By Dave Wolfe
Most Wanted Blade Putter 2015
We know that there are numerous putters to choose from at your local shop, but how can you really know if any of them can truly help you putt better?
That’s where we come in.
We have assembled 29 blade putters from various manufacturers and put them to the #datacratic test to determine if any of them can actually help you to make more putts. We have putters from the large manufacturers, as well as some from small putter shops you may be hearing about for the first time today. All are on equal footing. All of them have the chance to be the 2015 Most Wanted Blade.
Though some of these putters are in fact beautiful, this is no beauty contest. This is all about performance.
The Most Wanted Blade Putter will be the one that makes the most putts.
How We Tested: Strokes Gained
What is Strokes Gained Putting?
The strokes gained system for scoring golf performance was developed by Columbia Business School professor Mark Broadie as a way to qualify putting precision on the PGA tour. In its simplest explanation, the strokes gained value represents a way to quantify an individual player’s putting performance at various distances versus that of the average of all of the players. Mark Broadie’s book Every Shot Counts changed the way that many view golf performance, and how to improve your scores.
-Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts, p. 33
All of the computations and averages are based upon performance at specific distances from the hole. We all know that putts become more difficult to make as we move away from the hole. PGA data supports this, with the make percentage dropping below 50% around the 7’-8’ putt.
Strokes gained represents just that, how many strokes per hole, and ultimately per round, is a golfer gaining or losing versus the field average. Once you have calculated the averages for the entire group, calculating strokes gained is simple arithmetic. Take this example from Broadie’s book:
Over the course of a round, a tournament, or even a season, adding together the strokes gained, and lost, from the various distances becomes a very powerful tool for identifying strong and weak distances for an individual player, and also the cohort of players as a whole.
How we are using strokes gained.
This year, we are embracing Professor Broadie’s strokes gained system as a way to assess putter performance. We have retained our basic process; however, instead of measuring radial accuracy, we are assessing strokes gained.
Our testers were asked to keep putting until the ball hit the bottom of the cup.
Ultimately, the number of strokes from tee to cup is how we score the game of golf. No player is satisfied with a lip-out because it means another stroke on the card. Close doesn’t cut it.
We don’t want a putter that always gets it close, we want on that always puts it in!
When all is said and done, we are able to see which putters promote poor, average, or excellent performance in the hands of our testers. A truly Most Wanted putter is one that allows our players to gain strokes on the field.
Testing Parameters
- Number of Testers: 10
- Testing Handicap Range: 2-20
- Testing Location: Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, Sacramento CA
- Ball Used: Bridgestone 330-RX
- Distances Assessed: Five, Ten, and Twenty Feet
- “Holes” at each Distance: 5
- Total “Holes” per putter per tester: 15
- Total “Holes” per putter: 150
Putters Tested
Here are the 29 putters evaluated during this season’s Most Wanted Blade test.
(Which putter do you think will take home the “Most Wanted” seal?)
Bellum Winmore 707i
Bellum Winmore 707i-CB
Bettinardi Studio Stock #2
Buzelli Golf STA-1
Byron Morgan 615
Carbon Ringo 1/4
Cleveland Classic 1i
Cleveland Smart Square Blade
Edel Golf E-3
Kronos Touch
Low Tide Flow
Machine M1A-Big Bore
Nike Method Matter B2-01
Odyssey Works #1
PING Cadence Anser 2 Standard
PING Cadence Anser 2 Heavy
PING Cadence Anser 2 CB
Piretti CW2
Piretti Ferrara
Rife Switchback
Scotty Cameron Select Newport 2
TaylorMade Tour Black Daytona
TaylorMade Tour Black Indy
Tour Edge DG 1.3
Tour Edge DG 2.3
Wilson Staff 8802 Milled
Wilson Staff Infinite Lake Shore
Wilson Staff Infinite Michigan Ave.
Wilson Staff Infinite Windy City
Which One Will Be the Most Wanted
This year’s cohort represents one of the broadest that we have ever tested. Do you have a favorite? Let’s hear your predictions below!
Will the winner have a tour-tested pedigree, or was the putter assembled and painted by the hands of one man. Remember, only the data decides the winner.
Come back tomorrow and we can see whose guess was right and, more importantly, which blade earns 2015’s Most Wanted honors.
Golden G
9 years ago
I purchased the Cleveland classic about a month ago and it’s improved my putts per round by nearly 5 strokes. Those knee knocking 6-8 footers for birdie are dropping more often.