GEAR FEATURE: The Sub 30 challenge

The latest putter range from Never Compromise challenges its users to reduce the number of putts they take in a round until they break the magical barrier of 30 – recognised as a good day’s work over 18 holes.

Obviously all putters are designed to improve your work on the greens, but this clever and innovative challenge got us excited, so we challenged four of our readers to play 18 holes with the new putters.

Firstly, we asked the golfers – who represent a variety of handicaps and play at Cleckheaton in West Yorkshire – to pick the model that suited their eye best.

Then, we got them to note each putt on their scorecard. They were challenged to break 30 and those who did got to keep their jabber.

Here’s how they got on and what they thought.

I hope this is the start of a long and fruitful relationship – I’m definitely going to count my putts from now on.

Micky Johnston

Handicap: 4
Current putter: TaylorMade Rossa Corza
Sub 30 model: Type 20
Putts taken: 31
The verdict: “My current putter is face balanced so it took a while to get used to the toe-weighted Type 20.
However, once I did figure out how to time the shape I fell in love.
I really liked the insert and the clean lines. I thought the colour scheme was really cool and the feel was very responsive.
The sound was a little clicky but I quickly got used to it. On the last green I knew I needed to one-putt to break 30 but left myself a tricky 40-footer and never stood a chance.
I loved the concept of trying to break 30 – I’ve never thought about it before and it’s something I’ll bear in mind going forward.”

Gyles Smith

Handicap: 12
Current putter: Odyssey White Hot 2Ball
Sub 30 model: Type 10
Putts taken: 28
The verdict: “I have always gone for the same style of putter so it was great to try out other shapes in the extensive Sub 30 range.
This model really suited my eye as it was both classy and traditional.
I am not sure about the colour scheme – it makes them appear a lot cheaper than they perform if you ask me – but performance-wise I was highly impressed.
Putting has never been my strong point, but charting the number I take during a round really focused my mind and, I’m hoping, will help me get down to single figures.
I’m so happy my 28 putts mean I get to  take home my own Sub 30 putter.”

Kane Woodcock

Handicap: 21
Current putter: TaylorMade Rossa Spider Itsy Bitsy
Sub 30 model: Type 50
Putts taken: 29
The verdict: “The Type 50 shape resembled my current model more than any others and I found it performed superbly.
The alignment aid is very effective – you feel really confident over the ball and it seems to just swing itself. I also love how you can pick up the ball without bending down. What’s more, the insert sounds great to me. I missed a lot of greens today but my chipping was off a bit so I had a lot of 10-footers. The putter stood up to the test perfectly – especially from short range where it excelled – just 29 putts isn’t bad!
I hope this is the start of a long and fruitful relationship – I’m definitely going to count my putts from now on.”

Joseph Hall

Handicap: 28
Current putter: Ping Karsten Piper
Sub 30 model: Type 30
Putts taken: 38
The verdict: “I really appreciate being given the chance to test out these putters, but I must admit they are not to my taste at all.
Although the colour scheme really suited my eye, none of the shapes did and I thought the insert was way too firm and clicky.
I’m not a brilliant player but putting seems to be my strong point, so I was surprised to card so many three-stabs.
I just found it very hard to build confidence with this new putter.
This is just my opinion, though, seeing how they performed in the hands of Gyles and Kane showed me it’s almost certainly more the workman than the tool which was to blame!”