PLAYING WITH … ODYSSEY EXO PUTTER RANGE

Cost: $449.99. Tested by: Jimmy Emanuel, Golf Australia Writer (GA Handicap 9.4)

We test two of the newest putters from Odyssey.

MODEL PLAYED : Indianapolis, with SuperStroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: After seeing multiple pictures of the Exo range before getting them in my hands, the putters looked noticeably better in person, with the all-black finish on top of the Indianapolis giving it a stealth-like look that made the white sightline really standout. HOW IT PERFORMED: As an unabashed fan of the original White Hot insert, I wasn’t particularly confident that Odyssey could recreate the same feel with the addition of its Microhinges to the face. But as soon as I hit my first putt with the Exo, the feel reminded me of my old White Hot Rossie that still occasionally makes its way out of the cupboard and never disappoints.

If anything, the Exo actually improved upon the old favourite in my opinion due to a slightly more solid feel at impact. And when hitting putts side-by-side with the old insert and the new, the Microhinges seemed to get the ball rolling faster off the putter face and unquestionably produced a more consistent roll across the face, improving my distance control on lag putts – a benefit which far outweighed the slight reduction in feedback on toe and heel strikes.

As you would expect of the largest mallet in the range, the Indianapolis is extremely stable and when combined with the standard SuperStroke grip feels almost automatic on short putts – a trait that made the Indianapolis grow on me more and more throughout my time with the putter as someone who occasionally has trouble knocking in the short ones.

Although its unique head shape certainly isn’t for everyone, the Indianapolis doesn’t feel nearly as bulky as some other high moment of inertia (MOI) putters I have tried in the past that can be awkward and clunky when making longer strokes and from off the green. And the Exo version seemed a better fit for me than the Toulon Design version of the same model I tested previously.

Based on the extremely stable performance of the Indianapolis head design alone, the Exo range ranked highly in my estimations but the re-creation of the feel of the White Hot insert with the addition of improved roll took the Exo to another level.