Never heard of Sacks Parente? A relative newcomer to the golfing industry in 2018, the founders of this company are hardly new to the game. Founded by Steve Sacks and Rich Parente (an original co-founder of Callaway), Sacks Parente brings patented Ultra Low Balance Point (ULBP) technology to their line of putters, with shafts and grips to boot. With an extensive variety of putter designs, Sacs Parente offers a style to meet the eye of most golfers from mallets to blades.
Five MyGolfSpy Forum members were selected to put Sacks Parente’s claims of improving your putting stroke with their all-inclusive ULBP putters to the test. Read on to find out what they had to say!
Tester Plans and Expectations
To put the line of Sacks Parente putters through a thorough review, our testers planned to focus on the use of home putting trainers, drills and testing methods on the practice green and the most important factor: on-course performance.
Said cnosil regarding the testing of “The Drac”: “Testing will leverage some data analytics and focus around 3 of the 4 putting skills: Aiming, Stroke, and Touch.”
For tester MuniGolfer, “The Duke” would need to accomplish the following to stay in the bag: “it needs to be an improvement over what I have. I feel lost with my putting right now, and am willing to look at anything that will help. If their marketing claims have much weight to them, this could make a strong case for my bag.”
The Virtual Fit
All testers completed a virtual fitting with Aki Yorihiro, CTO and fitter for Sacks Parente, to get an optimal recommendation for a putter that would fit their stroke the best.
Said tester billpierce: “I assumed it would be a dumbed down version of the in-person process. Basically, I expected a 15-to-30-minute Q&A Process followed by a few putts and then some discussion. Boy, was I wrong. We covered me, my bias, putting technique, technology and so much more than just – here is the data and here is your new putter!”
Tester ACalling said: “I thought that the experience was wonderful. Fittings to me are always fun because, unlike a lesson, you are learning more about your game how it currently is and understanding it. Having a professional set of eyes to watch you, give you pointers on what he sees and even just in talking out the answers to his questions I came out of the experience feeling very confident about the next time I will line up a putt on a course.”
The fitting process was highly rated by our testers. To read about the depth and details that go into it, check out the testing thread here!
First Impressions/Unboxing
First impressions of a golf club can have a large impact on how we feel it will perform, particularly with putters. Would our testers be impressed or left wanting more with their selections?
Said revkev about “The Duke – 91”: “It’s a great looking and feeling putter. Others love its look and feel as well. To me it just looks as if the ball will go wherever I aim it. The aimpoint on its top is understated but very easy to line up with my desired starting point.”
On “The Drac,” ACalling said: “The feel of the club is great. From the very first putt I hit you could tell that all the technology jargon that they throw at you is legit. It makes a nice, almost high-pitched “ping” sound with each putt as opposed to more of a “knocking” sound. I would describe that most putters have. The sweet spot genuinely feels like the entire width of the face.”
On-Course Testing
While looks and feel are one thing – and vary from golfer to golfer based on preference – there is an area everyone can agree on when it comes to importance: on-course performance. A putter can look and feel great, but if it doesn’t help lower your scores, that is all for naught. For our testers, Sacks Parente shined in this department.
From cnosil: “From a performance perspective with only a few exceptions I found my putts were always around the hole and the ball was going where I was aimed. I don’t have an overall strokes gained number from each round. But I believe I am close to or better than my gamer. Overall, I found setup and speed control to be easy and consistent with these putters.”
For tester ACalling, performance gains were notable. “It felt like I left 3-putts behind…it helped improve my putting simply by lowering scores, out of all the rounds I played I didn’t have a single one where I had more putts than my year-long average.”
The Data
Our testers took the gathering of data to heart when comparing their Sacks Parente putters to gamers. Looking at average putt accuracy from different distances, they were able to gain some solid insight on just how well – or not – these putters performed. Let’s take a look.
Tester billpierce put the SP 54MC head to had against his PING, and found the following results in controlled tests. “59% putts made with Ping versus 61% with Sacks Parente and about 17% less dispersion with Sachs Parente versus Ping.”
Cnosil took a deep dive into data testing, and I strongly encourage you to check it out here. In testing aim and putts from 10 feet, he found these results with the SP MC3 against his TM-180. “Aim was better…make rate improved by 11% and face angle improved with 3% more putts having a face angle within 1*. The only downturn was that ball speed was a little less consistent.”
Revkev did extensive testing from 8’, finding: “Over the test period I hit 100 8 footers and holed 61 of them. In that time, I only left one short which is remarkable for me. My normal misses with putter for years have been left and short. Honestly many of the misses from 8 feet were because the ball hit some sort of imperfection.”
Does Sacks Parente Make the Bag?
To this point, the putters from Sacks Parente have performed admirably. The final hurdle, though, is making the bag. Putters are very specific to the user, and once you find one, it may hang around for a long time. For our testers, Sacs Parente fit the bill.
Said MuniGolfer: “As of now, there is no question this putter is in the bag. When I started this test, in the back of my mind I thought I would probably not be keeping this putter. I had been leaning towards an Evnroll or LAB, thinking one of those would resonate with me best. What I found was a technological story that seemed tailored to my specific struggles. If you struggle with a jerky stroke, speed control, or accuracy, I think you should give Sacks Parente a try.”
Cnosil tested both The Drac and the MC3, ultimately deciding to game the MC3, stating: “Quite simply, the putter is staying in the bag.”
Tester ACalling said: “If you are like me, and struggle with too many 3 putts when facing longer putts on the green then this could be the club for you. A large sweet spot combined with a stable stroke means I am getting the ball closer to the hole more often.”
Closing Thoughts
Our testers found strong success with their putters from Sacks Parente, which showed in their final grades. Across the line of putters, scores given out of 100 were 99, 94, 98, 90.5 and 98.
If you’re in the market for a new putter this year, don’t overlook Sacs Parente.
For a deeper dive into our testers’ experience with Sacks Parente’s line of putters, check out their full reviews here!
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