Zero Torque – Syndication Server

L.A.B. Golf OZ.1, OZ.1i putters

L.A.B. Golf teamed with Australia’s Adam Scott to create a mallet-style putter.

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Gear: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1, OZ.1i putters
Price: Starting at $599.99 each
Specs: 100% aluminum (OZ.1); aluminum body with stainless steel face insert (OZ.1i), with customizable lie angle, head weight, alignment markings, and grip options.
Available: December (OZ.1i), January (OZ.1)

Who it’s for: Golfers who want the benefits of zero torque and more consistency on the greens combined with a more traditional putter shape.

What you need to know: L.A.B. Golf teamed with Australia’s Adam Scott to create a mallet-style putter, the OZ.1, that retains the company’s Lie Angle Balance benefits while offering a more conventional shape. The OZ.1i has the same shape but features a milled face insert.

The deep dive: Zero-torque putters have become one of the hottest trends in golf equipment in 2024. While traditional blades and mallets encourage the opening and closing of the putter face during the stroke, zero-torque putters greatly reduce or eliminate face rotation. L.A.B. Golf, based in Creswell, Oregon, has been at the forefront of this trend. The company’s DF 2.1 and Mezz putters introduced golfers to Lie Angle Balance, followed by the DS3 earlier this year. Now, with input from Adam Scott, L.A.B. has released two new putters: the OZ.1 and OZ.1i.

Like L.A.B.’s previous putters, the OZ.1 and OZ.1i feature Lie Angle Balance. When the putter is in the address position, the weighting and balance are designed to keep the face square to the golfer’s stroke path. Whether your stroke is straight, arcing slightly, or features a strong arc, these putters aim to make it easier to return the face square to the ball and roll putts more consistently along your target line.

L.A.B OZ.1 putter — The OZ.1 and OZ.1i putters have on-set, so the shaft enters the putter behind the face. (L.A.B Golf)

Both the OZ.1 and OZ.1i are milled from aluminum and feature a more conventional, semi-circular mallet shape developed with input from Scott, the 2013 Masters champion and longtime L.A.B. Golf user.

Another distinctive feature of the OZ Series putters is the new zero-degree Shaft Lean option. Zero-torque putters typically require on-set shafts, where the shaft enters the head behind the hitting area rather than on the target side. This usually results in a forward press that some golfers find visually distracting. However, the shaft in the OZ Series putters is vertical, creating a cleaner look while maintaining on-set characteristics. This design is also compatible with standard grips.

For golfers who prefer a forward press, both models are available with a 2-degree Shaft Lean option and L.A.B.’s Press Grip.

Both putters use weights in the sole to achieve Lie Angle Balance, but there is a key difference between them. The OZ.1 has an aluminum face that is part of the putter’s chassis, offering a softer feel at impact. In contrast, the OZ.1i features a stainless steel face insert (“i” stands for insert), which creates a firmer feel and a higher-pitched sound at impact, a preference for many golfers.

Customization remains a hallmark of L.A.B. Golf, and the OZ Series putters are no exception. Through the company’s website, golfers can tailor nearly every aspect of the putter, from lie angle to grip type, ensuring a fit that matches their unique putting style.

Bettinardi Antidote Series putters

The boutique putter maker offers its first “zero torque” options.

Gear: Bettinardi Antidote Series putters
Price: $430 each
Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel head with 6061 aluminum
Available: Nov. 29

Who It’s For: Golfers who struggle to start putts on their intended target line and players who struggle to square the face at impact.

What You Should Know: The Antidote putters are Bettinardi’s first “zero torque” putters and are designed to keep the face square to your stroke’s path and help golfers get putts started on their intended target line more easily.

The Deep Dive: You would be hard-pressed to find a golf equipment maker more associated with traditional clubs and designs than Bettinardi, the boutique putter maker based in Tinley Park, Illinois. For decades, the milled blades and mallets the company released have looked like they should be sold in jewelry stores, but putters like the BB Series and the Queen B series were made to be used and enjoyed. With the release of the two new Antidote putters, the SB1 blade and the SB2 mallet, Bettinardi joins a growing number of putter makers that now offer zero-torque putters.

Bettinardi Antidote putters — The Bettinardi Antidote S1 putters have toe-up balance. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Bettinardi refers to the balance and weighting of the Antidote putters as Simply Balanced. It works by inserting the shaft directly into the putter at the center of gravity (CG). This results in two things. First, instead of the putter being either face balanced or having toe hang, the toe of the Antidote putters goes up when you balance the club. The second, and more important feature, is the face is not weighted or balanced in a way that encourages it to either open or close as you make your stroke.

If you don’t manipulate your hands or wrists, the face of the putter should stay square to the path of your putting stroke, regardless of whether it is straight, has a slight arc, or makes a significant arc. For golfers who struggle to start putts on their intended line or who have trouble squaring the face consistently at impact, this zero-torque design could be helpful.

Both Antidote putters are center-shafted, and the shaft goes into the heads behind the face, creating reverse offset, or onset, which for some golfers can appear odd when they look down in the address position. A benefit of the onset design is golfers can see the ball very clearly when they set up to make a putt because there is no part of the shaft or hosel to obstruct the view.

To shift weight and create the balance needed to produce a zero-torque design, Bettinardi used silver-toned 303 stainless steel in the front, heel and toe areas of the Antidote putters, but the blue portions of the heads are diamond-blasted finished 6061 aluminum. The aluminum weighs significantly less than the steel, so more weight could be shifted toward the face.

The grooves in the hitting area are designed to soften the feel of impact.

SB1 – This blade weighs 360 grams and comes standard with three degrees of loft and a 70-degree lie angle. Bettinardi designed it with a dark blue alignment line on the topline and another on the back flange to make aiming the face easier. A 400-gram counterbalanced version designed to help golfers quiet their hands and wrists during the stroke is also available.

SB2 – This square-shaped mallet weighs 360 grams and also comes standard with three degrees of loft and a 70-degree lie angle. It has a short blue alignment line on the topline and a pair of blue lines that extend back from the topline. The SB2 is also available in a 400-gram counterbalanced version.

Here are several close-up images of the Bettinardi Antidote putters:

Odyssey drops ‘zero torque’ Ai-ONE Square 2 Square putters

Classic Odyssey shapes combine with artificial intelligence and torque-reducing balance.

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Gear: Odyssey Ai-ONE Square 2 Square Putters
Price: $299.99 each
Specs: Center-shafted putters urethane insert, 3.3-degree forward press, and navy blue PVD finish.
Available: Now (pre-order), Nov. 29 (in stores)

Who it’s for: The Ai-ONE Square 2 Square putters should appeal to golfers who want to minimize face rotation and increase their consistency on the greens.

What You Need to Know: This line extension blends a White Hot face insert that was developed using artificial intelligence, with toe-up weighting and balance intended to help golfers reduce face rotation during the stroke.

The deep dive: Odyssey released the first Ai-One putters in late 2023, promoting them as tools that could enhance a golfer’s distance control thanks to a White Hot face insert engineered with the help of artificial intelligence. The lineup expanded last month to include several new Ai-One and Ai-One Milled putters, including 2-Balls, Jailbirds and other midsize mallets.

Now, Odyssey is introducing the Ai-ONE Square 2 Square line and bringing the AI-designed face insert to a putter category that’s gaining a lot of attention — zero torque putters.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Odyssey Ai-ONE Square 2 Square putters” link=”https://pga-tour-superstore.pxf.io/195zyx”]

The new Ai-ONE Square 2 Square line includes two mallets, the Jailbird and #7, as well as a heel-toe weighted blade with an extended back flange that is called the Double Wide. All three putters have a center-shafted design, but instead of bringing the shaft into the topline, it connects well behind the face and a few millimeters toward the toe from the center of gravity (CG) location. As a result of that hosel location, if you hold the putters freely across your hands, the toe goes up and the face naturally points forward, toward your target.

Each Ai-ONE Square 2 Square putter is also designed with a 3.3-degree forward press, so the shaft leans toward your target when you address the ball.

The combination of the toe-up balance and forward press takes away the putter head’s bias to rotate closed on the backswing and rotate open on the downswing. So, the Ai-ONE Square 2 Square putters remain square to a golfer’s stroke path, regardless of whether that path is relatively straight, slightly arched, or strongly arched.

Odyssey believes this combination of reduced torque (face rotation), the AI-designed White Hot insert, and the latest counterbalanced Stroke Lab shaft can help golfers produce a smoother stroke with a better tempo that naturally keeps the face square to the path, and that should help golfers hit better putts.

Odyssey is not claiming that this is the first or only zero-torque putter out there, but the Ai-One Square 2 Square putters conquer one of the challenges faced by club designers in this category: zero-torque putters often look very unconventional. The Ai-ONE Square 2 Square putters have classic head shapes that will be familiar to just about every golfer.

The Jailbird, originally released in 2014 and used by Wyndham Clark to win the 2023 U.S. Open, incorporates Odyssey’s signature Versa alignment stripes. The #7 is a fang-style mallet with dual white alignment lines that help frame the ball, making alignment more intuitive. The Double Wide completes the lineup as a modern, heel-toe weighted blade with a T-shaped white alignment aid.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Odyssey Ai-ONE Square 2 Square putters” link=”https://pga-tour-superstore.pxf.io/195zyx”]

Below are several images of the Odyssey Ai-One Square 2 Square putters.

Evnroll Zero putters

A unique hosel and balance creates Face Forward balance to reduce twisting as you make your stroke.

Gear: Evnroll Zero putters
Price: $449 each
Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel with tungsten and steel sole weights and grooved face (Z2s, Z5s); Milled 6061 aluminum with tungsten weights and grooved face (Z1)
Available: Nov. 7

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Who it’s for: The Zero putters are designed for golfers seeking maximum stability and consistency along with enhanced distance control.

What you should know: Evnroll’s Zero putters are designed to look familiar but greatly reduce face rotation and torque during your stroke. They also reduce the forward press some zero-torque putters create.

The deep dive: In order to be a great putter, or at least putt with consistency, you need to gauge the speed of putts correctly, judge how balls will curve and break, and develop a stroke that repeatedly brings the face of the putter back squarely to the ball so it starts on your intended target line.

Evnroll can’t help you read greens more effectively, but for several years its SweetFace design has helped golfers enhance their distance control. Now, with the release of its three new Zero putters, the Carlsbad, Calif.-based brand feels it has a technology that can help golfers return the face to the square position more often.

Evnroll Zero putters — The Z2s has a reversed plumber’s neck hosel that drops down into the head on the target side instead of going back. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The Zero Z1 mallet, Z2s blade and Z5s mallet are all designed with that Evnroll calls Face Forward Technology. Basically, the designers of the putters took a classic plumber’s neck hosel, which bends away from your target and then goes straight down into the putter head, creating offset, and reversed it. Now, the hosel presses forward before dropping down, so the shaft points directly at the putter’s center of mass. The result is the hitting area shifts forward, creating on-set instead of offset, and face naturally wants to point forward, toward your target.

According to Evnroll, this hosel mechanism, when combined with tungsten and steel weights in the heel and toe areas of the sole, encourages the face to stay square to your stroke path, so regardless of whether you create an arc or have a straight putting stroke, the Evnroll Zero putters will encourage a square clubface at impact. In theory, that should help golfers start more putts along their intended target line.

This design also reduces the level of forward press, which optically can be awkward for golfers who want a zero- or reduced-torque putter but have been using a conventional putter.

Each of the Zero putters has also been made with Evnroll’s SweetFace grooved hitting area. The grooves are deeper in the center and gradually get shallower toward the heel and toe. According to Evnroll, this helps to normalize the speed of the ball across the hitting area, so putts that golfers mis-hit toward the heel and toe roll out to nearly the same distance as putts struck in the center of the hitting area, resulting in enhanced distance control.

The three Zero putters have been designed with familiar, modern shapes.

Z1: This high-MOI mallet is designed using 6061 aluminum and
Z2s: A wide-body blade, this club is milled from 303 stainless steel.
Z5s: A classic midsize mallet, the Z5s is also milled from 303 stainless steel.

Here are several close-up images of the Evnroll Zero putters: