The Heads Up on the Toe Up

While there are generally few surprises at the annual PGA show, occasionally something previously unknown is on display when companies open up their booths.

This year, one of the surprises was Odyssey’s Toe Up putter. We expected to see a whole lot of White Hot RX action in the Odyssey booth, and we did, but we also got an unexpected introduction to the previously unmentioned Toe Up putters.

Back in January, we shared a few photos, along with the limited info that we had about Odyssey’s Toe Up Surprise. Now that Odyssey has officially announced the new line, it’s time to explore these again what this Toe Up thing is all about.

Odyssey Toe Up Specifications

• Models: Toe Up #1 and Toe Up #9
• Face: Metal-X
• Toe Hang: Up!
• Grip: SuperStroke Flatso 1.0 with CounterCore
• Head Weight: 355g
• Loft: 3°
• Lie: 70°
• Dexterity: RH and LH
• Price: $199.99
• Available in Stores: 04/15/2016

Toe Up Technology

Basically, Toe Up tech helps the putter face to stay square to the swing arc during the stroke. It doesn’t swing open, or closed while you swing. If you started square to the ball at address, you should be able to get back to square easier without the twisting.

Toe Up technology, or torque balanced as other companies have called it, is something unusual in today’s putter market, and whenever something different, and potentially helpful, comes to the putter market, it’s worthy of investigation.

Why is it worthy of investigation? Because let’s face it, putting is a real challenge for some (many?) golfers. Any technology that could make putting easier for these people is a big deal.

New tech means new hope, and that is always worth looking into.

Number 1

The Number 1 is a classic heel/toe weighted blade, and as such, will likely prove to be the better selling of the two models. Not to say that it’s the “better” of the two. It’s just more familiar looking. New tech with a familiar look is less scary to try.

Though the three alignment lines are an unusual feature, most blade players should feel comfortable looking down at the putter at address.

Being comfortable with the overall design should encourage golfers to focus on the feel of the torque balanced stroke, free of distractions. Again, I bet that this is the one that most golfers will select to see if Toe Up works on the green. Most of the curious will say something like “this looks like something I can putt with” as they head to the demo green.

Number 9

I have not rolled these yet, not many out of Odyssey HQ likely have to any extent, but I’m expecting rolling the Number 9 to be a mind blowing experience. Not like this is the greatest putter ever mind blowing, but more along the lines of this Number 9 doesn’t open and close when I putt!

The #9 is traditionally the four dash, deep-hanging swinger in any Odyssey line. Most of the time, it’s the singular offering to the strong arc contingent. This #9 will hang almost 180° from the norm. It’s the North Pole #9 whereas all others hang south.

What does this mean in terms of play? Will this Number 9 work for traditional 9 players? We will need get them it in hand to play with to truly know that. Check back here around 4/15 for the full report.

Conventional wisdom on the torque balance tech says that it should work for all putting strokes, but like I said, I’m going to roll it before committing to any position on play.

Torque Balanced for the Masses

Odyssey is not the first company to go with the torque-balanced/toe up hang. After the previous article, a few of you commented that Edel, and other companies, have produced torque balanced models. All true, but an Odyssey offering is significant because these putters are far more likely to be available to the golfing public to try, and buy.

When was the last time you were able to roll an Edel in your local shop? For many golfers, that answer is never. Most shops don’t have Edels, but they do have Odysseys. This may very well be the first time that the golfing masses experience torque balanced putting.

That’s what’s kind of the big deal about these. Will they cure all putting woes for everyone? Of course not, but they do give struggling putters a new to them design to try.

Perhaps this will finally be the putter that makes putting fun for them, and not a struggle.