Gear: TaylorMade Spider Tour Series putters (2023)
Price: $349.99 each with KBS shaft and SuperStroke Pistol 1.0 grip
Specs: Steel body mallet putters with grooved Surlyn insert, internal polymer and steel weights. Lengths: 33″-35″
Available: Oct. 27, but available for pre-order NOW
Who It’s For: Golfers who want more stability and consistency on mis-hit putts.
The Skinny: Blending traditional Spider shapes with multimaterial constructions, the updated Spider Tour Series putters aim to help golfers achieve better distance control, a higher-quality roll and easier alignment.
The Deep Dive: In the world of golf equipment, the term ‘golden handcuffs’ refers to when players love a product so much that they don’t want brands to change it or update it. You never hear it used about drivers because everyone wants to hit the ball farther, but elite golfers often bristle when they hear companies are tweaking muscleback blades. You hear the term batted around in putter discussions, too. While TaylorMade has offered several versions of Spider putters over the last few years, Spider Tour putters have remained among the most popular. So, instead of fighting that popularity and trying to convince players to use something else, TaylorMade is leaning into the size and shape that has brought it so much success and spawned so many imitators.
The new Spider Tour family is comprised of five clubs that have similar shapes and that share several common technologies. For example, a gunmetal-finished aluminum wireframe body that helps to reduce weight in areas of the head that don’t impact performance, and designers have added a new Hybrar Echo Damper behind the leading edge in the sole. It’s an internal piece of polymer with an accordion shape, similar to the Hybrar Echo Damper found in the Stealth and Stealth HD irons. As it does in those clubs, the polymer soaks up excessive vibrations that are created at impact to improve sound and feel.
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Each of the new Spider Tour putters also has TaylorMade’s True Path alignment system on the top, comprising a white area with a single black line extending from the topline and forks in the back. The white is designed to grab your eyes’ attention and make it easier to focus on your putt’s intended path.
Finally, TaylorMade gave each Spider Tour putter its Pure Roll insert. The Surlym insert features a series of grooves that point down at a 45-degree angle designed to encourage a forward roll and topspin off the strike instead of skidding and bouncing.
The standard Spider Tour has a classic boxy shape, and with its small slant neck, the hosel has about 30 degrees of toe hang, so it should be ideally suited to golfers with a slightly arched putting stroke. The Spider Tour has weights in the back heel and toe area that pull the center of gravity back to the head’s perimeter. This weight distribution also increases the moment of inertia (MOI), which helps the Spider Tour resist twisting on off-center hits and keep putts on their intended line more effectively. According to TaylorMade, the new Spider Tour’s MOI of 5,700 g/cm2 is 700 g/cm2 higher than the original Spider Tour, so golfers should find it more stable and forgiving.
The Spider Tour X has a similar shape, but instead of having the back weights project out, they have been designed into the sole, under two small block pieces in the heel and toe. With the weights slightly more forward, the Spider Tour X has a slightly lower MOI (5,000 g/cm2).
One of the new shapes is the Spider Tour Z. Its chassis has been designed lower to the ground and the center area, where the True PaAth alignment system rests, is slightly higher. It has small blocks in the back, like the Spider Tour X, but its weights have been designed in the front heel and toe areas of the sole. This shifts the CG location forward, to make the Spider Tour Z’s face rotate like a blade-style putter. Its MOI is nearly identical to the Spider X’s MOI.
The Spider Tour V is like a Spider Tour Z with the back blocks in the heel and toe removed. Its weight is forward, to encourage face rotation during the stroke.
Finally, the Spider Tour S, which will be released in the Spring of 2024, is the largest and heaviest Spider Tour putter. It will be available as a 35- or 38-inch club and be counterbalanced.
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Here are several close-up images of the new Spider Tour Series putters: