I made a 100 mile cruise today to a good golf store to try out some putters. My local pro shops do not have a large selection and I have quickly grown dissatisfied with my putter (a toe-weighted, alignment aided John Daly mallet that came with my starter set of clubs). I am most comfortable with a square-square putting stroke and the toe weighted club fights against that. I found, after trying some face weighted clubs, that they were much easier and more consistent to stroke.
I came away with a YES! Tiffany model putter. I was already very interested in the YES! brand and their C-groove technology, so this may have influenced me to look extra-hard at their putters, but I didn't even pick one up until I had already test-driven six or seven other putters, just to be sure I didn't unfairly weight my decision by going right for the one I really wanted to try and immediately convincing myself it was the right one.
For $150 street, the YES! putters are a bargain. They come with a distinctive black, white, and yellow Winn grip with the YES! logo (which has a smooth texture, a little more 'slippery' than tacky, and one of the nicer grips I tried today, though not the best), and a really awesome padded synthetic leather headcover with a nice strong magnetic closure.
I tried out a good selection of putters, including some really weird looking ones from TaylorMade, Ping, Nike, and Odyssey. Many of them, especially the TaylorMade ones, are just too weird looking; Some of them stroked smoothly and had great balance but the look was just too distracting.
The Tiffany, some might argue, is a very weird looking putter at first glance as well; But the weird look is deceiving. Stand over this putter and line it up with a golf ball, and something amazing happens, at least to me. The curves on the alignment aid of the Tiffany putter have the same radius as a golf ball; They work on a similar idea as the ubiquitous 2-ball putters, or any number of other big name putters (some of the new Pings, and some of the Rossas), but for some reason the series of curved ball-shaped lines works so much better for me than any other style I tried.
The series of lines almost creates an illusion of motion even while standing still; When I line up with a golf ball and look down at the putter, it's as if the putter is begging me to draw it straight back and then slide it straight forward, that series of curves almost like an old-time zoetrope - I can imagine the series of curves as motion that's about to take place, and it really, really helps me make a smooth putting stroke.
If this doesn't make any sense or I sound like I'm crazy, so be it - for whatever reason, this alignment aid really works for me, not only to set up the right putting line, but to make a smooth stroke. Any number of putters I tried with a long, straight line would make an awkward wobble in the stroke as I tried to keep the line straight. This one just goes straight by itself.
The shape of the putter is a thin, straight blade, with the alignment aid coming straight back in a nice T shape with no other distractions. The alignment aid is even curved to have the same shape as a golf ball, similar to the Nickent Pipe putters without the obvious attempt to look exactly like a golf ball. The finish is satin grey or bronze, depending on the light, on top and the face, with black C-grooves and white outlining and logos. The bottom of the putter has a finish that another member called 'oil slick', which is what it looks like to me, as well. it's an organic, 'imperfect' looking glossy black, smooth finish that looks different on every individual putter. I think it looks really cool.
So how does it play? Very well. The head weight is very heavy for its size, especially considering how much of it is relieved. This helps make a smooth stroke. The C-grooves really, REALLY work. They are not very noticeable to me on short strokes (inside 10 feet) but when taking a long putt, the ball simply does not hop or skip at all. The ball comes right off the face in a smooth, fast roll. That's all I can really say about the C-grooves that hasn't been mentioned somewhere already - they work, period. I noticed the difference immediately.
This putter feels like it has a decent MOI due to the weight low and back; I realize it does not have any weight in the back corners, but it still feels like it resists twisting very well when hit off-center, and putts go straight off of the toe and heel, although with slightly reduced distance and without the full benefit of the C-grooves.
How's the feel? I think it's perfect. So much of feel for me has to do with the sound of the putter; This putter almost doesn't have a sound of its own. When you hit the ball pure, all you hear is the ball. No bell-like 'ping!' or metallic 'click' or 'thunk' - it's the pure sound of a ball rebounding. Hits off-center are just the tiniest bit more dull, letting you know you didn't get it quite perfect.
All in all I think the value of the product speaks for itself, the milling and finish are excellent, and I love the headcover. I have a feeling I am really going to like getting to know Tiffany - at the putting green this afternoon I was feeling more confident than I have in a while. Many more of my trouble putts (inside 10 feet) were dropping than usual, and I was getting long-range lag putts much closer to the hole than usual. The weighting of club and its alignment aid really helped me get putt after putt tracking along the same line.
The only downside to this club is that it doesn't help you pick up balls off the green. I tried the Odyssey Sabertooth at the store and it has a built in ball-picker-upper!
To view big pictures follow this link and select 'All Sizes' above the picture you want to view! http://flickr.com/photos/qwkdtsn/set...7605384525335/
I came away with a YES! Tiffany model putter. I was already very interested in the YES! brand and their C-groove technology, so this may have influenced me to look extra-hard at their putters, but I didn't even pick one up until I had already test-driven six or seven other putters, just to be sure I didn't unfairly weight my decision by going right for the one I really wanted to try and immediately convincing myself it was the right one.
For $150 street, the YES! putters are a bargain. They come with a distinctive black, white, and yellow Winn grip with the YES! logo (which has a smooth texture, a little more 'slippery' than tacky, and one of the nicer grips I tried today, though not the best), and a really awesome padded synthetic leather headcover with a nice strong magnetic closure.
I tried out a good selection of putters, including some really weird looking ones from TaylorMade, Ping, Nike, and Odyssey. Many of them, especially the TaylorMade ones, are just too weird looking; Some of them stroked smoothly and had great balance but the look was just too distracting.
The Tiffany, some might argue, is a very weird looking putter at first glance as well; But the weird look is deceiving. Stand over this putter and line it up with a golf ball, and something amazing happens, at least to me. The curves on the alignment aid of the Tiffany putter have the same radius as a golf ball; They work on a similar idea as the ubiquitous 2-ball putters, or any number of other big name putters (some of the new Pings, and some of the Rossas), but for some reason the series of curved ball-shaped lines works so much better for me than any other style I tried.
The series of lines almost creates an illusion of motion even while standing still; When I line up with a golf ball and look down at the putter, it's as if the putter is begging me to draw it straight back and then slide it straight forward, that series of curves almost like an old-time zoetrope - I can imagine the series of curves as motion that's about to take place, and it really, really helps me make a smooth putting stroke.
If this doesn't make any sense or I sound like I'm crazy, so be it - for whatever reason, this alignment aid really works for me, not only to set up the right putting line, but to make a smooth stroke. Any number of putters I tried with a long, straight line would make an awkward wobble in the stroke as I tried to keep the line straight. This one just goes straight by itself.
The shape of the putter is a thin, straight blade, with the alignment aid coming straight back in a nice T shape with no other distractions. The alignment aid is even curved to have the same shape as a golf ball, similar to the Nickent Pipe putters without the obvious attempt to look exactly like a golf ball. The finish is satin grey or bronze, depending on the light, on top and the face, with black C-grooves and white outlining and logos. The bottom of the putter has a finish that another member called 'oil slick', which is what it looks like to me, as well. it's an organic, 'imperfect' looking glossy black, smooth finish that looks different on every individual putter. I think it looks really cool.
So how does it play? Very well. The head weight is very heavy for its size, especially considering how much of it is relieved. This helps make a smooth stroke. The C-grooves really, REALLY work. They are not very noticeable to me on short strokes (inside 10 feet) but when taking a long putt, the ball simply does not hop or skip at all. The ball comes right off the face in a smooth, fast roll. That's all I can really say about the C-grooves that hasn't been mentioned somewhere already - they work, period. I noticed the difference immediately.
This putter feels like it has a decent MOI due to the weight low and back; I realize it does not have any weight in the back corners, but it still feels like it resists twisting very well when hit off-center, and putts go straight off of the toe and heel, although with slightly reduced distance and without the full benefit of the C-grooves.
How's the feel? I think it's perfect. So much of feel for me has to do with the sound of the putter; This putter almost doesn't have a sound of its own. When you hit the ball pure, all you hear is the ball. No bell-like 'ping!' or metallic 'click' or 'thunk' - it's the pure sound of a ball rebounding. Hits off-center are just the tiniest bit more dull, letting you know you didn't get it quite perfect.
All in all I think the value of the product speaks for itself, the milling and finish are excellent, and I love the headcover. I have a feeling I am really going to like getting to know Tiffany - at the putting green this afternoon I was feeling more confident than I have in a while. Many more of my trouble putts (inside 10 feet) were dropping than usual, and I was getting long-range lag putts much closer to the hole than usual. The weighting of club and its alignment aid really helped me get putt after putt tracking along the same line.
The only downside to this club is that it doesn't help you pick up balls off the green. I tried the Odyssey Sabertooth at the store and it has a built in ball-picker-upper!
To view big pictures follow this link and select 'All Sizes' above the picture you want to view! http://flickr.com/photos/qwkdtsn/set...7605384525335/
And Rife is definitely not the first brand of putters to gain popularity on tour without compensation to the players...in fact nowadays it seems like some new company's putters are popping up every other month on tour.
