Odyssey O Works #2 Blade Putter

Odyssey is synonymous with putters. Ely Callaway became successful with textiles and vineyards and he was also an avid golfer. His favourite golf club brand was Hickory Sticks whom he later bought over fully in 1984 and renamed  it Callaway. Much later in 1996, he also hired Roger Cleveland, founder of Cleveland Golf to design Callaway wedges. By 1997, Callaway also bough over Odyssey Sports famous for their putters. In 2017 Odyssey launched the O Works putter range.

There are so many type of putters and exploring which one really works for you takes some time. There are the very expensive CNC-milled and there are those that are cast with inserts. Then there are the mallets, half mallets and blades. CNC milled putters are machined out of a solid piece of steel and the process creates an extremely precise outcome with pure tolerances. Not only that, what about the different necks and hosels? Are you a straight putter or do you putt in an arc? Of course the chunkier mallets are more forgiving due to its greater weight distribution far behind. Tiger Woods uses a plumber neck blade. Phil Mickelson uses a slant neck half mallet. There are those centre-shafted ones and there are the shaft with an 'S' bend (for less twisting). Just a degree of a wrong face angle on contact and you can miss it by a mile so it can be a big deal. 

I used to play with the Ping Craz-E full mallet with insert which was interesting. I have done a half mallet with the S bent shaft which was quite good. I still have the Odyssey White Ice half mallet slant neck similar to Mickelson but mostly with a plumber neck which is a full shaft offset found in my Odyssey Metal X, Cleveland  TFI 2135 and good old Scotty Cameron Newport 2 like Tiger. A full shaft offset simply means the offset is equal to the width of the shaft while the half shaft offset is one where the offset is half the width of the shaft.

This is how the plumber neck full ball offset looks like from the top.



The shaft is in front of the ball at set up (photo of model is the Cleveland TFI 2135).



This is my trusty Scotty of many years. The Newport 2...



Which is a similar plumber neck. This is precision milled from a block of 303 stainless steel. Purists would love it for its very soft feel. 



This is another old Odyssey White Ice #9 like what Mickelson is using.



You can see the slant neck here.



Odyssey O Works #2 Blade

Why Odyssey, why O works and why #2 Blade? I have been looking for the friendliest equipment that helps from drivers to putters and all others in between these clubs. Synthetic inserts on the face can be great as it allows engineers to save weight and place more weight at strategic locations such as the heel or toe or farther back so that the club becomes less resistant to twisting when using it. Callaway's White Hot insert was famous for one of the best faces in a putter for quite some time. After that I had this Metal X which was quite fabulous but this was actually a kind of metal mesh. 



The O Works comes in a new insert and colours in the entire range. Matt black is good as it will not cause reflection from the sun. 

Odyssey called it the "Microhinge" that consist of tiny stainless steel hinges on the face embedded onto the Thermal-plastic Elastomer layer of the insert. A good putter and a good putt must be a forward roll and never a backward roll or when a ball jumps up on impact. 

These tiny hinges actually pops up from the insert and are bent downward like a hook leaning forward. They are supposed to flax a little on impact of the ball and create some 70 rpm of top spin so that the ball rolls off quickly and will prevent it from jumping so it won;t go off the line. Although it is a a putter with an insert, it helps you feel like you are suing a steel face putter that some of you would prefer but with the full benefits of an insert putter and more precised forward roll. 

I have chosen the #2 mainly due to its neck - a flare tip neck which has less offset. An offset putter's club head sits farther back from the ball's position than the shaft so as to keep the player's hands in front of the club head during the putting stroke.  

I like this neck as I feel that it is more comfortable when I set up over the ball, I just need to place it down and my arms are comfortable and natural without any strain. I do not have to bend over and I do not have to adjust my arms. The black and white colour is good for me as it offers a clear sight contrast and the red line helps you to align your eyes to the ball during set up.

One of the most important criteria of a putter is in the alignment aid. Some club fitters suggest that those with a dominant left eye should use a straight shafted putter while those whose right eye is dominant should use an offset putter though some experts feel that offset putters tend to aim to the right. Right-handed players are more often right-eyed dominant and vice versa. Frankly many of us do not know our eye dominance. Knowing your eye dominance can make a difference between pulled or pushed putts. So with this I have less offset and should not veer to the right. 

All O Works by Odyssey putters come with premium Super Stroke grips which I like very much. The front as you can see here is flat and it has a high quality feel to it and is lovely to hold in your hands.

The back is tapered so it fits when your palms come together for a comfortable grip with no tension.

The sides bend around naturally. This unlike the earlier huge and chunky grip as it has a more natural size.

The cover is quite sleek with black, silver and red and a magnet to snap close after you inserted the putter. I hope it is durable because my last three Odyssey putters have covers that sucked. It peeled off after prolonged use and it dirtied my hands and I ended throwing them away. Odyssey putters do not come cheap and are usually dearer than some other except the very expensive milled putters like Scotty Cameron. I just wonder why can't they improve on it. Just use materials that do not peel.

In conclusion, this is a terrific putter! It is Tour-proven. It has one of the best inserts in a putter if not the best. I have tested it and it works wonderfully. My putting has improved and has become more consistent. 

The Microhinge is a class act. It provides a soft feel and yet is solid and offers great control and it does not have any weakness. It is so good I am now wondering if I could later get the Odyssey O Works Red Marxman  (below) which is a beautiful mallet and I want it in a flare tip to be a marksman.

It will be a bestseller! The reason is it is simply exceptional and has both class and beauty. Mai Tu Liao. Fear not the weapon but the hands that wield it.

Golf as in life, play as it lies.