When you’re short of form on the greens, you’ll try anything to get the ball in the hole. Manufacturers understand your pain and are therefore always coming up with new ways to help.
As you can see below, it seems when it comes to putters, anything goes. Now we are not saying that unusual necessarily means bad – we would never want to be seen to be stifling innovation or creativity.
But in the quest for extra performance, perhaps things were taken a step too far in the case of the 12 most unusual putters of all time we’re counting down here. Hold on to your hats…
Ping Doc 17
(Image credit: Ping)
Originally launched in 2004, the large, semi-circle “udrainium”Doc 17 putter had the highest MOI of any Ping putter at the time. This is no wonder, given it was 15cm in length from heel to toe.
Its stability and forgiveness proved surprisingly popular and Ping brought out different versions later that year, like the mid-length Doc 15B and the centre-shafted Doc 15C. Whilst it may have worked at the time, the oversized concept never really took off and as time passed, manufacturers including Ping figured out ways to build in similar levels of stability into smaller head shapes.
Cleveland Smart Square Stubby
(Image credit: Getty Images)
In 2015, Cleveland unveiled the TFI Smart Square putter, featuring two squares that created parallel lines framing the ball at address and easily highlighting when the putter is misaligned.
But then during the Joburg Open in 2017, Jaco van Zyl used a much smaller version called the Smart Square Stubby. Originally launched as a training tool, it had just one square and the face on it was barely wider than a golf ball. Watching him using genuinely made us feel nervous, there’s certainly a few golfers out there who would have an airshot with this club!
Nike OZ 6
(Image credit: Nike Golf)
We know that spreading weight to the perimeter of a putter increases forgiveness. Well Nike took this concept to another level with the launch of the OZ 6 model.
Forming an oversize, reverse number 3 shape, this putter offered great stability, but at the cost of unconventional visuals.
Odyssey Flip face
(Image credit: Odyssey Golf)
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