You'll Understand Once You Play

You'll Understand Once You Play

Relative to other golf clubs, putters appear to be flat — to have no loft.
If you were only rolling the ball, the putter's loft should be zero.
If the loft is zero, the ball won't roll purely.
But, a putter needs loft so that ball will be carried on the tops of the blades of grass.

To emerge from the resistance of the blades of grass, the putter needs more loft to create a pure roll of the ball.
Thus, typically, putters have a loft of 2–4 degrees.

On a green that runs 11–13 on the Stimpmeter, a typical PGA Tour green, the impact is best with 3–4 degrees of loft.
A regular green is far softer and slower, so the ball will sink deeper into the grass.
This means that more loft is needed.

We have found that the ball reaches top speed at roughly 10–20% of the total distance.
However, if the loft is only 3–4 degrees, the ball will be disturbed by obstructions
(assuming a green between 8–10 on the Stimpmeter)
before it reaches top speed.

To allow the ball to attain its top speed without being disturbed by an obstruction,
we suggest that 7 degrees is the best loft for a green that runs between 8–10 on the Stimpmeter.