Gear: Odyssey Triple Track putters
Price: $249.99 each
Specs: Seven models with microhinge face inserts and shafts that combine graphite and steel.
Available: Jan. 30
Last February, Phil Mickelson won for the fifth time at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am using a golf ball featuring two blue stripes that bracketed a thicker red line. The ball was a Callaway Chrome Soft X with Triple Track, a unique visual aid designed to help golfers align their putts more easily.
For 2020, Triple Track is also a part of Odyssey’s newest putter family.
Each of the seven Odyssey Triple Track putters has the same blue and red configuration on the top. The pattern shows misalignment easily, which can help golfers square the clubface to their intended line and start putts on target more accurately. Combined with the Triple Track alignment lines on the Chrome Soft X with Triple Track and the Callaway ERC Soft balls that were released last season, it creates an alignment system that blends from the putter’s crown directly into the ball.
The Odyssey Triple Track putters also have a pair of Odyssey’s newest technologies designed to improve consistency, the Stroke Lab shaft and the Microhinge Star insert.
The Stroke Lab shaft’s upper and mid sections are graphite, while the tip section is steel. Using graphite in the top and middle areas of the shaft made it stiff but also saved weight, so Odyssey designers made the heads heavier. They could also putt more weight at the top of the handle. Odyssey’s research showed this configuration helped golfers develop a more rhythmic, consistent putting stroke.
The Microhinge Star insert combines metal pieces with a firmer-feeling plastic piece. The sound is more like a click, which many players prefer. Odyssey said the Microhinge Star insert does a better job of matching sound with distances and energy applied to the ball.
The Triple Track putters will be available in several shapes, including the classic 2-Ball, the Marxman, the Doube-Wide Blade and high-MOI mallet Ten.