Quick Take: Odyssey DFX Putters

Andrew Penner

Posted 2003-04-11

Back in yesteryear, the procedure manufacturers employed to make a putter went like this: lop off a hunk of steel, bore a hole through it, insert a stick through the hole, meld a rubber grip on the end, and presto! A state-of-the art putter was born. Now, so it seems, each company offers about nineteen million different variations and styles in their “putter families.” And much brain power from guys wearing really thick glasses (that would be the R & D team) goes into trying to create the best designs that produce the purest rolls.

If you haven’t been sleeping under a rock, then you know that Odyssey is a company that is on the leading edge of putter innovation and style. Still in the midst of a glorious run with the 2-ball putter, Odyssey introduces a new “family” called the DFX line.

The deal with the DFX putters, which are “founded in the tradition and success of the Dual Force line,” has to do with the new Stronomic insert. The insert is larger, harder (some felt that the White Hot insert was too soft) and, quite obviously, a fair bit darker (it’s black as opposed to white). In fact, one of the main selling features with the DFX line is that the insert minimizes glare, “allowing for confidence in any situation.”

I’d like to say that I made everything I looked at with my first trial run with the 3300 model (my favorite model of the five – it features a short, no-offset, no-nonsense hosel), but, unfortunately I was putting on three cups of Starbuck’s Dark Roast at the time. However, even with the jitters (may have stumbled on a good testing method here), I really liked the crispier feel of impact and got a great roll. Not that the White Hot insert is mush, but personally, I like the feel of the DFX better. And, most importantly – and just as advertised – the insert didn’t cause brain meltage from that annoying retina-burning glare.

Andrew Penner is a 12-year member of the Canadian PGA. He has won five professional golf tournaments in Canada and narrowly, I mean narrowly, missed qualifying for the US Open last year. Well, OK, it was a few shots. Andrew writes for a number of golf magazines in Canada, the US, and Europe. His new book, titled "One Flew Over The Caddyshack," can be ordered at www.falconpress.ca. He can be reached at andpenner@shaw.ca.