Odyssey O-Works Red 2-Ball Fang

In for review is the sharp 2 Ball Fang O-Works putter in a brilliant red finish. A combination of popular designs come together in this headshape to create a combination of technology and presentation that leads to intrigue. All this alongside the inclusion of the latest and greatest insert with Microhinge, designed to bring a proactive approach to forward roll. At first glance, these putters are looking awfully complete on paper.

From Odyssey

Unmatched Roll With Our New Microhinge Face Insert - Our Microhinge technology provides incredible gains in topspin and roll at impact regardless of your stroke. The stainless steel Microhinge plate is co-molded into our Thermoplastic Elastomer Feel Layer, providing great feel and getting the ball into a better roll at impact.

Red Finish Driven By Tour Feedback - Some players like a clean, simple look at address, and this red finish has been popular among our staff pros. A number of them told us that they wanted a red head color with our Microhinge insert. It’s an unbelievable setup that our players love, and we know that if they like it, golfers are going to really like it too.

Tour Proven Shapes & Mallets With Toe Hang - These are some of our most prolific models that have dominated Tour events and major championships for years. As the #1 putter across the major tours, we’re constantly working to develop and tweak shapes for ultimate performance. And the new mallets with toe hang are all designed for players who like to feel the face of their putter rotate more in their stroke.

Our Promise For Odyssey Putters - An Odyssey Putter is a promise made. Sure, we design each of our putters to help you slay more demons and sink more putts. But we also design them to withstand any kind of punishment you can dish out and we back them up with an Odyssey assurance of quality. We rarely see a putter returned, but if you find a defect within a two-year period, we’ll repair it or replace it. No questions asked. And that’s a promise kept.

In Hand Photos

looking forward to your experience with this. It's a good putter in my short time with it.

This is a sweet putter, looking forward to the review!

It is definitely a looker. The red is a huge improvement for my eyes than the last few offerings, and at address I get comfortable with it quickly. The head is much larger than I usually use, but I am excited to get to know it a bit. It sets up to the ball really easily and has plenty of weight all the way through the stroke.

There was lots of fantastic talk last year about O-Works and Microhinge, so I suspect those who follow along are already familiar with the logic in the insert, but I'll try to talk about it as well while the review process takes place.

Man I like the look of that a lot. Looking forward to your feedback Dan.

Lookin forward to your feedback Dan. That is a smoking hot looking putter.

I like the red, for my eye seems to be a LOT going on there, different arches, angles and curves but it all flows good.

Looking forward to the review. I'm solidly in the insert corner and would be curious how microhinge compares.

I rolled a two ball fang for over a year, really enjoy that head shape. The red looks real good on that model.

Canadan said:

It is definitely a looker. The red is a huge improvement for my eyes than the last few offerings, and at address I get comfortable with it quickly. The head is much larger than I usually use, but I am excited to get to know it a bit. It sets up to the ball really easily and has plenty of weight all the way through the stroke.

There was lots of fantastic talk last year about O-Works and Microhinge, so I suspect those who follow along are already familiar with the logic in the insert, but I'll try to talk about it as well while the review process takes place.

Click to expand...

Looking forward to your feedback Dan. This one is a large putter head. Almost metal detector-ish, but super easy to align and the microhinge face definitely delivers.

I've spent some time with the 2 ball fang in my basement (I'm fortunate to have a very nice area for home putting) over the last couple nights, along with having AMart roll it a bunch today to gain some actual feedback. What I really like about my putting green is that it has a very true roll, but skidding is pretty obvious to the ear and distance. Perfect for something like microhinge which is a technology busting the forward roll realities of our traditional putters.

For me, the results were not ground breaking. I've got quite a number of putters in the stable and the roll quality off the 2-ball fang was closer to the bottom of the pack in terms of end over roll and putt efficiency. I saw much of the same when I was testing o-works putters in late 2016 at the Grandaddy. My efficiency with the plumbers neck was far superior to the 2-ball. It's an important reminder that fitting is paramount in finding what works for your game.

It's easy for me to be so honest because unlike my stroke, AMart's worked REALLY well with the 2-ball Fang. He said he felt like it sat a little bit open for him at address, but I don't really remember him missing too many putts to the right so it could simply be a new look confusion for him. His end over end roll is aligned to my expectations of Microhinge coming off my experiences with my Grandaddy putter.

Probably my biggest takeaway right now is the sound. It has a really low sound profile. Not quite muted, but definitely on the bottom end of the sound spectrum from what I am used to hearing after gaming a milled stainless profile for the last few months. It does get a bit more muted outward toward the toe and heel, but there does seem to be a slightly more rich sound when hit right on the button.

More feedback coming, including a round of golf I hope on Sunday!

AMart and I split time with the 2 ball fang today during our round, and came away meeting the expectations I had for the profile. I like the combination of the fang and the 2ball. It's a really smart design to add a bit of perimeter sizing to the head while maintaining one of their most recognizable alignment aids. It also looks fantastic with the red finish, something that I've already touched on but cemented by seeing it on an actual green in the daylight.

When you hit this putter in the center, it promotes a very generous roll (assuming it's the right profile for that golfer). Microhinge seems to clearly function as advertised, however it does so at a rather muted profile, even for an insert. Again, I'm not overly versed on the nuances of all inserts as I don't typically play one with a non-steel profile, but I would argue (and others who've rolled it would argue) that it's rather muted. This can be very much on the personal preference of the golfer whether it's something to be liked or hated so I won't really pass judgement either way.

Sliding away from the center, I think it's quite fair. There were a couple of comments about 'hitting it on the Odyssey logo' but you'd have a hard time noticing it with the results as an onlooker. That's quite beneficial, as the mallet shape benefits that golfer who may miss the center of the face from time to time.

With the overall weight of the head, it wasn't the easiest to get the ball to the hole on longer putts. Maybe that was the off-season greens which have seen snow and rain since their last cut, but it did seem like the ball didn't come off the face as hot as maybe a non-insert experience would provide. With the hinge design, it could very well be a bit of a speed reduction due to the deflection, but I don't see it as a detriment as the weight also promotes a really smooth guided stroke through the ball.

I wonder if this model would benefit from a counter balanced grip.

Great detailed info Dan.

Nice write up broski! Can't wait to follow along!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wonder if I can convince AMart to THP again so he can talk about this one... Or I'll just tell his story during the round today because it was pretty funny. Long story short, he's got a bunch of putters at home, a bunch of profiles, and after having only 7 putts through 6 holes today, he ran out of excuses as to why he should probably spend some extra time with the 2 ball fang.

Facts of 2ball Fang Reality
- The profile sets up to the ball easily.
- The finish is maybe the best I've seen in years from Odyssey
- The head weight is a great compliment to the shape and ease of roll
- Microhinge is a unique experience. Muted in a lot of ways, but audibly variant at the right times to 'teach' the golfer about the putt

There is nothing more important than a fitting for the success of golfers. It's great to have a diverse group of guys locally who I can feed off when something isn't perfect for my game (double bend, mallet head, etc), and this putter was absolutely no exception. I've had a blast rolling it and experiencing the benefits of the high MOI head and alignment, but it's pretty clear to me that double bend mallets aren't my shape for optimal roll. Seeing microhinge perform beautifully in that head for someone is great and really helps me to understand the diversity of Odyssey's lineup for the variety of putting strokes we have.

End over end, into the cup. The success is hard to argue with.

Canadan said:

I wonder if I can convince AMart to THP again so he can talk about this one... Or I'll just tell his story during the round today because it was pretty funny. Long story short, he's got a bunch of putters at home, a bunch of profiles, and after having only 7 putts through 6 holes today, he ran out of excuses as to why he should probably spend some extra time with the 2 ball fang.

Facts of 2ball Fang Reality
- The profile sets up to the ball easily.
- The finish is maybe the best I've seen in years from Odyssey
- The head weight is a great compliment to the shape and ease of roll
- Microhinge is a unique experience. Muted in a lot of ways, but audibly variant at the right times to 'teach' the golfer about the putt

There is nothing more important than a fitting for the success of golfers. It's great to have a diverse group of guys locally who I can feed off when something isn't perfect for my game (double bend, mallet head, etc), and this putter was absolutely no exception. I've had a blast rolling it and experiencing the benefits of the high MOI head and alignment, but it's pretty clear to me that double bend mallets aren't my shape for optimal roll. Seeing microhinge perform beautifully in that head for someone is great and really helps me to understand the diversity of Odyssey's lineup for the variety of putting strokes we have.

End over end, into the cup. The success is hard to argue with.

Click to expand...

It'd be cool if he came back!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Going to give this one a bump in case anyone missed the latest update.

Also, anyone getting out and rolling o-works with some thoughts to share?

Canadan said:

Going to give this one a bump in case anyone missed the latest update.

Also, anyone getting out and rolling o-works with some thoughts to share?

Click to expand...

I've got three O-Works putters now (Red 7, Black 2 Ball Fang & Red Marxman), so I think you could say I'm a believer. I will say that I wasn't a huge fan of the original paint scheme, but with the red & black offerings, Odyssey has brought a little something for everyone to the market. As far as feedback/thoughts:

Looks:
Let's get this out of the way out front: These are mallet putters. There's some stigma that comes with that for sure, but with the new neck options if you're willing to experiment, there are benefits to be had for anyone who has ever experience alignment issues (more on that later). Anyways...

These are some attractive looking putters. The paint on both the black and the red have some flake or something in them that makes them really pop in the daylight. Cliche as it may be, pictures really do not do the finish justice. What model you go for will ultimately depend on which fits your eye best. For instance, the 2 ball is something I've gone back and forth with over the years. It works for me as I don't like to use an alignment line on the ball (though no reason you couldn't) and the 2 ball provides a good picture behind an unmarked golf ball.

Alignment:
All of these putters frame the ball well and provide some natural alignment aids to get the ball rolling on your intended line.

2 Ball - As alluded to before, this one is easy to set up. Line the three balls up on your line and let her rip. See comments above. I also think the fang 'wings' let this model sit well on the ground to make sure that you've got the putter soled flat on the ground.

Marxman - This was an impulse buy for me after watching two ZooCrew members just shred some greens at the GD. That and the face that it looks like a race car! Haven't gotten this one outdoors yet, but putting indoors it is super easy to align. This one has potential crowd pleaser from what I've seen so far.

#7 - You either love the #7 head shape or you don't. There's a 3 dot line up front on the blade part of this putter with a slightly-less-than ball sized void behind the blade portion with some alignment lines outlining that help frame the ball and get the putter squared to your line. This one lines up naturally for me as well, much like the 2 ball.

Performance:
The micro hinge face just works for me. Some who are more feel sensitive my find issue, but after a putter fitting last year exposing the fact that I hit down on the ball, I spent a lot of time working on my stroke & trying to get a better strike on the ball to get it rolling quicker. Initially started with a higher lofted putter, which was hit or miss (possibly due to the headshape). After working on it some, I grabbed the 7 on a whim and haven't looked back since. As long as you put a reasonable stroke on it, this putter face gets the ball rolling immediately. This along with the forgiveness that the higher MOI provides and the #7 became a weapon for me later in the season last year. So much so that some of my golf buddies raised eyebrows when I said that I'd probably go with something different in the GD.

Coming off of a milled face putter, speed did take me some time, but once you get it dialed in you're good to go.

End of the day, I think the most ringing endorsement I can give is this: Before O-Works I had 4 putters. 1 that was a custom to commemorate a sentimental moment. One that I bought in a higher loft after my fitting and my two old-faithful gamers. These two putters had both spent multiple seasons in my bag and had generally rejected all challengers. Ever since purchasing the #7, all of these putters have sat dormant, relegated to display or goof off duty in the basement and in some cases slated for sale.

So... Which one will it be?
I'm honestly not sure yet. I think I could probably game any of these putters on any given day as other than looks, they're all very similar.

Confidence wise, I'm still tied at some level to my 7 just based on the success I had with it last year. Once I can get out on a real green, I'm definitely going to put the 2 Ball and Marxman through their paces. The 2 Ball was a love at first roll situation as I was making everything at the ECPC with it, but struggled a little bit on the course at Hideaway. That's 100% a product of the greens and my brain though, and I anticipate similar success once I get more time to settle in. Time will tell with the Marxman as it's still really new.

Random thoughts:
If you're one of those people that likes to pick your gimmes up with your putter, you're probably going to want to go with the 7 out of these three. It's possible with the Marxman, as #Chad proved at the GD, but not like a blade at all in that respect. Not a huge deal for me, but I know a couple of people who won't buy a putter that can't do that, so wanted to mention.

The 2 Ball Fang is a big putter head. Big enough that my GD head cover didn't stay shut on it. The stock head cover works well, but make sure that magnet is properly engaged otherwise you might be retracing your steps to find your cover!

Any how, ramble over. Feel free to let me know if anyone has any questions.

Thank you so much for sharing that, Jon!! That is awesome feedback.

Review has hit the home page. Check out all of the details here.

https://www.thehackersparadise.com/odyssey-o-works-2-ball-fang-putter-review/

Not a 2-ball Guy. But I’m loving the deep red finish on these putters. Nice review Dan!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great review Dan! I love the two ball shape. The extra weight with the fang addition has me very curious about this one.

After reading Dan’s review, I decided to demo and picked up an Odyssey 2-Ball Fang S today. Never had a 2-Ball putter however with the Slant neck and 29° toe hang it was just a fit. Just putted great with it at the PGATSS. I bounced back between this and the Marxman. Just putted this one a little better:

Odyssey O-Works Red 2-Ball Fang

Tadashi70 said:

I wonder if this model would benefit from a counter balanced grip.

Click to expand...

The 2-Ball I picked up today looks to have a weight in the handle of some sort: