What Is The Most You Would Pay For A Putter?

[EugeGall]

5 hours ago, Donn lost in San Diego said:

You might look for my thread Step by step guide to putt cross handed.  I spent a lot of time since Spieth in 2015, to switch to xhand.  Matt Fitz is among many who go xhand.  Face balanced, front (low) hand index finger on the shaft pointing down.

I will give it a look for sure, thanks for sharing .

[jody]

An old golfing friend of mine once said that if you offered most amateurs two puts a green they'd be delighted, that's thirty six shots with one club, we happily pay hundreds for the latest driver which in truth we probably only hit maybe between ten to fourteen times depending on the course and yet we argue about paying the most we can for a putter we use over twice as much ?

[Mr_BogeyPro]

13 hours ago, GolferXY said:

I appreciate that you have found an ideal putter for your game.  For a lot of golfers that's a life long quest.

If a good putter can putt well with anything, then why do they choose a certain flatstick or get fitted for one?  Because the more suited the putter is to you, the more confident you are and the better you putt.   If I could find a putter that would guarantee 25 putts a round I'd pay most anything.  Of course, golf is about all I do these days.  When I was younger and had a growing family, I bought my clubs out of the bargain bin.  Family grown, I've purchased two LAB putters and love them.  I paid close to a grand for the first one, about 6 hundo for the 2nd [a broomstick after developing hip issues].  They fit me and I putt better, which means I have more fun.  

That's very true, but I think my response was more in alignment with people's expectations that when they purchase a new putter, it will work miracles. I truly feel that not a lot of golfers practice putting, and not a lot of golfers practice it the right way. This is an observation from my local course, where I hit balls on the range. Everyone is trying to slam their drives, hit their irons straight, and practice their swing. Not one single person goes to the greens to putt for 30 minutes or so. I would say yes, if they are confident in their putting, and they feel it consistent, then finding the right putter is ideal. In my opinion, most people chase the putter, without having a good stroke hoping for miracle. 

[mattkulick]

$200 tops. It’s the only club I’ve never gotten fitted for. While I assume the data suggest that getting fitted would/should improve performance, my current opinion is that putting is more feel than anything. Get the ball started on the right line with the right speed. 

[Hacker60521]

12 hours ago, cnosil said:

 

As a player you basically have to do one of two things.....find a putter that fits your stroke or fit your stroke to the putter.  Most people seem to want to do the later.   

Even with a putter that has been fit to your stroke,  you still have to work on the 4 skills of putting (aim, stroke, touch, read).  

@cnosil you raise a really interesting point. I’m definitely more of a keep my stroke and find a putter because it seems more consistent to me. On average I’d say I practice putting an hour or two each week - half indoor working on stroke and touch, half outdoor for aim and read. But maybe before I get fit for a new $$$ putter, it’s worth taking a few lessons. 

[DCXMIKE]

I'm currently gaming an Odyssey 10 that I typically love, but have had some moments lately.  I was fitted for it but sometimes wonder if I'm truly a mallet guy.   The next one I buy I'll definitely go with a full in fitting and assessment Before even leaning towards a type, NVM brand or style.

[cnosil]

28 minutes ago, Hacker60521 said:

@cnosil you raise a really interesting point. I’m definitely more of a keep my stroke and find a putter because it seems more consistent to me. On average I’d say I practice putting an hour or two each week - half indoor working on stroke and touch, half outdoor for aim and read. But maybe before I get fit for a new $$$ putter, it’s worth taking a few lessons. 

How do you work on touch(speed control) inside?  

[GolferXY]

19 hours ago, cnosil said:

I am not saying this is right or wrong by many believe that putting is about confidence, feel,  and the look of the putter and that fitting provides little value.    Additionally people play the same putter for decades and putt fine and there really isn't much tech in putters so they don't need a new expensive putter.   Basically they learned how to make the putter work.    It is hard to validate that putters (and really any club) result in better performance but the question is always how many putts per round are saved.   Unfortunately that is too small of a sample size, really need to look at a season of data.  

I can attest that at the same skill level that putters WILL perform differently.   I am one of the MGS most wanted testers and just like full swing clubs a putter will influence your aim and stroke and perform differently.   This has been shown on systems like Puttlab and Quintic.   

As a player you basically have to do one of two things.....find a putter that fits your stroke or fit your stroke to the putter.  Most people seem to want to do the later.   

Even with a putter that has been fit to your stroke,  you still have to work on the 4 skills of putting (aim, stroke, touch, read).  

You nailed this one.  I've been fit a couple of times for putters and found it to be interesting and informative.  But regardless of the instrument, you have to learn the basic cords in order to make music.

[toberg]

$350 at most

[ryan.mzzz]

my life philosophy is to be cheap as $h1t whenever possible, so that I can splurge on what’s important. So, I never buy lunch out, I make my own coffee, I have a house without much furniture, I buy reasonably priced vehicles that i keep running for as long as I can. My partner and I make a lot of our own food, so we can go to fairly pricey but high quality restaurants when we do go out. We also splurge on our activities that are important to us. For her, it’s surfing and biking, for me it’s golf and guitar, and we share snowboarding. For golf, I game a g400 standard. I’ve got a nice, super great feeling set of irons from 2016 that I’ve reshafted once. I’ve got a walking membership at a nice public course, which cost $1400+tax this year, and after I move that will go up to $1800/yr.

I’m a one putter type of guy, and I paid $873 after tax for my lab df2 with a bgt stability shaft. This year, hopefully with a seasonal discount, i’ll be looking at a df3 with a tpt shaft for around $1k. I would only pay that because I believe that to be the best putter and shaft combination that’s ever existed on planet earth, and since I spend so much time with a putter in my hand, both at the course and at home(i like to putt when I’m thinking about how to solve hard problems), it’s worth it to me.

 

[IMBO]

After reading 9 pages of postings, guess I’m not much of a putter connoisseur. $150 would be my maximum. But I payed $199 for a TM Spider several years ago and hated it. Currently switch between a Cleveland Huntington Beach soft ($150) and Karsten Anser X  (free from brother). Also use my 50 year old Anser from time to time and it still works very well. I haven’t payed much attention to the current putter offerings as I’m not impressed with the price or looks.

I do keep my driver, irons and wedges current and an always tinkering with these. Most of the guys I compete against are decent putters but I generally have an advantage in the long game so that’s where I spend my $. 

I did modify the Cleveland putter by extending it to 38” trying to match Rickie Fowler’s putter specs. Like most putters, some days they are good but sometimes their crap.
 

 

 

[GG194]

21 hours ago, mattkulick said:

$200 tops. It’s the only club I’ve never gotten fitted for. While I assume the data suggest that getting fitted would/should improve performance, my current opinion is that putting is more feel than anything. Get the ball started on the right line with the right speed. 

I could have written this except for the fitting part. $200

[Hacker60521]

23 hours ago, cnosil said:

How do you work on touch(speed control) inside?  

I have a golf simulator and the room has turf throughout. So I do two types of drills. First, I have an alignment stick marked with tape every six inches. So I practice stroking to 6, 12, 18, just to lock in what each distance feels like. Then when I’m at the course, I’ll putt the same 6, 12, 18 to see what the distances would be. Second, the simulator has all sorts of putting areas but I focus on 5’, 15, and 45’. For these I look for two things — whether I am putting on line, and where my ball ends up. For 5’ I’m looking for as close to 100% in the cup. At 15’ and 45’ I’m looking to put the ball within 3’ of the cup. 

[zstokes]

On 5/6/2024 at 4:39 PM, cnosil said:

I am not saying this is right or wrong by many believe that putting is about confidence, feel,  and the look of the putter and that fitting provides little value. 

This is a salient point, as far as I'm concerned.  But the reason that I got fitted for my $$$ Bettinardi was BECAUSE of look and feel.  Once I was made aware that I really did need a face balanced putter (Quantic or Sam Putting Lab, I don't remember....whichever one Club Champion uses), and I saw the available options, I wanted DATA to backup my choice.  The fitter even tried getting me to try a LAB and others, but when I saw the one I got, rolled it beautifully, it was game over.

Looks matter to me.  Maybe that's vanity or foolishness, but it does.

[bama no 1]

3 hours ago, zstokes said:

This is a salient point, as far as I'm concerned.  But the reason that I got fitted for my $$$ Bettinardi was BECAUSE of look and feel.  Once I was made aware that I really did need a face balanced putter (Quantic or Sam Putting Lab, I don't remember....whichever one Club Champion uses), and I saw the available options, I wanted DATA to backup my choice.  The fitter even tried getting me to try a LAB and others, but when I saw the one I got, rolled it beautifully, it was game over.

Looks matter to me.  Maybe that's vanity or foolishness, but it does.

I agree with you on the looks of the putter.  If it doesnt look good to me then i will not have any confidence in it.  No way can i use a lab putter, this thing looks hideous to me, different strokes for different folks.

[Biingo]

My current gamer, LAB link.1, was around $400 and I would do it again. The confidence gained putting as well as distance control and shots on line more often make it worth every penny. Was skeptical about going with a center shafted option but the results have been great. It's a club used on basically every hole and it "pays" to have confidence in the club, whether you spent the new price tag on it or found it in a bargain/used option. Just a matter of finding the one that suits you best. 

[manVSgolf]

On 5/6/2024 at 5:44 AM, Jeremy26 said:

In the last 3 weeks I've spent $1,300 going down the LABbit hole. One counterbalance and one standard Mezz Max. I'm not sure if I get along with them. Guess I was hoping for some magic wand (which I obviously know is silly), but I'm realizing more and more that it's a "me" problem. Putting has always been the most difficult part of the game for me, so I'm always searching. It's a frustrating feeling, and it's gotten to the point that sometimes I feel like giving up the game I love. Rounds with my buddies start to feel like a chore, rather than a getaway. Knowing you're going miss 4 footers all day is a drag.

This legitimately broke my heart.

 

while I have neeever gotten to the point where I wanted to quit the game, I def have hit my limits from time to time with certain things.  Take some time.  
 

I know what you just wrote about $1300 on 2 LABs recently not being the thing you were searching for immediately.  If this continues to be the case… get a LAB broomstick.  
 

I. was such a s***** putter forever until 4 years ago, when I gave one a try (I had bought a standard, and arm-lock, and a broomstick to see what I liked the best).  I’m not exaggerating when I tell you I knocked 5 strokes off of my score consistently immediately.  I felt unsure of anything over 3 feet previously - Now I can’t wait to putt.

Hang in there man, hit me up If you have questions on broomsticks.

 

Edited May 9 by manVSgolf

[toncol]

On 3/25/2024 at 10:39 AM, RickyBobby_PR said:

I currently have or had 4 putters that costs $1200,2500 and 2 at $3000. Along with a other that was $700.

I would have no problem paying $10k for a full GSS Scotty 

Fascinating.  Can't help wondering why.  Did/do they offer multiples of performance for the multiples of the average price ?  Reminds me of friends of mine that collect expensive wine.  I don't get it.  I enjoy good wine, but for drinking, not looking at.  Anyway, regarding the topic.....I don't have a max, but I am someone who would analyze what it is I'm paying for.  So for a custom-built one-off I might pay a lot, but I don't really need/want one.  I've looked at some stuff that that David Edel has put out on YouTube and while it's really interesting the engineer in me says there's a lot of confirmation bias in the process.  Still, that kind of customization is interesting. I currently game a 2001 Scotty Pro Platinum Newport 2 that I got new.  Once in a while I put it in "time out" but I always go back to it sooner rather than later.  I have others by Odyssey, Scotty, Ping, but I always seem to go back to old faithful.  I know what it's going to do, and while it's an unforgiving SOB I know that the errors are mine and not the club's. I've become convinced that a good putter can put reasonably well with just about anything, and that it's poorer putters who have to try to buy a putting game.  One of my golf buddies has an old Wilson that he bought at a general sporting goods store...it's a piece of s#%t, but I'd bet my house on him with it from 10 ft

[Dovebreast]

$200