PING Karsten Series Anser 2 Putter

Karsten Solheim invented the putter as we know it.

A general electric engineer, Solheim was invited to a golf outing and found that putting was his major weakness. So he applied his engineering skills to the problem. The result was a putter with additional mass moved to the heel and toe. Although the putter looks familiar to today’s golfers, it was quite different from the familiar bulls-eye putters of the day. Solheim left GE in 1967 to found a golf equipment company and applied his thoughts on moment of inertia to the creation of the first cavity back clubs. Today, everyone copies his original designs.

The “Ping” comes from the distinctive sound of the original putters.

The new Karsten putters feature the same heel-and-toe weighting, and also include a new elastomer insert for enhanced feel. New cavity shapes have greatly increased the moment of inertia.

TaylorMade Rossa Spider Putter

So many clubs these days are breaking the mold when it comes to clubhead shape. Freed by CAD and materials science, designers now can let their imaginations run wild in pursuit of ever higher moment of intertia.

The TaylorMade Rossa Spider Putter combines a steel wire frame and aluminum core with TaylorMade’s trademark moveable weight system. It also has the ASGI+ face, which features small likes that are supposed to promote forward spin.

I think the ASGI system does indeed make a difference. My Rossa putter is one of the most accurate I’ve ever played. The weight system also works, although I use it less to change the left and right distribution than to increase the weight of the head; I add two heavy, but identical weights to the back of my Rossa’s clubhead.

TaylorMade Rossa Tourismo Putter

The Taylormade Rossa Tourismo Putter’s unique shape is designed to offer exceptional stability and forgiveness for straighter, more accurate putts. The ASGI insert on the putter’s face has fourteen groves which TaylorMade says helps to get the ball rolling more quickly and accurately toward the hole. Finally, the TaylorMade trademark Movable Weight Technology allows the players to change the putter’s feel.

I can attest to the ASGI’s effectiveness. The Rossa Corzina that I use is exceedingly accurate. The ball starts out on line and stays there. Unlike some other plain face putters I use, there’s no sense of initial deflection.

Hockey Stick Putter

Golf Galaxy has a fun looking line of putters designed to look like hockey sticks. They’re 35 inches long, and are made with a compression molded graphite shaft, a cast aluminum alloy blade and a moisture proof grip.

You can get sticks from either the University of Minnesota or Wisconsin, or from NHL teams like the Wild, Predators, Penguins, Red Wings, Blue Jackets, Devils, Avalanche, Rangers, Sabres, Islanders, Hurricanes, Stars and Ducks.

Perfect for the hockey fan.

Bionik Series 500 Putters

Hireko Golf has released a new line of sharp looking putters with bold red alignment features.  They all start at under $30. Better yet: they come with Hireko’s 60 day playability guarantee, so there’s no risk to try.