First Mallet Putter - Taylormade Ardmore 3 or Toulon Portland

[ARSM1932]

I have always played with blade putters (mostly Ping Anser / Scotty Cameron Newport styles) and my current gamer is a Ping Sigma G D66 which is a lovely little putter and which I am very happy with, my putting is actually pretty decent these days but after much thought I have now decided to purchase a mid mallet putter to experiment with on my practice putting green over the winter.

 

I would prefer a compact mid mallet style with some toe hang so that it will play kind of similar to a blade but with a little extra forgiveness, I have tried a few different models over the past couple of weeks and my favourite so far is the Taylormade Ardmore 3 but I then discovered the very similar looking Toulon Portland whilst browsing the Internet so now I am undecided which one to choose.

 

So if anyone has tried both of these putters then I would really like to hear your thoughts on them and any differences between them, also I would like to hear the thoughts of anyone who has recently changed to a mallet or mid mallet putter after playing blade putters all their golfing lives.

[SC-TX 88]

I have both, two different putter looks in my opinion. The Portland is much more compact (it’s basically a blade with small wings) and the Ardmore is in like with a number 7 size head.

[WidespreadPanic]

I played a flow neck #9 style my whole life, I’m 31, but wanted to try a winged mallet. After lots of golf store trips I settled on the Ardmore 3 and I’ve been using it for about a year now. I absolutely love it. To my eye it is the most similar to a blade mallet there is. It also has basically the same amount of toe hang as a blade. Give it a shot.

[duffputter]

I have played a lot of different putters in the last couple of seasons (Scotty's,Bettinardi,Ping, Odyssey,Evnroll) searching for that "perfect" putter. I can honestly say after playing with Toulon Portland my search is over (for now). It is by far the best feeling putter I have used and it just checks all the boxes for me. Milled, soft, easy to align, well balanced and just gives me the confedence I have been looking for in all the other putters.

[erwinch]

I rolled both yesterday and liked them both but I personally like the Ardmore better. The Toulon head seemed very compact and had a firmer feel but a nice sound off the face. As someone mentioned it is essentially a blade with small wings. I am waiting to see if TM drops a black Ardmore with a flow neck (like the one Tiger was using) in 2019 and if so it'll be going in the bag.

[Jaygolf37]

For me, the Ardmore 3 sits perfect, rolls perfect, and sounds perfect. It adjustable as well. I honestly feel that the Toulon cannot be over $100 better...no matter how you look at it.

[Backsidefloater]

I have a taylormade Mullen and Toulon Atlanta. I game the Atlanta because I like the look better but performance wise they are similar though the taylormade seems to sit open at address

[extrastiff]

i like toulon more, but like another poster said its not worth 100 more.

 

if u can find a toulon atlanta, portland, or non face-balanced memphis, on golfwrx bst or ebay for $250 or less, i would do that. Otherwise ardmore. unless money is no thing, then i say get both lol. resale on both is good as u will see while searching.

[jtj74]

The Ardmore 3 is a fantastic stick. I have been gaming it this year and it's staying in the bag as my main putter next year(at least that's the plan but this IS golfwrx)

 

I also just picked up a mullen for cheap to mix in once in a while. Don't sleep on it. If this is an experiment for you that may be a good route to go for a trial. You can find one for $75ish pretty easily.

[bunta]

The TP line ( i have ardmore 2L), to me, has by far the best insert in golf for feel and roll.

[ARSM1932]

Thanks everyone for all your opinions,there have been very positive thoughts on both putters so I am still somewhat undecided,however I only just noticed yesterday that the Toulon Portland is currently not on the Callaway Golf Europe website so I emailed them and i have just been told that additional Toulon putter models may become available in Europe next year although I got no definitive word on whether the Portland would be included in those, to be fair that is a bit of a bummer for me as I don't really fancy waiting several months just to see if the Portland becomes available so I think that I may just revisit one of my local golf shops who have the Taylormade Ardmore 3 in stock and have another practice session with it.

 

I see that the Ardmore 3 is available in Red and Red/White with a slant neck and in Black with a plumbers neck so which versions have you all tried and is the Red/White version much better for alignment, it was the red version which I tried out recently.

[Craigstands17]

I always played blade putters up until this year. I found myself struggling a bit on the greens this year, and decided i wanted to make a change. I ended up going with the Black Ardmore 3 plumbers neck after trying both the Red/White version and Portland. While i liked the Portland, the Black Ardmore 3 just seemed to work better for me. I had never played an insert putter before it, but after a slight adjustment period i can honestly say i have never putted better. I'm not a fan of the whole red putter concept as i can not get comfortable over the putter looking down at that. The Black Ardmore is very easy to line up, almost point and shoot, and the Pure Roll insert feels great to me and I actually forget its an insert all the time.

[Jaygolf37]

^^^^^^^^^^^ What this guy says ^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

I like the looks of slant neck winged putters, but I putt better with Ardmore 3’s plumbers neck. IMO, the black copper is better than the red in terms of looks.

[WidespreadPanic]

I have the all red flow neck (it was the only option when I got it) and I have no issue lining it up. I actually asked Continental Golf if they could make the middle section white, mainly for looks, even before Taylormade released that version - they said they couldn’t, which was surprising. Anyways, the putter sits perfectly behind the ball and frames it really well. It just comes down to which neck you prefer.

[dmeeksDC]

The TP line ( i have ardmore 2L), to me, has by far the best insert in golf for feel and roll.

 

YES! Not even a TM guy in general, but I play a TM Chaska because the insert is the best and for my game is better than the Toulon milled face. The TM insert gets it rolling and saves speed on off-center putts, which happens more than golfers think. The Chaska was the one I liked the look of least but the high MOI and feel of it I like a lot and I am very much on target with how it sets up. Also like the Mullen (the silver one has toe hang) and the Ardmore.

 

The mid-mallet that gets overlooked but is very high quality and has beautiful feel off face is the Argolf Avalon. Similar to the Ardmore/Mullen in shape.

 

I usually seek toe hang putters in the 2-4:30 range but the Chaska is face balanced and it has made no difference. Works great. I am thinking of grabbing another so I can modify it — add an in-shaft weight under my lower hand, add a 100 gram Pure perfectly round grip, up the headweight to 370 grams and see how she does.

[OLD_BONES]

I think you should try the Odyssey O Works #7. BTW I have one for sale on BST.

[drscott266]

I had a Portland, and loved the feel at first but when I got on the greens I couldn't putt with it at all. Everything went left on me, or rocketed off the face when I was trying to lag it... I had zero touch with it. It is also extremely compact, so much so I ended up selling it. It was decently forgiving on toe or heel hits.

 

The ardmore has my eye now, and I will probably buy one... the AGSI insert is absolutely legit, I had an old Rossa Monza Corza with it, and it flat out rolls the ball. The ardmore caught my eye at Pebble, and my shop just got the black copper in. Much larger than portland, but has the rounded look in the wings I like. Basically Justin Thomas's Scotty would be ideal for me, but the rounded wings are tour only. Always been a cameron newport guy, but adding an ardmore to stable might be in the near future.

[Kaexo]

If you can order pxg through the heroes program I would highly recommend the Bat Attack with short slant neck for $150 or $95 if you buy another club with it.

[Kaexo]

> @drscott266 said:

> Basically Justin Thomas's Scotty would be ideal for me, but the rounded wings are tour only.

 

Are you talking about the X5R? It has rounded wings. JT's is nothing but a circle T X5 with welded flow neck. Nothing round about those wings.

 

 

[5hort5tuff]

I would take the ardmore for both the style and price.

[Ivyguy]

Back in the day, I fell in love with the Yes Evelyn (very small mallet) . I was always a blade person, but it just set up nice.

 

Truth is, because it was small I felt as though I had to hit the putter instead of roll the ball... if that makes sense.

 

I am currently in the hunt for a mallet. Its time to transition, for me anyways.