Tour Edge Exotics Wingman 700 Series Putters

[OldeDude]

Finally getting out again tomorrow with the Wingman 706.

 

[OldeDude]

Another round with the 706 yesterday, at a different course this time, where the greens have much more subtle breaks than my home course, and were in really good condition. I'm not a big fan of insert faces in putters, and I do have my issues with this one in that regard, but the Micro-Groove insert in this Wingman series definitely puts a nice roll on the ball. The ball leaves the face with little or no skidding, rolling smoothly right off the face and true to the line. I still have problems with the feedback though, the sound and feel just don't give me any real indication of how I've hit my putt, making it hard for me to adjust for speed and distance. On the positive side though, I like just about everything else about this putter. Weight and balance are just about perfect, I believe the center-shaft has something to do with that, and I'm really liking it. The Lock-on Alignment definitely works, for me it has been perfectly lined up every time I've looked down at it, which gives a nice confidence boost that the ball will be going where I'm aiming. I doubt I'll be changing the weights, as I said, the weight and balance are just right for me as is, but nice that the option of adjusting the weights is available.

So I had a bit of everything on the greens, made some nice putts, lipped out several that probably would have dropped had I gotten the speed right, left a few short, and misread a few that never had a chance. Maybe more time will get me used to what feedback I do get from the 706, and I'll start to get my speed and distance dialed in. I'll definitely be keeping it in the bag to try to get better with it, because it does check almost all the boxes for me.

Oh yeah, about the ability to scoop the ball with it, it can be done, it does require a more definite technique than I'm used to, and due to the short thick wings it will still be a fail on occasion, but it is doable. I got to where I just pick the ball up though, because it's not as simple to scoop it up as it is with my other putters, and I don't want to be chasing my ball around when my scoop fails.

 

[willplaysgolf]

First away round with the 701 in a little bit, excited to see how it adjusts to a different speed.

 

[willplaysgolf]

Played Warren GC in South Bend yesterday. First time playing it and I was expecting the greens to be pretty fast but they were actually pretty slow. Felt like I was able to adjust pretty well. On a day I was struggling to hit greens putting was statistically my strength. Typically on away rounds my putting is my weakness so I'm happy to see the success of the Wingman travel.

On shorter putts the Lock-On continues to be a game changer for me. Getting the ball started online is something I'm now rarely worried about. On longer putts I did hit a few out on the toe and the speed retention was there. I did hit one long putt that made a loud strange sound that my buddy commented on, but it's probably the biggest mishit I've hit, and it still died by the hole.

I am noticing with more reps the face is showing a little wear. Mainly on the groves where there isn't much material, and I'm assuming from hitting debris from off the green. Similar to Cobra's Sik faces, I think it's kind of an inherent tradeoff to having small delicate groves that enhance performance.

 

[OldeDude]

I'm still having problems with the face insert in the 706, which is getting a bit frustrating, because I really like everything else about it. On one hand it does provide a really nice roll, I have yet to notice any skidding off the face, it starts off with a nice true roll right away. On the other hand I'm still all over the place with speed/distance control. I missed two birdie putts yesterday, one dead on line but a foot short, the other lipped out because it had too much speed on it and ran through the break a bit. It's not like I make these putts all the time except with this putter, but I'm not getting the feedback I'm used to that would tell me right away that I didn't hit the putt well, either too soft or too hard.

Oh well, I'm on vacation for the next week, so I'll be giving it a fresh try again when I get back.

 

[willplaysgolf]

I'm still having problems with the face insert in the 706, which is getting a bit frustrating, because I really like everything else about it. On one hand it does provide a really nice roll, I have yet to notice any skidding off the face, it starts off with a nice true roll right away. On the other hand I'm still all over the place with speed/distance control. I missed two birdie putts yesterday, one dead on line but a foot short, the other lipped out because it had too much speed on it and ran through the break a bit. It's not like I make these putts all the time except with this putter, but I'm not getting the feedback I'm used to that would tell me right away that I didn't hit the putt well, either too soft or too hard.

Oh well, I'm on vacation for the next week, so I'll be giving it a fresh try again when I get back.

Any thoughts to it being a weight issue? I felt like the 701 was a little on the light side as stock and I could see the 706 being lighter due to size.

 

[OldeDude]

Any thoughts to it being a weight issue? I felt like the 701 was a little on the light side as stock and I could see the 706 being lighter due to size.

I don't think so. When I first received the 706 I took it to the pratice green with my three other putters and hit them all side-by-side. Weight/Swing-Weight on all of them felt very similar, and the weight/balance of the 706 is one of the many things I really like about it. I think it's just a me thing with inserts, they either feel too soft and kind of dead off the face, or too hard and clicky off the face.

 

[blugold]

Oh yeah, about the ability to scoop the ball with it, it can be done, it does require a more definite technique than I'm used to, and due to the short thick wings it will still be a fail on occasion, but it is doable. I got to where I just pick the ball up though, because it's not as simple to scoop it up as it is with my other putters, and I don't want to be chasing my ball around when my scoop fails.

the 701 was scoopable.

View attachment 9115586
Proof that a person can scoop the ball with the 701!

 

[willplaysgolf]

I ended up swapping over a Stability Tour shaft into the Wingman as I expect it's going to be the gamer for quite awhile.

Had kind of a roller coaster putting round today. Had 27 putts on the day, which was helped by 18 and 8 footers made from off the green. Had a stretch on the back nine where I had a brain dead 3 putt, followed by another ok ne (that was technically fringe-fringe-tap in ), followed by a 30 footer for birdie

 

[willplaysgolf]

Stability shaft hasn't felt as good for whatever reason, and stats seem to reflect it, so I put the CT Tour back in this afternoon. Feel is a lot better, which is interesting since I’ve been in graphite the last few years. i also reinstalled the stock grip on a whim instead of putting a SuperStroke back on.

I played in the bright afternoon sun yesterday and did notice some glare a couple times. Wasn’t unmanageable but would have preferred the finish to cut the glare a bit more than it did.

 

[willplaysgolf]

Played 9 this afternoon with the stock shaft and grip back installed. Everything isn't completely stock as I have 8g weights (stock are 3g) and I installed a 25g counterweight under the stock grip to match what was working for me when I had the SuperStroke.

Didn't make anything crazy but my speed was really good and I was back to positive SG after several negative rounds.

 

[OldeDude]

I'm still struggling with the Wingman 706. Played yesterday for the first time in almost two weeks, and putting was definitely not a highlight of the round. I have no problem hitting my line with the Wingman, it sets up really well for me, with the Lock-On Alignment confirming for me that I'm set up correctly. It is just a matter of not being able to get a good feel for speed/distance with it. I'm doing pretty well on long putts, but short and mid-length putts are all over the place, either coming up well short / missing low-side, or rolling long and through the break / missing high-side.

 

[JB]

I'm still struggling with the Wingman 706. Played yesterday for the first time in almost two weeks, and putting was definitely not a highlight of the round. I have no problem hitting my line with the Wingman, it sets up really well for me, with the Lock-On Alignment confirming for me that I'm set up correctly. It is just a matter of not being able to get a good feel for speed/distance with it. I'm doing pretty well on long putts, but short and mid-length putts are all over the place, either coming up well short / missing low-side, or rolling long and through the break / missing high-side.

Have you practiced with it to get the speed down? I have found it is pretty different than a lot of others, but once I got that down, I was having pretty good success.

 

[OldeDude]

Have you practiced with it to get the speed down? I have found it is pretty different than a lot of others, but once I got that down, I was having pretty good success.

Yes, my home course has an incredible practice green, so I use it quite a bit. I had the same problem with the last Odyssey insert putter I had, although the insert in that one was the complete opposite end of the spectrum from the Wingman's Micro-Goove insert. I'm committed to the Wingman though, and still hopeful that I can work through my current struggles with it, because I definitely like just about everything else about it.

 

[OldeDude]

Well yesterday's round started out looking like I might have a better day putting with the Wingman 706, an okay 2-putt on the 1st hole, just missing a tough 6-footer, but I at least had the speed right. No putts on the par-5 2nd, as I canned a 55 yard wedge for birdie, then dropped in an unlikely 30-footer on the 3rd for 3 putts in 3 holes! Then I came back earth with what I've been experiencing with the 706, and struggled with speed/distance the rest of the round.

 

[OldeDude]

Things might have finally started to click with the 706 yesterday! The first twelve holes were more of the same, several 3-putts, and missing badly on several 5 - 8 footers, all due to lack of speed/distance control. Then on the last six holes I started getting it right, with three 1-putts of 5 - 8 feet (two for birdies!), and the other three were decent lag putts leaving 3 - 5 footers that I made. None of those made putts were dead straight, get the speed wrong and they are very likely misses, so it was a very promising finish.

 

[OldeDude]

Another okay day with the Wingman 706 yesterday, and an okay day is pretty big step from how I was doing with it until the last couple of rounds. I played a different course, one that I usually only play a couple of times a year, and the greens were really fast. With the speed of the greens I didn't have many short first putts, approach shots and chips were all running out quite a bit, but I was able to get most of my first putts to a reasonable distance from the hole. I'm finally feeling like I know if I hit the putt well for distance/speed, which was the only thing I was struggling with with the 706. I still don't see this putter fitting my game as well as my milled-face putters, but at least I've gotten to a point that I don't think it's costing me several strokes a round like it was for a while.

By the way, when I posted my score for yesterday's round GHIN applied a PCC of +3, and the speed of the greens is the only thing I can think of that would have affected enough posted scores to make that kind of difference. It was a beautiful sunny day, no wind, dry, in the mid-80s, and the course was in great shape.

 

[willplaysgolf]

Played a normal 18 hole round Friday followed by 45 holes on Sat/Sun in a Ryder Cup style event. The Wingman was the most solid club in the bag on a weekend where my overall game was pretty inconsistent. Both rounds I kept stats I was positive SG. Since putting it in play I've gained about 0.5 strokes putting over my previous gamer. Digging deeper into the stats this has come from a 16% improvement in makes from 3-6 feet and a 2% reduction in 3 putts.

One negative I'm noticing is the wear on the face. From what I can tell the wear starts from debris on fringe putts and then wears a little more in that spot over time. Some wear is kind of inherent to having a TPU face with small raised grooves, but I think the white color exacerbates it a bit. I know adding colors to polymers can make it more difficult to have the intended physical properties, but I think a darker color would likely wear better when the grooves come in contact with debris.

 

[MH]

Played a normal 18 hole round Friday followed by 45 holes on Sat/Sun in a Ryder Cup style event. The Wingman was the most solid club in the bag on a weekend where my overall game was pretty inconsistent. Both rounds I kept stats I was positive SG. Since putting it in play I've gained about 0.5 strokes putting over my previous gamer. Digging deeper into the stats this has come from a 16% improvement in makes from 3-6 feet and a 2% reduction in 3 putts.

One negative I'm noticing is the wear on the face. From what I can tell the wear starts from debris on fringe putts and then wears a little more in that spot over time. Some wear is kind of inherent to having a TPU face with small raised grooves, but I think the white color exacerbates it a bit. I know adding colors to polymers can make it more difficult to have the intended physical properties, but I think a darker color would likely wear better when the grooves come in contact with debris.

View attachment 9208000

View attachment 9208001

At some point wouldn't that wear start to affect the performance?

 

[willplaysgolf]

At some point wouldn't that wear start to affect the performance?

If it stays as surface wear my intuition says no. There is still well defined groove edge and I think the compression of the ball will take care of the rest, similar to how I wouldn't worry about a reasonably scuffed ball affecting a putt.

 

[kiwichris]

Wingman is out again, 3 holes and & it's so easy to start on the line, distance control is great. Still unsure on the sound but overall, still happy.

So far it's been an 8 fitter to save par, 2 putt bogey save and I short sided myself to 3 putt for an ugly triple (lost ball off the tee).

 

[willplaysgolf]

Good day with the 701. Despite 2 long 3 puts, was very positive SG. Made a bunch of putts in the 10-20 ft range.

I'm really hoping Tour Edge continues to invest in making putters with the Lock On tech

 

[willplaysgolf]

Took the 701 out for 9 yesterday. Still the putter I feel most confident with on short putts with my alignment. Felt a lot easier in that regard compared to a new putter I got recently that I’m still getting used to.

I’m finding some putters I have are slightly better feeling to me, and have a little better forgiveness on long putts on certainty parts of the face. So I’m sorting through that trade off for what is going to be the gamer.