Tag: TaylorMade Spider Tour

TaylorMade releases Scottie Scheffler’s Spider Tour X Proto

The TaylorMade Spider Tour Proto has a milled face and forward center of gravity location to make it play and feel like a blade.

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During the second half of the PGA Tour season, Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 ranked player, grew frustrated with his poor putting and, on several occasions, decided to use a prototype TaylorMade putter instead of his old heel-toe weighted blade. From outside the ropes, the putter looked very similar to Rory McIlroy’s Spider Tour X putter, but the club Scheffler used was very different, and now TaylorMade has decided to make that putter, the Spider Tour X Proto, available as a limited-edition model.

The Spider Tour X Proto has the same mid-size mallet shape as the standard Tour X, and it will be available as a 34-inch club with 3 degrees of loft and a 70-degree lie angle, which are fairly standard. The L-Neck hosel creates a balance point that results in just under 30 degrees of toe hang, so golfers who have a slightly-arced putting stroke should find it matches their style well. It even has the white True Path Alignment system on the top, like the other recently-released Spider Tour putters.

What sets the Spider Tour X Proto apart from the standard Spider Tour and Spider Tour X is its face and center of gravity (CG) location.

The new Spider Tour putters all have TaylorMade’s white TPU Pure Roll insert that features a series of grooves that point downward at a 45-degree angle to encourage the ball to roll instead of skid. The Spider Tour X Proto has a milled metal face that is attached to the body by four screws. Looking closely, you can see the milled marks on the face.

The milled face in the Spider Tour X Proto should create a firmer feel than the standard Spider Tour, and make it sound like a solid, one-piece putter instead of a multilateral mallet. With sound and feel being so interrelated in putting, the Spider Tour X Proto should perform more like a milled blade putter than any other previously offered Spider.

And then there is the weighting. The Spider Tour and Spider Tour X have weights in the back of the chassis that pull the CG location back and toward the perimeter of the head, which helps boost the moment of inertia (MOI) and increase forgiveness. The CG location in the Spider Tour X Proto has been shifted forward by 13 millimeters, which encourages the face to rotate more on the downswing and produce a blade-like swing. However, because of its size, the club still has more stability than a blade-style putter.

The Spider Tour X Proto will only be offered in a right-hand version for $500 on taylormadegolf.com. Below are several close-up images of the TaylorMade Spider Tour Proto putter.

New TaylorMade Spider Tour putters for 2023

TaylorMade’s new Spider Tour putters boost stability while making it easy to aim your putts and get the ball rolling more quickly.

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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TaylorMade Spider Tour (2023)
The Spider Tour’s True Path alignment system makes it easier to aim and start putts in your intended line (David Dusek/Golfweek)

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.

TaylorMade Spider Tour (2023)
The Spider Tour has a boxy, high-MOI design that has been popular and influential. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

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: