What’s Your Experience with Center Shafted Putters?

[kenstl]

I am a fan of CS putters as well, after playing with an 8802 for 25+ years.  I have played the Seemore FGP, and currently play the LAB B2 at 37" and their DF2.1 in a long putter.  I put very upright so for me it just lines up well my stroke does not have a much rotation in it.  

 

[FairwaysToHeaven]

For those who believe in the CS and zero offset aiding in alignment for RH left eye players - any alternative putters that offer zero offset yet aren't center shaft. 

 

i seem to definitely align the putter better with center shaft, just don't love the look and question the stability after watching TXG episode. 

 

Any other options i should consider outside of CS

[CUBuffaloes]

1 hour ago, FairwaysToHeaven said:

For those who believe in the CS and zero offset aiding in alignment for RH left eye players - any alternative putters that offer zero offset yet aren't center shaft. 

 

i seem to definitely align the putter better with center shaft, just don't love the look and question the stability after watching TXG episode. 

 

Any other options i should consider outside of CS

 

I'm experimenting with a Bettinardi Queen Bee 6 right now. It's face balanced and has a half shaft of offset. Seems to work pretty well. The Axis1 putters also have minimal offset.

https://shop.axis1golf.com/collections/putters/products/axis1tour-hm

Edited March 28, 2023 by CUBuffaloes

[TonyRo]

Can someone link to the TXG episode in question? I'd like to check it out.

[mlgc94]

Rife 2bar mallet CS. Changed my life haha 

[Copious Large]

I've got two CS putters and the switch has really helped me hit my lines. I'm right handed but left eye dominant. It fits the way I want to aim and the stroke is more natural for me. If you struggle with other necks I would suggest giving it a look.

[JDTex]

On 4/6/2023 at 6:35 PM, Copious Large said:

I've got two CS putters and the switch has really helped me hit my lines. I'm right handed but left eye dominant. It fits the way I want to aim and the stroke is more natural for me. If you struggle with other necks I would suggest giving it a look.

What's the head weight on that Goodwood? Looks really good.

[JohnBrew]

Gaming a Sacks Parente 54 CS Mallet. Had been using a TM Spider X Hydroblast since it came out. 

The CS just made more sense to me from a physics standpoint. No twist or torque problems. 

[Copious Large]

On 1/6/2024 at 10:50 AM, JDTex said:

What's the head weight on that Goodwood? Looks really good.

365

[RoryM.]

I played golf many years ago and used a Spaulding Center-fire putter. Not a fine instrument but I putted well with it. Started playing again after we sold the ranch in Wyoming and moved to Virginia. Where there are golf courses. I got a new Mizuno OMOI type 5 which is a Center-fire.  I injured my knee awhile back and it's winter here, so my play has been minimal. I've found that, like someone else mentioned, I have awesome days and some not so much. It comes with three different weight sets so I've been experimenting with those in the house. Curious if anyone has had more of an opportunity to try this one out. I'm right handed and left eye dominant. 

[Klubster]

I am just better with a center shafted putter.  Perhaps it is because I used a Bullseye putter from the time I was in high school.  It is just what works for you in putting.

 

Do any of you who do not like them use goose neck putters?  Essentially, the shaft in most of them is aligned with the center of the head just like a center shafted putter.  Those are a lot different than a heel aligned shaft as those tend to make me miss to the left while center shafted and goose neck perform similarly. 

[Jersey golfer]

I putt better with a center=shafted putter with toe hang. Recently picked up an Odyssey Versa 12 CS that is face balanced, soon to be on ebay.

[tatertot]

5 hours ago, RoryM. said:

I played golf many years ago and used a Spaulding Center-fire putter. Not a fine instrument but I putted well with it. Started playing again after we sold the ranch in Wyoming and moved to Virginia. Where there are golf courses. I got a new Mizuno OMOI type 5 which is a Center-fire.  I injured my knee awhile back and it's winter here, so my play has been minimal. I've found that, like someone else mentioned, I have awesome days and some not so much. It comes with three different weight sets so I've been experimenting with those in the house. Curious if anyone has had more of an opportunity to try this one out. I'm right handed and left eye dominant. 

My dad played with that Centerline for years ... Never seen another one.

[dmeeksDC]

I like center shafts but not with the shaft right in the middle and right up on the face. I feel like it blocks me seeing the ball well. It just bothers me. So I go for heads where the shaft enters just heel side of center (Odyssey 12 CS) or is set well back (like this Honu putter). 

 

[boggyman]

Big fan,work well for me.

Edited January 23 by boggyman

[dffjunior]

CS changed my golf life.  I was a terrible, terrible putter.  Multiple 3 putts per round bad, never made anything.  I could choke a 4 footer like no one's business.  I didn't keep statistics back then but if I did I'm sure I would have been in the 40's constantly.

 

One day I was in a GolfSmith (RIP) and did the obligatory grab-random-putter thing.  I happened to be in the used section and didn't pay much attention and grabbed a CS.  I stood over it and something in my brain just loved it.  Smooth, light, easy-swinger.  I made four 15 footers with it, walked it over to the counter, and bought it on the spot.  It wasn't just that I made them, it's how amazingly I could just see the ball and the line I wanted to put it on.  That was a Rife Trinidad.  I cycled through a bunch of different CS putters because I'm a tinkerer, but every single one still got me great results.  The first year I kept statistics I averaged 34.3 putts per round, 2023 was 32.2 (long winter breaks in Ohio).  

 

I gamed a Scotty 2.6 for a while, then Rife 2-Bar, Cleveland 5.5, Rife Barbados, Scott Golo 5s, heck I gamed a Callaway Solaire for over a year - ladies' club, tiny little thing, but man did I roll that nicely.  I started using it when I played a course notorious for lightning fast greens and it did the trick.  I ended up settling on the Rife Barbados (original, not the Innovex version) in about 2015 and it's been in the bag since.  Let me tell you there's nothing like the feel of an OG Rife putter.

 

It's a great feeling to stand over a putt and think "I know i have a chance to make this".   One of my favorite golf moments ever was when I airmailed a par 5 on my 2nd shot and had a nasty chip to a steep downhill pin.  I pitched it just above the hole and let it run all the way down to the front fringe, leaving about 20 feet straight back up that hill.  My buddy looked at me with sympathy in his eyes and said "that was a hard shot to hold".  My response we was "No man I did exactly what I wanted to.  I can't stop a downhill putt on this green anywhere near the hole and it would probably just run off the front anyway.  But I can make an uphill 20 footer from the fringe".  And I did.  Best birdie I ever made.

 

 

[Pepperturbo]

I used a Callaway White Hot #5 center shafted putter from the 90s until 2012; did well with it, but something was lacking in my attitude.  In 2012, I discovered Callaway's putter fitting website.  Don't think it exists today.  No science, all feel.

 

Anyway, answered all the questions, and it came back saying I should be using a one-shaft offset, putter with toe flow.  So, I bought the SC Monterey, tournament weighed, D5 SW, one-full-offset, medium toe flow.  I make a lot more birdies and make  better lag putts to 1-2' past the cup.

[lopey986]

Nice to see some fellow left eye dominant/right hand players chatting in here. I'm either going to throw a wilson south side in the bag for 100 bucks, maybe go a little more expensive with a sub 70 005 wide blade for around 200 bucks or possibly even give LAB putters a shot, but probably don't want to drop 500+ for an experiment. But it seems like going center shaft and moving the ball up a bit will help a lot for being LE/RH dominant.

[kstrong84]

I've had success with the center shaft putter.  I think center shaft, no offset, works particularly well for me because I'm a RH player but left eye dominant and also I write left handed.  I find this setup allows me to see from the left and control the stroke from the left.

 

H Here's the wand I'm currently working with:

 

[kstrong84]

On 1/21/2024 at 11:17 AM, RoryM. said:

I played golf many years ago and used a Spaulding Center-fire putter. Not a fine instrument but I putted well with it. Started playing again after we sold the ranch in Wyoming and moved to Virginia. Where there are golf courses. I got a new Mizuno OMOI type 5 which is a Center-fire.  I injured my knee awhile back and it's winter here, so my play has been minimal. I've found that, like someone else mentioned, I have awesome days and some not so much. It comes with three different weight sets so I've been experimenting with those in the house. Curious if anyone has had more of an opportunity to try this one out. I'm right handed and left eye dominant. 

So what have you experimented with regarding the weight setups?  How much does adding weight to the toe change the degree of toe hang??  

[kstrong84]

On 1/29/2024 at 9:10 AM, lopey986 said:

Nice to see some fellow left eye dominant/right hand players chatting in here. I'm either going to throw a wilson south side in the bag for 100 bucks, maybe go a little more expensive with a sub 70 005 wide blade for around 200 bucks or possibly even give LAB putters a shot, but probably don't want to drop 500+ for an experiment. But it seems like going center shaft and moving the ball up a bit will help a lot for being LE/RH dominant.

So what hand do you write with?  That can affect your preferences too!  I'm right hand golfing, left eye dominant, left hand writing person (aka confused lol).

[the bishop]

I have a few CS putters (Sub70 005 Wide CS, Maltby PTM5 CS w/Maltby SS, TEE 706).  What I've found w/CS is that on left to right putts (playing righty) I have an easier time hitting my start line.  As a result I make more slider putts w/CS, and my misses tend to be more high side resulting in shorter come backs.