Editor’s note: GGP+ is providing golf-industry coverage in conjunction with this week’s PGA Show in Orlando, Florida.
When golfers make a putting stroke, the putter face naturally twists open and closed. This is what is known as “torque.” However, torque can lead to inconsistencies. Zero-torque putters, the fastest-growing putter category, seek to limit torque by keeping the putter face square through the stroke.
Now, almost all the major putter manufacturers, including L.A.B. Golf, Odyssey, Scotty Cameron and TaylorMade, have their own zero-torque putters to capitalize on the hot category.
“The whole putter market has grown and within that it’s being driven by zero torque,” said Jacob Davidson, vice president of global tour, equipment product strategy and category management at Callaway Golf, which owns Odyssey. “At the off-course big-box retailers, roughly about 40 percent of their sales year to date have been in the zero-torque category.”
It’s important to note that zero torque is not actually zero torque, it is just very low torque. Also, it’s not exactly a new concept. Zero-torque putters are toe-up putters – the toe of the clubhead points toward the sky when the shaft is balanced on one finger – which have been around for 30 to 40 years, according to Davidson.
“Odyssey brought it to market under what’s called toe up and it was used on tour,” Davidson said. “Then we went away from it and L.A.B. kind of brought it back.”
“In my opinion, why [L.A.B. golf was] able to get so much success was using their revealer. It was a visual representation of what the putter actually does, which is an opposite torque of what traditional putters do.” – Jacob Davidson
When L.A.B. launched its original zero-torque putter in 2018, the company was able to show consumers what made its putter different with its revealer.
“In my opinion, why they were able to get so much success was using their revealer,” Davidson said. “It was a visual representation of what the putter actually does, which is an opposite torque of what traditional putters do. That revealer brought it to light in a meaningful way that consumers could understand there’s something different there.”
The revealer showed that toe-down putters will often flop open and closed, making it difficult for some players to square up the face at impact. However, zero-torque putters’ faces stayed mostly square through the stroke.
Soon, almost all of the major putter manufacturers joined the zero-torque space, fueling growth in the market.
But is that growth sustainable? Many would say no. Davidson said the average purchase cycle for a putter is about 6.2 years, and growth in the zero-torque category is being driven by people trying out a “new trend.”
Steve Pelisek is the president of Titleist Golf Clubs, which is under the Acushnet Holdings Corp. umbrella along with Scotty Cameron, a brand that has its own low-torque putters. Pelisek offers a similar opinion to Davidson’s.
“The market has overreacted,” Pelisek said. “We think low-torque putters should fit about 10 percent of golfers. And so for that reason I think it merits about 10 percent of the market after golfers have a chance to try them.”
Davidson believes it will get to a point where 20 percent of Odyssey putter sales are zero-torque putters. But there is reason to believe growth may be sustained for a while longer.
“You’re just starting to see innovation in this space,” he said.
A complaint about L.A.B. putters was that people couldn’t get used to the forward press that those putters are designed to promote. Odyssey got rid of the forward press, and other putter manufacturers are making their own adjustments such as moving hosels more heelward.
“So really, [the market] could get bigger because you’re bringing more innovation,” Davidson said.
The zero-torque category is growing in a way unlike any putter before, Davidson said.
“The thing that’s interesting about it is that it’s not being driven from tour success,” Davidson said. “You really look back over history, every putter that’s gotten hot has come from the tour and this one’s not.”
In an age where people are increasingly falling more in love with distance, new golfers don’t necessarily come into the game because of putting. They may not develop putter-face awareness, so these putters can offer more consistency without as much practice.
While J.J. Spaun won the U.S. Open with an L.A.B. putter and some other pros have found success with zero torque, Davidson said on any given week on tour you see maybe 10 percent of the field using zero-torque putters.
“I think zero torque makes bad putters better,” Davidson said. “I don’t think it makes good putters better.”
But that’s a reason zero-torque putters may be popular with the average consumer. In an age where people are increasingly falling more in love with distance, new golfers don’t necessarily come into the game because of putting. They may not develop putter-face awareness, so these putters can offer more consistency without as much practice.
“The average consumer that’s picking up the game may have never practiced putting,” Davidson said. “They may warm up putting but they don’t sit on a putting green for 30 minutes doing drills.”
At the tour level, blade-style putters have fallen out of style in favor of mallets. At the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November, 79 percent of Odyssey’s putters in play were mallets. It was the opposite 10 years ago in favor of blades, Davidson said.
Callaway and other brands are now putting mallet putters in junior sets. If zero-torque putters show success in competition, that could change.
“If [top-ranked junior] Miles Russell was using a zero-torque putter I guarantee you half the AJGA would be,” Davidson said.
While club manufacturers have developed game-improvement drivers, irons and wedges over time, putters have largely stayed the same. Scottie Scheffler and a 30-handicapper can use the same putter. Davidson said zero-torque putters may signal a change.
“I think you could have a future where you have almost better player-style putters and you have more game-improvement putters,” Davidson said.