PutterZone – Best Putter Reviews
As part of our continuing coverage of putters at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, we now turn our attention to Edel Golf, “the leader in putter fitting technology.”
We find David Edel on the practice green adjacent to The Lodge at Pebble Beach, sharing his putters with interested professionals. Rich Beem is one of several using an Edel putter on tour, he says.
Edel hails from Texas, and he exudes the friendly swagger that seems to come easy to Texans. He is known for his emphasis on alignment, and, according to his web site, he offers a system “of up to 273 million component combinations made up of various putter heads, hosels, offsets, lie angles to find the combination that corrects for the golfer’s natural aim.” Edel also authored a chapter on putter fitting in The Best Putting Instruction Book Ever published by Golf Magazine.
On this day, Edel seems particularly proud of his two DeVicenzo putters (mallet pictured above), named for legendary Argentinian golfer Roberto De Vicenzo, whom Edel calls his mentor and idol.
These putters are what Edel calls “torque balanced.” They are neither face balanced nor toe down. Instead, they are designed to remain square to the stroke path through impact. They aren’t the first putters to exhibit this type of balance, but they may be the first to exhibit it without bizarre hosel and head configurations. Indeed, while they are large mallets, they look quite traditional and pleasing to the eye from the address position.
For a showstopper, Edel then pulls out a pair of custom sticks that were truly dazzling (see photo below). Edel understandably doesn’t want to share the details about the process he uses to create these putters. It looks like a combination of a satin bead blast and a spot polish to create ultra-cool mirror designs that can wrap around the different facets of the head. One of the designs featured the peace symbol, while the other was a tiger striping. Edel said that clovers and other designs are in the works as well.
The accompanying photo doesn’t really do them justice, but it’s good enough for you to get the drift. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more about the latest from Edel Golf.
I currently use an Edel putter and it is better than advertised. This guy goes beyond all the rest in making the right putter for you. I admit that before being fitted and using the Edel putter, getting ready to putt was a fear based happening on 18 out of 18 greens per round.
Now I can’t wait. Confidence, you bet. But isn’t that what it is all about? When you know your putter is balanced and perfect, it just changes everything. Now I am known to putt less than almost all competitors and certainly less than those I normally play with. David, would you tell us how to find out more about your new mallet putter? My thanks to you. Bob