Putter Shopping Do’s and Don’ts

We golfers may be alike, but that doesn’t mean we’re the same.

For some of us, putter shopping is like going to the movies: it’s escapist entertainment. Drop us off at PGA TOUR Superstore or Golf Galaxy and the putter corral is like golfer daycare. We’ll happily pass the time trying every putter in the store until a responsible adult comes to pick us up.

We may not buy anything, but we will stay out of trouble.

For others, putter shopping is a blood sport.

We’re damn well going to stay until we find the best putter bargain possible, and we don’t care who gets hurt in the process.

And then are those of us who keep trying to find that little piece of magic that turns us into the Boss of the Moss. We want to be one part Loren Roberts, one part Ben Crenshaw and equal parts Jack and Tiger when that charity scramble is on the line.

But putter shopping can also be a money pit surrounded by a minefield. For a club that gets used more than any other in the bag, so many of us forgo fitting and analytics and rely on far more subjective and far less reliable metrics.

As with any other club in your bag, the putter you use matters. And there’s more to it than “I gotta like the looks and feel.”

So today we’re going to look beyond the cliches and discuss the practical Do’s and Don’ts of putter shopping.

Do You Really Need A New Putter?

We golfers are pretty easily seduced. We’re Benjamin Braddock and any new putter is a potential Mrs. Robinson.

But before you go off half-baked, it’s a good idea to ask yourself if you really need a new putter, or just simply want a new putter. Either answer is fine with us, as long as you can sneak the funding past the Appropriations Committee.

But don’t decide you need a new putter after a bad round or two. The putters at the store can sense your desperation and will tell you anything and everything you want to hear. Look, even Tour pros have putting slumps that have nothing to do with the arrow and everything to do with the archer. Maybe your mechanics are a little messed up or maybe you’ve played a few rounds on unfamiliar greens. If you’ve had success with your gamer, it’s doubtful the damn thing has suddenly gone rogue on you.

Of course, there’s always Scottie Scheffler to consider. Nothing good happened when he switched from a Scotty Cameron Anser-style blade to a Logan Olson Anser-style blade. Scheffler then switched from the Logan Olson to a TaylorMade Spider Tour X at Bay Hill and has been residing in “the zone” ever since.  

There is something to be said for new, pure and untainted by three-jacks.

Do Do Your Research…

As with our recent guide on driver shopping, we think the best place to start is MyGolfSpy’s Most Wanted Putter Testing. No, it’s not the be-all and end-all, but it does give you a pretty complete rundown of what’s out there and how those putters performed in the hands of real golfers. 

It’s a place to start.

Don’t, however, go online and blindly buy whichever putter finished first overall. True, you might be the chosen one and it’ll work great for you. But it’s more likely you’ll wind up attached to another object by an inclined plane wrapped helically around an axis.

In other words: Screwed.

Do Try Everything…

This is where the responsible adult drops you off at your favorite retailer for golfer daycare. Have some fun and roll ‘em all. You’ll start to notice some putters fit you more comfortably than others. That’s almost always a function of length and lie angle. Some golfers can play very comfortably with a standard 34- or 35-inch putter, while others may settle in more comfortably around a 33- or even a 30-inch model. It’s not so much your height as it is your posture and how you manage to get your eyes directly over the ball. As for lie, you’ll know a putter is too upright if the toe is off the ground when you take your stance.

And the shorter the putter, the more weight you’ll need in the head to make the putter feel balanced and to ensure a smooth stroke.

Some of you may be peculiar enough to fit into an armlock, a counterbalanced or even a broomstick putter. None of them is a cure-all but you’ll never know if it’ll help you unless you give it a whirl.

This is where a good putter fitting can help. It could be through an app like iPING, it can be high-tech with a SAM PuttLab or a Quintic Ball Roll setup or it can be au naturel with a guy who knows what he’s looking at. Either way, you’ll learn whether you have a strong arc, a slight arc or a straight-through stroke.

Once you figure that out, you can start looking at different levels of toe hang and hosel transitions.

Don’t Be Shallow Hal…

That means don’t get hung up on looks.

If I had a dollar for every time someone said, “Hey, I gotta like the looks or I can’t play with it,” I’d have many, many dollars. We get it: we like sexy putters. We like clean lines and we like fine milling. But being a $400 work of art doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right putter for you. Take this one to the bank: there’s a reason why there are so many sweet-looking putters in the used section at your local golf shop.

Conversely, that doesn’t mean the sexiest beast in the putter corral isn’t right for you. It’s just that a putter’s looks shouldn’t be your leading, first or only metric.

There may be a wonderful putter out there that’s a little frumpy but has a great personality. It just might be your soulmate. Do give it a chance. You may not love the looks right off but, once you start holing some bombs, it’ll start looking downright gorgeous.

Do Be Open To Small Brands…

Odyssey, TaylorMade, PING and Scotty can cover you with any style of putter imaginable. You’ll no doubt find something among those four that will work for you.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider smaller brands while putter shopping. Evnroll, Bettinardi, Edel, Mati, newcomer T-Squared and others offer excellent performers. And while OEMs like Wilson, Cleveland, COBRA and Mizuno may not immediately ring your putting bell, don’t dismiss them. They perform well and can be a great value. Even store brands like Tommy Armour can git ‘er done for you.

Then there’s the phenomenon that is L.A.B. Yeah, they may look funky, but if you start with the “I’ll never put that ugly-ass putter in my bag” thing, we’re just going to make you go back and re-read the Shallow Hal section above.

Don’t Make Any Snap Decisions…

Raise your hand if you’ve ever made an impulse putter buy. That’s when you try a putter at the store, sink a bunch in a row, lose all your willpower and decision-making capabilities and buy the sunuvabitch.

If that’s worked out for you, then what are you reading this article for?

(Other than for the pristine prose and awesome alliteration, I mean.)

Have you ever had a great range session before a round and then couldn’t hit a lake if you jumped out of a boat once on the course? A snap-decision putter buy is a lot like that.

Be strong. Resist temptation and walk away. It’s something even we hardened, cynical golf writers wrestle with.

Do Consider A Putter Fitting…

You’re most likely going to use your putter 30 to 40 times per round. If you’d like it to be closer to 30, a putter fitting is a good idea. As we said, it could be as simple as using iPING or as high-tech as using a Quintic or SamLab machine.

You’ll learn about tempo, stroke stability and ball roll. And that data will help determine head shape, weighting, length, lie and loft. Yes, loft matters, depending on whether you forward press and, if you do, how much.

Even the shaft and grip matter.

Don’t discount the impact head shape and alignment aids can have on how well you can square up a putter. They’re not all the same. Years ago, I was fitted into a mini-mallet with a curved backside. This was an Edel fitting, using a laser reflecting off a mirror on the face of the putter to determine your actual aim. During the fitting, I asked to try a Wilson 8802. The fitter said, based on the fitting, there’s no way I should be able to square up a blade like that but I was able to do it five or six times in a row. The fitter couldn’t understand it until David Edel himself explained it.

“Both putters are curved on the back end. You’re obviously a guy who likes a nice, rounded backside.”

Don’t write letters, people. It really did happen.

Do’s and Don’ts: Some Parting Thoughts

So what makes a putter the right putter for you? With every other club in the bag, the flight of the ball tells all. But with a putter, it’s a little more subtle. Sure, rolling the ball into the hole is the ultimate judge but, as with the other 13 clubs, the result is the sum total of the ingredients.

Having the appropriate toe balance allows you to square up the face more easily at impact. And a square face means the ball will roll on the line you choose.

The proper length and loft will allow you to set up comfortably, get your eyes over the ball and make a consistent stroke. The proper loft will make sure the ball skids less and starts rolling sooner, making its trip to the hole more consistent.

The right head shape and alignment lines make it easier to aim the putter easily and accurately, without having to make compensations that can complicate your stroke.

The right weighting helps with stability and, just as importantly, distance control.

Let’s Wrap This Baby Up

We’ve thrown a lot of putter shopping tips at you today so let’s get down to some actionable bullet points.

Do you need or new putter or do you just want one? (Either is OK. After all, it’s your money) Do do your research but don’t buy something because we or anyone else says it’s a great putter. We’re not playing it. You are. Do try everything: blade, mallet, armlock, counterbalanced, broomstick and even something crazy-looking like a L.A.B. Don’t focus on just the big names. Smaller brands can deliver big performance. Do consider value putter lines from OEMs such as Wilson, Cleveland or COBRA. Even Tommy Armour, DICK’s store brand, could be the one. Don’t rush to judgment. Holing a few in the putter corral feels good but it might not translate to the real world. Do make sure the length, loft, lie, shaft and grip are right for you. And for all that, you might want to invest in a good putter fitting.

And in the end, may the putts you take be equal to the putts you make.

Wouldn’t it be nice?

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