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Odyssey Havok and Jailbird putters

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Odyssey Versa and Jailbird-1

Happy New Year to fans of Odyssey putters, who only six days into 2014 are greeted with two new radical designs from the putter company, the Havok and Jailbird putters.

The Havok is what Odyssey calls an “ultra high MOI putter,” with a low, deep center of gravity that creates forward roll and more consistent ball speed on impact points across the face. The Jailbird is similar to Odyssey’s extremely popular No. 7 putter, with an added bar on the back of the mallet that gives the Versa putter what the company is calling “Double Versa Technology,” or four alternating black-and-white lines instead of the three lines used on other Versa putters.

The putters will make their Tour debut this week at the Sony Open. The Havok will retail for $159.99 ($199 with a SuperStroke 3.0 grip), while the Jailbird will sell for $169.99 ($199 with a SuperStroke 3.0 grip). The Jailbird is available in both the white/black/white/black and black/white/black/white color options. We’ll update this story with a release date for the putters as soon as it becomes available.

Both putters feature Odyssey’s new White Hot Pro insert that made its debut on the 2013 line of White Hot Pro and Versa putters.

Havok

Odyssey White Hot Pro Havok Putter Spotlighta12cb571ba6a8ba266cef9175f850faddc6cebdc69e25d846c15e61451c1c7642c4257da3965a7c1ecd30159115f4126-10af43cdca80eb634580b58a9cdbf84eb

Jailbird

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Click here to see what GolfWRX members are saying about the putters in our forums.

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14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. Tony

    Jan 7, 2014 at 6:52 am

    I like them, but I’ll take a guess and say neither of these will be made in LH?

  2. Random

    Jan 6, 2014 at 11:51 pm

    Everyone just wait for the Metal X Milled to come out. That is a proper putter.

  3. Sam

    Jan 6, 2014 at 4:08 pm

    Hideous!! But also a little bit beutiful at the same time.. No2 wide Milled black series for me pure feel pure roll…

  4. snowman

    Jan 6, 2014 at 12:29 pm

    Still cannot for the life of me understand why Callaway does not have a Tank/Versa offering. Seems like a no-brainer to marry 2 of their new ‘innovations’.

  5. Chris

    Jan 6, 2014 at 11:26 am

    Interesting to see companies push the boundaries with technology. These two are certainly new designs and will never make my bag but to each their own. I am certain that these putters will work for some and will have others who hate them as that is the way equipment goes these days. I don’t really care about the names either, but I am glad they brought back the White Hot insert.

    • Joel

      Jan 6, 2014 at 2:47 pm

      No doubt they are both “new designs” that have benefits over the old designs but all I see is a #7 and a sabertooth with crossbars added and a very slight altering of shape. That being said I still game a sabertooth from time to time so I’m sure they will do great.

  6. NS

    Jan 6, 2014 at 10:28 am

    Gimme a break. Jailbird? Who comes up with this crap for Callaway and why does Callaway allow it? It really is such poor manners and no respect for the game. It’s not even funny. So completely classless and ungentlemanly to use such terms in relation to golf. Puts out a really bad vibe. They really ought to be ashamed of themselves.

    • Mike

      Jan 6, 2014 at 10:43 am

      wow, i didn’t mind the names. this type of putter hasn’t worked well for me in the past because i have a mental block when i’m using something other than a blade style putter but i had no issue with the name jailbird. i don’t think it has any impact on the image of callaway and certainly not on the game of golf. i think you over-estimate the influence of the name of an individual putter model from an individual manufacturer. of course maybe i’m underestimating it and once all the hooligans and nogoodniks see this as a putter option, they’ll completely take over the game and courses will be covered in gang related graffiti. i guess we’ll see who’s right this season. enjoy the new equipment. 2 jailbirds please!

      • Alex

        Jan 6, 2014 at 2:56 pm

        Same here, mate, I have the same kind of block when playing one of those ugly putters.

        Now these putters are average ugly, nothing beats how ugly the Spiderghost by TM is.

    • N

      Jan 6, 2014 at 10:58 am

      Wow, calm down…I agree it’s sort of a silly name, but “completely classless and ungentlemanly” to use the term jailbird in relation to golf? If Fowler rolled up in his bright orange head to toe and was rocking one of these, I think you’d have an aneurysm. It’s surely no worse than Rocketballz(ier)…

    • BS

      Jan 6, 2014 at 6:02 pm

      you are a troll. shame on you mr. bad vibes.

    • Rob

      Feb 12, 2016 at 12:56 pm

      WHAT A LAMO YOU ARE

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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