Putters are funny things. Sometimes you love them, sometimes not so much. As they say, golf is a game of confidence and no place is that more true than in putters.
When TaylorMade Golf unveiled its inaugural Ghost taylormade putters, some folks pegged it as a gimmick destined for a short shelf life. Out of the box the putter looks great. The white finish has almost no gloss at all and to the touch feels like perhaps its some type of powder coating. Now, two years and several tour victories later, the TaylorMade Ghost line has not only generated serious staying power, but also significant retail market share. The total Ghost package looks really sharp and well put together from the Winn pebble grip down to the perforated leather and sheepskin headcover. Golf clubs with white finishes are so common these days that it’s easy to forget that there was considerable hue and cry when TaylorMade unveiled its original Corza Ghost putter two years ago. I’ve read complaints about theManta tending to flop open because of the sole design. Since then, Justin Rose, Jason Day and Rory Sabbatini are among the professionals who have put the Ghost putter firmly on the tour map, and now several brands are producing white putters.
The Balero is an offering in the very successful Rossa Monza Spider line of putters from TaylorMade. Be clear, I have long been a fan of putter faces designed to “get the ball rolling sooner.” The ability to get the ball rolling, to me, is one of the true indicators of whether a putter is worthy of one’s bag. So score one there for TM. From its Rossa-themed grip with logo-like yellow, black and red colors adorned by a fierce-looking hawk, to the impeccable and clean optics on the taylormade putter fitting head, I knew I was in for a different experience. Back to the head optics TaylorMade engineers have created an innovative design combining the topline of a blade putter with the rear-weighting of a mallet. Even with the clean white graphics carried over from the original Spider series, the Balero is hard to describe in words, so I took it to the course. I’ve never been as comfortable so early with a putter as I was with the Balero, everything from the red AGSI face that is softer-feeling than previous models, to the incredibly easy-to-align ball-line-ball graphics.
But that aspect of the Balero couldn’t have mattered less to me as I was able to keep the ball right on line, rolling quickly and with tremendous distance control. The golf cup on a green measures 4.25 inches across and the ball 1.68 inches across. I believe this is the “secret sauce” that made the Balero so comfortable and so accurate for me. They all had that “a-ha” moment when they aligned behind the ball and subconsciously had the vision of the ball going in the hole because of the top-of-the-putter-head graphics. The sound is one of pure, solid contact. Nothing twangy, metallic, plastic-sounding or distracting. The taylormade putter Rossa Monza Spider Balero is one terrific flatstick. I would say the roll grooves have an impact on slightly longer putts and that the ball rolling more quickly in the first 4 or 5 feet after impact is noticeable. The white body with the black lines is fantastic and I’m not a fan at all of the other Ghost Tour putters. Read much more information from the golfdigest.com.
I’ve been putting with a belly putter since January of this year. I can’t say that it’s revolutionized my putting, but it’s definitely given me a boost of confidence especially on 3 and 4 footers.
brettmorrow12 