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Ping Nanotech Sydney Putter

SeeMore Golf
This afternoon I traded in a few things to pick up one of these putters for a lark. Looks like the lark may and well be a grey goose because the drunken honeymoon is on. Before spending time with this beauty I didn't really understand what JB meant by the red part helping your alignment and now I think it's pretty neat. The red frames the ball so that the whie alignment line is dead center with your ball and will travel on that line which like the dart, is neat and works well for me.

The other suprising aspect is the feel and sound of this putter. It offers a very nice ting sound on well struck putts. If you miss, you can defintately hear the different which, for me, is awesome. I tend to not watch my ball after the putt so how the putt sounds, tells me if I struck it properly. Sydney excels here.
The feel is also not what you would expect from looking at it. It's a very nice medium feel, not too soft, not to hard. Kinda like Goldilocks, if she were a putter and brunette. I also like this because it means one could use a hard ball or a super soft ball and still get a nice feel with good feedback from the same putter.

I will however be thinking Sydney (bristown) signing off from moon station alpha at the end of every round. Even still, this putter has made me, perhaps, more welcoming to our alien overlords as well as more use to their designs.
 
I think this Ping looks much better than the new Nike Method Core Drone Suzanne Pettersen is gaming

http://twitpic.com/6gyo2x
 
I rolled tried this putter again. It has a really nice feel, as long as you like a firm putter. But it is not as ugly in person as the pictures may feel.
 
JB said:
Spent about 45 minutes on the putting green with this one today and came away really impressed. Especially on those putts inside of 10 feet. Setup is good, weighting is incredible and the impact sound is what I like out of a putter. The red alignment really adds to the functionality of making sure you are online and if anybody has followed my putter thoughts over the last few years, I am a big believer in things that help with alignment.
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I have a question, JB. I have always had alignment problems with putters that have the curved shaft instead of some kind of straight shaft/hosel arrangement. No matter what, these curved shaft putters always look closed-face to me. I wonder if it is because I am left eye dominant. Do you have similar issues or not? If so, does this putter mollify or modify the issues?
 
This thing could double as a Transformer toy for your nephew in the winter. But hey, I would roll it if it provided the results. I am going to be on the lookout for this thing to give it a few rolls.
 
I had the chance to demo this putter at a GolfSmith over the weekend. I am a big fan of mallet putters (as attested by my current gamer), and found this one to be very pleasing to the eye. The graphics are not as distracting as they might seem from pics. I found the overall headweight to feel heavier than 350g, and it swung very smoothly. I agree with the comments on the sound as well. I used to own a Never Compromise aluminum putter, and while I liked the performance, I could not stang for the "ting" sound. This Ping putter is definitely deeper or more solid sounding than most aluminum putters. One thing I noted is that I felt the putts came off somewhat hot off of the face. I would need to really pay attention to this for distance control on longer putts.

Funny Story: When I was at Golfsmith, I was there with my twin 6 year old boys. I told them that if you happen to make 5 putts in a row with a new putter, then the rule is you have to buy it. After the 8th straight make from 8 - 12 feet (#7 was lucky as it caromed off of another ball...), I had to come up with some creative explaining why the rule did not apply in this instance!

Anyway, I think if you are a mallet putter fan then this putter should be on your radar.
 
This putter is very stable and feels very nice. Basically sets itself up at address. Does feel a bit light though.

I'm hoping PING releases it in a heavier belly putter version. I've asked, they replied... "You're not the first, not yet, but you never know"

Fingers crossed.
 
I'm not sure I'd go with light, perhaps more balanced? The putter as a whole feels much heavier then my cobra anser or TM Fontana but doesn't feel as head heavy as either of those as well. I'm curious if Ping backweighted these at all or I'm just imagining things.

What's also neat to me is just how much the sound/feel changes with different balls. With a Penta, there's a click to the strike and a solid feeling, with a Vision X3 there's a louder click with the ball feeling hard and light at the same time. However with a Z star the sound is quite low and it feels like I just hit a clump of mash potatoes.

I'm not sure my camera can pick up the sound differences but I'll see what I can do.
 
Super Tuna said:
I'm not sure I'd go with light, perhaps more balanced? The putter as a whole feels much heavier then my cobra anser or TM Fontana but doesn't feel as head heavy as either of those as well. I'm curious if Ping backweighted these at all or I'm just imagining things.

What's also neat to me is just how much the sound/feel changes with different balls. With a Penta, there's a click to the strike and a solid feeling, with a Vision X3 there's a louder click with the ball feeling hard and light at the same time. However with a Z star the sound is quite low and it feels like I just hit a clump of mash potatoes.

I'm not sure my camera can pick up the sound differences but I'll see what I can do.
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have you gotten any rounds in with it yet Tuna? really interested to see how this thing rolls after a few rounds under your belt.
 
I wanted to demo this and the new Anser line when I was at Golf Galaxy earlier this week and they didn't have any of them out! Damn putter Nazis!
 
Buckjob said:
have you gotten any rounds in with it yet Tuna? really interested to see how this thing rolls after a few rounds under your belt.
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Only one full round and one pitch and putt so far mate so we're still getting use to each other. Aside from the sound/feel of trying different balls with it my other initial experiences are

A: Don't just lay it flat to the ground and have a poke as that leaves the face slightly up. It likes to get right down to the ball to get it rolling so put put a touch of forward press on it. Not a lot, I doubt I move my hands more than 1/4" forward, but it's enough to see a fair bit of difference in the roll. Those weights on the ball want to lay flat on the ground, don't let them.

B: If you don't have a close to true SBST stroke, Syndey is going to break your heart and you won't like it. It can handle a tiny arc, but anything more then say 1.5 is going to have you hitting offline.

C: I've said it before, but I really like the red alignment aid. I still have my problems with the white line and getting it sorted properly if I have a long putt. Even so, the red aide is great at getting said white line smack in the middle of the ball so you know you're going to be rolling the ball on that line as long as you hit it square.
 
Appreciate the info Super Tuna, keep it coming.
 
Super Tuna said:
Only one full round and one pitch and putt so far mate so we're still getting use to each other. Aside from the sound/feel of trying different balls with it my other initial experiences are

A: Don't just lay it flat to the ground and have a poke as that leaves the face slightly up. It likes to get right down to the ball to get it rolling so put put a touch of forward press on it. Not a lot, I doubt I move my hands more than 1/4" forward, but it's enough to see a fair bit of difference in the roll. Those weights on the ball want to lay flat on the ground, don't let them.

B: If you don't have a close to true SBST stroke, Syndey is going to break your heart and you won't like it. It can handle a tiny arc, but anything more then say 1.5 is going to have you hitting offline.

C: I've said it before, but I really like the red alignment aid. I still have my problems with the white line and getting it sorted properly if I have a long putt. Even so, the red aide is great at getting said white line smack in the middle of the ball so you know you're going to be rolling the ball on that line as long as you hit it square.
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thanks Tuna. can't wait to hear more after you play with it some more. i have a SBST putting stroke and i always forward press on my putts so sounds like its a good fit.
 
Spent some quality time with Sydney today over 9 holes fully length and 36 holes of pitch and putt.

What was really neat was hearing my playing partners notice how much better I'm putting with Sydney. I didn't have a single three jack today which use to happen at least once over that many holes. Everything within 6 feet was automatic and I hit twice as many putts from 8 to 20 feet. Longer then that I was looking for a good lag putt and Syndey didn't disappoint there either getting all of them within range.

Something potential users should be aware of though is that putting from the fringe or fairway can be tricky depending on your lie. If you're flat or uphill (unless the uphill lie is very steep) there's no problem. If however you're down hill though the length of the putter can get in the way to make it through the lie.

Again, I have to reiterate you really need a true SBST stroke with a touch of forward pretty. Some of my buddies tried it out and they couldn't get anything going since they always arc their stroke. Everything was right of the target since they couldn't shut the face in time.
 
tuna couldn't you choke down a little if you have a downhill lie? im kinda confused on that part.
 
Buckjob said:
tuna couldn't you choke down a little if you have a downhill lie? im kinda confused on that part.
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What I mean by that is that the putter head is simply too large to fit in some places where you might get a blade putter in.
 
Nice feedback Tuna - thanks for posting.

I may have missed it - where are you playing the ball in your setup? Center? Near front foot?

I have a Bobby Grace high MOI facebalanced putter, and find I need to play it fairly far forward in my stance in order to assure I close the face. This sounds similar to what you are describing with the Sydney.
 
Middle of the stance for me ddelise. If I play the ball up, I end up topping it since I hit up on the ball a bit (an interesting revelation from my SAM lab). If I put it back, my distance control goes all wonky in turn.
 
That is one cool looking putter!
 
1st post updated with a video for the sound.
 
great video JB thanks for posting it. are you still playing with it?
 
Buckjob said:
great video JB thanks for posting it. are you still playing with it?
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Im still testing it out for review. Not sure where it will end up, but initial thoughts are pretty solid.
 
JB said:
Im still testing it out for review. Not sure where it will end up, but initial thoughts are pretty solid.
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awesome ill be looking forward to your review. i wish it wasn't so expensive or id buy it and try it out myself.
 
Buckjob said:
awesome ill be looking forward to your review. i wish it wasn't so expensive or id buy it and try it out myself.
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THP Demo Day of course.
 
Loved the sound of this, that deep tonal note is always just pleasing in a putter.
 
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