My Nike Method Mod 90 landed yesterday...
Looks:
Let's get straight to it... this is the best looking putter I've ever owned. This is, perhaps, the best looking putter I've ever seen. This could even be the best looking putter there has ever been.
Nike’s description of being a MODern interpretation of a classic seems pretty much bang on to me. I used a Bullseye putter when I was younger (not the Scotty version, I hasten to add) and the MOD 90 retains that classic blade profile whilst, at the same time, looking as though it’s been brought back to 2013 from the distant future.
The milling is crisp and uniform and the futuristic shape and design of the method grooves, which I acknowledge we’ve seen before in previous model lines, provide a visual interest when compared with traditional milled faces.
Nike likes to throw a bit of colour at its clubs and red is the colour of choice, albeit done with a little thought; that colour is not visible at address so no unnecessary distractions, but rather confined to the toe and heel edges to add a little visual something from ‘non-address’ angles. I like it.
The high toe design and aggressive curvature of the blade are certainly different. It’s immediately noticeable and I would imagine form over function to further differentiate the looks of this putter; again, I like it from a pure aesthetics perspective. Also, the blade is longer toe to heel than it looks in the marketing material; you soon get used to it, but it comes as a surprise at first.
The other noticeable design aspect of the Mod 90 is the rear flange; this leaves me in a quandary. Firstly, I think it looks great. Secondly, I have no doubt it positively influences weighting and performance. The quandary comes purely from the question in my mind as to whether the Mod 90 could have achieved the pinnacle of awesomeness by being a double faced putter, with both RH and LH configurations in the same head and Method grooves on both faces. A saw a Notah Begay prototype on the interweb a few weeks ago which did this; in all honesty, it didn’t look any better than the retail Mod 90, but there’s something about being able to putt left handed when you fancy it.
Feel (weight):
Mine is the 34” version of the Mod 90, which apparently has a head weight of 345g and I measured the total weight of my example at 515g.
My ‘go to’ putter for the past 15 years has been my trusty Bobby Grace ‘The Lo-Pro’, which is an anser style heel toe weighted design. The total weight of that putter is approximately 524g, yet the head is quite a bit larger (front to back at least), so Nike have done a decent job obtaining a respectable weight in a very narrow blade design. The Mod 90 also feels like it has a marginally heavier swingweight than my Bobby Grace, but I am yet to measure it.
I do think Nike missed a trick with the weights in the Mod line. The Mod 90 has weights in the back of the head, whereas the other three Mod putters have weights in the sole. However, these weights are not removable. Why? It’s such an easy (and visually pleasing) way to change weight and swingweight to dial in to players’ preferences but Nike decided against it for some reason. I genuinely believe this type of omission prevents Nike being seen and considered by the golfing public as an authentic high end brand when it comes to putters.
Feel (sound):
Always a tricky one to put into words.
The Mod 90 isn’t as soft as a traditional insert putter, but is softer than a traditional milled steel putter. Apologies to sit firmly on the fence, but I would say the Mod 90 is somewhere in the middle. It’s not at all clicky with the balls I’ve used (Pro V1, Hex Black, TM TP.Red.LDP), yet provides nice feedback without being mushy.
I don’t like clicky. I don’t like mushy. I do like the feel of the Mod 90.
Performance:
I can offer only limited views on performance as I’ve used the Mod 90 solely for carpet putting thus far.
I have experience of the Method Core grooves from a previous putter, which I immediately warmed to as I felt they helped to achieve a really true roll. That feeling remains with the Method Mod albeit that could well be in my mind as ball reaction on carpet will not necessarily transition into the real world. I have a sneaky suspicion it will though.
I’ve taken something of a gamble with this putter; it has zero offset and I’ve had mixed levels of success with zero offset putters over the years. Any initial concerns have been minimised though as the putter appears very easy to aim; the simple slim blade, the small sight line, the lack of offset, etc. all make for an uncomplicated package.
With my Bobby Grace (and the various other putters I’ve bagged over the years), I’ve always focussed solely on the narrow ‘blade’ of the putter, ignoring anything behind that whether it be an anser style or even mid-mallet. The Mod 90 offers a nice change as the putter is only that narrow blade. I’ve pretty much only ever played face balanced putters, yet I have a strong arc in my stroke; the 90* toe hang theoretically should fit me well on that basis.
With the sightline aimed the blade looks square to my eye; this is a good thing as many putter faces look closed to me when the sightline is aimed. Unfortunately, I’ve never worked out why that is.
I have hit a few balls out of the toe / heel in an attempt to replicate a poor putt. The MOI of this blade is clearly less than that of a mallet, for example, and missing the sweet spot will be punished. However, that punishment is not as severe as one would expect of what is a fairly unforgiving putter design… and, this will make me focus that bit more on my putting so I shouldn’t be missing the sweet spot anyway.
Headcover:
The headcover is exceptionally well made.
Chunky and substantial. Tick. Fits the clubhead nicely. Tick. Easy to fit and remove. Tick. Feels solid and unlikely to fall off. Tick.
The colour scheme of the headcover matches the colour scheme of my bag and existing headcovers. Tick.
The only disappointment is that it uses Velcro closing rather than magnets. Shame.
Grip:
I really like it.
It is very soft and tactile, somewhat similar to a Whisper grip I used on a putter many years ago. I would describe it as just on the small side of ‘midsize’ and, as you’d expect, the black with red and white detailing fits the overall look and colour scheme of the package.
Overall:
A great looking putter with innovative design which I can’t wait to get to the course. Disappointingly, that could be a couple of weeks yet…
Looks:
Let's get straight to it... this is the best looking putter I've ever owned. This is, perhaps, the best looking putter I've ever seen. This could even be the best looking putter there has ever been.
Nike’s description of being a MODern interpretation of a classic seems pretty much bang on to me. I used a Bullseye putter when I was younger (not the Scotty version, I hasten to add) and the MOD 90 retains that classic blade profile whilst, at the same time, looking as though it’s been brought back to 2013 from the distant future.
The milling is crisp and uniform and the futuristic shape and design of the method grooves, which I acknowledge we’ve seen before in previous model lines, provide a visual interest when compared with traditional milled faces.
Nike likes to throw a bit of colour at its clubs and red is the colour of choice, albeit done with a little thought; that colour is not visible at address so no unnecessary distractions, but rather confined to the toe and heel edges to add a little visual something from ‘non-address’ angles. I like it.
The high toe design and aggressive curvature of the blade are certainly different. It’s immediately noticeable and I would imagine form over function to further differentiate the looks of this putter; again, I like it from a pure aesthetics perspective. Also, the blade is longer toe to heel than it looks in the marketing material; you soon get used to it, but it comes as a surprise at first.
The other noticeable design aspect of the Mod 90 is the rear flange; this leaves me in a quandary. Firstly, I think it looks great. Secondly, I have no doubt it positively influences weighting and performance. The quandary comes purely from the question in my mind as to whether the Mod 90 could have achieved the pinnacle of awesomeness by being a double faced putter, with both RH and LH configurations in the same head and Method grooves on both faces. A saw a Notah Begay prototype on the interweb a few weeks ago which did this; in all honesty, it didn’t look any better than the retail Mod 90, but there’s something about being able to putt left handed when you fancy it.
Feel (weight):
Mine is the 34” version of the Mod 90, which apparently has a head weight of 345g and I measured the total weight of my example at 515g.
My ‘go to’ putter for the past 15 years has been my trusty Bobby Grace ‘The Lo-Pro’, which is an anser style heel toe weighted design. The total weight of that putter is approximately 524g, yet the head is quite a bit larger (front to back at least), so Nike have done a decent job obtaining a respectable weight in a very narrow blade design. The Mod 90 also feels like it has a marginally heavier swingweight than my Bobby Grace, but I am yet to measure it.
I do think Nike missed a trick with the weights in the Mod line. The Mod 90 has weights in the back of the head, whereas the other three Mod putters have weights in the sole. However, these weights are not removable. Why? It’s such an easy (and visually pleasing) way to change weight and swingweight to dial in to players’ preferences but Nike decided against it for some reason. I genuinely believe this type of omission prevents Nike being seen and considered by the golfing public as an authentic high end brand when it comes to putters.
Feel (sound):
Always a tricky one to put into words.
The Mod 90 isn’t as soft as a traditional insert putter, but is softer than a traditional milled steel putter. Apologies to sit firmly on the fence, but I would say the Mod 90 is somewhere in the middle. It’s not at all clicky with the balls I’ve used (Pro V1, Hex Black, TM TP.Red.LDP), yet provides nice feedback without being mushy.
I don’t like clicky. I don’t like mushy. I do like the feel of the Mod 90.
Performance:
I can offer only limited views on performance as I’ve used the Mod 90 solely for carpet putting thus far.
I have experience of the Method Core grooves from a previous putter, which I immediately warmed to as I felt they helped to achieve a really true roll. That feeling remains with the Method Mod albeit that could well be in my mind as ball reaction on carpet will not necessarily transition into the real world. I have a sneaky suspicion it will though.
I’ve taken something of a gamble with this putter; it has zero offset and I’ve had mixed levels of success with zero offset putters over the years. Any initial concerns have been minimised though as the putter appears very easy to aim; the simple slim blade, the small sight line, the lack of offset, etc. all make for an uncomplicated package.
With my Bobby Grace (and the various other putters I’ve bagged over the years), I’ve always focussed solely on the narrow ‘blade’ of the putter, ignoring anything behind that whether it be an anser style or even mid-mallet. The Mod 90 offers a nice change as the putter is only that narrow blade. I’ve pretty much only ever played face balanced putters, yet I have a strong arc in my stroke; the 90* toe hang theoretically should fit me well on that basis.
With the sightline aimed the blade looks square to my eye; this is a good thing as many putter faces look closed to me when the sightline is aimed. Unfortunately, I’ve never worked out why that is.
I have hit a few balls out of the toe / heel in an attempt to replicate a poor putt. The MOI of this blade is clearly less than that of a mallet, for example, and missing the sweet spot will be punished. However, that punishment is not as severe as one would expect of what is a fairly unforgiving putter design… and, this will make me focus that bit more on my putting so I shouldn’t be missing the sweet spot anyway.
Headcover:
The headcover is exceptionally well made.
Chunky and substantial. Tick. Fits the clubhead nicely. Tick. Easy to fit and remove. Tick. Feels solid and unlikely to fall off. Tick.
The colour scheme of the headcover matches the colour scheme of my bag and existing headcovers. Tick.
The only disappointment is that it uses Velcro closing rather than magnets. Shame.
Grip:
I really like it.
It is very soft and tactile, somewhat similar to a Whisper grip I used on a putter many years ago. I would describe it as just on the small side of ‘midsize’ and, as you’d expect, the black with red and white detailing fits the overall look and colour scheme of the package.
Overall:
A great looking putter with innovative design which I can’t wait to get to the course. Disappointingly, that could be a couple of weeks yet…
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