There’s a reason that a putter is known as the “moneymaker” in a golfer’s bag. Whether it’s for that $5 skin amongst your friends or millions of dollars on Tour, you need a putter you can be confident in to get the ball in that hole.
Odyssey Golf has long been one of the most notable companies in golf when it comes to developing and coming out with these “moneymakers”. As such, I was excited to get my hands on their new Metal-X Milled Versa #1 putter. Putting has always been the one aspect of my game in which I have the most confidence, so I was excited to see how I’d perform with this new Metal-X Milled putter.
Specs:
- Availability: Right, Left
- Loft: 3 degrees
- Length: 33”, 34”, 35”
- Offset: Full shaft
- Lie Angle: 70 degrees
- Head weight: Adjustable (340g, 350g, 360g)
Looks:
The Metal-X Milled #1 putter is a classic blade style putter. One thing that immediately jumped out at me when I took off the putter cover was the milled oval depression design on the putter face. This is the Metal-X Roll technology that Odyssey created to give you a more controlled and true roll on all putts. Even before I got to test whether this technology works or not, my first thought was that it was definitely a cool look.
This was my first time lining up an Odyssey Versa putter and the contrasting alignment look really helped me with my putting. With the silver-black-silver finish providing a nice contrast to a white golf ball, it was very easy to feel confident with my alignment at address. Feeling confident over a putt is 95% of the battle for me, so that was a big deal for me.
Oh, and the shaft is black. Just. Awesome.
Feel:
Upon first feel, I immediately noticed that the Metal-X Milled putter was lighter than my regular Scotty Cameron putter. I was curious to see how the lighter weight would affect my stroke. Surprisingly, after a couple rounds and practice sessions on the putting green, I felt more in control of my stroke, from my backswing to follow through. Although the sample size was small, I had a better feel of what the putter head was doing on my putts.
I interchanged the weights to test the feel of all the weights. The 340g was a bit too light for me while the 360g felt more familiar compared to my regular putter. In the end, the standard 350g was the best feel for me but the option to customize the weight to every golfer’s preference was a nice touch.
Performance:
I took the Metal-X Milled Versa putter out to the putting greens and also used it during a couple rounds to get a true review on its performance.
Short putts
On shorter putts, alignment is the most important factor for me. As long as I have it lined up confidently, I know I’m going to be ramming the putt into the back of the cup. As mentioned earlier, the contrasting alignment Versa technology makes the alignment process super easy. I knew that my ball was going to go where I aimed it, making all the shorter putts that much easier. A great confidence building putter.
Long putts
Recently on the course, this is one area I’ve unfortunately been getting a lot of practice in. Nothing frustrates me more than when I see the ball popping up off the putter face and not getting that pure roll. This is where the milled oval depression design came in. With the Metal-X Milled Versa putter, it was nice to see that the ball rolled true and never got off the ground on the longer putts.
The distance control with this putter was the best performing aspect for me. My first time ever using this putter was during a review round. Even with no practice putts before the round, I was dropping in a couple bombs from 30-40 feet. You know, the ones where the ball rolls in perfectly on its last couple rotations. There’s no better feeling!
On the practice green, I hit a bunch of 30 footers, both uphill and downhill, with the goal being to get as many as possible within the length of my putter shaft – otherwise known as gimme territory amongst my friends. I was consistently able to get it pretty close to this coveted gimme territory, even holing a few along the way.
Overall:
The Odyssey Metal-X Milled Versa #1 putter is a putter that can build any player’s confidence on the greens. It’s easy to be confident when you have a putter that is going to roll true and on target. This is an easy recommendation to anyone who is looking to shave some more strokes off their handicap on the greens.