Equipment: Do you really need a custom fit putter?
By Tom Irwin
Custom fit putter – is it for you?
After spending a day with the custom fitting experts at Edel, I got thinking about the process most consumers go through when buying a new putter.
I asked the brand – responsible for Bryson DeChambeau’s original single length irons and JB Holmes’ current putter – to indulge in a bit of role play on how it might go down if all retailers followed David Edel’s philosophy…
Retailer: Why do want to buy that putter?
Consumer: I like the look of it and I saw a guy win on the PGA Tour with one like it last week.
Retailer: A putter is a motion system and an alignment system so what are you looking for to determine those two variables?
Consumer: Eh?
Retailer: Different head shapes, offsets and lines change how you aim. Shaft weight, counter weight and head weight change how you control speed. Everyone sees differently and we need to find out how they aim.
Consumer: The line on this one I’ve picked up will help me aim.
Retailer: How do you know?
Consumer: It just feels right.
Retailer: Lines move your focus to the putter differently. If we put a line to the top of the putter that will tend to bring your focus to the front of the putter which will also tend to make it look closed which will make you aim it more to the right. Bottom or back lines will bring your focus to the back of the putter which will make the putter look open and make you aim more to the left. Going through a fitting will help you determine what combination works best for you.
Consumer: A putter fitting? Mate, I play off 22.
Retailer: You’d be 16 if you holed some putts. Are you a radial or a linear putter?
Consumer: Now I’m really lost.
Retailer: Radial putters change length of stroke to control speed. These will prefer more head weight over shaft weight. Linear putters change acceleration for the length of putt they want and perform better with lighter head and heavier handle weight.
Consumer: I need a fitting.
Retailer: Welcome to the end of the thought process.
James Savage
Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
