How much does it really matter to have a top-brand putter?

[MrElculver2424]

I know it's always good to get a good putter, but honestly, how important is it to get a top-brand putter? Isn't it mostly in the green reading and the stroke?

I'm a pretty good putter, but I have a pretty basic putter from a few years ago and don't really know if it's worth it to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a top-of-the-line putter. Will it really make that much of a difference?

[deasy55]

Not important at all. Use something that you have confidence in. If you are a good putter with your current club then keep at it. I currently use a €40 Wilson putter that I won in a junior competition years ago. This is despite also owning an odyssey 2 ball putter.

[Elvisliveson]

You being a high school sophomore, I say definitely no, it's not worth it for you at this time. It's a luxury item that a person of limited means can do without. That said, a high-end putter is generally better in the looks and feel dept. That and the increased cost could get you to appreciate and practice putting more. After that, it's just a collectible that can add to the overall enjoyment of the game.

[deronsizemore]

Must important thing is making sure it fits you. Most putters have four degrees of loft and are 71 lie. I like mine to be about 70 lie and anywhere from .5 - 2 loft. Just depends on the putter. Some look different than others.

My current putter is 7.75 lie and .5 loft.

Keep in mind that the number 1 player in the world currently uses a putter that costs around $80 I believe.

[Inebriated]

Brand doesn't matter nearly as much as feel. All brand does is look nice in the bag...

[trackster]

I don't think it matters at all.

I told my friend once that A good putter could take one of those rubber putters they have at mini golf and perform well with it.

I take some jokes for having a putter from the 1940s (no lie) but i love it and have yet to 4 putt this year and have been averaging right around 15 per nine

[hunterxaz]

Having the best gear in any sport matters. Don't kid yourself with a putter. If you learn on terrible gear, you may play with terrible gear.

[DocWu1948]

Jim Furyk's  $39 used putter  won him 11 million bucks last summer.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=5625279

[mihi4]

I don't think, the brand of the putter is important, but to have a putter, that fits you and your stroke.

Doesn't matter, if it costs $30,- or $300,- as long as it performs best for you ...

Recently I got a $40,- Cleveland Classic #1 and it fits me really well. No need to spend $400,- on some good marketed brand...

greetings

michi

[SamW]

I'm of the old school view point, that if you believe/trust you can putt with it then you can putt with it. Top brand putters with all the marketing hype around them give people the believe that they can putt better so it works.

Whatever any marketeer says I do not believe one ounce of putter hype, I do not believe that putter fitting has any benefit other than promoting the belief in the golfer that the putter fits them well, and I do not believe that over time I will putt any better with a brand new $400 putter than my 22 year old putter. Nor do I believe that there is any evidence that putting technology has ever improved putting performance in either the amateur or the professional game on any macro scale. If putting averages have improved (which they probably haven't) this will be 100% due to improved technology in green keeping producing better putting surfaces...

I don't mind being controversial on this, we are talking about a couple of hundred grams of metal striking a rubber ball with 4* loft and very little velocity beheld by a golfer who has 2 jobs, one to point the putter at the target, and another to have the putter face perpendicular to the direction of travel at contact. Personally I miss more putts to misreads than bad strokes, if I do take a bad stroke its come from the brain not the body.

[shades9323]

I would say that the brand or "top of the line" doesn't matter a lick. It is all about the style of putter that fits your game the best. About half of my rounds are played with a $50 Cleveland Classic1 and the other half is played with a WOOD shafted Otey Crisman! I am looking at center shafted mallets now as I think it will fit my game better.

[MiniBlueDragon]

If you can putt the ball with a log and do so in a consitent and controlled manner you should do it. Whether a putter is £1 or £1000 is largely irrelevant as long as it improves your score.

The only thing you may find is that some more expensive putters are better balanced and thus will feel better for you to putt with and that in turn may give you extra consistency.

My Ping iWi Anser was around £150 when I bought it. My best mate's putter was £20 when I bought it for him (he was just starting out in golf and didn't have a putter at all) and I'd have happily bought a second £20 for myself if I didn't already have mine as there was very little difference in balance, weighting and ease of use.

[MSchott]

I agree with most everything above. I think very high quality putters marginally help really good putters like pro golfers. To me a putter is all about feel and look. I've been using the same Odyssey cavity back putter for about 6 years. I've never putted better because I'm comfortable with its look and feel.

[saevel25]

Find a putter that feels good to you. Thats all that matters. I love my White Ice putter, its helped me out a ton with feel.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by MrElculver2424

I know it's always good to get a good putter, but honestly, how important is it to get a top-brand putter? Isn't it mostly in the green reading and the stroke?

I'm a pretty good putter, but I have a pretty basic putter from a few years ago and don't really know if it's worth it to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a top-of-the-line putter. Will it really make that much of a difference?

Just get the Scotty and be done with it.

[Elvisliveson]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

I'm just gonna go ahead and use the P word. Based on the bulk of your threads and posts, could you be any more of a poser?

Just get the Scotty and be done with it.

Doesn't Tiger use the Nike Method now? Therefore, that's my guess as to what the OP is angling for . .

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Elvisliveson

Doesn't Tiger use the Nike Method now? Therefore, that's my guess as to what the OP is angling for . .

I actually deleted the Poser part of my response because even if I'd hit the nail on the head, there may have been a time in my early golf years when I'd gone for style over substance.

BTW - Wilson Staff, Cleveland, and Odyssey are all "top brands" and they're reasonably priced. Whatevs.

[Kieran123]

I heard Tiger is now using a hockey stick putter. They're on sale at golf town