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Testers Wanted! Titleist SM10 and Stix Golf Clubs

KCLeo12

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Posts posted by KCLeo12

    2019 Official Forum Member Review-Bettinardi Arm Lock Putter

    in Forum Testing Reviews

    Posted

    I would be very interested to see if it improves your 4 to 10 foot putts and how comfortable you feel lagging a putt from 20 feet plus


    I feel extremely confident inside 10ft yesterday I made 100% of my putts inside 10ft. Distance control was fantastic. My longest 2nd putt was 18” and my I made my only putt over 40ft.

    I have a tournament tomorrow on very tough greens so that will be a tough test.


    Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

    2019 Official Forum Member Review-Bettinardi Arm Lock Putter

    in Forum Testing Reviews

    Posted · Edited by KCLeo12
    Post Review

    First, some apologies that my testing and review has taken longer than I have ever intended. This also has been the most difficult review that I have ever done. I had my biggest tournament of the year which was 9 rounds in 10 days. I would rather take an extra couple days and get you guys the honest and best review I can do. However, I have put this putter through its paces and given it the full treatment. I have been struggling with separating my feelings about the style of the putter and the actual putter.

     

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    LOOKS: 10 out of 10 – This is a great looking putter as most Bettinardi putters are. The compact round head that frames the ball fantastic. The matte or brushed finish provides great contest to the green and the shiny ball. It reduces glare and really allows you to focus on the ball. I found that the alignment and the framing of the face allowed me to easily align the ball in the center of the face and I have a tendency to get the ball more towards the toe.

     

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    SOUND AND FEEL: 10 out of 10 – The sound and feel are perfect in my opinion. It is soft but of firm feel the shorter putts feel a little softer and the long putts feel firmer. For me this was something I really like because on longer putts with a softer feel and sound I feel like I have to hit them harder. It has a great sound also the has a firm click to it on longer putts and just a nice smooth sound on the shorter putts

     

    BASIC CHARACTERISTICS: 18 out of 20. There isn’t anything as far as the putter it self goes that isn’t great about this putter. The only thing I found was that the putter didn’t easily sit flat on the ground when you set it down to align it. I had to develop a different pre-shot routine to get this putter to aim consistently. I will go more into detail about that later. The grip is the only reason this putter itself doesn’t get a score of 20 for this category. I felt the grip was too short, when I gripped the putter in a comfortable position on my right thumb was at the very end of the grip. More about this later also.

     

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    ON COURSE PERFORMANCE: 23 out of 30 – So this is the part of the review that I struggle with because half of the review is the putter and the other half is the Arm-Lock style of putting. I loved the putter itself and the style I just couldn’t get along with. I wanted to love it and had a very hard time letting go. My first round was phenomenal I shot a 68 and made everything. Unfortunately that was the last of the success I had with this putter on the course. I played 8 rounds total with this putter. And what I did was track those 8 rounds vs the previous 8 rounds that I played before the review.

     

    In the 8 previous rounds I averaged 30.2 putts per round which is about average for me. The 8 rounds I played with the SS38 Arm-Lock was 36.3 putts per round. My scoring average was 3.4 strokes higher also. But part of the increase in putts is because I started hitting the ball better and averaging 2 GIR more per round during the 8 rounds. That is why the 6 stokes difference in putts per round only equated to 3.4 in scoring average.

     

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    Most of my struggle came from distance control on long putts of more than 30 ft. I had a tough time getting the speed right. I was consistently long and really struggled on faster greens or downhill putts because I felt like I had no feel. I felt just mechanical not smooth.

     

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    MISCELLANEOUS: 9 out of 10 – The details in the putter are fantastic from the beautiful blue paint to the extremely high quality headcover. I loved the headcover design and feel although I really prefer a magnetized headcover vs the Velcro. The putter was built and shipped quickly in a great high-class looking black box. The grip was actually my least favorite part of the putter and I plan on replacing it and seeing if this makes any difference for me.

     

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    PLAY IT OR TRADE IT: 12 out of 20 – This score is 100% based off the arm-lock style of putting and has zero to do with the putter or the quality of the putter. There is absolutely no chance this putter in its current set up makes it in the bag. I have ordered a JumboMax putter grip with a flat side that I think will really make a difference. I think the flat side against the arm with make it more consistent against my arm.

     

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    CONCLUSION: The armlock putter style is not something you can just tinker with and have success. I think you have to be professionally fit for this putter style in order to get the specs right so that you are comfortable and able to get in the same position every time. For me after the first day it was never able to get completely comfortable over the ball again. I have bought a different grip and plan to get fit properly for this putter because I do see some benefits in the style of putting if you commit to it and get fit properly.

    FINAL SCORE: 82 out of 100

     

    • Popular Post
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    2019 Official Forum Member Review-Bettinardi Arm Lock Putter

    in Forum Testing Reviews

    Posted · Edited by KCLeo12

     

     

    I want to first start off by thanking Bettinardi and MyGolfSpy for this opportunity to test this beautiful putter and this style that is rapidly gaining traction on tour.

     

    Now let me tell you a little bit about me and my game. I am a scratch golfer and I play 6-8 times per month and also practice 2-3 days per week. I play all types of courses in the San Diego area. I played one year of Division 2 college golf before deciding that college just wasn't for me. Something about not having to go to class just sounded so good. I was young and dumb back then but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I tried some small mini tours and did well until I injured my back which it was only recently that I found out was caused by a birth defect in my spine the lead to scoliosis. Now I play competitive golf on the Veterans Golf Association Tour as well as USGA and SCGA events. I am currently prepping to try out for the All Navy Golf Team Tryouts in mid-May.

     

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    In southern California we have a vast array of types of course I play. I have a few that are by the ocean and typically softer and shorter. Then I have a few desert style firm and fast courses that I can play also. The one thing nearly all of them have in common is Poa greens. A few have bent greens but most are that scary Poa Annua they talk about on Tour. The green speed can vary greatly also from 9-13. I tend to play the Military course as they save me a good amount of money on greens fees. They are all good course nothing to challenging but they have all drastically improved their greens over the last year.

     

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    A little about my game and how I attack the course. I have been a bomb and gouge guy most of my life. I competed in long drive 9-10 years ago and I was pretty long for a guy who could reasonably control the direction with the driver. After several injuries to my back and a ruptured Achilles that I never fully recovered from I focus on iron and wedge play. I still have a club head speed between 115-122 depending on how hard I want to go at it. I have always felt like I have been a pretty good putter but like most golfers I am always searching for that lightening in a bottle. I have been extremely happy with my current putter after I did a putter fitting but this arm-lock style makes so much sense to me that I have been itching to try it. It’s that constant pursuit of perfection or uncontrollable urge to get better that makes me love the game. I love that I can control how good I can be by putting more time and effort into my game. The other part is that as a golfer you have an automatic connection with any golfer regardless of their skill level. All golfers understand each other. You step on the first tee with 3 complete strangers and by the end of the round you have a very good understanding of each person and who they are.

     

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    The thing all Spies want to know the most is the WITB. Most of us are gear heads and that’s likely why we are here.

    Driver: Cobra F9 Yellow 9* 2G forward 18G back Accra TZ5 65 M5 tipped 3/4” plays 44.75

    3 Wood: PXG 0341 15* set 1.5* lower HZRDUS Yellow 76 6.5 tipped 1.5” plays 42.75

    Irons: Ben Hogan FT Worth Black or new PTx Pro both have KBS Tour V 120X shafts standard length 2* flat

    Wedges: Ben Hogan Equalizer 50, 55, 60 KBS Tour V shafts

    Putter: PXG Mini Gunboat H/Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Buttonback both have the P2 Aware Tour grip at 34.5

      

     

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    This is a putter review so let’s talk about my putting. I have a medium arc stroke but that is largely influenced by the type of putter I use. I have a slower more controlled putting stoke also. The studies with blast Motion and other types of measuring devices show a 2 to 1 stroke pace is best specifically 0.6 seconds on the back stroke and 0.3 seconds to impact. I have tried to replicate this in practice but it just doesn’t work for me, I struggle with distance control. My slower tempo is also why I prefer to die the ball in the hole. I am looking for 8-14” past the hole as my target pace. My typical miss is low side on longer putts and a push on shorter putts as I sometimes steer the ball and not release the putter face. I am extremely confident inside 10ft I feel like I am going to make every putt. I am also a very good lag putter, I rarely 3-putt due to a bad first putt.

     

    First Impressions

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    Enough about me let’s talk about the reason you are all here the Bettinardi BB38 Arm-Lock putter I chose to go with 40.5” 5 degrees of loft and 2* flat lie angle. The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was the beautiful finish and blue paint fill. The headcover is fantastic looking and fits perfectly, the quality of the cover is probably the best of any OEM in a stock offering.

     

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    The grip is a really nice corded grip that is the perfect size in the hands in my opinion but it’s not perfect. The head shape is very clean and the lines are beautiful, aesthetically its very pleasing.

     

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    The 400-gram head weight and 40.5” length create a really balanced feel. Everything about this putter screams high quality. They claim that the arm-lock style helps create a more pendulum motion and eliminates the hands in the stroke. To me this style is for people that are not the best putters and becomes more of a band aid.

    After some quick testing the putter feels great but this style is very uncomfortable at first. I was able to get used to the feeling and roll in a few putts. But this putter will have to show a noticeable improvement in my putting for me to make the permanent switch. Will the improvements out-weigh the uncomfortable feeling over the ball? Will I make enough putts to get over the embarrassment of using an arm-lock style putter? These are some big questions I will answer in my stage 2.

       

     

     

     

     

     


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