If you cast an eye over putter shelves these days, they look like a set of extras from the next George Lucas film. Weight rings and other stabilizing designs push the traditional blade putter to the back shelves.
But there are notable exceptions.
The Xeon Centre Putter sold by Pinemeadow Golf puts its new technology in the front of the club, rather than round the back. It has a blade look, but with a set of concentric grooves on the face.
The theory is that these grooves grip the ball and impart more top spin, thus discouraging the putt from skidding its way across the green before it starts to roll nicely.
As such, it seems best suited to those with a good eye for a putt, since there’s no clever weighting mechanics to keep the putter stable through the swing and ball contact.
The grooves approach is not new in golf, as a look at any wedge or iron will prove. But it’s not appeared much in putters, achieving real prominence as an aid to smooth, accurate ball roll in the C-groove putters produced by Yes Golf.
Pinemeadow’s Xeon Centre Putter retailed for around $29.95 at the time of writing.
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