REVIEWED! – Slotline’s Impressive New Putters

 

The Reviving Of A Brand With Some Incredible History

Back in September we gave you a sneak-peek at the new Slotline line-up for 2010. Well now we got the final product in our hands…so we reviewed the new line-up for you.

If you are not familiar with the Slotline brand…let us give you a few quick notes to let you know where the name got started and how they went from the penthouse to the outhouse and hopefully for Chad Lehr and the new owners at Dynamic Brands back to the penthouse in the putter industry.

Brief Slotline Golf History:

• Clovis “Duke” Duclos founded Slotline Golf
• Introduced in 1983 at the PGA Show
• Improved on the most popular putter at the times MOI value (Ping Anser).
• Became overnight sensation
• Slotline sold over 1,000,000 putters and was the 2nd biggest putter company in the world!
• Added irons and woods to their line-up
• Partnered with Trinity Golf which began the downward slide..to a fast death
• September of 2007 Dynamic Brands purchases company
• In 2008-2009 Chad Lehr (New Designer) begins designing in my opinion the best line-up Slotline has ever had.

The company who purchased Slotline (Dynamic Brands) owns a few other golf companies you might recognize…like Burton, BagBoy, Datrek and AMF. Chad Lehr (New Head Designer) is one of the best guys in the business. He is about as well respected as they come. It doesn’t take long when asking around to find people singing his praise…and hes got 22 years of experience…so the man has seen how to run a successful operation. He has worked with companies like the Hogan Company, RIFLE, True Temper and FST. I think he has not only brought the spark of creativity needed through his designs but also the stability and experience needed to revive a company with a brand name that has a history like Slotline’s.

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THE REVIEW – Slotline 600 Series Putters

But…Do They Putt As Good As They Look In The Photos?

I got to say…we get a lot and I mean a lot of putters sent to us for review by companies trying to get there name out there to our readers. The majority of which we don’t cover because they aren’t worth showing you guys. But this new Slotline line-up is different.

First of all we contacted Slotline…they didn’t contact us. After seeing the spy photos we released back in September we quickly picked up the phone and had Chad over at Slotline send us the entire new line-up so we could see if these things putted as good as they looked in the pics. And after taking them to the course and having 10 different golfers test them out and putt over 100 putts from different distances and on different surfaces…they all agreed…they absolutely do feel and putt as good as they look in the photos.

Slotline Models:

• Slotline 691 – Plumbers Neck Blade, 304 Stainless, Skim Milled, Tri-Milled 6061 Aluminum Face Insert, TIn-Nickel Finish
• Slotline 692 – Slant Neck Blade, 304 Stainless, Skim Milled, Tri-Milled 6061 Aluminum Face Insert, TIn-Nickel Finish
• Slotline 693 – Mid Mallet, Shaft Over Hosel, 304 Stainless, Skim Milled, Tri-Milled 6061 Aluminum Face Insert, TIn-Nickel Finish

LOOKS

In the looks category these are pretty impressive. The tin-nickel finish is unique…it stands out in a good way. The non-glare finish is a plus too…a shiny putter no matter how good it is…is hard to game. The gold aluminum insert in the face has a really sharp look to it and the feel of the aluminum insert is nice. I am not usually a fan of inserts but this one performed pretty well. The skim milling work on the face is well done…although I feel the paintfill could have been done a little better.

(+) 8 out of 10 testers said they preferred this putters looks over what was currently in their bag.

FEEL

Feel is a very personal thing when it comes to putters and what one golfer prefers over another. So we thought the best way to solve this variable was to have the 10 golfers test 5 other putters side-by-side with the new Slotline line-up so they could better compare head to head the feel of all the putters. The 5 putters being tested along side were a (Rife Abaco, Bettinardi C-06, Nike Unitized, Taylormade Rossa Core Classic, Yes Golf Dianna).

(+) Out of the 5 putters tested our 10 Golfers Ranked Slotline’s new putters 2nd behind only the Bettinardi model.

Below is a list of the Pro’s and con’s for the putters.

• PROS

1. Chad Lehr (Head Designer) knows golf and he knows putters which makes a difference when it comes to how the club sits and feels in your hands.
2. The majority of the 1o golfers said that the feel of the new Slotline putters was excellent and they would recommend the new putters to others.
   
3. The different necks in the first two models give different type of putting strokes options with what would fit them best.
4. I like the weight of the putters (little heavier) and the heavier shaft and grip which helped balance out the heavier heads.

• CONS

1. For those that prefer a 100% milled head this one is actually cast and skim milled. But most 100% milled putters from block are well over $200.
   
2. I think the paintfill on a couple of the putters could have been improved a little
   
3. The slot-line the company is know for or sight line can be confusing and in my opinion should not be used. It is supposed to help assure you have the proper position at address. Although this can be effected and made inaccurate because of all the variables in different golfers hand-body-head positioning.

OVERALL

Overall 80% of the golfers we had test the new Slotline line-up said that they would definitely consider switching to 1 of the 3 new 600 series putters made by Slotline which is pretty impressive…even if the putter is the most changed club in the bag. They also felt like the quality and overall design of the new putters was as good or better then the 5 other putters we tested side-by-side with the Slotine gear.

If you are interested in one of the new putters you can get more info here: TGW.com

Overall Score= 91