2018 MOST WANTED BLADE PUTTER
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2018 MOST WANTED BLADE PUTTER

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2018 MOST WANTED BLADE PUTTER

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120

Hours
Researched

26

Products
Considered

14,695

Putts
Hit

25.9m

Readers

Our Job Is Your Game.

Breadth_2

Is your putter helping or hurting your game? Putters are one of the least fitted clubs in a golfer’s bag.  When you pull a random putter off the rack in a store, it’s like you’re buying a very expensive lottery ticket. There’s no promise that it will drop your score.

We’re trying to take the guesswork out of buying a putter. We test all of the major brands, and then some.  We get rid of the all the marketing and make it about one thing: Performance.

In 2018, we have yet again improved our scoring metrics to formulate the TRUERank for each putter.  The top-ranked putter is that which finished in the statistically significant top group for the largest number of testers.

If you are in the market for a new putter in 2018, this is for you.

The MyGolfSpy Difference

2018’s Most Wanted Blade test is the largest, fully independent putter test conducted in the industry.

This year’s test took place at the MGS Test Facility20 testers participated. 26 blade-style putters were tested. Testing took more than 120 hours to complete with 14,695 total putts recorded. All testers used Bridgestone Tour B-RX Golf Balls.

Our goal, as always, remains to empower you, the consumer, with accurate and reliable data and analysis that will help you identify the best putter for your game.

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How We Test Putters

Each putter is put through a comprehensive test consisting of a series of putts from distances of 5, 10 and 20 feet. Each of our 20 testers putts the equivalent of 18 holes with each putter. The total number of putts required to finish each hole with each putter is recorded.

Next, we identify the top performing club (the one with the fewest total putts) for each tester. Then, for each golfer, using a 90% confidence interval, we identify any other putters for which the total number of putts is not reliably different from the top performer. The number of putters in this statistical top group varies between testers. For some testers, there is a single statistically significant best, while for others, more than half the field is shown not to be reliably different from an individual’s top performer.

Our Most Wanted winner is the club that finishes in the statistically significant top group for the greatest percentage of our testers. To simplify things a bit, we call the final order TRUERank; a metric that includes the order of finish (rank), along with the percentage of golfers for whom each club was shown to be in the statistical top group.

Here are the complete parameters of this year’s test:

  • Number of Testers: 20
  • Handicap Range: +1-16
  • Test Location: MyGolfSpy Testing Facility
  • Balls Used: 2018 Bridgestone Tour B-RX
  • Distances Assessed: 5, 10, and 20 Feet
  • Holes Completed: 18 (per tester)
  • Total Putts in Test: 14,695

Top 5 Blade Putters 2018

Top5

The Data

The chart below contains the individual distance rankings from this year’s test. All columns can be sorted to suit your preference.

Our overall rankings are derived from the test of statistical significance, which is displayed in the last column.

2018 Most Wanted Blade Data

Club NamePrice5 Feet10 Feet20 FeetTRUERank
EVNROLL ER3$329.0018th1st1st1 (70%)
Odyssey O-Works White/Black/White 1w$199.996th4th11th2 (55%)
Edel E-3$330.001st23rd5th2 (55%)
TaylorMade TP Collection Juno$199.9911th8th4th2 (55%)
EVNROLL ER1.2$359.009th14th3rd5 (50%)
Bloodline R1-J$499.997th3rd14th5 (50%)
CURE CX2$279.998th20th7th5 (50%)
CURE Tour X1$299.9512th17th10th5 (50%)
PING Vault 2.0 Dale Anser$299.9916th23rd5th5 (50%)
Bettinardi BB01$300.0013th11th13th5 (50%)
Wilson Staff Windy City$99.999th8th15th11 (45%)
Cleveland TFI 1.0$159.994th4th21st11 (45%)
Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Notchback$379.9925th2nd9th11 (45%)
MLA Tour F&T$369.0015th15th11th11 (45%)
Bettinardi BB29$300.002nd21st18th11 (45%)
SeeMore Mini Giant$395.0020th8th24th16 (40%)
Odyssey O-Works Black #1$199.9917th23rd2nd16 (40%)
Scotty Cameron Newport 2$399.9922nd15th16th18 (35%)
Cleveland Huntington Beach #4$99.9919th6th15th18 (35%)
PING Sigma G Anser$179.995th22nd22nd18 (35%)
Sentio Sierra 101$299.003rd26th8th18 (35%)
Cleveland Huntington Beach #8$99.9923rd11th23rd22 (30%)
Argolf Arthur$399.9924th18th19th22 (30%)
Tommy Armour Impact No.1$99.9910th19th20th22 (30%)
Cleveland TFI 8.0$179.9913th6th25th25 (25%)
Carbon Ringo$340.0021st13th16th25 (25%)

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20180418-DSC_0424

 

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      Gord MacDonald

      5 years ago

      Did you test with the flag in or out??

      Reply

      mackdaddy

      5 years ago

      I have played an ER 3 for about a year now and I thank mygolfspy.com for it. I have been a good putter for years because I get the pace right most of the time and rarely leave myself more than 3 feet for second putts.

      The Evnroll ER 3 has been a God send! Just today I made 3 putts from over 25 feet. I expect and intend to make long putts now.

      Thank You again My Golf Spy. Thank You Mr. Grund (sp)

      Reply

      gunmetal

      6 years ago

      Unless the faces of these putters were hand milled by tired, drunk millworkers, all of this data tells us didley pooh about the putters, but rather speaks to the golfers and their ABILITY to start a putt on the right line and hit it with correct speed.

      I’ve always found “accuracy” such a rubbish data point with which to measure a golf club. It’s the golfer that controls where the ball goes. Looks, feel, and sound would be much better and more helpful data to obtain, even if it is subjective. For my argument I present the Carbon Ringo – winner of the 2015 MGS Most Wanted Blade – now dead last. Change my mind if I’m wrong.

      Reply

      Pip

      6 years ago

      I love your most wanted series of reviews but one thing I would love to see you guys add is personal comments from the testers. At least the top 4 or 5 in each category. I don’t mean from every tester. Maybe just a few. I love personal feed back.

      Reply

      Gary

      6 years ago

      After searching around, I realized noone even remotely close has the ER3, so….I ordered a 33″.
      This will be my 1st blade in awhile, although back in the day I did fine with them.

      Reply

      Graham Riley

      6 years ago

      Pity you could not test out the Quantum putter as the weight difference is pretty significant – Evnroll ER3 / 360 gams – Quantum / about 480 grams and some golfers would do better with a heavier putter.
      One other thing – no matter which putter you use, if your ‘read’ is flawed or your putter face is not 90 degrees square to your putt line (a correct read), you are not going to make the putt.
      *Think I need to send you guys some ‘Strike-Line’ golf balls.

      Reply

      Clay

      6 years ago

      Wow, the Carbon Ringo was first a few years ago, now last. Ouch.

      Reply

      Golfinnut

      6 years ago

      Bottom line … it’s the Indian & not the Arrow IMO. No matter what the statistics or numbers say.
      If you have good mechanics, understand how to read greens, etc. it doesn’t matter what you putt with. A shell at the end of a piece of bamboo would work just fine. (for you young folks, that’s a reference to Gilligan’s Island)

      Reply

      sam

      6 years ago

      That’s it! I have 2 putters. it’s my cheap putter I use.
      I taught my self to read greens by reverse engineering, slowed down my swing by half. learned to feel my weight, improved my straight back straight through swing.
      When it all works I’m down to 4-5 hc but when it’s not on I’m back into double figures. A $400 putter would make a lighter back pocket!

      Reply

      elhosel

      6 years ago

      Why don’t you guys publish the make % of the blade putters like you do with the mallets? Seems a rather odd decision if you’re trying to keep things consistent between the tests. They were only published 2 days apart so not sure that is any excuse.

      Reply

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      They were actually published a week apart.

      The 1-putt make percentage was added based on feedback to the blade test. We were hoping to eliminate some of the confusion but I think we actually made it worse. We’ll be making some changes in the presentation next year to hopefully simplify.

      Reply

      Amirul

      6 years ago

      Regarding the Cleveland’s TFI 1.0 putter. I assume it’s the satin version and not the black/copper version?

      Reply

      Rodney

      6 years ago

      It seems like Scotty Camerons never do well in these test!!! Why the high price tag for a club that doesn’t perform?

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      That’s a very good question and probably the reason why there are so many salty Scotty fans on MGS.

      Reply

      Felix Loo

      6 years ago

      The ER2 was my fav last year. But this ER3 sure looks good too and performance may be even better!

      Reply

      Anonymous

      6 years ago

      I love my PXG Brandon putter, rolls beautifully. Should be in the mix!!!

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      PXG doesn’t send equipment in for testing, they are too scared it would reveal a high price tag with no benefit to performance.

      Reply

      JMS

      6 years ago

      The average golfer will have many 20+ foot and 10-20 foot putts each round. This is where the 3.8% (10 foot) and 6.3% (20 foot) advantages come into play. Assuming 6 to 8 20 foot putts and 6 to10 10-20 foot putts/game, this can easily translate to 1-3 strokes saved/game. From 5 feet, the EVNROL ER3, based on this data, will only cost 0.25 strokes/game, but this is easily offset by the extra putts made in the 10+ range.

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      At least someone gets it around this comment section :)

      Reply

      Johnny Penso

      6 years ago

      Some more great testing from MGS! Given the stats provided all the putters are really close at all distances. With that in mind I’d like to see a another parameter added to the testing and that is average distance of miss on the 20 footers. Even the pros miss 5 out of 6 of those and for us amateurs what we really need is a sure two putt from that distance and a measure of dispersion might add an important layer of information to the results.

      Reply

      Forza

      6 years ago

      Also, if the EVNROLL can help you miss the 10-20 footers by 1 or 2 feet instead of 5, that is immensely more helpful than being a “better” club from 5 feet away. I hit some EVNROLL’s the other day and they were pretty damn consistent. I’ve always been a mallet putter, but am now switching to a blade as it easily outhit every other putter I demo’d.

      Reply

      Patrick

      6 years ago

      MGS thank you for all your hard work. At first, i had the same thoughts as most, 18th from 5 ft was #1???? But after seeing the data variance I can see no flaw in scoring it this way and love the fact you went out to 20 ft. For alot of weekend golfers this should help tremendously. Great stuff and made my first donation!

      I’m interested to hear anybody who is opposed to this scoring system and why?

      Reply

      Kevin C

      6 years ago

      Can anyone provide reasoning why Edel is #1 from 5 feet and #5 from 20 feet, but not even in the top 10 from 10 ft? is it just an anomaly?

      Reply

      HardcoreLooper

      6 years ago

      I’ll handle the copypasta this time…

      From Tony and MGS:

      “Think about it like this, hopefully this helps you visualize it better.

      5 FT:
      1st Place 1,000 putts
      18th Place 1,005 putts

      10 FT:
      1st Place 1,200 putts
      18th Place 1,245 putts

      20 FT:
      1st Place 1,500 putts
      18th Place 1,595 putts

      This is just an example to show what separates those 1st – 18th from 5 and 20 ft.”

      So the higher ranked putters from 20 ft are demonstrably better than their counterparts. At 10 ft, less so.

      Reply

      JMS

      6 years ago

      The take home message here is that the #1 ranked putter vs #18 will save at least 1 stoke/game on average. The fact that the Evnroll 3 is ranked #18 is insignificant . Based on the data the Evnroll 3 is: only 0.5% worse from 5 feet vs the #1 putter from 5 feet – about 1 extra missed putt every ten games. However, from 10 feet it is 3.75% (about 1 putt every four games) better compared to #18 and from 20 feet it is 6.3% better (about 1-2 extra putts/game). Based on these stats, the Evnroll 3 has the potential to save 1-4 strokes/game vs #18. However, the question here is if this putter is so good, why don’t more tour pros use it? Each stroke is worth 10s of thousands to a touring pro. I’m a pro data scientist and a scratch golfer. I’ve had pretty good success with my BB01. Inside 10 feet it has been great but between 10 feet and 20 feet is my dead zone. I’ll do a detailed statistical comparison of the BB01 vs the EVNROLL 3 or 2 and publish the results. The results of this study imply that there are no statistical differences between the performance of the top 18 putters within 5 feet. Instead of rankings, the putters should be placed in distinct performance classes for each distance.

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      Great info JMS and it brings a lot of clarity. I would love to see your results actually.

      I agree with the 5′ comment, I think it’s obviously confused a lot of people on here and would be more clear to state that it’s almost a wash and/or statistically insignificant at the 5′ range.

      Reply

      Donn Rutkoff

      6 years ago

      Regarding the stats: maybe you could include that there is no statistically significant difference between the top 5 or 10 ranked putters in the 5 foot test. i am pretty sure know what this term means and your software probably calculates it. If you include it in the chart it cuts down on a lot comments that question the method or conclusion. It would certainly help me to apply your test results on many of your tests. Keep up the good work.

      Reply

      Donn Rutkoff

      6 years ago

      So what about carrying 2 putters in the bag? An Evnroll for mid and lon range and a different type, probably heavier head, for purer straight hits on the short putts. Anybody do this? I think I will. I don’t need 4 long clubs between driver and 4 iron. Two is enough, and 3 wedges.

      Reply

      Jacob McCain

      5 years ago

      Never. I like clubs that can do multiple things. I can use an extra iron, wood, or hybrid to punch out from trouble, hit low bullets to get extra run, and hit high shots that stop quickly. Having two clubs for only one extremely limited purpose stifles creativity in other parts of the game. There would have to be a TREMENDOUS difference for me to consider doing this, and 1 extra missed putt every 5-6 rounds simply isn’t enough.

      Reply

      Jerry

      6 years ago

      Tony- ok I get it, there is negligible difference between some or most of these putters as your remarks seem to imply. The numbers are what they are. Can you clarify the testing methodology a bit more for me and others? Specifically, would a tester playing 18 simulated holes play those same 18 holes for each putter? Were the putters randomized to prevent the tester from being semi-automatic after “knowing” the distance and break by the 26th putter? I mean if I got to practice putt 25 times on a hole I’d certainly know how hard to hit my putt and how many balls outside the left edge to aim it. Now if you tested by playing all 18 holes with the same putter then starting over on hole 1 and so on? Even after a while you know the putts. Just curious.

      Reply

      Chris Troxell

      6 years ago

      Great questions. Hope they respond.

      Reply

      Anonymous

      6 years ago

      I have 3 Er 2 & via physics it undoubtedly improves distance ‘feel ‘& accuracy because off center misses seem more solid-even when intentional,the difference being I have to play fast putts off toe/heel to deaden speed on quicker puts,I’ve put a bit of lead tape 2 offset this – great putter w the traditional ping
      anser rocker look,

      Reply

      Jon Silverberg

      6 years ago

      I have found that playing fast putts off the heel or toe to deaden them leads to inconsistent ball direction. The alternative, which works for me, is to grip way down on the steel shaft to shorten the pendulum swing.

      Reply

      Bob Smith

      6 years ago

      Totally agree

      JasonA

      6 years ago

      So is a more expensive putter better?

      The correlation between price and rank is 0.25 which is only a weak likelihood. Interesting the only distance that more expensive putters in test are better than the cheaper ones is at 20 feet. (at 5ft correlation is -0.17 . Negative means cheaper is better)

      But average price of putters is a bit crazy. 273 USD. Seem excessive when compared this to an iron or hybrid in terms of technology and manufacturing. Such is the cost of fashion.

      Reply

      tanksfurnutin

      6 years ago

      How many times do you use your driver a round?

      Reply

      Bdub

      6 years ago

      Exactly! The average handicapper cares WAY too much about the driver, especially distance, versus putter. I’ve seen this trend over the past 3.75 years as a custom club fitter/builder.

      JasonA

      5 years ago

      @TANKSFURNUTIN I think that’s the wrong question.

      RATHER: How many shots does does optimized driver save per round?

      If it’s 0.784 strokes (gap in 2019 test over 14 holes) then should pay 3.136 times more for the average driver. That is 856 USD for the average driver.
      Putters with far less construction costs totally over priced.

      Anonymous

      6 years ago

      I totally agree with findings. I am a 5 handicap and putting was my wall. 3 putts killed me. 2 months ago I bought a ER6B mallet and transformed my game. Technology or pretty putter still wins. Willy Wilcox, PGA /Web.com player just bagged one

      Reply

      Doug

      6 years ago

      Good lord,
      How many times did you cut and paste that Tony?

      Years ago I got the #1 putter, the Nike Method, and my putting instantly was better. Go figure.

      So many disgruntled comments…

      Anyways- I have one suggestion for all future testing, and this will be the “most wanted” addition to all testing. Ready?

      Please, please include last years winning item in the new years test-
      driver, irons, putter, bag, ball, whatever. Just the winner from the last year- I think that will speak volumes…

      Reply

      Anonymous

      6 years ago

      #MyGolfSpy you guys are the best…

      Reply

      Brian

      6 years ago

      When will we see the mallets tested? Hopefully soon!

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      i think they said it was coming out on Monday.

      Reply

      Jerry

      6 years ago

      Putting is such a screwball black art that I barely ever pay much attention to tests. We all have a friend who can barely scrape a good round together yet is consistently several putting strokes less every time you play. And most of us amateurs have good days followed by bad days. The stat that gets overlooked is distance from the hole and putting position, ie straight uphill vs downhill with a break. Add in Bent grass vs Bermuda and the variations therein. Most golfers know a properly positioned approach shot that leaves a putt less than 20’ on the better side of the hole makes for a good putting round. We all see what the Pro’s use and even Spieth has bad days. Now as I read and re-read your article I too was shaking my head at “18th” from 5’ is ranked #1?? I cannot think of a more important putt than 5’. I would trade making the 20 footer for making the 5 footer every day of the week. I am an 8 handicap and while I don’t track my putts I know the difference between a 74 and an 82 is how many 3-putts I make plus up and downs on missed greens. The 5-footer to save par is everything in scoring for me at least. The 2nd most important element in putting (to me) is the “come back” putt or “leave”. Three-putts generally result from having “to make” from outside your comfort zone. Tiger can go for birdie and run by 8’ but he is a robot on the come-back where most everyone else will struggle. So if MGS is truly saying what I perceive here perhaps the solution is carrying “2” PUTTER’s! One for 20 footers and one from 5’. I mean throw out a club you don’t use much and carry two putters if this test is to be believed.

      Reply

      Aaron

      6 years ago

      Hi Jerry, I am in total agreement with you! I cannot understand how the Evnroll ER3 is 18th out of 26 in 5-foot putts to be named No.1. I am a 2-handicap with a fitted Hiro Matsumoto Putter for more eight years. I can recall countless times the criticality to drain those must-make putts within two yards to score within my perimeters. I suppose MGS needs to be as critical as we serious golfers are before grading and ranking. But, I do thank MGS for having put so much effort in the test. Perhaps, I am bias, when it comes to putters and wedges I felt no well-known brands can stack-up to small Japanese manufacturers in the numbers, materials used, the meticulous precision and care in the manufacturing processes, and feel of their hand-crafted products.

      Reply

      MyGolfSpy

      6 years ago

      We will paste this again:

      Think about it like this, hopefully this helps you visualize it better.

      5 FT:
      1st Place 1,000 putts
      18th Place 1,005 putts

      10 FT:
      1st Place 1,200 putts
      18th Place 1,245 putts

      20 FT:
      1st Place 1,500 putts
      18th Place 1,595 putts

      This is just an example to show what separates those 1st – 18th from 5 and 20 ft.

      kevin

      6 years ago

      regarding mygolfspy response….this is exactly why a simply rankings 1-whatever does not work. we need to group putters into pods based on strokes saved. where do the significant drop offs occur. there is nearly nothing between the putters when it comes to inside 5 ft, yet ranking them 1- whatever is easily misread.

      Tony Wright

      6 years ago

      Tony did each of the testers putt with a version of each putter that was the correct length and lie angle for them? Or did all testers putt with putters that were all the same length and lie angle? Please provide some details thanks.

      Reply

      Tony Wright

      6 years ago

      Hi guys…..still hoping that some one will answer the question I posed, thanks.

      Reply

      Tony Wright

      6 years ago

      Hi guys! Still hoping you will be able to take the time to answer my question, thank you.

      DL

      6 years ago

      I believe each tester only uses the one putter, no adjustments. It would add too much complexity and variables to the test, along with the fact that they use what the manufacturer provides (or they buy).

      Reply

      MajorMike

      6 years ago

      Having attended golf school a few times, the instructors all checked the students on their putting set up. This included eye alignment, putter lie, body alignment, and type of swing path (arc vs straight).
      In almost every case, at least one or more of these factors were incorrect. Accordingly, not checking these factors prior to any putting test, I believe, substantiall impacts the data collected. All the school instructors concurred if you want to improve quickly, spend your money on a professional putter fitting. Although I do appreciate My Golf Spy conducting this test, but would advise any player have a putter fitting before making a decision to buy any putter especially the big $$$ ones.

      Marc

      6 years ago

      How can you pick a putter 1st place that finished 18th inside 5 feet? That’s where you’ve got to shine! I find this very confusing. Yes it is important to lay it close and make some longer putts, but odds are you are not going to

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      Helping out Tony on this one as he’s probably losing his shit on this already:

      “Think about it like this, hopefully this helps you visualize it better.

      5 FT:
      1st Place 1,000 putts
      18th Place 1,005 putts

      10 FT:
      1st Place 1,200 putts
      18th Place 1,245 putts

      20 FT:
      1st Place 1,500 putts
      18th Place 1,595 putts

      This is just an example to show what separates those 1st – 18th from 5 and 20 ft.”

      Reply

      mackdaddy

      6 years ago

      It would be great to have the raw number of putts with each score. That also explains how so many putters tie at each level.

      Will Dutton

      6 years ago

      I have been waiting for this test! I was really hoping to see the ER1.2 do well as it suits my eye, oh well.

      I bought the ER2 last year based on the most wanted last year and I have been putting the lights out all year, may have to give the new ER3 a whirl as it looks like a higher moi version of the ER2.

      One suggestion, maybe put the percentage of putts made next to the rank so that we don’t have to scroll through 60 comments about 18th place for short putts..

      Reply

      MakeParNotWar

      6 years ago

      Dear MGS Team,

      After reading all the comments this morning, I’ve got to say you guys have the “patience of Job”! Apparently, despite your best efforts to educate the masses, they would rather spew verbal diarrhea in the comment section rather than research (smart move with cut&paste…). Once again, well done test.

      I am curious about why no ER2 this year. I’m guessing that it’s because the 2018 ER2 has not changed from the 2017 ER2. I thought the ER3 was included in last years test as well. What changes have they made to it?? At first glance, it looks like they turned it into an ER2 with a notch.

      Reply

      J-Full

      6 years ago

      Not sure how feasible it’d be (maybe even expensive) but can the GCQuad be used for putting? I’d be curious how the testers strokes deviate from their “normal” stroke when testing various putters. So if you’re a straight back-straight through the putters that produce the most similar stroke for you get more weight in the test.

      Essentially this could say to the readers “hey if nothing else changed about your stroke, these putters are better or worse”. Because testers are human they’d be unconsciously or even consciously changing their stroke for each putter they try. And I’m not sure there’s a way to account for that built-in bias.

      That being said, I work in analytics/data science for a living and sometimes more information just muddies the water further for the end consumer, even though it’s a more thorough approach

      Reply

      Chad

      6 years ago

      The statistical method used is not going to determine an absolute “best” putter for everyone. The statistics reveal that the ER3 will be among the best putters tested for the most people, but not necessarily the best putter for any one person. Each person must test that for themselves (potentially up to 25% would find the Ringo the best for them based upon the statistics). It’s just numbers, no emotion…which makes it actually usable and valuable information (unlike the HotList).

      Reply

      Regis

      6 years ago

      I remember when a “blade’ putter meant a Titleist Bullseye. Since those days I’ve played with golfers with expensive putters who can’t putt and golfers with unorthodox strokes and garage sale putters that are more than willing to take my lunch money. DJ was in Carlsbad last week. TMAG had 10-15 putters made up, all Spiders, identical in all respects, except for the paint job and sight lines. Some had variances of as much as 4feet from a distance of 15 feet. One was center cut on every stroke

      Reply

      Ted Ebert

      6 years ago

      You need better testers. Many Scotty on the tours.

      Reply

      Donovan

      6 years ago

      Scotty has never done that well in these tests. His older putters are much better Han the stuff that’s come out the last few years.

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      It just goes to show what money will do. Most of the guys playing Nike drivers gained instant yardage after Nike blew up. The Scotty guys are always salty when their beautiful putters end up doing poorly in ALL of these tests. I don’t think a single one has hit the top 5, ever, although I could be wrong.

      Reply

      Regis

      6 years ago

      I remember when a “blade” putter meant the Titleist Bullseye. Everything else (Anser, mallet) was a potato masher.

      Reply

      MyGolfSpy

      6 years ago

      Thankfully for golfers them there weren’t the good ‘ol days of putters.

      Reply

      ChristopherKee

      6 years ago

      I’d like to see the raw data to know which putter was best of the best for the person who was the most accurate overall putter out of the 20.

      Reply

      Nottingtom

      6 years ago

      Some suggestions
      – the 5footer group are likely to be a very high make percentage therefore the different “ranks” may not be relevant.
      – it would be interesting to see lovelies or 95% C.I. For each ranking at each distance.
      – most important of all – MGS are NOT saying buy the evnroll. They are saying it tested the best but you should all go get fit. It’s not practical to try everything on the market so they are giving you a head start. (Having said that I bought the original ping ketsch after hitting it for ten minutes on an indoor green after it won most wanted. Still have it even though I believe the true roll was broken on the initial batches I.e. Grooves the wrong depth).
      – Tony I understand that the 075534£ and testers differ year on year and there are serious time constraints (there is a reason a lot of clinical scientific articles , my background, come out years after research is initiated) but it would be interesting to see inter and intra operator reliability stats for each putter with a 2-3 month time gap. My feeling is that this could have a huge implication and also show up manufacturers claims further.

      Reply

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      Retesting several months out would definitely be interesting, but probably isn’t in the cards for us. It takes us a good bit of the year just to get through the bag the first time. If we could get the entire industry to agree to not release anything new for a year or two, we could do some really cool things.

      Look at CIs as the basis for ranks at each distance is easily doable and could be interesting. I actually like the idea quite a bit, but it worries me from a presentation standpoint, however. As you can probably ascertain from the comments, ranking the way we do now – while I (and everyone on the industry side we’ve spoken with) believe it’s a fundamentally better (more meaningful and sound) approach, it’s not the most intuitive.

      Always a grind to do it better…bigger grind still to ensure everyone understands it.

      Reply

      Lou Body

      6 years ago

      I am a believer in Golf Digest’s ranking system of Gold and Silver even recognizing that there must be bias in the magazine toward big advertisers. In that you accept no advertising I think MGS would be more relevant if you had a system more like Golf Digest’s. Don’t make a subjective judgment on who is #1, just give us your idea of who is in each category. I don’t use a Scotty Cameron, for instance, but many wealthy touring pros do so Cameron putters can’t be as bad as your testers say. I use a driver (XXIO) that your tests think stinks and I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever hit. This all seems to prove that there are different opinions from your tests so “Categories like Gold and Silver” might be a better way to rank clubs.

      Reply

      Brooky

      6 years ago

      The rankings aren’t subjective, though. They’re measured results. In this case, the putters are ranked based on how they performed from 5, 10, and 20 feet. It’s not how the testers felt the putters did from each distance, it’s how the putters actually performed.

      If MGS switched to a gold/silver/bronze system, they’d still be using the rankings from their test results. So maybe they’d lump the top 3 performers into the ‘gold’ category and the next 5 into the ‘silver’ category, etc. But that wouldn’t change much because the underlying data/rankings would still be the same.

      Reply

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      There is absolutely ZERO subjectivity in our tests. Rankings are based on performance differences and then an analysis of whether or not those apparent differences are actually reliable differences.

      We could call it gold, silver, or bronze, but we’d just be playing with semantics. In this test, we had a clear #1. A tie at second. We could have kept going, but there was a logjam after that which suggests that there isn’t much in the way of actual difference in the performance of those putters.

      Reply

      don

      6 years ago

      There is always some subjectivity in the testers themselves. Ooh I love Ping means a little more attention paid to it. Yuck I hate Cobra for example means not giving it a fair shake. It happens every day here in our shop. Sometimes I personally think in the opposite way. They stress over the putter they truly want and do poorly with it, then they are loose with the one they hate and roll it in every time. Bottom line they almost never end up buying the best putter for themselves. My personal winner is a powerbuilt that I had to buy, and keep coming back to, but still never gamed in a tournament because of its name.

      Doug Nasur

      6 years ago

      Clear number 1? I would never buy a putter that couldn’t place better then 18th in 5 ft. range. To me 5ft is the most important range.

      MyGolfSpy

      6 years ago

      Think about it like this, hopefully this helps you visualize it better.

      5 FT:
      1st Place 1,000 putts
      18th Place 1,005 putts

      10 FT:
      1st Place 1,200 putts
      18th Place 1,245 putts

      20 FT:
      1st Place 1,500 putts
      18th Place 1,595 putts

      This is just an example to show what separates those 1st – 18th from 5 and 20 ft.

      JOEL GOODMAN

      6 years ago

      AFTER PLAYING THIS GAME FOR 70+ YEARS AND USING MANY DIFFERENT PUTTERS, I HAVE COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT IT IS THE HANDS THAT HOLD IT RATHER THAN THE STICK THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE. ANYONE PAYING OVER $100 FOR A putter HAS MORE MONEY THAN BRAINS. $300 FOR A THING THAT COSTS $6.00 TO MAKE??? YA GOTTA BE STOOOOOPID. I AM USING A CALLAWAY PUTTER OF 1990 VINTAGE AND HAVE NOT 3 PUTTED THIS YEAR. I AM 8.0 INDEX USGA HANDICAP

      Reply

      Raj LP

      6 years ago

      Appreciate the sentiment Joel and I agree… these putter prices are pretty ridiculous. However they cost quite a bit more than $6 to make. You are not pricing just the materials into the putter which is still more than $6. You have to price in the man hours spent researching, the milling equipment, the shop, transportation and logistics. All of that adds up. Small shops doing this for their livelihood don’t have the economies of scale, the putter needs to cost enough to be able to cover their operational costs and also allow them to take care of their families.

      DL

      6 years ago

      Your attitude certainly shows your age Joel. Thankfully we have more data nowadays (Arccos, MyGolfSpy come to mind) that can help us determine the BEST equipment (along with fitting) for each of us. Oh, and you forgot the caps lock on, sir. How are the old hickory shafts doing for you?

      kevin

      6 years ago

      you really didn’t have to give your age. its painfully obvious. $6 dollars to make a putter? you haven’t got a clue.

      Doug

      6 years ago

      Tony, you guys are in my wavelength on the top selections on this one! I’ve been going back and forth looking at the ER-3, the BB-1 (and a couple other Bettinardis) and the E-3 for some time. These have the same deadweighting as other larger mallets, like the Scotty Futura heads, but with less face profile.

      Now if only these guys were just a little (half) less expensive!

      Reply

      Mat Davis

      6 years ago

      Doug, if you can wait until November, PGASuperStore.com does a 20% Cyber Monday sale. This is the only time of year that you can get any type of discount on an Evnroll putter.

      Reply

      Nigel

      6 years ago

      I feel like we need more than just the raw data here. There needs to be some interpretation as to how we get to the best from these numbers.

      I’m actually finding these tests to be a credibility issue at this point – it’s like the Snell vs Titleist analysis. MGS basically decided what makes one ball better than the other. I have no dog in that race (currently playing the Cut Blue, but I like both the Pro V and the Snell products), but according to the “executive summary” for these balls, the Snell is essentially better because it’s half a yard longer off the tee, with negligible differences in ball speed, spin etc. However, the Titleist has slightly better accuracy off the tee, and has considerably more spin off the wedge. In my world, that makes the Titleist better, though I would happily concede that these are close enough to be considered a wash for the average golfer. Again, no dog in the race, just seems like a bizarre metric for success for me – I’ll take better accuracy and better greenside spin over half a yard longer any day. I feel like it was just decided that one metric (distance off the tee) should be used to say Snell balls are better because that’s really the story that’s going to move the needle and draw more readers – if it had been “these balls are equal” or “Titleist edges out the Snell”, it simply wouldn’t be as attractive.

      In 2016, the Carbon Ringo was the third best putter, this year it’s literally dead last. What’s changed?

      I feel like these tests need to go in either one direction or another. Either explain to me why the 18th best putter from 5 feet is the best putter so that that I have a qualified position, or give me just the raw data – but if you’re giving me the raw data, don’t then give me an arbitrary “this one’s the best” – allow me to make that decision myself. Or, if you want the best of both worlds, break it down to “most accurate driver”, “longest driver”, “best putter from 10 feet”, so that people can prioritize what’s most important to them.

      I get that the “most wanted” moniker is great click bait, but this is such a subjective game that I just don’t think we live in a world where one driver/ball/putter is going to be best for everyone, and to imply that is to creep toward just making another Hot List.

      Reply

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      Where to start…

      I don’t believe we said the Snell Ball was better. I believe what we surmised was that the balls over similar performance despite their difference in price points.

      In fact, here’s what we actually said:

      The data collected during this test suggests that the Snell MTB Black and Titleist Pro V1 offer similar performance. Differences while often minimal are most pronounced when comparing spin across irons and wedges.

      While we can understand better players preferring a higher-spinning ball, particularly as shots move closer to the green, the most significant difference between two models tested is not found in performance, but in price.

      The Titleist Pro V1 currently retails at $52/dozen; while the Snell MTB sells for a whopping $20 cheaper at $31.99/dozen. Snell also offers volume discounts. When you purchase 6 dozen – the price drops to $27.33/dozen.

      We did a test using the same methodologies we use during Most Wanted (randomization, filtering of outliers, etc.) and published the results. That said, and not to get too far off topic, we’re looking at ways to tweak our ball testing. I have some ideas, but what I think is the right way to test, analyze, and present data, isn’t always the most intuitive for the reader.

      Moving on to putters…and starting with the Ringo.

      What’s changed? It’s a different putter. Same model name, but like everybody else’s stuff, it’s changed/evolved, and not for the better. It’s also worth noting that we’ve increased the number of testers and tweaked our testing protocols.

      Regarding why a putter which was 18th from 5 feet, could finish first overall – asked and answered, but it’s an easy copy and paste, so here you go:

      The quick and simple explanation is that performance gaps increase with distance. For example, the gap (based on total number of putts) between the #1 and #18 putters from 5 feet, is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 10 feet, which is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 20′.

      When we crunch the numbers, it’s about the total number of putts for the ‘best’ putter for each tester, and then determining for which other putters performance was not reliably different from that top putter.

      That last bit is where you’ve totally missed the point. The way we do things doesn’t creep us closer towards being like the Hot List (and everybody else), it what moves us farther away. Instead of relying on raw averages, total counts, votes from editors, etc., we use statistical analysis to determine if the performance differences we see in our test are reliably so (repeatable). For a 20 person test, we use a 90% confidence level. And under that methodology, we found the ER3 to be in the top group for 70% of testers. We’re not saying it’s the best putter for everyone. That’s an assertion we’ve never made for any product we’ve ever tested. Instead, what we’re saying is that based on a statistical analysis of our test, the ER3 offers the highest probability of being among the best performers (the top group) for any given golfer.

      Reply

      Nigel

      6 years ago

      I understand that there was more to the test than meets the eye with respect to the ball test, but I maintain that there was, at least on the face of it, an assertion that the Snell ball was better. The first thing you’ll see (after the preamble) is a picture of a Snell MTB Black next to a big number 1 with laurels around it, and below it, a Pro V1 next to a big number 2 with laurels around it. Next to those, you have what I referred to above as an “executive summary”, which consisted of distance, accuracy, spin, launch and ball speed. Qualify it however you want, but to say that you never claimed one was better the other is blatantly untrue. The fact may remain that you qualified it below the summary, but there is no doubt in my mind that any casual reader is going to see the #1 and #2, then will decide whether or not to keep reading from there.

      I get what you’re saying about the Ringo – that’s a fair point. I suppose it’s on the consumer to see if the model has changed at all. I also get your response to the issue of the “18th from 5 feet” argument, but wouldn’t there have been a lot of value in explaining that in the article itself? I feel like having that in the article would have saved you a couple hours of typing today. With that said, hindsight is 20/20, and I get it.

      I still feel like labeling a club as “the best” is still a move toward homogenizing club reviews, but I see your point. I guess i’d rather see a move toward raw data, and really just drawing your own conclusions from it over any rankings. Back when we were all limited to getting reviews from major golf magazines, I always preferred Golf Magazine over Golf Digest, as it didn’t actually rank anything. It broke each review into “look”, “sound and feel”, “accuracy and forgiveness” etc. and even had a “cons” section, then gave you a brief bottom line. Now, GM no longer does this, but I always thought this was good way of doing things – allow me to focus on whatever matters most for me, and even let me know what issues people had with the club.

      I’m sticking to my guns on the Snell review, but I get what you’re saying about everything else. I always enjoy reading your stuff, and I do really appreciate your taking the time to respond to people’s comments – it shows how invested you are in the process.

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      I looked at the Snell v Pro V1, and I’m inclined to agree with your side of it. Obviously, it’s logical to rank driver performance by distance, and so I think that’s why the rankings were there, but given the realities of the comparisons, I’m not sure we meant to display a rank. Not to get too far into the weeds, but the software is designed to auto-rank and it’s a couple of extra clicks to override and not rank. I went ahead and made those changes.

      Regarding adding additional detail, that’s something we go back and forth all the time. It’s a battle between streamlining and making it more consumable for today’s audience and really digging in. If you want more detail, keep pushing for it…ask your friends to push for it.

      RomeoPapaZulu

      6 years ago

      This was actually an enjoyable back and forth conversation. Its amazing what can happen when two sides explain their point of view in a civilized manner.

      There sure is a lot of whining about not including this or that 15 yr old putter or how Guerin Rife must be paying you the big bucks. I’d spend less time responding to those types of comments and more to productive conversations like this. I don’t know that any type of response is going to change the minds of the folks that think all this stuff is rigged.

      I am sure there are a lot of data-lovers on here and all of this information just gets the minds whirling about how to tweak something to squeeze out that extra bit of usefulness. Do you collect info from these tests to feed back into the magic club fitting program you are working on? Do you fit the testers afterwards to find the “ideal” style of putter to build up trends? Does this data show any correlation of performance to toe hang and how open and closed a golfers putting stroke goes? What about grips? Is that the reason the Anser plummeted this year? Did they use that terrible PP60 grip on last year’s model? I have spent several hours in golf stores trying to narrow down a best performer, and first choice was the Cameron 5.5m but price was just too much. The Sigma G Tyne was a very close second, but I couldn’t get over that awful feel of the grip. Finally tried the Cleveland Satin Elevado at the right length and figured for the price it would work well enough. Once I put a grip on that most closely resembled the Cameron grip, and it is putting lights out. I’m not asking anyone to add in another 10 variables by putting a range of grips on each of the twenty five clubs. Maybe I’m just asking for that in a different test ;) I guess on the bright side is that there will never be an end to new equipment to test or to the quest to develop the perfect testing parameters and the best way to display it.

      Brock

      6 years ago

      Tony – what I really love about MGS is that you rely solely on numbers to determine the rankings. No opinions. No subjectivity. I see a lot of comments where people just don’t get that. The rankings are objectively driven by numbers and interpreted by statistical methods. Why don’t people understand that?

      However, there has to be some subjectivity in how you interpret and weigh the numbers to come up with a final ranking. Ronald Coase (economist) famously stated “if you torture data long enough, it will confess to anything”.

      For those of us with some background in statistics, it might be nice to see some more transparency into the methods. However, I’m not sure that would actually translate to the average reader. Maybe have a section that is hidden that the user can expand if they want to see more insight into the methodologies used. Or maybe some fancy graphs with sigmas, etc. I’m just spitballing here.

      Keep doing what you’re doing. This objective testing is a wonderful, refreshing antidote to the only other ways to get information about golf equipment – fabricated marketing nonsense from the manufacturers and sponsored content from “reputable” magazines.

      MyGolfSpy

      6 years ago

      The Cleveland Huntington Beach #1 which finished 4th last year was NOT in this years test.

      We advise reading the actual results first.

      Reply

      cody

      6 years ago

      but you tested the #4 which is almost exactly the same head. it just has a bit more squared shape to it

      Reply

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      Almost the same is not the same. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years is that in any category, even seemingly minute things can have a significant influence on performance.

      kevin

      6 years ago

      “almost” …. the shape of a putter matters, even if somewhat similar. a slightly rounded headed, af ront site vs back site, simply a different color,….all of these types of changes matter even though you may not view them as significant changes

      Rick

      6 years ago

      Would it be possible to include current gamers in these tests? Would be nice to know if these newer putter are “better” than what each of the testers is currently using.

      Reply

      Walter

      6 years ago

      So from the 2017 most wanted blade putters the Ping Sigma G Anser ranked 2nd, so I bought one. Now the 2018 most wanted blade putter ranks it 22nd. Does this mean it was up against better putters this year? Yet the TM TP Juno which was also ranked 2nd in 2017 and is still ranked 2nd in 2018. How can two putters be ranked the same one year and be so far apart in the rankings the next year?

      Reply

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      Different years, different putters. Some updates improve performance, some don’t.

      Reply

      Anon

      6 years ago

      Could it be differences in testers between years?

      Walter

      6 years ago

      Tony, you’re saying that maybe Ping changed the putter but kept the same name? Why would they do that and not call it G1 or something to designate that it has been revised.

      Walter

      6 years ago

      Tony, Ping just assured it’s the same putter as last year.

      Born

      6 years ago

      Exactly what updates lol. Pretty sure there were exactly zero updates to those 2 models

      TBT

      6 years ago

      After looking at the numbers it seems to me the odyssey perform the best in the makeable range of 5 to 10 feet and did pretty good at the 20 footer.

      Most of us are not going to make many 20 footers….But if I make a larger percentage of the 5 to 10 footers then my scores should drop

      Reply

      Spero

      6 years ago

      Agree. Also the Cleveland TFI 1.0 from 5 and 10Ft. Both Odyssey and Cleveland attractively priced as well. From 20ft plus I’m happy to get close.

      Reply

      TBT

      6 years ago

      Weird that the Edel ranked 1st on 5 footers, 5th on 20 footers…..but tanked on 10 footers…..very strange….I could easily see having a problem with either the short parts or the really long ones….. but to be good at both of those but struggle with the in between seems odd

      Reply

      Chris Nickel

      6 years ago

      At face value it might seem odd. That said, I have the E3 in my bag currently and because of the torque balanced nature of it, mid-range putts are still a work in progress. I immediately loved the E3 on putts inside 10 feet, but the feel was very different for me on 15-20 footers. As such, I’m not as consistent from that distance yet as I hope to be in a couple weeks.

      Reply

      John Willson

      6 years ago

      #18 from 5 feet is #1 overall? Nonsense.

      Reply

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      I have a hunch we’re going to be repeating this quite a bit today:

      The quick and simple explanation is that performance gaps increase with distance. For example, the gap (based on total number of putts) between the #1 and #18 putters from 5 feet, is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 10 feet, which is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 20′.

      When we crunch the numbers, it’s about the total number of putts for the ‘best’ putter for each tester, and then determining for which other putters performance was not reliably different from that top putter.

      Reply

      Jared

      6 years ago

      In that case, would it be useful to publish the average number of putts for each putter at each distance? I’d imagine that’d give a pretty good view of how wide the gap is between the different rankings.

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      We considered that, but from this side it gets complicated quickly. As you’d expect, in the overall, there is a correlation between number of putts and rank, but it’s not absolute. Our new methodology is focused on identifying the putters that produced reliable different (better) performance for the highest percentage of golfers.

      kevin

      6 years ago

      yes i’m sure its very tiring constantly repeating your original comment…but at some point you’ll need to recognize that the data could’ve been presented differently to clear up some of these questions that so many repeatedly ask. one stupid question can go ignored. if the same question is being repeatedly asked, maybe the presenter needs to reevaluate

      JonD

      6 years ago

      Not sure how you can get to the top 5. Looks more like the top 4. In any event how can you leave out probably the best putter on the market today. The Boccieri Heavy Putter. Been gaming one for 15 years.

      The first year after replacing my Ping Anser with the Heavy Putter I went from averaging 34.31 putts a round down to 32.23 putts a round, in a period of less than a season. Over the past 15 years since I have been below that number every season, currently I am at 31.69 putts a round.

      I had a terrible case of the yips. The Heavy putter cured that. It seems even better on fast greens. The Heavy is an acquired taste undoubtedly. But with every other putter I have tried the heads literally vibrate at address, not a real confidence builder on a tricky 5 footer.

      Now I just get the club moving and it stays right on line, due to the weight of the club.My biggest problem now is simply reading the green.

      Reply

      Dennis

      6 years ago

      I agree with your post. I bag the heavy putter as well. I’ve tried all the “name” putters but nothing for me compares.

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      No one really cares that you like your putter Denis, seriously. The whole point in these tests is to find what should reliably work well for the greatest amount of golfers.

      DL

      6 years ago

      No one cares about your putter. No one but you. It’s ridiculous to constantly see people come on here and say things like, “but you didn’t include the XXX clubs, it works wonders for me”. I can’t believe how dense some people are on here, it’s excruciating. It must be like pulling teeth to the staffers here reading this stuff day in and day out after putting in a TON of hours talking to industry people, very smart math people and doing a ton of testing just to have someone come out and say some subjective shit like you posted.

      Reply

      Dennis

      6 years ago

      Relax DL. I was simply responding to the post directly above me, but I do appreciate your concern for the forum and the benefit it provides. If I choose to comment on future reviews, I’ll be sure and run it through you first.

      KM

      6 years ago

      Would be nice to know offset numbers.

      Reply

      Jim Bob Cooter

      6 years ago

      you putting the 18th ranked from 5 feet shows a blatant flaw in your testing… so you get it close from 15 feet and leave yourself a short putt for par….what happens? that is like purposely choosing Shaq to shoot free throws for the win, it just doesn’t add up. Also like pinch hitting your 18th best batter in a game on the line situation. also putters are very personal, if i dont like the look/feel of a putter, i will not putt well. Just my 2 cents. Would love to hear feedback on my thoughts? thanks again MGS and toney for the awesome content this year

      Reply

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      The quick and simple explanation is that performance gaps increase with distance. For example, the gap (based on total number of putts) between the #1 and #18 putters from 5 feet, is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 10 feet, which is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 20′.

      When we crunch the numbers, it’s about the total number of putts for the ‘best’ putter for each tester, and then determining for which other putters performance was not reliably different from that top putter.

      Reply

      Jim Bob Cooter

      6 years ago

      Toney,

      Awesome, thanks for the response!! That makes more sense now to me! Looking forward to the mallet testing. Cheers to less three putts this season!

      Frank

      6 years ago

      Now I am not one to doubt the validity of these tests but I do see some very strange patterns. Like others have stated about the ER3 finishing 18/1/1, are the grooves hurting the roll from 5 feet in? What about the Edel E-3 finishing 1/23/5, how can the best putter from 5 ft be so bad at 10 and then finish well again from 20 feet? Or is it just that the differences are so small between these putters that the margin from first to last is almost indistinguishable? I wonder then if it becomes a matter of visual alignment becoming optimized at certain distances more so than roll, but because I cant believe face weighting would get worse then better from three different distances.

      Reply

      Mr Money

      6 years ago

      When it really comes down to it, putting is about “feel”. “Feel” can be so many different things for different people. Is it truly how it feels when you hit it? What is going on in that moment though? Vibration of the club head hitting the ball? Then isn’t that the grip? What about sound? So many people comment on something sounding good/bad when they hit it.

      For putters, I think it boils down to what putter gives you the most confidence. I think alignment features (sightline(s), markings, ext), general shaping of the putter, materials (milled/cast face, insert, ext) and marketing all come together to grant (or take away) confidence for a consumer. It’s the reason you can go into a store, pick up a super old putter yet still feel confident using it.

      Reply

      Frank

      6 years ago

      The problem if it’s all about feel why even do a test ? Every year I hear manufacturers saying they have come up with the latest innovation, better roll, better feel, better weighting, Improved alignment aides etc. And that doesn’t even get into grips. I saw where Odyssey made a huge investment to get their EXO putters to sound like the popular white hot insert because so many tour players wanted to judge their hits by sound and felt it improved perception and sensory feedback. I’d have to say for me once you take the static measurements and get fitted, it comes down to which putter in the store makes me feel confident, and there is no real science in that. I had a good friend buy a Ping DOC putter he couldn’t miss with at the store, inside or outside at any distance. When he got it to the course he couldn’t hit a bull in the butt with both hands with it, let alone make putts, but it did fly nicely.

      DL

      6 years ago

      The funny thing about feel is that it is really meaningless when it comes to performance, yet everyone THINKS it plays a huge role. I bet you if Tony asked each of the participants what their thoughts were on the feel of each putter, the winning putters might not “win” the feel competition. Does it matter in the end? Maybe. I think MGS can’t tell you which club to buy, but it can tell you clubs to try! If you try the top 3 or 4 (thankfully they have done the work to eliminate 15 of them), you can then go for “feel”. The scorecard is all that matters to me, I’d putt with a trash can lid if MGS tested that as best for me. :)

      DL

      6 years ago

      What it is is that the 5 footers end up being almost a wash (almost irrelevant?) as the putters will all be extremely close to each other at 5 feet. You get more of an effect from 10 or 20 feet and you can actually start to get to the cream of the crop from those distances.

      Reply

      Ben

      6 years ago

      Do you still measure this by a strokes gained number like you used to? If so will that data be made available?

      Reply

      Anonymous

      6 years ago

      Awesome to see my favorite company, Edel Golf, getting some love in this round up.

      Reply

      Rene

      6 years ago

      Shoulda put the Ketsch B in there.

      Reply

      Kevin

      6 years ago

      I liked last year’s ranking using Strokes Gained. Do you have that data this year and can you add it to the result chart?

      Reply

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      We stopped publishing strokes gained as it becomes superfluous when we start looking at statistical significance. Since our environment is controlled in that putts are from consistent differences, the SG/SG18 value was absolutely correlated to the number of putts. So basically, whether or not we use SG/SG18, it was always fewest putts wins. This year we’ve expanded that we’ve explicitly considered statistical significance – which is the basis for our rankings.

      Reply

      N

      6 years ago

      It’s not the putter, it’s the puttee. Wilson or Cleveland. Why pay more. Conceit?

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      I’m not sure how you can look at the results above with 70% of testers doing the best with 1 particular putter and then claim that “it’s the puttee”. Clearly, it’s not just that or you’d see very little variation between the putters at all. To have one come out at 70% is statistically significant. I think it’s conceited to being ignorant without regards to evidence which is right in front of you.

      Reply

      MyGolfSpy

      6 years ago

      #GolfClap

      don

      6 years ago

      Its not the arrow its the indian shooting the arrow argument. Yes. but what if I give the indian a crooked arrow, what if he gets one absolutely perfectly straight and balanced? You telling me he won’t hit more bulls eyes with one versus the other? NO its not going to make a poor putter a good one, only lessons will do that.

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      Exactly. I wonder sometimes why these complainers are even on the article if they just bitch the whole time about everything. Go and read a Digest and the “feels like butter” nonsense where everything gets gold!

      JasonA

      6 years ago

      Out of the 20 golfers in the test
      14 were “optimal” with ER3
      9 were “optimal” with best Wilson / Cleveland

      IF:
      – you got fitted with a Wilson / Cleveland THEN save $$$
      – you don’t care about your score THEN Wilson / Cleveland off the shelf
      – want best chance of being optimal without fitting THEN ER3

      Reply

      Kenny B

      6 years ago

      I want a putter that is 1st in putts from 5 feet, not 18th. That appears to be the Edel. However, I am not sure why the Edel is next to last from 10 feet, but 5th from 20 feet. Are explanations coming?

      Reply

      Tony Covey

      6 years ago

      The quick and simple explanation is that performance gaps increase with distance. For example, the gap (based on total number of putts) between the #1 and #18 putters from 5 feet, is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 10 feet, which is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 20′.

      When we crunch the numbers, it’s about the total number of putts for the ‘best’ putter for each tester, and then determining for which other putters performance was not reliably different from that top putter.

      Reply

      Scott

      6 years ago

      Drive for show putt for dough. Putters are so personal.

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      Apparently not, with 70% of people having one putter in their best group.

      Reply

      Bullman

      6 years ago

      Must be a flaw in your data or algorithm, a putter that ranks 18 out of 26 from 5 ft, would not be my 1st choice.

      Reply

      DL

      6 years ago

      Here’s what Tony said 100 times already, “The quick and simple explanation is that performance gaps increase with distance. For example, the gap (based on total number of putts) between the #1 and #18 putters from 5 feet, is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 10 feet, which is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 20′. When we crunch the numbers, it’s about the total number of putts for the ‘best’ putter for each tester, and then determining for which other putters performance was not reliably different from that top putter.”

      Reply

      Ben

      6 years ago

      I would add to dl’s Response that given the technology that evnroll has. Their tech is nullified from shorter distance. A golfer doesn’t struggle with keeping things online or distance control from 5 feet which is what evnroll does. So from longer distance their tech shines. But from 5 feet it’s all about getting the ball started on line. I can’t for the life of me figure out why people argue data so much. Almost like they hate facts or something.

      Reply

      Ryan

      6 years ago

      I have been playing the ER3 for a full season now and I really love the heavier head counterbalance, especially with my new grip change to left hand-low. It really helps me clear the putter easier with no restriction as I hit the ball and into the upswing. I took some Testors red model paint and painted in the two dots on top to provide easier visibility. My putting handicap is 8.1 according to Arccos and improving. 24.9% 1-putt, 60.4% 2-putt, and 14.8% 3+ putts over 169 putts on the green.

      Reply

      SharpShooter007

      6 years ago

      Should there be 5 putters like usual?

      I figured the ER3 would be the new winner based on the redesign! Looks great.

      Reply

      SHARPSHOOTER007

      6 years ago

      Can I delete my comment now… realized there are many putters in T5.

      Reply

      Harvey

      6 years ago

      I’m so glad the ER3 is getting love. When I tested Evnroll, the ER3 seemed to fit my eye much better than any other. Get fitted, you won’t regret it. Thanks for the reco, MyGolfSpy!

      Reply

      Terry McDowell

      6 years ago

      It is strange to me that the ER3 was 1st in 10ft, 1st in 20ft, but 18th in 5 feet? Is this putter not very good at short putts? Those are the putts a golfer will typically need to make for par.

      Reply

      Tony

      6 years ago

      Love to hear some answers on this, great point. These grooves don’t perform closer to the hole to reduce mishits? I’m sure the greater the distance the more impactful, but 18th from 5 feet?

      Reply

      Brian

      6 years ago

      I had an ER2. Never got to try before I bought since I’m lefty. The ER2 drastically improved my long putting but I regressed from 10ft and in. So this data doesn’t surprise me one bit. It felt to heavy for me to take a small but accelerating stroke on the 4-6 footers .

      DL

      6 years ago

      What they said is that it basically means less at the 5 ft mark compared to 10 & 20. The putters are almost statistically the same as you get to the shortest distance but mean a lot more as you get further away, hence Evnroll winning.

      Here’s Tony’s copypasta from 100 different posts today:

      “The quick and simple explanation is that performance gaps increase with distance. For example, the gap (based on total number of putts) between the #1 and #18 putters from 5 feet, is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 10 feet, which is smaller than the gap between #1 and #18 at 20′.

      When we crunch the numbers, it’s about the total number of putts for the ‘best’ putter for each tester, and then determining for which other putters performance was not reliably different from that top putter.”

      Reply

      ole gray

      6 years ago

      That Evnroll ER3 is a good looking putter! It has that well made look to it and I need to try one.

      Reply

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