RUNNER Golf Putters! 2024 Forum Review

[Northern Monkey]

23 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Meant to share this a little while back. The putter is on the big side... and I like it!

Have you managed to game yours much Jamie and how are you finding it?

[GolfSpy_APH]

6 minutes ago, Northern Monkey said:

Have you managed to game yours much Jamie and how are you finding it?

Yup I have managed 2 18 and a 6 hole round with ample practice. So far it has been stellar.

Very very stable, easy to align and good results. To date very positive!

[Northern Monkey]

1 minute ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Yup I have managed 2 18 and a 6 hole round with ample practice. So far it has been stellar.

Very very stable, easy to align and good results. To date very positive!

Yeh I find the alignment guide very good. The fact that it’s 3D really seems to help. It always seems to send the ball exactly where you aim and just doesn’t want to stray off line. Beautifully centered and precise

[Rob Person]

58 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Meant to share this a little while back. The putter is on the big side... and I like it!

I

like

big putters and I cannot lie... 

Hehe

[SDunne]

Took the RUNNER out for a spin on the putting green on the weekend and definitely enjoying it. I'll echo a few of the others who've talked about the alignment - very nice and clear. Stands out a lot and helps both from above and behind. I'm currently playing a lot with the Callaway triple tracks and it looks lovely with this given the red and red combo. 

 

 

 

 

Also to give you a better view of the weights as well

 

I am also liking how it looks down the line. While it's not quite centre-aligned, the way the shaft comes down towards the alignment line, it can feel that way looking down on it which I like as it feels like another way to line the ball up and ensuring you're bringing it back to where you want the ball to be.

All in all, I'm liking getting used to the putter and trying to get on the course this mid-week to play with it some more. First full round is booked for Sunday so want to get some more practice in before then.

[SDunne]

Given the large head on the putter and how solid it is, I also played with deliberately hitting off the toe and heel. I didn't get much feel of the putter twisting but I'll play with camera set up to see if I can get some slo-mos from above to showcase a bit better. You can see from my short video, it's easy enough to get a pretty straight putt off the extremities which suggests there's a large amount of forgiveness in this. There didn't seem to be much loss of pace from hitting like this and while it's not something I'm aiming for, it gives me confidence small misses from the centre will make less difference potentially (especially those compared to a heel shafted putter)

 

[Northern Monkey]

I found that it still holds the line pretty well with heel and toe misses but does lose a little bit of distance. Does seem very forgiving

[GolfSpy_APH]

For the testers - how have you felt with the feel low on the face? As well as performance?

[Northern Monkey]

I haven’t noticed a great deal of difference on the feel. The real feedback for me comes from the sound as there is a noticeable difference on off centre strikes

[Northern Monkey]

I managed another 18 yesterday and the Runner continued to perform well

The greens have been scarified twice today, seeded and top dressed so this is bound to have an effect on the putting for the next week or two. Will have to see how much of a difference this makes for the Runner

[Northern Monkey]

Just back from another 18 and despite the greens having being treated the Runner performed admirably again. 

I played really well today and had a good approach and short game so that helped a lot with making the putting easier. That doesn’t detract though from the fact that I’m finding this putter is really helping improve my game

[HikingMike]

On 4/5/2024 at 9:02 PM, Rob Person said:

Also, I have to say, tbise covers look sharp!  Thanks for explaining the -From Normandy - stitching.   

Their logo on the cover reminded me of Nine Inch Nails... and the song " we're in this together"

I have to admit, if I had been selected, I was planning to do putting videos and have Nine Inch Nails songs in the background every time, lol. I thought the same thing.

I need to catch up here as these are intriguing.

[RTH1]

It's here, arrived friday, but I was off island, "let the good times roll" so to speak.

[Bobbers]

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.

Edited April 17 by Bobbers
added information

[Northern Monkey]

6 hours ago, RTH1 said:

It's here, arrived friday, but I was off island, "let the good times roll" so to speak.

@RTH1 Glad it’s finally arrived Rick, looking forward to how you find it performs, especially as you’ve gone for a blade when the rest of us have mallets. 
 

@Bobbers how did you find the distance on the off centre putts? Were you losing distance on them?

I had another 18 today with the Runner and am really dialled in with the distance now. These were my longer putts  

My short game was really good today which helped with a lot of the putts I was left with but the Runner still performed well for me. 
I was 6 over for the front nine but came home in even par with 1 birdie and 1 bogey. There’s no doubting that my game is definitely improving with the Runner

[Michael.Sandoval33]

32 minutes ago, Northern Monkey said:

@RTH1 Glad it’s finally arrived Rick, looking forward to how you find it performs, especially as you’ve gone for a blade when the rest of us have mallets. 
 

@Bobbers how did you find the distance on the off centre putts? Were you losing distance on them?

I had another 18 today with the Runner and am really dialled in with the distance now. These were my longer putts  

My short game was really good today which helped with a lot of the putts I was left with but the Runner still performed well for me. 
I was 6 over for the front nine but came home in even par with 1 birdie and 1 bogey. There’s no doubting that my game is definitely improving with the Runner

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?

[Northern Monkey]

7 minutes 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?

Thanks. To be honest it is pretty stable and goes where you aim. There have been times when I’ve missed when I shouldn’t really have but these have been down to my aim or over/under hitting it rather than the Runner

[HikingMike]

4 hours ago, Northern Monkey said:

@RTH1 Glad it’s finally arrived Rick, looking forward to how you find it performs, especially as you’ve gone for a blade when the rest of us have mallets. 
 

@Bobbers how did you find the distance on the off centre putts? Were you losing distance on them?

I had another 18 today with the Runner and am really dialled in with the distance now. These were my longer putts  

My short game was really good today which helped with a lot of the putts I was left with but the Runner still performed well for me. 
I was 6 over for the front nine but came home in even par with 1 birdie and 1 bogey. There’s no doubting that my game is definitely improving with the Runner

Wow hell of a round, coming in at even par on the back 9!

8 hours ago, Bobbers said:

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.

That sounds great to me

[Northern Monkey]

8 minutes ago, HikingMike said:

Wow hell of a round, coming in at even par on the back 9!

That sounds great to me

Thanks

[Bobbers]

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...

[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.

[Bobbers]

On 4/15/2024 at 6:12 AM, GolfSpy_APH said:

For the testers - how have you felt with the feel low on the face? As well as performance?

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.

[Northern Monkey]

Despite not being able to get out to play today I did call in at the course to use the putting green with the Runner. I had it all set up to do some videos showing the difference between off centre hits and true strikes. Did half a dozen videos but being the complete technophobe dinosaur that I am when I got home I found that I hadn’t pressed record when I thought I’d started the 1st video. As a result all I managed to record was me walking to collect the balls after each test as I was starting to record when I thought I was stopping each video

I will repeat the test, when I can, and make sure I do it right this time. For the moment you’ll just have to make do with a couple of pics of the Runner

[SDunne]

Lovely looking course @Northern Monkey - where do you play?

Glad you're getting out, work has been mental so looking forward to the weekend when I aim to get down both days to at least the putting green for more work. I've got rounds booked for next week as we have ANZAC day here which is a public holiday. I've also got some time lined up with my father in law at a local indoor facility where they have PuttView (i.e. where it traces out your line from above and shows how close to optimum speed/line you've got). 

[Northern Monkey]

Thanks @SDunne the greenkeepers have done a good job over winter and it’s in great condition considering how much rain we’ve had the last few months. It’s Sidcup Golf Club in south east London, I’ve been a member here for four years now. 
Hope you enjoy your golf over the weekend and ANZAC day

[GolfSpy_APH]

How have you found the lag putting to be so far for you testers?

[Northern Monkey]

9 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

How have you found the lag putting to be so far for you testers?

I have found it absolutely awesome! I posted on Wednesday with some images of my longer putts and am finding it so easy to get close with this putter

[Northern Monkey]

I managed to get out early this morning for 18 holes and played the best I’ve ever done. Gross 1 over after front nine and came back in 4 over so 5 over for the round. 
The Runner was absolutely awesome again with any misses being down to me rather than the putter. 

The Runner just seems to instil so much confidence as you know it is going exactly where you aim it and the distance control on it is fantastic. The lag putts just seem so easy to get the ball within a couple of feet and my putting is definitely improving with this club 

These are some of the lag putts from today

Edited April 19 by Northern Monkey

[GolfSpy_KFT]

2 minutes ago, Northern Monkey said:

I managed to get out early this morning for 18 holes and played the best I’ve ever done. Gross 1 over after front nine and came back in 4 over so 5 over for the round. 
The Runner was absolutely awesome again with any misses being down to me rather than the putter. 

The Runner just seems to instil so much confidence as you know it is going exactly where you aim it and the distance control on it is fantastic. The lag putts just seem so easy to get the ball within a couple of feet and my putting is definitely improving with this club 

Great round @Northern Monkey! I can’t think of a much better feeling than the confidence of stepping over a putt and feeling like you know exactly how the ball is going to react.

[GolfSpy_APH]

I do wonder why this seems to be a winning formula. 

The shaping is nice and the feel is good. Is it their customization options? Does it have to do with the coloring and helping with alignment? The face is also interesting and wondering what sort of effect that has. 

Overall really impressed and keen to get on a LM to see some more of the data-