Question:
Golf Digest letter from the gallery, March 97: "… missed putts caused when hard-faced putter contacted edge of ball dimple. The biggest errors occurred using balls with the biggest dimples. Using a soft-faced blade, all putts of any length were accurate. " The thesis of the writer was that on short putts accuracy was affected by a hard-faced putter. Any thoughts? D.E.
Response:
Golf Digest letter from the gallery, March 97: "… missed putts caused when hard-faced putter contacted edge of ball dimple. The biggest errors occurred using balls with the biggest dimples. Using a soft-faced blade, all putts of any length were accurate. " The thesis of the writer was that on short putts accuracy was affected by a hard-faced putter. Any thoughts? D.E.
Hard face or soft face putters it is strictly preference.The secret is to strike the ball with the putter face square at impact contacting the sweet spot on the putter face consistently. If soft face putters were the sole answer to accurate putting all of professional golf would be using them. Good Putting Vince
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Golf Digest letter from the gallery, March 97: "… missed putts caused when hard-faced putter contacted edge of ball dimple. The biggest errors occurred using balls with the biggest dimples. Using a soft-faced blade, all putts of any length were accurate. " The thesis of the writer was that on short putts accuracy was affected by a hard-faced putter. Any thoughts? D.E. Hard face or soft face putters it is strictly preference.The secret is to strike the ball with the putter face square at impact contacting the sweet spot on the putter face consistently. If soft face putters were the sole answer to accurate putting all of professional golf would be using them. Good Putting Vince
With regard to rubber faced putters, I DON’T GET IT. I don.t think that you can hit the edge of a dimple and cause the ball to go off line. With all modern golf balls the dimples are concave depressions in the surface of the ball. When you hit it with the putter you are contacting only the upper edges of many dimples. The number will vary depending on the total dimples on the ball. The only way I can see the rubber face helping is if you cut the ball and have pieces extending off the surface of the ball. Also, by buying these putters you are creating a maintenance nightmare. You would always have to use a putter cover to protect it while in the golf bag. Because it has the rubber face I think it will break down after time and exposure to the elements. The manufacturers may have a technical name for it but essentially it is still rubber. The only way I can see to fix one of these when it breaks down or accidently gets torn is to cut up a car tire inertube and glue it to the face. Why give yourself all these headaches for arguably no gain in putter accuracy. Regards Trevor Critch
Response:
<edit out several peoples comments about striking dimple and rubber breakdown Why give yourself all these headaches for arguably no gain in putter accuracy.
I find they have an excellent ’soft’ feel to them. The feel gives me a sense of confidence over fast putts. Confidence is worth a lot on the links, and will equate to better scoring. While this may not be a direct path to better putter accuracy, confidence in your putter will reduce your number of putts. dave