but its performance when it least amount of skid (averaged across the face which means less forgiveness scene for good reason. Simon’s been a accepted that the more topspin you including 2Ball and counterbalanced comes to skid and topspin performance two testers and the robot) of the three on off-centre strikes. big fan since testing in January. The create, the better a putt rolls across a Tank options. is nothing short of first class. The insert slight toe hang really suits his stroke, so material is different to the popular Spider it’s no surprise it produced the lowest Tour, but crucially the 45° groove pattern skid numbers for all putters tested in is the same. For James it produced his his hands. Topspin numbers were just best topspin numbers and it was well below average for all the putters tested. inside Simon’s top three for roll, too.
Microhinges L-shaped stainless steel hinges are Bettinardi Ping Vault embedded into the Spin control elastomer insert. Impressive topspin BB1F £249 data validates the Oslo £275 performance of the ● www.bettinardi.com ● Toe hang: roll-encouraging ● www.ping.com ● Toe hang: Face Strong ● Average skid distance: 24.9 microhinges. balanced ● Average skid distance: 23.1 inches ● Average topspin: 11.5rpm inches ● Average topspin: 29.2rpm
TECH: Bettinardi offers three different TECH: TMilled grooves are deeper in face milling styles, which all deliver a the centre so off-centre hits experience Feelgood factor different feel. The honeycomb pattern greater energy transfer and speed up, The steel hinges on the BB1F produces the firmest feel. so they go as far as on-centre strikes. blend with the VERDICT: The traditional toe and heel VERDICT: Just like driver fittings there’s elastomer to deliver weighted blade design, with a strong tons of variables to consider when it a sense of crispness toe hang, means it wouldn’t be our comes to testing putters. But with the within a generally human tester’s preferred flatstick (only three mallets in our test producing the soft impact feel. Big choice because of their stroke type). But our This insert is now most topspin and the least skid (tied robot couldn’t notice the difference, available in eight with the MOI) there’s an obvious trend. and the BB1F skidded putts for longer tour-proven head The Oslo produced more topspin than than any other putter on test and shapes. any other in the hands of our robot, generated the second lowest topspin which says it’s capable as any of rolling numbers. putts as smoothly across a green. ➔
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EVNRoll #7 £275 MOI
● www.evnroll.com ● Toe hang: Slight ● Average skid distance: 20.8 inches ● Average topspin: 19.2rpm
TECH: This high-MOI putter has the VERDICT: All the EVNRoll putters really same face technology as the bladed ER2. impressed our panel during our Top Gear Its milled grooves are wider in the centre tests this year, and it’s great to see their TaylorMade Spider to take some of the heat out of the performance backed up with some really impact, and narrower towards the toe solid skid and roll data. Tour Red £269 and heel to give strikes away from the The ER7 generated the lowest skid centre more speed. In that way, the same average of all the putters tested, and for ● www.taylormadegolf.com ● Toe hang: energy is transmitted to off and on- James it was his lowest-skidding putter Moderate ● Average skid distance: 23.8 centre hits, improving distance control. with just 15 inches of travel before putts inches ● Average topspin: 17.34rpm Rife also believe the milling pattern started rolling perfectly across the helps accuracy through gear effect, green’s surface. TECH: The 45° face grooves of the Red which produces spin that counters the Like the EVNRoll ER2 (blade) it didn’t are just like those on the TP Collection aim of the blade. That should mean a quite impart as much topspin as the very Berwick, but the insert is different. better line on toe strikes, which open the best across all categories, but it did VERDICT: There’s not a hotter putter on face at impact, and heel strikes which generate more topspin than the other tour right now. Sergio, DJ, Day, Rahm... tend to shut the blade. two MOI putters we tested. they’ve all got one. Its toe hang and flow neck are tailored specifically to Day’s personal preference, but where our human testers spotted this our robot Nice roll obviously didn’t. On the robot the You could really Spider produced the least amount of improve yours by getting fitted. skid of any putter tested, which goes some way to explaining why so many tour pros are going gaga over it. Six things we learned... The biggest takeaway is that everyone’s stroke is different – so get fitted!
We should get fitted for putters in the idea of robot testing at TG, and always You want as much topspin as you can 1 same way we do a driver. Putters are come back to the same conclusion – golfers 5 get your hands on. We all want to hit the most used clubs in our bag. And if you are not robots. Our putting robot imparted smooth-running putts, but just like drivers, haven’t noticed prices are rising close to topspin on only two of the nine putters until we get on a launch monitor we Sweet face driver limits... yet how many of us have tested; all of the others had backspin. But it probably don’t understand how our putts A progressive milling been fitted for a putter? A proper fitting not was vice versa for the humans. With only launch off the putter face. For top-quality pattern broadens only helps improve skid and roll, but also one putter generating backspin (Ping Sigma putting you want as much top spin as you the sweetspot Ping Sigma G across the entire aim and on-centre strike consistency as G Wolverine T for James), it tells us that can get your hands on. Simon’s pronounced contact area. Wolverine T £175 well as a ton of other crucial variables. while robots come into their own for not forward press and ‘on-the-up’ stroke meant being brand-led, or having an opinion, they he consistently imparted the most topspin. ● www.ping.com ● Toe hang: Face There’s every chance you’re not aiming should only ever be part of a test. balanced ● Average skid distance: 2 at the hole. Part of using Quintic’s Ball So which putter rolls the best? Six of 23.7 inches ● Average topspin: 3.71rpm Roll software is initially setting the putter up Skid and roll should only be part of 6 the nine putters we tested produced squarely to the hole, and it’s measured 4 the equation when looking at a new either the lowest skid or the most amount TECH: A milled 6061 aluminium insert using a laser. Incredibly, on more than one putter. We’re certainly not saying because a of topspin for either an individual tester has grooves of varying width and pitch occasion, Simon (who’s a reasonable putter rolls better than another it’s a better or averaged across all three testers. Each to improve touch and distance control putter) set the putter face up aiming putter for everyone. It’s vitally important tester needs to marry up that skid and roll on every putt, says Ping. outside the hole, even though he thought he you like your flatstick and its design suits performance with a putter that’s suited VERDICT: The Wolverine’s head shape was aiming straight at the target. your putting stroke. Roll and skid are just to their own stroke and eye, to find their may be pretty funky, but its long two factors to consider when choosing a perfect model. Do that and you breed alignment stripe couldn’t be simpler. Putters perform very differently in the new putter; head shape, grip, toe hang and lasting confidence which inevitably leads Pick your head Our test pro wasn’t a massive fan of the 3 hands of a robot. We often toy with the length are all just as important. to holing more putts. It’s probably not the There are eight head, though, which could have played conclusion we wanted, but there’s no best models in the a part in the data collected. But it rolling putter solution for everyone. Based EVNRoll line-up, couldn’t hide how the Wolverine was the on our results though, we reckon if you’re from blades to high-MOI mallets. only putter on test to post backspin looking for a new putter in 2017 you’d be numbers – you actually want topspin – pretty foolish to not give the Odyssey from two testers (James and the robot). O-Works range at least a try.
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