How much difference does an expensive putter really make?

[Keyser Soze]

Hey there guys and girls. Wondered if i could pick your collective brains.

I'm currently playing my best golf ever, my handicap going down from 18 something to 14.8 since the beginning of the year and alot of this i do feel is to do with my putting. I had 3 birdies in my round yesterday (first time ever) and they were all 4-6 foot type putts, so fairly pleased. I currently have a £35 no named mallet style putter in the bag but can't help looking at the shiney new expensive putters on certain golfing websites.

My question is, will an expensive named manufacturer's putter really make much difference? I can understand that £40 block of wood type driver from the market is gonna go nowhere near a Taylormade or Calloway bad boy, same as a set of irons that resemble a hockey stick will never out perform a shiney set of Ping or Mizano's. But really, from 6-10 feet out, will a Ghost Spider or Scottsdale TR, not to mention a Scotty Cameron really make all the difference?

I read somewhere that Drivers usually get changed every couple of years or so, Iron's maybe 4 to 5 years (although it would seem alot more frequently among some of you guys from what i've read on here ) but a putter, one that a golfer is comfortable with can serve a lifetime?

If that is the case, and an expensive named putter is the way to go then i better get myself sorted with a few extra hours of overtime?

What do you think? Has it worked for you? Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Fish]

The one thing I have never changed is my putter. My current averages are 29-31 per round with very few, if any at times, 3 puts so a putter is way down my list of possible changes although I did like one I saw at West Lancs, shortened with a fat grip.

I think once your comfortable with a putter and you can feel the shots on all surfaces of greens whether fast or slow and from variable distances, then don't change and put at risk something that is working for you irrelevant of the brand or quality IMO.

If a playing partner had a Scotty and took 36 puts or more and you took only 32, would you upgrade to a Scotty because of its quality and brand image? I wouldn't, I would be looking to where I am losing my shots elsewhere first.

 

[Foxholer]

I'm currently playing my best golf ever..... and alot of this i do feel is to do with my putting. I had 3 birdies in my round yesterday (first time ever) and they were all 4-6 foot type putts, so fairly pleased. I currently have a £35 no named mallet style putter in the bag but can't help looking at the shiney new expensive putters on certain golfing websites.

My question is, will an expensive named manufacturer's putter really make much difference? But really, from 6-10 feet out, will a Ghost Spider or Scottsdale TR, not to mention a Scotty Cameron really make all the difference?

but a putter, one that a golfer is comfortable with can serve a lifetime?

What do you think? Has it worked for you? Any advice is much appreciated.

Absolutely stay with your current one!

If you do get the urge, I'm pretty sure that you will find that the 'big name' ones that feel best will be those that are quite similar to your current one.

Remember that, in the Golf Goods environment, price to Joe Public bears little, if any, relationship to cost of production. It's a case of 'How much is the punter prepared to pay'! And in that ultra marketing area TM is King - except for putters, where Scotty is The Emperor!

 

[Doh]

Putters are very personal things you could find one you like in a charity shop which will cost next to nothing and you could put like god with it. Expensive does not mean it will suit you IMHO.

 

[Imurg]

An expensive putter is worth every penny.....if it gets the ball in the hole.
Sometimes(even often) an expensive one is used almost as a status symbol. Many people who have them probably don't putt any better with them than they would with a 10 quid one..
But they feel as if they do. If it takes a £200 putter to give them the confidence they need them it becomes Priceless.
Putting is all about confidence - use what gives you that confidence and don't fall into the trap of thinking that you WILL putt better with a £200 stick. You might - you might not.

 

[kev_off_the_tee]

As Imurg said, if an expensive putter gives you that confidence then fine, but I've heard on the forum of many many people going into a golf store with £200 in their sky rocket and walking out with a £30-40 fazer or similar.

My putter would have only cost £59.99 if bought new but got it v.cheap in the sale section

I keep saying I won't change it but I'll admit to being a brand junkie and have found a similar putter in the TM Kia ma putters

 

[garyinderry]

you dont need an expensive one, just a good one!

 

[lyden]

I'm by no means a good putter but I judge distance a lot better since I changed to a scotty, which was a big problem for me. I did recently get out putted by a vintage wooden shaft blade putter which suggests whatever works for you.

 

[tsped83]

Having owned a £200+ Scotty this year, I'm a strong advocate of try as many before you commit to buying. I bought the Scotty new online, and looks was probably the md in factor. Yes it was beautiful and I am shallow. But could I make a put with it? Hell no.

So after flirting with a couple more Internet purchases, I went along to a local golf centre that had a massive range of putters in all different makes, and tried every one, in the ship and on their practice green. Suffice to say I was there a while. In the end I walked out with a Rife 400, a putter I'd never ever heard of or seen before. It was middle of the road price wise, sub £100, and it inspires confidence and gets the ball in the hole. My putting from 6ft has improved immensely as a result.

Forget price/looks/brand and go try the putters out. Obviously price will come back in to it, but I think you need to try out putters first hand. My wallet learned the hard way.

 

[Hobbit]

Think just what expensive buys.

It will, or should, buy a quality grip/shaft/head all manufactured to exacting standards of quality.

What doesn't it buy?

It doesn't guarantee getting the ball in the hole, only you can do that. If you are coming down in handicap, and in the main its down to putting, do you really think changing the working formula will help?

 

[Blue in Munich]

An expensive putter that doesn't suit you is a complete waste of money, a cheap one that does is worth its weight in gold. The ball doesn't know what you're hitting it with, only you do.

I'm not saying an expensive putter might not improve things if it suits you, but if it doesn't it could do more harm than good. And besides, if it ain't broke, why are you trying to fix it.

(Having dispensed sage advice, wanders off to ebay to see what he can buy to help his game.......)

 

[MadAdey]

If it isn't broke then why are you trying to fix it is my attitude. If you are good on the dance floor then why start messing around with it. I could not putt for toffee last season and it cost me a big cut on my handicap. I would have happily glued the kitchen tap onto a broom pole last year if it would have helped me get the ball in the hole.

If you feel that there is maybe a little more you could be doing with the putter to help your scores then go for a lesson on it. Will only cost you a fraction of the price of a high end putter and may help you tighten up your technique.

 

[Andy808]

I tried several putters before I found one that I really got on with and now there is no way I would change it. If you're putting well with the one you have and you're confident with it don't change it.

 

[Ethan]

This is a rather silly question. It is one thing to ask if a [certain brand] is better than another [certain brand] but it should be obvious to any fool that price is not a simple measure of how appropriate or suitable they are.

On the vexed and endlessly, oh so endlessly, repeated question of Scotty Cameron putters, it should be obvious that these are high quality putters, and are often chosen by Tour players in favour of their main sponsor's putter. But whether any one model is the right putter for you or not, nobody here knows and it is really a waste of your time even asking. Go try some, ask a pro and good luck.

 

[Hobbit]

This is a rather silly question.

Bit harsh Ethan?

Maybe the poster actually doesn't know if its a valid question or not, and just maybe in someone else's opinion its not a "silly question."

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Ive just changed my entire bag of clubs to Orka with the exception of my putter

It is a Rife Trinidad and it works for me, can be bought for about £80, so a mid priced product.

I have tried more expensive ones and cheaper ones, and settled on one that works for me.

You cant buy confidence

 

[HawkeyeMS]

The cost of the putter is irrelevent, finding one that suits you is the most important thing

 

[bozza]

When Jim Furyk won the Fed ex wasn't he using some $40 putter he bought off the shelf in some pro shop?

That should answer you're question, it all comes down to what you feel confident with and judging by you're handicap dropping quickly why change?

By all means go try some new ones but make sure you get out on a proper practice green as the indoor ones at the likes of AG are normally sloped towards the hole to trick people into buying a new putter.

 

[Keyser Soze]

And besides, if it ain't broke, why are you trying to fix it.

Never said i was actually trying to fix it, just wondering how much difference an expensive putter actually makes

 

[Keyser Soze]

This is a rather silly question.

Your welcome to your opinion of course, but i don't think its a silly question, i was just asking how much difference it makes?

Maybe i should have worded it, "does more developement go into an expensive putter so theoreticly it could give better results"

Incidently, i notice that you don't use a 35 quid putter yourself.