Gear: Odyssey Eleven putter
Price: $299.99 with Stroke Lab shaft (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s)
Specs: A high-MOI mallet putter with stainless steel, aluminum and thermoplastic polyurethane
Available: Feb. 4
The appeal of mallet putters with a high moment of inertia is they can cover up a multitude of stroke woes and help golfers roll the ball more consistently.
Almost any putter can deliver reliable performance when you make a high-quality stroke and strike the ball in the center of the face, but a high-MOI mallet resists twisting on off-center hits more effectively than blade-style putters, so when you hit the ball outside the ideal spot, they can better stay square and deliver more energy to the ball, so it rolls out more and behaves more like a well-struck putt.
Last season, Odyssey’s Ten putter was the company’s flagship high-MOI mallet. For 2022, the Eleven tries to turn things up another notch with a different weight-distribution system.
Typically, when putter makers want to increase stability and drive up the moment of inertia, they shift more of the head’s overall weight to the back-heel and back-toe areas. Therefore, many high-MOI mallets tend to have a boxy shape. With the Eleven, however, Odyssey designers used several materials to create the head and concentrate more weight forward, toward the hitting area. The soleplate is made from aluminum, and it covers a thermoplastic polyurethane center piece. A pair of 10-gram steel weights in the back of the head are covered by aluminum caps.
The 260 grams of stainless steel in the front of the head drive the center of gravity forward while maintaining a high moment of inertia. Odyssey’s internal testing showed the company that while the Eleven maintains high stability, its forward center of gravity helps reduce sidespin and curvature, so putts tend to roll more true, which leads to increased consistency and accuracy.
To enhance feel, Odyssey gave the Eleven the White Hot face insert. Having debuted over two decades ago, the White Hot urethane insert is unique because it is firm to the touch, but at impact it feels soft. It also creates a sound that many golfers believe is appropriate, meaning that on short putts it creates a soft, deep sound while on longer putts the insert delivers a higher-pitched clicking sound.
The Eleven comes standard with Odyssey’s Stroke Lab shaft, which has a steel tip section with graphite in the center and handle areas. Odyssey’s studies showed that by removing weight in the middle of the shaft and redistributing it to the head, golfers make more consistent putting strokes and improve their tempo.
The Eleven will be available in three versions, one with a single white alignment line running from the topline to the back of the head, another with a plain matte-black top and a third with Odyssey’s Triple Track blue and red alignment stripes.
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