"Heavy Putter" and 8 iron

[bkelly]

I tried a "Heavy Putter" (google it in quotes) at the PGA Equipment show in Orlando last month.  I really liked the feel of it.  Does anyone have experience with one?

Some reviews commented about it being difficult for long putts.  At about 15 to 20 feet I start putting with my 8 iron.  When I am all the way across the green at 20 years or so or up to 5 or 10 years off the green I am much more accurate with the 8 iron than the putter.  But when I carry an iron on the green I feel a bit uncomfortable, almost like maybe its illegal.  When I miss hit the swing is not fast enough or angled down enough to damage the green, but still, I wonder what others think.

[nikieignite460]

I had a heavy putter about 3 years ago.  Being known for the yips, i loved it.  A little tough on faster greens but to answer your question I think it does indeed help on the mid range to longer putts as well as the knee knockers.  If you're struggling with the flat stick, I definitely think it's worth picking a used one up on ebay to give it a shot.

[plateful]

I just made one.  I bought a long putter (head only) that weighed about 475 grams.  Most conventional 35" long putters - including the shaft and grip - weigh less than that.  I bought a long putter shaft (about 50") which is a much thicker wall, and heavier than conventional putters.  Cut that down to length.  Added a grip.  After all that it was a 650 gram putter.

It didn't feel heavy enough, so I added some tungsten powder down the shaft, butt weight, etc.  Some things to beef it up a little.  When it got to about 2.5 lbs I really liked it.  It did take an hour or two of practice on the putting green, putting back and forth across it on some 40-60 footers to get the hang of it.  From 20 feet or less it was an automatic two putt, and utterly yip-less from 10 feet and in.

I'm in the process of doing a similar experiment with a Mentor Putter, ordered from our Sponsor on this site.  Tungsten was too dense; I think I am just going to fill the entire shaft completely up with sand this time.

Good luck!

[bkelly]

Hmm, interesting replies.  I currently use a long putter of almost 52 inches that I found it in a local used club store for about $60.  The head says Maltby and on the bottom I find "Center shaft series" and CSS 702.  Its a very simple design and overall it does not strike me as being as heavy as the long "Heavy Putter" I saw at the show.  My primary reason for buyting this putter is because I don't like to spend much time bent over.  With the long one I can I stand up straight while putting.

What material should I use to add some weight to this putter?  Its appears to made of stainless so I guess I could just glue something on for testing.  But then it would be head heavy.  I don't know why that would be bad.  I supose I could tape weight on to the shaft and move it around a bit to discover what difference that makes.

On the other hand, when I tried a standard length heavy putter at the show, I started sinking putter significant better than with the long putter.  Maybe practice with a long putter transfers to a short putter.

[RickB]

I've tried both the original retail heavy putter and made one of the own. It's completely yip-proof on the short putts, but I hated it on anything over 15 feet. It's really hard to gauge the stroke and get consistent speed control on anything outside of that range. If you like the concept you might want to try getting a beater putter from a garage sale and working your way up in weight. Add head weight and back weight in varying increments until you find something you're comfortable with. Odds are you'll like something heavier than a standard putter, but MUCH lighter than a retail Heavy Putter.

As for the 8-iron, it's not illegal or cheating. You can technically use any club you want on the green. However if the Superintendent or a groundskeeper sees you do it they might throw a fit. But if your putting is so bad that you feel that you need to "putt" with an iron your best course of action would be to take some lessons. That's a sign of a pretty serious problem with your technique and you'll get better by correcting it rather than trying to play around it.

[bkelly]

But if your putting is so bad that you feel that you need to "putt" with an iron your best course of action would be to take some lessons.

I decided to try using a mid iron not because my putting was bad, but because I suspect that using the iron for the longer distances will generally be more accurate than using a putter.  When slightly off the green in the fringe, and even close on the fairway, using an iron gets the ball in the air for a bit and over the long grass.  Its much better than a putter from those positions.  So why draw a line when on the green at a distance.  The only difference is that one is going over some long grass and one is not.  In both cases, there are fewer divots, dings, spike marks, and other irregularities in the air to alter the ball's trajectory than there are on the ground.  That may be ten to twenty feet or more of green I don't have to read and account for.