Equipment
Bettinardi launches new BB Series putters, unveils Inovai 3.0
“Classic Bettinardi, with a modern flair.”
That’s how Sam Bettinardi describes his company’s new BB Series, which will please golfers looking for something a little different from Bettinardi’s most wide-ranging putter line.
The putters use a Midnight Black PVD finish that flashes subtle rainbow accents. The finish is paired with lime green paintfill, as well as a lime green grip. Connecting those parts is a new Brushed Nickel shaft, which is stepless, glare-free, and of course has a lime green shaft band.
Putter enthusiasts will recognize the BB Series’ BB1, BB1F and BB8 putters, which have undergone small tweaks for 2016. Totally new, however, is the BB40, a low-profile mallet that offers big forgiveness.
The launch also includes a retro-styled putter — Bettinardi’s Studio Stock #6, an ode to the famed 8802 putter. It extends the Studio Stock family to three putters, including the Studio Stock 2 and Studio Stock 16 that were released in late 2014.
Last but not least is the company’s Inovai 3.0, the newest multi-material putter from Bettinardi. Continue reading for more details on the new Bettinardi putters, as well as Sam Bettinardi’s thoughts on each model that will be in stores Jan. 16, 2016.
BB1 ($299)
- Plumber’s Neck
- 1/2 Toe Hang
- 350 grams
- Midnight Black PVD Finish
- Hyper Honeycomb Face
What Sam says: “The BB1 has been in our line since 1999, and it’s a staple of our line. It’s for a player looking for a classic heel-toe style putter. It has more toe hang than last year’s model, because it has a little bit shorter neck.”
BB1F ($299)
- Flow Neck
- 3/4 toe hang
- 350 grams
- Midnight Black PVD Finish
- Hyper Honeycomb Face
What Sam says: “The BB1F is for those players who like an unadulterated view of the golf ball – they don’t want any distractions. The flow neck makes this putter a great option for them. It’s also really cool to be able to see the mill lines on the neck. That kind of precision … that’s what we’re all about.”
BB8 ($299)
- Plumber’s neck
- 1/2 toe hang
- 350 grams
- Midnight Black PVD Finish
- Hyper Honeycomb Face
What Sam says: “The biggest difference between the BB1 and the BB8 is the top line and the bumpers. If you’re looking down at the BB8, you’re going to see a really flat top line and bumpers that are really flat.”
BB40 ($299)
- Spud Neck, Single Bend
- Face Balanced
- 350 grams
- Midnight Black PVD Finish
- Hyper Honeycomb Face
What Sam says: “What I really like about this putter is the low profile of the pocket. It’s kind of like an old muscle car or a racing car. Being a mallet guy, I like how wide the flange is. Instead of a player’s mallet, I would call this a forgiving mallet.”
Studio Stock 6 ($399)
- Flow Neck
- Full toe hang
- 358 grams
- Olympic Bronze Finish
- Super Fly-Mill Face
What Sam says: The last time we made this putter was in 2011, and there’s always a demand for this style. The classic golfers, the guys who are looking for something vintage … we wanted to bring this back for them, and bring it back in a more modern way.
Inovai 3.0 ($299)
- Face Balanced
- Single Bend shaft
- 358 grams (also available in a counter-balanced model)
- 6061 Aluminum (anodized black), Stainless Steel (hand polished)
- FIT Face, Fly Mill
What Sam says: “This is a putter that we’ve literally been working on the last 8 months. It uses our Bi-Metal technology, and blends 6061 aluminum and 303 stainless steel. We mill the two pieces separately, and spent a lot of time making sure they fit together seamlessly. The stainless steel makes up two-thirds of the weight of the putter, which gives it very high outside perimeter weighting.
See what GolfWRX Members are saying about the new putters in our forum.
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Whats in the Bag
Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)
- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
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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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
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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Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
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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Pingback: Bettinardi launches new BB Series putters, unveils Inovai
DB
Dec 9, 2015 at 10:39 pm
These are all a swing and a miss. Black finish with rainbow accents? All I see is glare. Plus how is that new honeycomb face better than just flat? Or the popular FIT face?
And the Inova 3.0… cool ideas there, but they should have just made it a #7 clone like everyone wants.
Pumper
Dec 2, 2015 at 3:11 pm
How can the honeycomb surface be more consistent than a flat surface? must be a reason for it??
ISIS
Nov 20, 2015 at 10:58 pm
That Inovai is so ugly. Ugly.
Rwj
Nov 19, 2015 at 4:58 pm
So the smallest putter, with the least amount of milling required, fewest tools need to mill, shortest machine time is the most expensive
NC
Nov 19, 2015 at 4:01 pm
The bb8 has 1/2 toe hang not 3/4…. according to Bettinardi site.
Zak Kozuchowski
Nov 19, 2015 at 4:05 pm
That is correct.Thank you, NC!
golfraven
Nov 19, 2015 at 2:50 pm
Really like the finish and the face. May pic one up on Ebay. Currently looking away from my Scotty. Could see the BB1 in my bag
slider
Nov 19, 2015 at 2:49 pm
nice putters but I think its pretty tough to beat out scotty camerons in tis price range
Golfandpuff
Nov 19, 2015 at 8:26 am
I would like to see one with short flow neck and no sight line! Newport 2.5 style
Michael
Nov 19, 2015 at 8:13 am
I wonder which models will be available left handed. I’m not getting my hopes too high.
Lsf_21
Nov 19, 2015 at 10:26 am
I think all will be but the studio stock.