Most golfers stink at putting. That's because putting is hard, and it's not something most of them practice. Golfers go to the range, hit every club but the putter, and then arrive to the golf course with hopes of finding the magic just before their round.
The end result is a consistent stroke many golfers struggle to grasp before it's too late into the round to make a course correction. And it starts all over again in the next round.
Putters can try to mask a poor stroke with other technologies, like getting the ball rolling forward sooner or making it easier to align the putter head. However, Callaway and Odyssey theorize a golfer with a bad putting stroke isn't going to completely fix their bad stroke with these touches. So, their new Stroke Lab putters hope to holistically address the stroke to make more putts.
With the new Stroke Lab putters, Callaway is introducing its version of a multi-material putter shaft. The Stroke Lab shaft is 40 grams lighter than the standard Odyssey putter shaft, using graphite material for the body and a steel tip, with most of the 75-gram total mass located in the tip. With the 40 extra grams, 10 grams were moved to the head in the form of sole weights and a net 30 grams was added via a 40-gram end weight and a grip that's 10 grams lighter.
Odyssey says their data shows this shaft promotes a more consistent stroke, with better tempo, contact and feel. Sounds great.
There are 10 heads in the series -- six mallets and four blades -- in the series: the #7, #7S, Marxman, Marxman S, 2-Ball Fang, 2-Ball Fang S, Red Ball, Red Ball S, Tuttle, Tuttle Flow, VLine, V-Line ang S, V-Line CS, #2, #3; #9, Double Wide and Double Wide Flow. All have the latest White Hot Microhinge insert for a smooth roll, and golfers can pick from a pistol or oversize grip.
The Odyssey Stroke Lab putters are available for $250 each starting Feb. 8.
Odyssey Exo putter with Stroke Lab
Coming March 29, Odyssey will release a line of Exo putters using the Stroke Lab shaft design and weighting. The Exo putters, introduced last year, were designed for maximum MOI and stability.
A lightweight 6061 milled aluminum exo-cage is used to move weight to the perimeter of the head, which is capped with 17-4 stainless steel. That way, the MOI is high and offers forgiveness and resistance to twisting.
The White Hot Microhinge insert carries through, too, to this all-mallet line. Some of the mallets have toe hang, so there's something for every golfer.
These putters will cost $350 each.
