REVIEW: Odyssey Metal-X #7

[lenny318]

Product information from Odyssey’s website:

The Metal-X 7 specs are; 34”, 3* and 343g. The midnight black face balanced modified mallet has weighted alignment wings and a double bend shaft with a full shaft offset. The intent of the metal X insert is to provide crisp feedback with a perfect blend of friction and feel. The dual layer insert consists of a urethane inner layer with a 6061 aluminum striking layer. The pattern on the 6061 aluminum striking layer creates a mechanical lock with the golf ball’s dimples at impact, creating friction and imparting a consistent roll on the ball.

 

PROS:

Easy to align, aided by the 3 alignment lines and the 2 wings.

I like the feel of the stock Lamkin 3Gen grip, I would consider keeping it over something aftermarket.

The midnight black finish helps reduce, eliminate sun glare, and helps frame the ball nicely.

Nice click at impact.

 

CONS:

No head cover received with the club. It does comes with a head cover when you buy one.

Wish we could get the product to our specs.

Nice click at impact but still not the same click of a milled putter.

Compared to other putters the face height is smaller so the ball looks a little bigger at address.

 

Bottom Line:

Being a mallet guy I like what I see so far. Good alignments lines, clean sharp look, good feel and a nice click off the insert at impact. Great weighting of the head keeps the putter on plain and smooth through finish.

 

LOOKS:

I like the Midnight Black finish and the 3 white lines really pop which makes the putter easy to align. Even the aluminum insert looks high tech-ish. I think Odyssey did a good job with the milling as all lines look clean and sharp. The weighted wings are shaped nicely and also help with alignment.

 

Performance/Playability/Feel:

As mentioned I like a mallet putter. For the past 2 years I have been gaming a heel shafted milled putter with a SuperStoke grip. Prior that I played the Odyssey white hot 2 ball and even though I liked the soft insert, I always felt it was too soft and would occasionally leave putts short. However, with the #7 and the 6061 aluminum insert, Odyssey has addressed that issue. Even though there are 2 inserts the feel is much improved, it is still soft but firmer than the White Hot 2 ball. I think the dual insert put a very nice roll on the ball and distance control was pretty consistent as well and I think the outer insert of the 6061 aluminum has a lot to do with that. When you hear that click at impact you pretty much know you have hit a good solid putt. Hey, we all know that in putting sound translates to feel. I felt alignment was very easy with the #7. The 2 outer white lines continue all the way to the end of the wings which helped makes those pesky 3 footers a little easier to go at knowing I was aligned properly. I had the putter out yesterday for 9 holes and my distance control on long putts was very good and the putter felt comfortable all around. I didn’t make anything outside 10-12 feet, but did manage a couple in the 7-8 foot range. All putts had a nice click at impact and my seconds putts were at least round the hole for tap-ins.

 

Overall Bottom Line:

Overall, I think the Metal-X 7 is a solid putter. I don’t think this it is going to replace my current gamer just yet. With a couple of changes, lie angle and grip; I think this will be a solid back up. If you’re in the market for a mallet you should absolutely give Metal-X 7 a try. With its face balanced head, much improved insert and easy to align lines and wings there is nothing to not like about this flat stick. On the upside, if the aluminum insert ever falls out I’ll use it to zest some lemons and limes!

 

A special thanks to GolfWRX and Odyssey for the chance to reivew this great putter!

[Jamboy72]

Nice review. I have this putter in the white hot and live it with the 369 gr head

[TM Superdeep]

Been gaming this Putter a few weeks now. Moved to it from a Scotty Newport Select 2.6. Best move I have made. Roll on putts is perfect

[lenny318]

Thanks Topekareal!

I have been using a Barbados (gray) with a SS lite grip and have been very happy with it. I am going to put a SS on the Metal X and change the Lie and start practicing with it more to see what happens but not in a rush. I just really like the sound of the Barbados when you make a good put I like that ting, it good feedback for me.I am hoping the added weight of the grip will balance out the putter a little more as I like to feel like I am swing the whole putter not just the head. I have counter weight my putters before which works well it just take time and patients to get it right.

thanks again!

[lenny318]

Have a 4 person best ball tournament today and bringing the Metal X. Will report back.

[Spaulding S.]

I have been using the metal x 7 for about 3 weeks. I came from a golfsmith house brand 2 ball knockoff that I have used for about 5 years. I like the 7 but have found the head to be a little smaller and lighter than I am used to. I don't get the release of the putter head that I am used to. I went into the shop today and was going to have an odyssey oversize grip out on. As always, I'm glad I went to my local shop, instead of the PGA superstore or golfsmith, where they would have gladly complied with my request, but ultimately made the club worse. When I brought up the fact that I felt the head was a little light, Tom at the shop told me that the 100g jumbo odyssey grip would ultimately make the head feel even lighter. He then went about custom fitting the 7 to me. Shortened the 34 in shaft by 3/4", added some iron shaving weight down the shaft to add the weight and release, and fitted the putter with the Winn jumbo lite grip. All for the price of the grip. Went and played today after work, and although I played horribly, the putter felt real nice. Love the thing.

[lenny318]

Well, play the 4 ball (of some sort, i think it has also been called a Texas scramble) and have to say this putter is a very solid putter, no we didn't win. I changed the grip to the super stroke lite grip, 55 grams and it did help balance the putter out for me a bit. I do agree with Spaulding S in the the head is a little lite so I might mess around with some lead tape. Since the head is face balanced it would be harder to feel the release but I don't worry about that as much as I just want the putter to stay as square as possible thought the stroke but i still see a slight inside to inside stroke, which is fine as this is my natural stroke. To confirm this I used my ping putter app in the practice mode to check my STROKE TYPE. The ping app confirmed that I have a slight arc stoke even with the face balance putter. I like the the app but don't like the added weight of the iPhone on the shaft. I then wanted to check my tempo. I would putt 5 balls and then verify my tempo number, the range always fell between 1.5 ( a rushed putt) and a 2.0 ( which is a good tempo and based on the app you want to keep a 2/1 ratio). What I found out is that I when I was able to keep my number between 1.8-2.0 I was pretty consistent, distance wise, on all putts. My putts ranged between 5' to 25' and must have hit about 100-150 putts. So based on stroke type and tempo this putter is providing me the numbers I want to see. I will continue to work with the putter to get it to my liking and next change is the lie angle. I enjoy this process and do believe that a putter really needs a little more special attention than people put into it in order to find your right specs. It is the one club in the bag you use the most and if you take the time and tweak a little you learn a lot about how these tweaks affect your stroke, what work for you and what feels you like or dislike. I play a lot and I see it all the time, golfers using putters that just don't fit properly. Honestly, most don't care either but they complain a lot about their putting

Next post my personal, at home, putting studio!!

[dardenpdx]

Lenny318 - How do you like the alignment on this putter compared to your old 2-Ball?

[jsrose1]

Nice review...well done. Went to my local PGA Superstore and after rolling a few, pulled out the AMEX. I did replace the grip with a Super Stroke slim and also cut down the shaft to a 32.5 (added some lead tape to compensate) and this thing is awesome. I'm sure it's that crazy face insert, but it really does put a nice consistent roll on the ball. I like the smaller head compared to earlier versions of the same model and the no nonsense alignment line versus the earlier dots certainly help with set up. I'm a fan of this putter - and coming from only using Scotty blade style putters - that's a big accomplishment.

[BOB99]

Great putter ! I have the 43" mid and love it I chnaged from the dart metal -x due to the dart was to busy and it was throwing off my putts the # 7 is much easier to line up and hit more putts. Played 2 rounds with the new one !