I am down to shaft length as a final setup parameter. I will still play around with some of the more exotic settings just for fun, but I am very happy with what I am playing now. In case you didn't read before, I gave my Newport 2 to my wife. I have been using that putter for more than 10 years and I am not one of those that gets a new putter often. Astral is my putter now.
What hosel setting did you land on? I’ve bounced between Red A3 and B2. Thinking it will stay B2 after using that the last 2 rounds. Brass insert won out and is gonna stay put. And like you, I’m keeping the Astral in the bag.
I think as far as settings go, I am done tinkering. I would like to shorten the shaft an inch at some point. As soon as I am done with my copper insert patina mod, I’ll post pictures.
How easy is it to change the hosel setting?
As long as it takes to unscrew and rescrew two tiny screws. After the first couple of tries getting used to it, maybe 1-2 minutes for a complete swap of a hosel? Easy and straightforward system.
I feel really comfortable with hosel settings I landed on. Played a round (Shout Out Geneva Convention) and putted really well with it.
Do you feel like down the road it would make sense for them to use torque based screws for the different components? That's one of the concerns I have is these screws coming loose during a round as I never know that they are "locked in". Personally, I think that would be a big improvement and give a lot of piece of mind, I just don't know how costly or realistic that would be to do.
Real easy. Two screws move the hosel to the desired position or flip it over. There are three (3) hosels with 10 positions on each end, so 60 positions. Screws go in easily and tighten well. The entire putter feels and acts like a single unit. It is crafted and manufactured very well.
Lot’s of good answers on this already. It’s pretty straightforward, like the others have mentioned. A minute or two at the most.
The screws and the threaded pieces are very well made and will hold up well. I have not had anything come loose or even close. Since the putter came with extra screws I was thinking of using fresh screws one I got to where I wanted to be, but that has not even been a concern. There is plenty of thread on the screws as well. The small screwdrivers are supplied and you could keep one in your bag in case of emergency. My bet is you will never use it.
Ooops I didn't look at your screen name...sorry for the overkill answer.
I think you're right. Let's think about a scenario where they start making some headway and sales grow and they need to reduce costs a bit and streamline their process. I'd be concerned that screws staying in would be the first problem since the entire concept is reliant on them.
Pretty cool to see. The fact that it’s this easy makes me want these even more.
I had similar concerns and actually had the screws loosen up considerably during a round. And I didn’t have the tool pouch in my bag. 100% my fault for not tightening enough and I can see this happening to others. I keep the tools in my bag now, but haven’t had any issues since. I give the shaft and head a little twist to check for play in the components before each round now.
I have a couple of things in my head.
I got 2 plastic tubes of screws. One with nothing on them and the other with lock tight on them. For tinkering the non lock tight screws get used. When I have a setup I want to stick with the lock tight screws get used.
Being able to really dial in the toe hang, shaft position relative to the heads CG and overall look is eye opening. Having the perfect setup putter to start the ball on your line is crazy. I hit a few putts with another putter the other day and I was surprised at how much I was having to manipulate the putter to get the ball started on line.
It
Great idea to recheck your fitting. I think it might even make sense for a lot of us to recheck fitting periodically even if nothing has apparently changed.
NGL I have never been a huge fan of gate drills but I’m going to make myself do them with some amount of regularity to see if my aim is changing at all.
Yep. I’m with you on this one.
Update ran to Golf Galaxy at lunch to get the weight. Apparently I had a $10 reward that was about to expire so I got the weight for $1.
The gate they gave us is actually quite nice because there's no fooling yourself. Either you hit it right on line and it goes through, or it doesn't.
