Bobbers
-
Posts
530 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Articles
FAQ
Tests
Classifieds
Store
Group Buys
Posts posted by Bobbers
-
-
4 hours ago, Michael.Sandoval33 said:
Great round! Those long putts are looking very nice from the Runner. Did you feel like there were any putts where it just got away from you?
I'm going to say distance loss on off center hits, those where I deliberately centered the ball on the heel or the toe resulted in a distance loss of 15-20%. But given the width of the face those were my effort to grossly mishit, not something I'd expect pretty much anyone to do unless they had some sort of spasm during their putting stroke.
The more common misses cost perhaps 8-10% distance loss but the mass of the head kept the ball on whatever line I'd chosen.
-
32 minutes ago, HikingMike said:
Wow hell of a round, coming in at even par on the back 9!
That sounds great to me
Added advantage (for some) is that the width of the Runner putter face is very game improvement oriented, it's wide with a decent sized "center spot". I hope that makes sense...
-
Sorry for the delay in getting this posted but I needed time to really ponder and analyze how I putted with the Runner this past Sunday.
The course I play on the weekend is at the highest point in that county and thus can be counted on to offer windy conditions regardless of the day. Sunday at tee time the temperature was about 55 degrees and it actually warmed up a bit as the round progressed.
I arrived early and spent 30 minutes on the practice green trying to get things dialed in before hitting the course. It's one of those practice greens that you either love or hate in that there's nothing remotely resembling a flat putt. Breaks of 2,3, even 4 feet are the rule rather than the exception. The greens on course, however, rarely have a break of even 2 feet regardless of how long the putt may be. Still, some practice beats no practice for me at least. It's tough for me when the practice green is so different from the greens on the course that you can't necessarily “take something with you” from practicing to the actual round.
First hole, par 5, a three putt.
Second hole, a medium length par 4, another three putt.
Time for a deep breath, a glance toward the heavens to see if there's an angry putting god scowling down at me.
The remaining 7 holes on the front nine yielded 2 putts per hole. Shot a 46 for the front.
While every hole was a two putt the second putts were tap-ins for the most part so at least the stress level was decreasing and my confidence was increasing. Positive signs heading to the back nine.
Back nine was a totally different story. Three one putt greens, the longest putt being a twenty footer.
Six two putt greens yielded a total of 15 putts on the back nine, more in keeping with what I expect.
Shot 42 on the back for a round of 88.
Total of 35 putts, higher than my normal range which is 31-33 per round pretty much regardless of what course I'm on.
The putter looks like a work of art. Very up to date look.
I have to concentrate on distance control with the Runner moreso than my Cobra, an issue of familiarity in my opinion.
Feedback is very good. You could close your eyes, putt, and know if you were hitting the center of the face, a pleasing “tink” or off center, a more definite “thock”. Center of the face has that nice “I don't feel like I hit the ball” feeling while off-center hits offers a more “oops!” feedback.
Headed out for another round on Monday, I'll report back with the expectation that I can shave 2-4 putts off on the next round.
As always, questions are welcome.
-
I've got a round scheduled for Sunday morning. It's a busy time so I'm not sure if videos will be made but I'll have 18 holes worth of putting to report on.
Should be about 45 degrees (Fahrenheit) at tee time but no snow or rain in the forecast. Yay, spring may finally have arrived.
-
Happy anniversary, enjoy the day.
-
On 4/10/2024 at 6:28 AM, Northern Monkey said:
@Rob Person I’ve found so far that it seems much easier to judge distance with the Runner and it is pretty consistent. Most of the misses have been down to me with my aim. The Runner sends the ball wherever I aim and seems very true.
Moving forward I intend to have a session on the practice green where I deliberately hit the ball of the heel and toe to see how this affects the line and distance.
So far I’m very happy with the putter and it does inspire confidence. As it’s still early days I’m interested to see if this continues or if it is just down to the excitement of having a new toy
I tried the "hit it off the toe" and "hit it off the heel" and found that distance suffered in the range of 15-20% compared to more centered strikes but the line of the putt didn't vary much if at all.
-
1 minute ago, Rob Person said:
Oh wow! So after your tests ( or even during) will anyone be swapping configurations in any way? Ie, mallet to blade?
I suspect it's early days for all of us, some haven't even received their putters yet. That said it's nice to have the option.
-
3 minutes ago, Northern Monkey said:
This was one of the big selling points that Runner used in that the whole putter is customisable. Not only can you do as @Bobbers described but also change it from mallet to blade, adjust face lie, change shaft position etc as well as change the colour if you so wish. All done just by swapping out the relevant part of the putter
Something of a "Swiss army knife" of the putter world.
- Rob Person, Northern Monkey, SDunne and 3 others
-
2
-
4
-
Here's what I guess you'd call an unexpected benefit of the Runner putter based on its construction.
Let me start with a photo:
If you look at the photo you'll see three distinct "sections" of the putter. The front, the face; the black midsection where the hosel resides, and the rear.
The three pieces are mechanically joined with bolts. More importantly they can all be removed with the supplied tool. The lie angle, in this case 71*, is "built in" to the middle section of the putter.
If one were to completely disassemble the putter and reverse the front (face) with the rear, let's call it the "body", presto! What had been a right handed putter is now a left handed putter!
I found that particularly ingenious.
(Told you I was gonna look at this in as many ways as possible...heh heh.)
- William P, HikingMike, Northern Monkey and 4 others
-
6
-
1
-
3 minutes ago, Rob Person said:
Aa you get through your initial impressions, I am curious about what you find troublesome about the putter. Anything weird, or flaws you may find with either the putter itself, or your performance.
@Northern Monkey that's impressive!
@RTH1 nice dispersion!
I'll be happy to do that. My goal is a realistic review with all the pluses and minuses I can wring from the experience. That's what the four reviewers committed to from the beginning. We were told, very clearly, to be honest and not feel obligated to do what you'd call a "puff piece".
-
Had a chance to get the Runner out for an initial run (pun intended...).
I mentioned in my unboxing/initial impressions post that the head was large and, for me at least, confidence inspiring. I put it next to an L.A.B. Directed Force 2.1 for comparison purposes.
The L.A.B. is about 3/8 inch wider than the Runner.
I alternated between a sleeve of Bridgestone R XS balls and a sleeve of Wilson Duo Soft balls figuring that would give me a chance to compare a low compression, soft ball with something more traditional in terms of compression.
Other than the sound, obviously attributable to the ball, performance was similar. The Bridgestone ball came off the face with a "click" and the Wilson was a much more muted "tock".
Hit several series off the toe and several series off the heel just to see the impact of seriously off center strikes. Distance was affected but, in my opinion, the mass of the putter head kept the putts on line very nicely.
I could definitely feel the difference between center strikes, they felt very "pure", the way a perfect shot off a forged iron feels.
Short putts, four feet or less, felt pretty automatic.
Below are two photos of a series of three putts from a distance of 30 feet.
Keeping in mind I'm a 20 handicapper I'll take those second putts any day of the week from the starting distance.
Feel free to ask any questions that occur to you, I'll do my best to answer.
- SDunne, HikingMike, Rob Person and 4 others
-
2
-
5
-
1 hour ago, Northern Monkey said:
Unboxing and initial impressions are up in my main post
We seem to have had similar reactions/impressions to the putters. I noticed with interest you live somewhere that the sun apparently does shine from time to time. I envy that.
-
39 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:
Did they specifically set the weights up for your stroke or is that something you all are going to experiment with?
I believe they were, for me at least, set up for my stroke. Simon had a chance to review videos of my stroke both from an overhead view and a straight on view.
Having said that I have no doubt I'll be experimenting.
Their website does have a pictorial on "how to adjust the weights" in terms of what effect you either want to achieve or, in my case, what I want to avoid...
-
46 minutes ago, Northern Monkey said:
Well it’s here, and Cookie has decided she’s going to guard it for me
I’ll post unboxing and initial impressions later today
One of life's great pleasures has to be unboxing a new golf club. Have fun.
-
I'm in the royal blue or darker zone. Light head covers don't look very good in pretty short order in my experience. Look great the first few rounds and then it's downhill for me at least.
-
Hard no. I wouldn't even engage in a discussion with the person offering "the deal".
-
The Cobra F9 and the LTDx are worthy choices.
To the extent that iron lofts keep going down the opposite seems true when it come to woods. I see "HL" 3 woods at 16 or 16.5 degrees which used to be a pretty typical 4 wood loft, etc.
Forget what's on the sole and see if you can find a Callaway "Heaven Wood" to test drive. You get a forgiving loft and the longer shaft.
It's to the point where I have to think "I'm looking for something that goes 'x' yards" rather than think in terms of what # is etched on the bottom.
-
On 3/28/2024 at 6:17 PM, Northern Monkey said:
Penfold golf balls. Can always remember my dad using these
Someone was making these within the past year or so. I believe I recall an article here (?) on those exact balls.
Is Yes! still making putters or have they gone the way of all flesh?
-
6 minutes ago, BobBC78 said:
Thanks and love your setup! How do you like the Halos?
It's too soon to tell, got out for a round on a freakishly warm day in early March but the winter has returned to Wisconsin. I'm hopeful based on the few shots but I've been overly optimistic before...
- IndyBonzo, William P, cksurfdude and 3 others
-
6
-
Golfworks has a pretty good selection of iron shafts. And they categorize them based on your distance, typical ball flight, etc.
- Ben_Davis, StrokerAce and TJ Hall
-
3
-
4 minutes ago, BobBC78 said:
I just ordered a G430 7H, to go along with my 5H and 6H, because Trackman sessions during this offseason confirmed my "on course" experience that I do not have sufficient swing speed to hit a 7i high enough to hold a green. Time to admit this fact and move on to a club that I can hit high enough to hold a green (from 120-130)
Welcome to the club, no pun intended.
-
1 hour ago, tdroma98 said:
@Bobbers good call on Carbite. It triggered me to search through my golf bucket. Several years ago I found a Carbite blade putter head. Someone had broken the shaft off. I had found the putter head in the woods while ball hawking.
I kept the putter to see if it could be reshafted at some point.
From the photo it looks like the hosel, where the shaft inserts, might be broken off. That would make reshafting it problematic. If it's simply the shaft is broken off it's a piece of cake to remove the old shaft and start over.
- tdroma98 and Rob Person
-
1
-
1
-
Your .5 swingweight difference is equivalent to 1 gram at the tip of the shaft (adapter/epoxy/ club head) or 2 grams at the butt end. Given that grips and shafts as well as heads and adapters all have manufacturing tolerances it's going to be next to impossible short of dismantling the entire club to evaluate each component to determine where the variation occurred.
- cnosil and Rbenefield
-
2
-
1 minute ago, Rob Person said:
I see random northwestern clubs all the time in thrift stores. Never in full sets though. Were they decent clubs?
Not really. They used a lot of pot metal in making their products. Chrome plating can only go so far in making that which is hideous look beautiful.
- Stuka44 and Rob Person
-
2
RUNNER Golf Putters! 2024 Forum Review
in Forum Testing Reviews
Posted
I tend to deloft a bit and with my straight back/straight through putting stroke I find I don't end up low on the face very often so that's a tough one for me to answer.
I can say that a) this putter gives the user a lot of feedback and b) it likes to hold the line you've chosen regardless of point of impact. The feel and sound of off center strikes is clearly heard and definitely felt immediately. Some loss of distance is the "penalty"; the further off center the impact the greater the distance loss.