Never Compromise Putters: Back In The Game

Make no mistake, Never Compromise putters were a thing a quarter of a century ago.

And if it just now occurred to you that a quarter-century ago was 1999, welcome to the Old Timers Club. I’ll save you a seat.

Well, friends, here we are in 2024 and Never Compromise putters are back. Dunlop Sports America, the North American sports branch of Sumitomo Rubber Industries and owner of Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO, is relaunching the brand with an interesting twist.

The new line is called Never Compromise Reserve and that twist resurrects another old idea that could bring custom putter fitting to the masses.

If the masses, of course, can pay the freight.

Never Compromise Putters: The Return of the Reserve

Never Compromise was founded in 1998 by Brad Adams. Brad’s father had previously founded a moderately successful golf company of his own called TaylorMade. Brad had already been on the ground floor of a putter startup, working with Michael Magerman to launch the original Odyssey in 1991. 

Adams’ idea for Never Compromise was, as the name suggests, putters that were designed to “never compromise” on performance, quality or design. His Never Compromise ZI Delta 2 putter was in Jean Van de Velde’s bag at the Open Championship in 1999. We know how that worked out but it wasn’t the putter’s fault.

Adams sold Never Compromise to Cleveland Golf in 2003 and the company enjoyed a solid run for the next decade. Major winners Vijay Singh and David Toms gamed various models and the distinctive black-and-gray putter heads were made for TV.

Cleveland was bought by Sumitomo Rubber and its subsidiary, Dunlop Sports, in 2007. Cleveland started foundering not long after and, by 2013, Never Compromise was put into drydock.

But Never Compromise is back. The formal launch announcement is interesting, as it’s not coming from Cleveland, Srixon or XXIO. Instead, it’s coming directly from the mothership, Dunlop Sports America. That indicates Never Compromise will be a franchise unto itself, not directly attached to any other brand under the Dunlop umbrella. 

The new Never Compromise lineup features five models and two finishes. And while that’s part of the story, the go-to-market strategy is infinitely more interesting.

Custom Fitting for the Masses?

In case you’re wondering, the putter is the club you use most.

Duh, I know.

But according to Golf Datatech, it’s also the least fitted club in the bag. Stats say only 19 percent of you get custom fitted for your putter, compared to 68 percent for irons and 66 percent for driver.

There are a lot of reasons for that but maybe the biggest is that putter fitting usually requires some pretty heavy machinery in the form of a SAM PuttLab or a Quintic system. With its new Reserve line, Never Compromise is taking a much lower-tech approach with its NC fitting tool.

Have you ever used a putter that was too long? It felt weird and uncomfortable, didn’t it? And making a decent stroke, let alone a consistent one, was friggin’ impossible. Well, getting the length right (and, by extension, the head weight also right) is at the heart of the Never Compromise system. The NC fitting tool might look familiar to some of you. It’s an updated version of Todd Sones’ Tri-Fit putting system. Sones is a long-time Top 100 PGA instructor and currently partners with XXIO at his Impact Zone instruction center in Illinois. Sones used the Tri-Fit system 15 years ago with his short-lived putter company, Coutour.

That Tri-Fit system consists of an adjustable device that helps a fitter determine the right length for you in an instant. And it’s all thanks to that old Greek dude, Pythagoras.

It’s All Greek To Me

Pythagoras, as you’ll remember from high school, was the king of geometry. A² plus B² equals C² is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. And you geometry geeks know the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. If you’ve ever built anything out of wood or pipe that required a right angle, that theorem rocks your world.

The NC fitting tool uses the Pythagorean Theorem to find your length. The distance from where your hands set comfortably during the putter stroke all the way down to the floor is A. The distance from the point on the floor straight down from your hands to where the ball sits is B. Then the hypotenuse, the distance from where the ball sits back up to your hands, is C. And thanks to old Pythagoras, it’s as simple as 1-2-4. Well, technically it’s 3-4-5 but who’s counting?

It’s easier than that, as the tool does all the math for you. 

Once the length is correct, you can choose the putter head and finish you want.

Hand-Crafted? Sort Of

The new Never Compromise putters are being touted by the company as “hand-crafted.” I guess that’s technically true. After all, someone has to manually put a raw block of 303 stainless steel into the CNC machine and push the start button. Then someone has to clean up and finish the head and manually stick a shaft into it.

Where Never Compromise is going with the “hand-crafted” thing, however, is that the fitter/retailer will have a supply of uncut putters. Once the fitting process is done, the fitter will cut the putter to length and install your choice of grip. That’s done by hand as well as I’m not sure AI can do that part just yet.

The fitter will then finish the job by making sure the putter is weighted properly. Each Never Compromise Reserve putter head has two weight parts. The fitter can add heavier weights to shorter putters and lighter weights to longer ones to get the right balance of stability, feel and performance.

Once done, the fitter can then, uhhh, hand the putter to the customer.

In its launch package, Never Compromise is using the term “bespoke.” To call what Never Compromise is doing “bespoke” is a wee bit of an overstatement. In fact, calling the overstatement “wee” is a bit of an understatement.

But in the realm of putter fitting, it’s a hell of a lot better than rolling a bunch in the putter corral and going with the “hot” one.

Five Heads, Two Finishes

The new Never Compromise Reserve putter lineup features five heads in two finishes: A traditional Tour Satin and the classic Never Compromise two-toned contrast finish. As mentioned, the putter heads are fully CNC milled from 303 stainless steel and are designed for specific putter strokes.

The slight arc/slight toe hang putters include a skinny blade (No. 1), a rounded mallet (No. 3) and a slant-neck fang-tooth (No. 4S).  The face-balanced straight-back/straight-through models feature a wide-body blade (No. 2) and a fang-tooth with a single-bend hosel (No. 4).

The head shapes themselves are familiar and the same as you’d find in any of the Cleveland putter lineups. But that’s where the similarities end. The milling and finish have a more premium look and feel than the Clevelands. And the interchangeable weights and customization make the line stand apart.

Never Compromise Putters: The $449.99 Elephant In The Room

Give Never Compromise credit. When it comes to price, the company lives up to its name by coming in with a $449.99 price tag.

That includes the fitting, your choice of finish, head style and grip and a KBS CT Tour putter shaft. The UST All-In carbon fiber shaft is optional.

You also get a magnetic head cover. For $449.99, you don’t get Velcro,

But you do get “hand built.”

“Bespoke,” even.

Cleveland, as we’ve said before, offers up five separate lines of high-performing, value-priced putters. The one thing that’s been lacking is a custom-fitting approach. Never Compromise is filling that void. However, a higher level of fitting and customization carries a higher cover charge. If you add the fitting into the equation, plus the fact you don’t have to wait for someone at the factory to build and ship your putter, there’s some justification behind the price tag.

But the decision to buy resides squarely at the intersection of Price Street and Value Boulevard. And what may be a solid value to one golfer may cause another to gag. If the putter fits you to a tee and rolls the ball in the damn hole like crazy, however, it’s a piece of magic whether it costs $49.99 or $449.99

Never Compromise Reserve Putters: Price and Availability

The new Never Compromise putters will be available through selected retailers and fitters only. It’s not intended to be a mass-distribution product. Fitters will be set up with all the equipment needed including uncut putters, grips, weight kits, the NC fitting tool, a slick red staff bag and even a Ridgid pipe cutter to trim the shafts.

The Never Compromise Reserve line will sell for $449.99 including fitting. They’ll be available at selected retailers and fitters Feb. 16.

For more information, visit the new Never Compromise website.