Stroke Lab shaft – Syndication Server

Gear: Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K putters
Price: $399.99 (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s)
Specs: Stainless steel heads with tungsten weights and White Hot face insert.
Available: Feb. 4

Over the past five years, a growing number of professional and amateur golfers alike have switched into compact and mid-size mallets that feature some toe-hang, making them ideally suited for players who want the forgiveness of a mallet without sacrificing an arched putting stroke.

Some golfers, however, are not willing to change. The stability and forgiveness of a mallet are not enough to sway them from the classic looks of a heel-toe-weighted blade, so they stick with a blade putter.

Now, for golfers who insist on playing a classic-looking blade, Odyssey is offering the Tri-Hot 5K, putters that offer high moments of inertia for stability without sacrificing classic looks.

If the name Tri-Hot rings a bell, you are remembering a family of putters Odyssey featured in the early 2000s. Like those putters, the new Tri-Hot 5K putters utilize multiple materials to achieve performance attributes that would not be possible otherwise.

Odyssey Tri Hot putters have large tungsten inserts in the heel and toe that are covered by an aluminum back piece. (Odyssey)

With designers mandated to stay within specific shape parameters, Odyssey made the hitting area, hosel and topline of each new Tri-Hot 5K putter using stainless steel, then attached an exceptionally light aluminum back flange. Using aluminum allowed designers to reposition mass and add a pair of internal tungsten weights that combined for more than 120 grams. The Tri-Hot 5K putters also have a pair of 28-gram adjustable tungsten weights in the sole.

The result of using so much tungsten in a blade putter is mallet-like stability and moment of inertia in a club that looks like a classic blade.

The added benefit of the Tri-Hot 5K design is the extreme perimeter weighting is complimented by the forward center of gravity. Odyssey said one of the shortcomings of high-MOI mallets is after taking the club back, many golfers struggle to rotate the face and square it at impact. Instead, they leave the face pointed slightly to the right because the center of gravity is so far back. The Tri-Hot 5K’s center of gravity is significantly more forward, so rotating the face and squaring it is easier, Odyssey said.

The Tri-Hot 5K family is comprised of five putters.

The Tri-Hot 5K One is a classic-looking heel-toe-weighted blade with rounded bumpers and a single white alignment line. The Two is like the One but has more angular back bumpers, a thinner topline and a longer blade length. Both the One and Two have plumber’s neck hosels.

Odyssey Tri Hot 5K Three putter (Odyssey)

The Tri-Hot 5K Three has a curved back flange with extra mass in the heel and toe. It also has a short, curved-flow neck hosel.

The Tri-Hot 5K Double Wide has the same shaping as the Two, but the back flange extends farther out. The Triple Wide is even wider still and features a double-bend shaft to create a face-balanced option for golfers who have a straight-back-straight-through putting stroke.

Odyssey Tri Hot 5K Triple Wide putter (Odyssey)

All five Tri-Hot 5K putters come standard with Odyssey’s steel-and-graphite Stroke Lab shaft.

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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.

The Odyssey Eleven putter has an aluminum sole plate and stainless steel weights. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

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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