FACE ASSISTANCE

Modern-day putter faces are seriously clever. Some impart more top spin and reduce skid, others can speed up off-centre hits and slow down centre impacts, so irrespective of impact location putts travel a similar distance.

And of course there are faces that claim to be the best sounding or feeling on the market. Matching your putter face to your personal preference is key to putting consistently well. These six should be on your radar...

1. Cobra / SIK Descending Loft Technology

Golfers don’t hit putts consistently from the same height on the face. SIK’S DLT (which is licensed to Cobra) is 4° at the top and 1° at the bottom (with sections in the middle at 3° and 2°), so golfers deliver the correct loft every time. The design means putts are skidding less and rolling sooner.

2. Odyssey White Hot

The White Hot is made from the same urethane cover material as

Callaway’s first golf ball, the Rule 35. White Hot is revered for its soft feel, yet where most soft inserts are slow, this material gives the performance of a firmer face.

3. Cleveland SOFT (Speed Optimised Face Technology)

To balance out speed across the face, grooves are grouped tightly in the centre and spread out towards the edges. The idea means more face is in contact with off-centre hits, which transmits enough energy for putts to travel as far as they do with on-centre hits.

4. Taylormade Pure Roll 2

An insert that combines urethane and aggressively angled aluminium bars (45°) to deliver great feel but also tech that forces a golf ball’s surface into turning end over end quicker.

5. Ping 2023

Putter faces are now so important, Ping have four different options in their newest putter family. Shallow steel or smooth, milled aluminium surfaces give a firmer touch (which there’s a growing trend towards), where the Pebax (polymer) insert gives consistent ball speed and soft feel.

6. Evnroll Sweetface

Variable width grooves (wider in the centre, narrower at the edges) maintain good distance control, with the feature also designed to progressively ‘gear’ putts back onto the target line.