Ohio Golf Journal April 2019

By Ed Travis Stroke Lab from Odyssey: All About Controlling Distance D istancecontrol, not aim, is thekey tobecoming a good if not great putter and consistent distance can only come from a repeatable stroke. Odyssey, Callaway Golf’s putter division has the solution with their Stroke Lab putter line. According to Sean Toulon, Callaway’s senior vice president and general manager of Odyssey, “These new putters epitomize what Stroke Lab is all about. Questioning the norm for the purpose of developing putters that perform substantially better to help golfers make more putts.” With the speed of putting surfaces constantly increasing, it’s not unusual for recreational players to face Stimpmeter readings of 11 during a weekend round. On the PGA Tour, 12 is the norm and green speeds approaching 14 are not uncommon. Putter makers aremaking putter heads heavier, with the thinking being that, when greens are fast the stroke doesn’t have to be as long. Part of this trend is the popularity of relatively lightweight larger grips, which means putter swing weights have gotten extremely high. The critical factor in the Stroke Lab design was to make the shaft from graphite with a steel tip section which allowed Odyssey to reduce shaft weight by 40 grams. To keep the overall weight constant, 10 of the 40 grams were moved to the head and the remaining Ohio Golf Journal Golf Equipment