TaylorMade Rossa AGSI Putters Review

The 2005 line of Rossa putters features TaylorMade’s innovative “AGSI” technology for a smoother roll, but do the putters make the cut?

Rossa LogoI’ll make you a bet. I’ll name an equipment category and you name the top three brands on tour. If you lose, you have to read this whole review. Ready?

Putters.

If you didn’t name TaylorMade, well, consider yourself average… and wrong.

TaylorMade has made serious inroads on the PGA Tour in a variety of categories in the past few years, including putters, where they’ve surpassed Ping and are slowly gaining ground on stalwarts Scotty Cameron (Titleist) and Odyssey (Callaway). The success of their drivers and now their irons and wedges has allowed TaylorMade to get their putters in the hands of some good golfers. For example, both Sergio Garcia (Booz Allen Classic) and Sean O’Hair (John Deere Classic) have won this year with a TaylorMade putter.

The new innovation? TaylorMade’s “Anti-skid Groove System Insert” (AGSI). TaylorMade may not be the first putter maker in the world to think of putting grooves on a putter (see our reviews of Yes! Golf’s Sophia and Olivia), but their early success on the world’s grandest stage makes them the clear front-runner.

We’ve had our grubby little hands on the Monza Corza and the Suzuka CGB putters with AGSI, part of TaylorMade’s 2006 (yes, 2006) putter line, for the past few months. Here is what we’ve found…

Design and Technology
The 2005 lineup (for those who didn’t catch the drift two sentenced earlier, that’s “last year” for TaylorMade) featured TaylorMade’s CGB technology – the moving of weight low and to the rear of the putter (sound familiar?) to maximize clubhead stability and thus distance and direction on off-center hits. The movement of a putter’s weight low and back also helps the ball to roll more smoothly, rather than skidding and hopping, off the putter face.

AGSI Graphic
The AGSI (“Anti-skid Groove System Insert”) features 12 CNC milled grooves that “grab” the ball and impart topspin for a truer roll. Each groove is filled with a soft polymer for better feel and vibration absorption.

That trend continues in 2006, but TaylorMade has also added the fire-red AGSI inserts. The inserts are made of a metal TaylorMade calls “Titallium” (because it sounds cool), which is a seven-metal alloy that’s 65% lighter than steel. The 12 closely-spaced grooves are CNC milled. The purpose of all this? Two to five grooves “grab” the ball, depending on the force of the stroke, and launch the ball down the target line with more forward roll and less backspin than conventional, non-grooved putters. The result: less skid, less bounce, and a truer roll. Supposedly…

Looks and Setup
Corza PutterI prefer a mallet-shaped putter, so the Suzuka and the Monza Corza were ideal for my tests. The Suzuka features a relatively simple design that is similar to my beloved Scotty Cameron Red X (and the Ray Cook M1-X before it): a face with a semi-circular flange behind it. The single sight line leaves the putter with an uncomplicated, austere appearance. The Monza Corza, on the other hand, is anything but simple. With two swingback rails, a thin sight line, and two holes through which you can see the grass, this putter is a lot more ostentatious than austere.

Putting is about confidence, and as such, the Suzuka quickly found its way out of my bag and into a corner of the garage. If you look at the picture below, you may see why: the darn thing looks to be about two degrees closed at address. I measured – the sight line indeed square to the face – but it doesn’t look that way at address. I gave the putter to five or six accomplished players (solid putters each of them), and without prompting, they all said the same thing: the face appears closed relative to the sight line. Appearances can be deceiving – I realize this – but I’d rather not be deceived by a putter. Perhaps the addition of two more sight lines (like the Red X) would help to eliminate the appearance of a closed face on the Suzuka.

The Suzuka now belongs to someone who’s yet to notice the closed face… or to someone who sees the putter square as it was measured. Take your pick. <grin>

Rossa Address
While the Suzuka (left) appears slightly closed at address, the Monza Corza just appears funky.

The Monza Corza, on the other hand, sets up perfectly. Its sole rests solidly on the ground and alignment is a breeze. Though the black sightline is sometimes lost slightly in the large center flange, the flange itself is about the width of a ball, making it relatively easy to line up in a fashion similar to the Two-Ball and its ilk. Also, as the sight line sits on a raised strip of steel, the sides are hidden when you position your eyes directly over the putter. If you set the putter flat on the ground and get your eyes over the sight line, you can be confident that you’re setting up to the ball the same way each and every time.

I did have one relatively minor issue with the Monza Corza: an occasional bit of glare off the rather smooth finish. You can see some glare in the image above, in fact. Not enough to blind me or prevent me from putting, but enough that I was conscious of the glare instead of getting the ball into the hole.

Feel/Sound and Performance
Monza Corza ExplodedAnyone who played relatively decent golf ten years ago remembers the sound a balata made off the face of a putter. A soft, gentle “thud” that sent the ball on its way. The various inserts (see: White Hot, etc.) of recent years have attempted to re-create that sound with today’s harder-covered golf balls, and many have come close. Other players have become accustomed to the harder “click” provided by metal putters and their Pro V1x (or, as the case may be, their Rock-Flite).

90% of feel is sound, and the AGSI insert in the 2006 Rossa putters straddles the line between “thud” and “click” quite nicely. The ball feels (i.e. sounds) softer coming off the putter than it does from a steel putter, but not as soft (some would say “mushy”) as it does coming off the face of a White Hot or other polymer-insert butter. Contact feels controlled, powerful, and consistent.

As far as performance, the Monza Corza (again, the Suzuka didn’t get much play) rolls the ball like a champ. I don’t have the high-speed cameras to prove it (though there is a movie floating around that compares the roll off the faces of three different putters), but every putt felt as if the ball hugged the ground, didn’t bounce or skid as much, and started more on line. Distance control with the Monza Corza was exceptional, and no doubt this was a product of superb feel and a consistent, near-instant roll.

Rossa Faces

I made the mistake of loaning the Monza Corza to a guy at my club one day. Normally a terrible putter, the guy recorded 24 putts and beat me out of ten bucks. Thanks a lot, TaylorMade!

Extras
The weights in the Monza Corza can be exchanged for heavier or lighter cartridges, but I never saw much point in doing that: the club feels perfectly balanced and practically swings itself. Still, the option is there, and if you routinely play courses with varying green speeds, you may want to pick up a few cartridges and vary the weight of your putter head. The Suzuka features built-in weights that cannot be changed.

Both the Monza Corza and the Suzuka come with stylish headcovers. The Suzuka headcover is a thick and sturdy vinyl/leather/sock-like material that slips on like a wood headcover. No velcro, no snaps, no fuss. The Monza Corza headcover is a bit more stylish and slides on easily. The magnetic closure is appealing at first but unclasps itself a bit too easily when you’re yanking irons from your bag or shoving your clubs in the trunk of your car. Velcro may not look quite as suave, but it works a bit better.

Rossa Headcovers

The grips are pretty standard fare for putters these days, which is not to say that they’re not exceptional. The top third is red, the bottom two thirds are black, and it rests comfortably in your fingers. It feels a tad thinner than some putter grips I’ve used recently, but only by a small amount. It’s stylish and it’s a putter grip – to each his own.

Specs
The Suzuka CGB is a half-mallet putter with a 335g head and 3.5° loft. It lies 70° upright and comes in 33″, 34″, and 35″ variants. It’s heel-shafted with a double-bend shaft. The finish is Rossa’s standard 2006 Tour Satin finish.

The Monza Corza is available in three variations, all with a headweight of 345g, 2.5° loft, 70° lie, and 33″-35″ in length (32″-37″ can be custom ordered). A center-shafted model, an L-neck model, and a double-bend heel-shafted model are available. All come in the Tour Satin finish.

Rossa Face Sole

The 2006 Rossa putters MSRP for $229 but can be found for about $180 in golf stores nationwide.

Conclusion
Though I didn’t care for the Suzuka due to what appeared to be a closed face, the Monza Corza is a putter with which to be reckoned! I’ve never used a putter that so consistently seemed to roll the ball on the target line with consistence pace. The Monza Corza may look a tad funky, but the only funky looks you’ll get after using it are the looks your opponents will give you after you’ve rolled in a 20-footer at the last to beat them out of their hard-earned cash.

16 thoughts on “TaylorMade Rossa AGSI Putters Review”

  1. That video clip is pure TM propaganda. Note that this is a human test, not a machine test (which would be easy to perform and much more reliable.) If you freeze it on the impact frame you will notice the following:

    1) The top two putters are hit well above the sweetspot, while the TM putter is hit perfectly.

    2) The middle putter is hit on a descending path which will produce more backspin. The ball position is further back.

    The bottom line is that – all other factors being equal (CG location, clubhead path, etc.) – grooves on any lofted club will produce more backspin than one without. The only situation where this doesn’t apply is if you can apply topspin to the ball – i.e. hit the putt with an ascending blow and a delofted face. How many players actually do that?

    Just a thought…

  2. ok, I’m Taylor Made cool-aid drinker, I admit – but I don’t see the issue with the movie. The reason why the top putter is not strking the ball right at the equator is (IMHO) related to the design of the putter and it’s setup and loft on the clubface.
    Can’t wait to get my C/S Corza… two more weeks.

  3. Thanks 😉 Indeed in the Newport Cup I had only 1 3-jack in 3 rounds… but I attribute it more to the very nice greens than the putter. After all – in the “warm-up” round, after driving 11hrs over-night I managed to 3-jack no less than 7 times (!!!!) with the same putter. Kind of indicates the old truth – it’s the indian, not the arrow 🙂

  4. I bought a 2006 TM Rossa Monza Corza AGSI and the distant control is superb. I used to 3 putt a lot with my old putter(I’m new) but I rarely 3 putt anymore with my new putter.

  5. The “AGSI” groves provide exceptional feel, as well as a great role when struck. I have owned the Daytona CGB since last year and I have lowered my handicap by 5 strokes! THANKS TAYLORMADE!

  6. hi, im 14 and my handicap is 14.3 and i play at formosa country club in auckland new zealand. the greens are tought there so i need a putter to depend on every time i need to make a putt, my dad gave me the monza corza as he moved onto a scotty cameron and i thought that the putter was great with all the talk going around but it wasnt, the putter has an odd feeling and it is weird when you stroke the ball, i have just recently bought a rossa suzuka beleive it or not and it is great. i totally reccomend the suzuka over the corza, the suzuka has a great stroke and a way better feel and the corza is odd dont fall into a trap when in a golf shop and the person reccomends the corza just because its more money, go for the cheaper BETTER suzuka and you wont be dissapointed!!!

  7. I bought a 2006 TM Rossa Monza Corza AGSI and the distant control is superb. I used to 3 putt a lot with my old putter(I’m new) but I rarely 3 putt anymore with my new putter.

    i dont beleive the corza has a good stroke it feels and hits badly and the suzuka has a way softer feel and a better and easier stroke than the corza

  8. Anybody have feedback on the YES c-groove technology vs. the Taylor Made AGSI…I am looking at the YES Callie forged vs the Taylor Made daytona 1. Thanks.

  9. YES is a real quality putter i like the way that they are weighted they roll the ball great

  10. I have used the Monza Corsa for several years now and really like it. I like the face balanced feel and the decent role. I putt on bermuda grass greens in Florida so the grooves help get the ball on top of the grain at impact. Never adjusted the weights as the putter is perfectly balanced. My head cover wore out and TaylorMade sent me a new one for $15.

  11. Has anyone had success changing the loft and lie angle of the centre shafted Rossa Monza Corza. I bought one for next to nothing at a garage sale this weekend ($5) even though the lie is way to flat for me and it seems as though my hands are slightly behind the ball at address.

    I have been told that it is impossible to adjust centre shafted putters, but the design of this putter makes me think it will be no problem. The issue with most centre shafted putters is that the shaft goes directly into the head which pretty much mandates what the lie and loft will be. But the Monza Corza has that small fitting the shaft is inserted into and I’m hoping that will allow this putter to be adjusted.

    Thanks!!

  12. Still love putting with my CS Monza Corza 13 years after picking it up. I try others, but always fall back to this one.

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