The great putter debate

[Pert1862]

Me and my usual playing partners have this discussion frequently. How often do you switch putters? I have putter ADD and use whatever suits my eye that day. Others have been using the same putter since the beginning of time. What do you guys do???

[ToasT1125]

I grab what I think will feel good that day and go. I can play the same woods or irons for months or seasons on end, but I like a variety of putters.

[pingmatt]

I've probably used less than 10 putters my entire 25 year golf career. I really don't like to switch. I've been gaming my Redwood D66 for the last 2 seasons and not looking to switch any time soon.

I'm one of those "Its the indian not the arrow" types.

[TexasTBag]

I use the same putter until I get mad at it, it then spends time in the garage getting dusty until I get mad at a different putter and pull a dusty one from the garage.

Pulled a dusty YES Marylin putter from the garage the other day and have been putting lights out with it, I can't even remember why I got mad at it.

[GolfinVan]

3 putters in 30 years. Knowing the feel of your putter by using it thru thick and thin pays off in the long run.

[Pert1862]

I totally do the "get mad at it" as well. That is what makes it sit in "time out." ever notice that a fine layer of dust makes an old gamer come back to life???

[Will Par]

It is a big mistake to get a mindset that assigns blame to the putter for missed putts. (I know because I've been guilty if doing it.) That mindset will start a revolving door and endless search for the "right" putter. Find one, or maybe two putters that you really like and learn to putt with them. Make them the same length and weight. Give them credit for putts made, but blame misses on something else like the surface of the green. Misses are never the fault of the putter.

If you just enjoy using different putters, that is OK too, but it is not really conducive to good, consistent putting.

[dpark]

35 years of golfing and have only used 3 styles of putters and maybe 6 different sticks in all.

First putter was a Acushnet Bullseye, used it for the first 15 years or so. Still have it.

Second putter was a Ping B60 (kinda like a Scotty Del Mar), used that for maybe 5-6 years. My brother has it now (I think)

Third putter was a gift from the wife, a Scotty Cameron AOP OC Napa. I have used 8802 style putters ever since (13 years). I do have a couple of different versions, but basically they all look the same.

I have tried to go back to the bullseye and B60 as well as looking at Anser and mallet style putters but my putter stroke is so grooved to a heel shafted putter, I couldn't get used to looking at anything else anymore.

[golfluvzme]

I played the same 8802-style Wilson Tour Special II for approx. 14 years and had a fairly good game on the short grass. Then, it went cold in a tournament in Idaho and I started the dreaded PUTTER HO-dome. Some 300 putters later, I would kill to be able to go back and fix my old stroke, get the blade working and know exactly what was in the bag every time I picked it up.
But, time travel is not an option, so I am now a putter ho. Maybe one day I'll find that ever-elusive magic flat stick and stop the hopping from putter to putter.
I think that one putter, all the time is better, but how much fun would that be?
Next,
LaMont in AZ

[dannymac63]

I don't have many years of experience to go on, but in the 10 years of golfing I've only used 2 putters on the course. A real GEM...Nomad Tru-Roll Mini Mallet with a graphite shaft for the first 8 years of my golfing life, and for about the last 2, a Ping Redwood D66 Black Satin. I've got other putters in the living room, but they're older recognizable putters Ping Rite-In, Acushnet Bullseye's...never make it to the course. I'm looking to get a Scotty Cameron, though it's nothing to do with performance as much as I'd like to have a unique collection of putters that I can on any given day, sink half of my 6 footers with.

[Pert1862]

[quote name='golfluvzme' timestamp='1282177707' post='2648046']
I played the same 8802-style Wilson Tour Special II for approx. 14 years and had a fairly good game on the short grass. Then, it went cold in a tournament in Idaho and I started the dreaded PUTTER HO-dome. Some 300 putters later, I would kill to be able to go back and fix my old stroke, get the blade working and know exactly what was in the bag every time I picked it up.
But, time travel is not an option, so I am now a putter ho. Maybe one day I'll find that ever-elusive magic flat stick and stop the hopping from putter to putter.
I think that one putter, all the time is better, but how much fun would that be?
Next,
LaMont in AZ
[/quote]

I'm with LaMont on this one. What fun would it be to keep just one putter in the bag? Variety if the spice of life. Besides, you see it every week n the pics from the tourneys. Many pros switch week to week. So there must be something to it.

[The Hawkeye]

Played a Newport for many, many years and a Bulls Eye (if you can believe it) before that. But about 5 years ago I got into a funk and went belly putter. That lasted four years and really worked really well. But I couldn't lag put, putt from the fringe or putt on certain types of Bermuda grasses with the belly putter so I looked and looked. I have been playing the SeeMore mFGP since and it will shock me if it EVER leaves my bag. I could imagine 30 years with this thing.

[remlapr]

I played an original Odyssey White Hot #5 for probably 8 years, some good days, some bad - I've never been a great putter. Then I started having a wandering eye and now I'm a putter hoe. I SWORE the Ping G5i anser I picked up early this year would not be replaced this season, but it has. I actually just bought another putter on eBay not 5 minutes ago

 

I definitely wish I could go back and never give up on my #5. I've even tried to take it back out, but no luck re-kindling the lost flame lol...

 

And I 100% agree that rotating between different putters is bad for your game. When I do switch, I SWITCH - I game only that putter, at least until I commit to the next switch

[golf playa]

to me, i can adapt to different putter feels. whether its soft like the odyssey, or a more milled feel, i can adapt.

what is VERY important is the look. I like a blade putter like the scotty cameron newport 2.

why i love its look.

head is not too long. I looked at the NIKE method 001 and it seemed too long. it was like 2mm longer, but the white dot instead of a line makes it seem bigger.

the alignment line. some people don't use it. OK, so why not just but a line there and let the person decide whether or not to use it. how hard is that. the # of people who don't use is probably way less than the # that does use it. (referring to the nike method 001)

flat back. not sure how to say this. but there's another scotty cameron newport that looks almost excatley the same execept the back part is curved. its a hump. I like the flat look way better.

plumbers neck.

the design. mainly the three dots. Really nice and simple touch.


I doubt any other company can beat this putter. at most they can match it.

[MSaternus]

I play Anser/Anser 2 style putters almost exclusively, but I do have a few and I like to rotate if the one in the bag isn't getting it done. That said, I've only gamed 2 putters this year: 1 from start until my major layoff, then I switched when I came back from my layoff and wasn't putting well.

[Bad9]

I don't change on a daily basis but did change too much last year. I have sold off my Mizuno Bettinardi C06, am going to sell the Pal 2 Becu I picked up and the CG100 I have and have gone back full time to my Maltby RM model from 5-6 years ago.
[quote name='Pert1862' timestamp='1282163118' post='2647649']
Me and my usual playing partners have this discussion frequently. How often do you switch putters? I have putter ADD and use whatever suits my eye that day. Others have been using the same putter since the beginning of time. What do you guys do???
[/quote]

[TexasTBag]

Since all my putters are close to the same design, when I do shelf a putter, its not like I am going from a Bullseye to a mallet.

The reason I switch out my putter is usually because I start having a problem with my distance and for some reason when I switch, I usually get my feel back. Weird.

I only own three putters at the moment and they all have different inserts so they all feel different. I do have a Scratch Mallet on the way and I am really looking forward to trying a putter with a milled face.

[Freddie Klien]

I think it is good to use a totally different style putter every few months, it makes you think about your set up and hopefully re affirm what you like about your usual putter

[mjc694]

I am (was?) a dyed in the wool Putter ho!! I started with an old ping i picked up in a lousy pro shop after a weird scramble win before i was much of a golfer. Then i joined a club, and started going stead with Scotty Cameron, had a lacosta, had a newport, had a napa, had a couple pro platinums, and my favorite the catalina. Loved the catalina....sent it back thru another lousy pro shop and they "lost" it. (i found this difficult to believe) but he gave me my pick of any cameron in the store so i took a studio stainless newport style, but couldnt putt as well with it.

Found this site, lamont did an offering on LUX putters and I bought from him a plumbers neck style oil canned, personalized lux putter, and its been in my bag for 3 of my biggest tournaments which only happen once a year....so thats a good two full years its been in my bag now, with only a few weight modifications. I love the roll it puts on the ball, and i love that it has taken a putter philanderer like me, and made me faithful!!

thanks Lamont!! (she needs a refinish if you are looking for work)!

[zanna5910]

No matter how many putters you go thru, YOU are still putting with it.

If you switch all the time with the, "its just a stick" mentality, then who cares. That's good confidence in the indian. If I had 30 putters, it would be fun to pull one out and use it that day, and reminensce about all the good times and "FROM WAY DOWNTOWN... BANG!!!" memories i had with it.

I like to find a putter that has good feel and balance, and makes it really easy to line up. When I get a putter like that, I'll use it thru the thick and thin. I've probably used 3 different putters in 15 years. I couldn't be happier with the Corza ghost I picked up recently, really, REALLY easy to line up, been pretty lights out with it.

GL with any putter you use!

[OnGolf]

I only game 2 putters and rotate between these two.

[stage1350]

All my putters are 8802 style and each is identical in loft/lie/length. There are only slight variances in headweight and grip size. This way, I can change if the mood strikes, yet keep a very familiar feeling when I am putting.

[floyd]

I switch once or twice a year. The older I get the harder it is for me to switch and get use to the weight, feel, etc...

[DavidR]

I have used 3 putters for most of the past 3 years. These putters are pretty much the same style and weight.