Odyssey Flip-face Mid Mallet Putter Review

Odyssey are no strangers to innovation. They successfully pioneered mass-market inserts in putter faces throughout the 1990s and revolutionised the industry with the launch of the 2-Ball in 2001. They also followed that up with innovations such as the Backstryke and the D.A.R.T, which divided opinion.

Now their latest development is the FlipFace – a putter that allows you to rotate the face and use a different insert depending on the condition of the greens. But is this a real game-changer or will it go the same way as the Backstryke – an innovation where the benefits were fairly obvious but never really caught on with the golfing public? 

We got our hands on the first FlipFace models in Britain to see if club golfers could tell the difference between the two faces. The choice lies between Odyssey’s new Metal X insert and the hugelypopular White Ice insert. Early indications are that there is a noticeable difference in feel and sound between the two. 

Odyssey insist the choice of insert will give golfers a real advantage depending on the conditions on a given day. They say the harder Metal X insert will be better on slower greens while the softer White Ice insert will be preferable on faster greens.

We believe that advanced-level players will notice the difference, but we remain to be convinced that regular club golfers will be consistent enough to benefit from the varied performance and feel.

However, where we see a real benefit is by matching your regular ball to an insert to get the desired feel, while also giving the option of changing inserts should you change your ball in different conditions. We were worried about how solid the putter would feel, given you effectively take the head apart and rotate the face – but any fears proved unfounded.

This is a genuine innovation rather than a gimmick and we look forward to seeing how Odyssey develop the idea in the future.

Contact: www.odysseygolf.com