2022 Odyssey Eleven and Tri-Hot 5K Putters

Welcome to Part Two of exploring the 2022 Odyssey putters. Part One covered the 2022 Odyssey White Hot OG and Toulon Design putters.

This time around, we will be checking out the 2022 Odyssey Eleven and Tri-Hot 5K putter lines. This time, Odyssey really earns that “new” moniker. Some of these putters do have classic Odyssey head shapes but both lines really represent a new direction in Odyssey putter design.

Getting to the specifics: Like its predecessor, the Odyssey Ten, the Odyssey Eleven mallet features unique materials and new geometries. Here is a Tri-Hot 5K tip to help you avoid my erroneous assumption: The Tri-Hot 5k is not a redux of the 2010 Ti-Hot line. Sorry to those of you looking for titanium putters. Metal is a big part of the Tri-Hot 5k build story, though.

First, let’s take a deeper look at the Odyssey Eleven.

These 2022 Odyssey Putters Go To Eleven

What do you name the new putter model that replaces the Odyssey Ten? How about the Odyssey Eleven? The good news is that this uninspired undici dubbing is the only thing dull about the Eleven. While this new mallet putter won’t eat Eggos telepathically or bleed from its nose, but it could help you find the Upside Down part of the cup.

High MOI, CG Forward

Let’s get right to the heart of the Odyssey Eleven story. This boxy mallet features a weighty shift in philosophy. Check that. It’s a shift in weight philosophy. For years, the strategy to boost moment of inertia (MOI) has been to throw the weight to the edges and the rear. This is accomplished by using lighter materials such as plastic in the center of the putter and heavier metal construction at the edges. Another tried-and-true strategy is to toss extra weights in the corners, especially the rear corners.

The Odyssey Eleven retains some of that MOI-promoting recipe. The center of the putter is constructed of lightweight polymer. The steel and aluminum are more peripheral as are the steel weights. Those weights are not found at the rear corners. Instead, the Odyssey Eleven has its weights in the front.

Wait. Now Weights Go In the Front?

As it turns out, MOI is not the only story in mallet design. Maxing out the MOI prevents the head from twisting during the stroke. The problem is that it also prevents the head from twisting during the stroke. Pushing the center of gravity towards the rear also influences the rotation properties of the putter.

The folks at Odyssey looked at miss tendencies with high MOI mallets and discovered that most misses were happening to the right. Basically, the rearward center of gravity (GC) was preventing players from getting the face closed at impact. To make putts, you would need to aim left of the cup. Sure, you could do this on purpose if you keep missing right. However, I bet some of the mallet users out there did this subconsciously while still thinking they were on target. That’s a mess.

What was the solution that Odyssey came up with to fight the rights? Move the weights and the center of gravity forward.

If you look at the exploded diagram of the putter, you’ll see how all the heavier components are now up front. Dive a little deeper into the diagram and you’ll see that weight primarily lives in the front corners. The White Hot insert helps this goal as well since the insert is lighter than the surrounding steel. Light center of face, heavier face edges.

The goal in the design of the 2022 Odyssey Eleven putters is to hit the perfect balance between weight at the edges to boost MOI and CG forward to keep the putter square to target.

Odyssey Putter Targeting Options

One feature retained from the Odyssey Ten is the choice of alignment options. Though its slightly raised center makes 2-Ball alignment likely a nonstarter, you will see naked, Tour Line and Triple-Track versions of the Eleven. If you missed the 2-Ball Ten in 2021, don’t worry as that putter will continue to be available in 2022.

The Odyssey Eleven will feature the red Stroke Lab shaft and will be available with a Odyssey-branded pistol or oversized grip. Each of the putters will be available with either a double-bend or slant hosel and will have a MSRP of $299.99.

Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K Putters

Can you believe Odyssey is launching a line of $5,000 putters? Thankfully, that is not what the 5K refers to. The 5K in the name is referencing the fact that all the Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K putters feature MOI numbers above 5,000. Why is that a big deal? Lots of mallets are above 5K these days.

Did I mention these are all blade putters?

Now some of you are already getting ready to tell me you’ve seen 5,000 MOI blades before. Yeah, I have, too. The thing is, most of those putters are only blades in spirit and others are a far cry from Karsten’s Anser. One could call any putter a blade but most high-MOI blades fail the “blade witch” trial because they just don’t look like a blade.

The Odyssey Tri-Hot 5k putters look like blades. OK, so the Triple Wide is a hefty blade but the others are blades by all classical definitions. The only protest will come from only-Bullseyes-and-8802s-are-blades guy. For the rest of us, these are blade putters.

Mallet Numbers in a Blade Body

So how did Odyssey boost the MOI and keep the blade profile? Rather than making them huge, the Odyssey folks manipulated the materials to boost the MOI and once again bring the CG forward. The key component that allowed them to do this is tungsten. Lots of tungsten.

Nearly one-third of the weight of the putter head is tungsten and it is located at the front corners of the head. The White Hot insert once again helps to push the weight distribution to the edges as it does with the Eleven. The removable weights are live in the front corners as well. These weights can be made of tungsten, too.

The back sections of the putters are aluminum. This lightweight material is there to complete the shape of the head and additionally serves to shifts the weight balance forward.

Could The 2022 Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K Design Be the Next Big Thing?

“Putters that look like this do not perform like this.” Sean Toulon, Odyssey Putters Grand Poohbah

That quote jumped out at me when I was listening to Luke Williams and Sean Toulon discuss the Odyssey Tri-Hot 5k putters. They are legit excited about this line of putters. Granted, they are excited about the new lines every year. Any good designer/hype man should be excited. This time, though, their excitement seems elevated. I’ve chatted with the Odyssey guys with each new release for the past few years and they are more pumped than usual.

Odyssey has some data that justifies their excitement. Odyssey engineers compared the new 2022 Tri-Hot 5k putters to a similar Cameron blade and, for their cohort of amateur testers, they saw a 20-percent tighter dispersion and a 15-percent improvement in distance control compared to the Scotty. This translated to roughly one stroke gained per round by using the Tri-Hot 5K. You’ll need to decide if that one stroke is worth the Tri-Hot 5K MSRP of $399.99. For a Tour pro, gaining even a fraction of a stroke a round could be worth thousands of dollars.

We will see how the Tri-Hot 5k putters perform in the 2022 Most Wanted Blade tests in a couple of months. Based upon my experiences rolling these, and Odyssey’s Most Wanted track record, I’m not sure I would put money against what Luke and Sean have rolled out this year.

Will Odyssey Keep Going Forward with Forward CG?

I think it is safe to say Odyssey is betting the farm on their forward CG/high MOI plan this year. The 2022 Odyssey Eleven, Tri-Hot 5K line and Toulon Design putters are all are based on that design. Is that risky? Could be. What if golfers reject the new plan? They do have the White Hot OG line for people who want a more traditional design but the majority of 2022 sales are dependent upon the new design being well received.

As many of you know, other companies have tried the weight-forward design with varying success. Cleveland Golf had a similar design with their Frontline putters. Odyssey’s archrival, TaylorMade, moved the weight forward with their Spider FCG putter, only to move back to more traditional weighting the following year. Maybe Odyssey’s take will be the one that sticks in the market, allowing the Tri-Hot 5K to avoid the fate of the previous weight-forward designs.

As I said, we will know soon after these release on Feb. 4 how these putters fared in the 2022 Most Wanted putter competitions. I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.