How much improvement is there, really, from a $100 putter to a $400 putter? Is it pure marketing, or is there truly a technological improvement that effects your game?

[hidrives]

I bought an Odyssey white hot well over a decade ago and was in the golf shop recently when I saw putters pushing past $300 and $400. I didn't try putting with one, but it made me wonder for those that have tried different ones, is there really a difference in hitting one of the high end models vs. a middle of the road one? Putters to me have always been fairly basic pieces of equipment. I don't know if I have an outdated view because the technology does make a difference, or if it's pure marketing and people will shoot just as well with a $400 putter as with a $100 putter, assuming they are buying a quality brand. 

[Lobby]

🍿

[KansasHacker]

Marketing imo, but putters are cool might as well get one of each 

[boggyman]

If you can putt you can do it with a $20 Ping from the GoodWill, plain and simple. 

[hidrives]

You both hit on what I generally assumed. When I went with my White Hot, I initially bought a cheap putter called a Hippo. I took it home, putt with it for a few times on the carpet, and returned it for the White Hot. It made a huge difference in feel, but the Hippo was trash so that made sense. That said, I can't imagine the feel or technology making a world of difference if the putter has any quality at all. I am happy to be wrong, though, if there's a good argument. 

[cgasucks]

Tour pros have won with $1000+ putters...but they also won with used bargain bin putters bought from the tour stop's local golf store. 

 

What do you think?

Edited December 21, 2023 by cgasucks

[boggyman]

7 minutes ago, cgasucks said:

Tour pros have won with $1000+ putters...but they also won with used bargain bin putters bought from their local golf store. 

 

What do you think?

Furyk is a classic example of this! 

[NNJ]

It depends.

 

Putters are extremely personal, and may be the most mentally-related club in the bag. What “works” for you is based on more than just your putting stroke. The “feel”, and appearance also matter, and they matter in multiple ways. Depending on how you address the ball a certain appearance is going to be better for you and depending on how you putt a certain feel might be better.

 

but of course on top of that it’s all mental. A certain feel may work better for you because you prefer it which gives you more confidence, a certain appearance may be preferable for the same reason.

Finally there’s a mental aspect where you may be (perhaps incorrectly) confident because you bought a premium putter. If this actually increases your confidence it makes that club better.

 

i found that when I got fit, a $150 putter worked just as well as a $500 putter, so i bought the $500 putter 

[RogerinNewZealand]

Great timing. Being a Wrx Ho.. just bought Ping 2011 Anser 2 Milled Face. $350us new. Was the best value locally in New Zealand pre xmas. I usually buy a Project Putter every Xmas. A Scotty blade, Cleveland blade, Odyssey Tank or Rossie 2. Its a good Rossie 2 that i was after..again!! Bought a Craz Ee 3 years ago ..just couldnt get the accuracy on long putts eg too short or too long. My current putter is Ping Karsten B60,around 340 grams with The Grip..pp58 in as new condition.

I cant put with any old putter. Just my story.

Very Merry Xmas too you all😊

 

[MattM97]

More expensive ones will usually have tighter tolerances, usually. They'll also have the latest R&D or technology in them, marketing, etc. Over time those will usually be less and less, a White Hot OG right now is $199 but they were released at $280 I believe but the 2023 OG are different from the 2021 OG but essentially the same putter. 

 

But at the same time options are good a $400 to you may be just pointless but to someone else they want the tech, they want the newest thing and to them a $100 putter is nothing they'll ever consider. It's the joy of golf, there's so much to pick from. If there were only $100 putters, $400 drivers and $1000 iron sets this game would be boring and dull. As insane as it may be $1000+ putters, irons heads at $400+ each and whatever other insane options there are make golf fun for many. 

[jholz]

I played fine with Pings and Odysseys for over 30 years. 

 

After roughly 3 years with a Bettinardi, there's no way I could ever go back.

YMMV.  

[roundersmitty]

Considering the price of a fitting and all options available….it is near impossible to get the optimal fitted putter yielding the best results for $100. 

[BlkNGld]

Let's take a tried and true Anser.   One you cast out of a mold, tumble for a bit for finishing, add some paintfill to the logo, model, and sightline, stick a shaft, grip, and headcover on it and you're good to go.

 

Another one is a block of steel that goes into a CNC machine, runs for a while, you then apply some plating, add multi color paintfill and some bejeweled artwork.   Stick a shaft, grip, and head cover on it and you're good to go.    The milling is going to make it look nicer, milling on the face will alter sound/feel, you'll probably have a fancier shaft band, and the grip will be as well.   Headcover will have some fancier embroidery and plusher padding.   It costs more to produce just on the basis of time and material cost, but likely not 4 times the cost.

 

Whether it helps you putt better, or if it's enough to justify the price is up to you.

 

There have been times that I've picked up what was the entry level Ping Anser and thought it felt and rolled better than the Scottys or even the upscale Ping version of the same putter.   The opposite has been true as well.

[BlkNGld]

27 minutes ago, boggyman said:

Furyk is a classic example of this! 

 

He's also a classic example of a putter ho!

[Phabs]

None.

 

May be a significant feel difference …. Which may help or it may hurt depending on each person. 

[pjc]

2 hours ago, boggyman said:

Furyk is a classic example of this! 

Or better yet Brandt Snedeker.

[Ephemerlol]

Its all marketing, but the placebo effect produces real results so who can say spending 400 bucks won't improve your putting...

[kb7]

2 hours ago, boggyman said:

If you can putt you can do it with a $20 Ping from the GoodWill, plain and simple. 

 

Good putters can putt with a $400 Scotty or an empty beer can tied to the end of a stick. Fancy putters are one of those things that we get in to that no one other than yourself or a few other total putter junkies will ever even notice, let alone care about. 

[PuffyC]

I bought a Scotty Cameron putter for the same reason people pay $5000 for a watch that can't keep time as well as a $39 Timex. Because they're cool and I wanted one. Actual performance never entered the equation.

[MelloYello]

3 hours ago, hidrives said:

I bought an Odyssey white hot well over a decade ago and was in the golf shop recently when I saw putters pushing past $300 and $400. I didn't try putting with one, but it made me wonder for those that have tried different ones, is there really a difference in hitting one of the high end models vs. a middle of the road one? Putters to me have always been fairly basic pieces of equipment. I don't know if I have an outdated view because the technology does make a difference, or if it's pure marketing and people will shoot just as well with a $400 putter as with a $100 putter, assuming they are buying a quality brand. 

 

If you live in a modern consumer culture, the prices you're paying for things often have very little to do with their "use" value. 

 

Google "kinds of economic value."

 

Here's a snip-it from Wikipedia's article on "Value (economics)":

 

 

 

In short, no. To put it bluntly, you're simply confusing "use value" with "market price" which are entirely different.

 

When a functionally identical putter costs $100 and a higher-priced version costs more, it has to do with what people are willing to pay for something and why. That gets into investment value, signification, symbolization, etc. In other words, the stuff that deals more with the psychology of why we buy expensive or "luxury" items which don't make our lives better but allow us to spend more on "name brand" things which signify that we can afford something or are "passionate enough" to own something.

 

A twice-a-year hacker won't have a $500 putter but someone who plays daily and wants the world to know they live the golf lifestyle might. A rich person might because it signals something but a latchkey kid won't. 

 

A Scotty Cameron Newport doesn't putt better than a basic Ping Anser, Cleveland Classic or Odyssey White Hot #1.  Is it dressed-up from more time on the milling machine? Perhaps, but that doesn't make it putt better. The simple reason someone spends $400 on a putter is because they have $400 they want to spend and they're in the market for a putter. That person tends to find their way to the $400 putter section.

 

This is why many things in golf equipment have gone up dramatically in price over the last few decades. People who play golf are pretty well off and the market has shifted to cater to that with more and more "luxury-level" offerings from equipment to courses. People with college degrees and corporate jobs are a dime-a-dozen these days and that type is generally capable of buying golf-related stuff whenever they please. I can't by a Lambo but an $800 driver is no problem, catch my drift?

 

This is why traditionally budget-friendly brands like Ping and Odyssey now have higher-end models with price-tags rivaling Scotty Cameron. There's a market for it and they want in. Are they better putters? Functionally-speaking no, they are definitely not. 

 

 

.

Edited December 20, 2023 by MelloYello

[dmecca2]

Like many things in life, the answer is yes and no. For a higher level golfer, having a putter fit to your game, likes, and feels is extremely important, so it can cost extra.

 

BUT, if you have to ask the question, it most likely is not worth it for you.

[btyh]

What ever works. If that putter isn't giving you confidence from just pulling it out of the bag, then you need to find another putter. 

[PJE]

No, at least for me.  I know because I own about 15 putters of varying values from various years.  I putt more or less the same with all of them. Ha ha! 
Right now, I’m using a Bettinardi I bought new for $450 but I had an old Ping G2 Anser C on the putting green and I was making everything with it. I bought that Anser C used for $80- and I overpaid. 
Oddly, the thing that makes a putter feel “right” to me is the grip. If the grip feels good, I putt well. 

 

[boggyman]

2 hours ago, pjc said:

Or better yet Brandt Snedeker.

Absolutely!

[Jtgavigan]

5 hours ago, MattM97 said:

More expensive ones will usually have tighter tolerances, usually. They'll also have the latest R&D or technology in them, marketing, etc. Over time those will usually be less and less, a White Hot OG right now is $199 but they were released at $280 I believe but the 2023 OG are different from the 2021 OG but essentially the same putter. 

 

But at the same time options are good a $400 to you may be just pointless but to someone else they want the tech, they want the newest thing and to them a $100 putter is nothing they'll ever consider. It's the joy of golf, there's so much to pick from. If there were only $100 putters, $400 drivers and $1000 iron sets this game would be boring and dull. As insane as it may be $1000+ putters, irons heads at $400+ each and whatever other insane options there are make golf fun for many. 

Well said...

[BombsIntoTheWoods]

24 minutes ago, Jtgavigan said:

Well said...

There is also the factor of buying the putters used or through places like CPO and quite often can get the "latest" ~$3/400 putters for very close to $100, beyond a few that really hold value due to the demand.

[ChipNRun]

Individual putters interact with the golfer and his or her stroke.

 

If you are fitted for a $400 putter and it improves your performance greatly, it may be worth it depending on your $$ circumstances.

 

Interesting story: A top female teaching pro in St. Louis area got married to a 15-HDCP amateur. For Christmas, she brought him into her shop on a quiet day and fitted him for a topline Ping putter. Six months later, she walks into the garage and sees the super Ping resting against a work bench in the corner.

 

Her husband is in the kitchen, and she reminds him he left his new Ping in the garage. He sheepishly replies, "I left it there on purpose. The Ping doesn't work for me, I've been back to my old putter for a month." 

 

 

[Feelingofgreatness]

Best putter I've ever played with uses a Kodak promotional putter his Dad gave him that Kodak gave to his Dad for years of service. He's tried 3-4 name brand expensive putters over the years and always comes back to the Kodak.

[Seidinho]

To me, it all depends on the fit. Can find the right putter for $50 used or $500 new. Can find the wrong one in both categories too. There is no objectively better putter. 

[Jayjay_theweim_guy]

The L.A.B. stuff seems qualitatively different, and they ain't cheap.  But yes, I totally agree with you on about 95% or more of these. Spend the money on lessons and fittings, not a Circle T.    Unless you want to flex, and that's fine too.

 

I liked a little Huntington Cleveland putter I saw for about a 100 in a PGASS. Made a lot on their little practice green with it.  Not as many as with the branding iron, but a decent amount.

 

So much of this seems to be fit and getting the alignment/eye parallax stuff right.