Help me with putter choice

[PapaJohick]

Ok so I am saving up for a new putter. I currently have a white ice dart but have just lost confidence in it lately. My biggest problem is the ball comin off hot and I blow past the hole (usually left). Soooo I am looking at a few options. Nike method drone and Nike midnight 008

Then also kinda peeking into machine or low tide as far as custom goes.....

Any advice on any of these? I know it's a personal preference thing but I'm not going to be able to give a machine or low tide a feel if I go with either of those

[Graymulligan]

Personally I would go to one of the local big box stores, and hit everything. I mean, everything. Blade, mallet, oddball spider thingie...all of it. Then take a look at what you're consistently rolling the best. Is it a blade? Is it an anser? Slight arc/big arc, straight setup? What's it weigh?

Go into data mode, and gather all of the data that you can. Then start narrowing things down. Personally, I don't look at logos or pricing when I go putter shopping, because feel is so important. Just roll balls until you find the right one. Personally, I would never spend real money (anything over what you wouldn't be made at spending on something that didn't work) on ordering a putter I'd never hit.

[PapaJohick]

Thanks for the great advice. I just gotta find one of those stores here. Im new to charleston so still don't know the area very well

[TheDailyDuffer]

[quote name='Papa Johick' timestamp='1359740876' post='6344169']
Thanks for the great advice. I just gotta find one of those stores here. Im new to charleston so still don't know the area very well
[/quote]

Check out this site. Its great for finding things!

www.Google.com

[Funkey]

I had a problem with blowing by the hole last year. I finally figured out that I was concentration on my stroke and how it would look and not the distance. When I just stop caring about the stroke and worked on distance with no care about how I hit the ball. Started putting better. Just my 2 cents.

[PapaJohick]

[quote name='Bottlenosedolphin' timestamp='1359750658' post='6345297']
Check out this site. Its great for finding things!

www.Google.com
[/quote]

Haha thanks for that.

[Jon Robert]

What kind of ball are you using? A distance ball? I find them to be too hot and hard to control distance where a soft spin ball is much better.

[spazo]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=golf+store+Charleston

[PapaJohick]

[quote name='Jon Robert' timestamp='1359786550' post='6348321']
What kind of ball are you using? A distance ball? I find them to be too hot and hard to control distance where a soft spin ball is much better.
[/quote]
I'm testing two different ones at the moment. Nxt and q-star. This could be the reason possibly but I'm not a long hitter so I need a ball to help out a bit. Avg drive is only about 240

[Colby327]

[quote name='Graymulligan' timestamp='1359739060' post='6343991']
Personally I would go to one of the local big box stores, and hit everything. I mean, everything. Blade, mallet, oddball spider thingie...all of it. Then take a look at what you're consistently rolling the best. Is it a blade? Is it an anser? Slight arc/big arc, straight setup? What's it weigh?

Go into data mode, and gather all of the data that you can. Then start narrowing things down. Personally, I don't look at logos or pricing when I go putter shopping, because feel is so important. Just roll balls until you find the right one. Personally, I would never spend real money (anything over what you wouldn't be made at spending on something that didn't work) on ordering a putter I'd never hit.
[/quote]


+1 This pretty much sums it up. Figure out what works first, before you start buying random putters.

[PapaJohick]

ok so today went to pro golf here in Mount Pleasant and Dick's on the other side towards West Ashely to roll a few putters. For being in a big golf area both stores had pretty limited putter selection I felt. They both had great selections of irons, wedges, drivers, and woods. Any who, the stores had a few different brands (odyssey, nike, yes, TM, and ping), but only between 1-3 different models of each brand. I did find out from watching my stroke closely that I tend to close my face slightly towards impact with a straight backswing. I hit center pretty consistently (just from my POV) except when I tried to compensate for closing the face.
I did like a yes gina I hit with. The weight was nice, and the roll it gave almost immediately was very nice. The Nike Drone was easy to hit center, align the putt, and the feel of the ball coming of was soft. TM white smoke MC-72 was very nice as was the spider, but not a fan of the all white head. I would say that the best feeling putter that I was able to control distance the best was the odyssey versa #7.

Now this was all just hitting on these fake putting greens, but I at least got a good feel for a few putters. I will say that head type (blade or mallet) didn't seem to make a difference. it was the weight(heavier preferred)/grips that seemed to throw me off most. Any thoughts from anyone?

Also found out that a hosel that allows me to stand away from the ball (not directly over it) gave me a better line/sight picture

[PapaJohick]

So I went ahead and pulled the trigger and bought a new putter. During my 2-3 days of trying different putters and narrowing it down, It came down to the Odyssey Versa 7 and a nike method core 5..... and the winner ended up being the versa 7 in WBW. I wasn't too crazy on the mostly white head, but I was able to roll the ball really well with this putter and distance control seemed easy. I took it out today for the first round with it and during warm-ups it seemed like I couldn't miss from within 10 feet and if I did it was mostly because I read the line wrong for the speed I wanted on the ball. During play I had 5 one putts (3 for birdies), 8 two putts, and 5 three putts for a total of 36 putts. Now that number is still high, but for me 36 putts is great and as I get more accustomed to the new putter/practice I'm sure it'll go down. Any one else have the new versa? BTW the grip is nice. Not sure if Im going to change it out or not though. If I do, I want to try the cork from from Salty Grips. Any one have any good or bad things to say about those?

 

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