The name Orlimar is far from a new name in the world of golf equipment. However, some who are relatively new to the game might be hearing of Orlimar for the first time. The company has been around for a while and enjoyed some great success with the “Tri Metal” line of metal woods in the early 2000’s. I vividly remember when the original Tri Metal first came out. In my opinion, it was a club that changed the game for fairway woods in the future.
I haven’t heard a lot from Orlimar since probably 2005 or so, but lately we’re seeing a new push from the company. It seems that they are once again ready to get their names back near the top of the golf equipment mountain. THP was sent one of their new putters, the Orlimar Montego, for a full review.
From the company
- Precision-crafted milled mallet putter with a unique 360 degree alignment aid, resulting in improved form, accuracy and results.
- The golfer simply aligns the three dimensional array of circles to achieve proper stance and alignment. The circle closest to the face is a cutout with an inset alignment circle; the golfer centers the inset circle within the perimeter of the cutout circle to ensure proper stance over the putter; the circular design ensures 360 degree alignment. The two split white circles provide both linear and spherical visual cues for proper putter alignment with the ball.
- The Montego putter is a face-balanced, heel-shafted mallet, constructed of 304 stainless steel and has a head weight of 345 grams. The CNC milled-face putter provides a soft feel off the putter head and a very accurate roll.
First Impressions
My very first thought when I opened the package was that the look of the Montego was definitely unique. The finish of polished chrome with a duller satin finish does work very well. The milled face also has a great look about it. I was not crazy about the shape of the Montego. The classic blade putter is definitely a minority in this new era of some rather outrageous putter shapes. I’m not saying the Montego is outrageous by any stretch of the imagination, but it is certainly unique and it stands out when you look at it.
As I usually do, I immediately unboxed the putter, dropped some balls down on the carpet of the living room and rolled some putts with it. My first impressions of using the Montego were similar to that of the appearance. I liked how it setup behind the ball. It seems to setup perfectly and ready for action, but it was the sound that I wasn’t in love with this time. I’ll get into details a bit later on, but the loud and high pitched ting is not my favorite sound for a putter to make.
Testing the Montego
Playing golf with my buddies is how I prefer to complete just about every review that I do. There are a couple reasons for that. One is that my close group of golf buddies know my game very well and they can tell when a product works or doesn’t. Another reason is that I like to involve them in the reviews if at all possible. This is exactly what I did with the Montego. I replaced my current gamer with the new Orlimar putter and played some golf.
Testing the Montego was completed over multiple rounds of golf. The first thing that I took notice of was that it was very easy to align my body and my stance to my intended target. The oversize mallet head of the Montego sets up great behind the ball and it really makes it simple to get the ball rolling on your intended line. Unfortunately for me, this is about where the positive comments end. Again, the sound of the putter is, in my opinion, bad. It is rather loud, high pitched and tingy to my ear. Sound often directly correlates to feel for many people, but I will say that the feeling I got was a lot better than the sound. The CNC milled face is good and I was impressed with the feel, but I think the overall shape and design of the putter does not really seem to fit with the face. To me, this shape would work better with an insert or something behind the thin wall to soften the sound at impact.
Another important quality of a putter is distance control. I look for a putter that can get the ball rolling without having to take too big of a stroke. This is an area that I would expect an oversized mallet such as the Orlimar Montego to excel in. However, I continued to see putts come up very short. The effort needed to get the ball to travel the proper distance continually threw me off while using the Montego. This is definitely very subjective to the golfer so I will not say this is a negative on the Montego, I just personally prefer the ball to come off the putter face a little hotter than what I experienced here.
Overall
As I mentioned, I like the finish on the Montego. I think the polished chrome, milled face and satin finish really makes it stand out. I do not like the shape, but that can be said about many putters on the market. I’m more of a traditionalist with my tastes in putters. There definitely is a market for oversized mallet putters – we wouldn’t see nearly this many on the racks if there wasn’t. I liked that it was easy to line up putts with the Montego as well. Unfortunately, that did not lead to my making more putts with the Montego in the bag.
As I mentioned I tested the Montego over the course of multiple rounds with friends. My friends who used this putter had varying tastes in shapes, yet most agreed that this shape wasn’t something they could see themselves using. Orlimar is definitely trending in the right direction and I hope they continue to put out new offerings. In researching their line of clubs and putters I see quite a bit that appeals to me. Retail price on the Montego is $149.
Thanks for the info on this new putter Jake! Really thought I was going to read that you were hitting everything too far so this took me by surprise. Have to wonder if this would be a better offering with an insert like a good portion of the larger mallet have.
Good stuff Jake, I am like you in that the sound a putter makes is very important to my percieved feel of that putter. I would like to roll the Montego to see if the sound is as much of a turn off to me, maybe so maybe not. Sounds like it is a real beauty in person.
Thanks for the review Jake. I, like you, am a traditionalist with the shape and the design of putters so this doesn’t appeal to me as much. With that said, I like the fact that Orlimar is getting back in the game and putting out some new equipment. In addition, the equipment they are putting out appears to be much higher quality than when they were putting stuff out a few years ago.
The damage to the finish on the face isn’t something I’d expect from a $150 putter for sure. Hoping that Orlimar can take a little constructive criticism and use it to improve this putter line. Thanks for the solid review, Jake.
Solid review, Jake. When looking at a larger putter, in this case a mallet, one would expect to get the ball rolling a bit quicker and not have issues with leaving it short. When I first saw the pictures of this one, I thought it looked like it took a design from a handful of putters on the market and meshed them all together. Interesting design, but as always, if it puts the ball in the hole that’s all the matters.
Great job, Jake. It’s nice to hear the Orlimar name back in the swing of things. Sounds like this offering didn’t quite fit the bill for you, but I’m really excited by their direction on the alignment here. Thanks for the info!
Solid and honest thoughts about this putter Jake, thanks for the review! I was pretty disappointed with the quality control issues you found right out of the bag and definitely base a lot of my preference on sound/feel. Two things that seem to need a bit of help with this one.
Thanks for the review Jake.
That is certainly NOT the most attractive putter for my eye, and as a putter freak that firmly believes sound=feel the sound is a turn off as well.
Like like one of the Ping Offerings a few years ago- Ping JAS Square putter.
Good stuff Jake. You hit the review spot on IMO.
I don’t like the look of this putter at all. I would roll it if I saw it in the store, but it wouldn’t stand out to me as something I have to get my hands on!
I am not sure about the damage on the face that Hawk talked about. Did I miss something? I re-read it three times and don’t see it.
Ahh, I think I see it in the picture. I just thought it was how it was! Is that it?
Nice review Jake. Sounds like Orlimar have a few wrinkles to iron out, but they’re to be applauded for attempting to bring something a little bit different to the market. Hope to see more from them.
I’m not a big fan of the larger putters and prefer the more traditional size faces.
However it appears to be a well crafted design which may appeal to the larger putter user.
Thanks for the review
Great stuff , Its good to see Orilmar stepping it up into putters .
That is one big bad putter there Jake! Wow! Don’t think this putter would be for me but thanks for the review!