Sizemore SM-2 Center-Shaft Half Mallet Review

Many of the readers of THP were just recently made aware of the products that Sizemore Golf has been producing since back in 1996. During Putter Week here on The Hackers Paradise we took a closer look at Sizemore Golf by giving readers an introduction of the company and also took a look at just a few of the offering available. Well as you have come to expect, THP is here to take a closer look at yet another offering from Sizemore Golf, the Sizemore SM-2 Center-Shaft Half Mallet. We are here to tell you if the putter with the long name delivers when it comes to getting the ball in the hole.
Click on each picture for larger Hi-Res image
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Looks
The first thing that you notice is that this baby is pretty. The white head cover, the silver finish, and the matching silver grip all work together to make this putter just a beauty to look at. The triangular shape of the head is similar to many of the other mallet offerings available across the wide spectrum that is today’s putter market. Addressing this putter is both pleasing to the eyes and helpful in lining up putts with the Alignment Insert Management (AIM) technology. The SM-2 is a center-shaft model, but it doesn’t end up looking and feeling “clunky” like other center-shaft putters have a tendency to do (at least for me anyway). If there’s just one single club in my bag that has to look pretty, it’s the putter. After all, putters are used way more than any other club in the bag, so it might as well be beautiful to look at.
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AIMâ„¢
Hardware available in the optional tool kit is what makes up AIM. The Alignment Insert Management technology offers the first putters in history to incorporate fully customizable alignment features and weighting options into their design. These allow the player to accurately line up a putt as well as to choose the correct weight for various green speeds. The weight changing option is included with the toolkit, the weight is positioned at the very back edge of the putter and provides an amazing difference in the feel of the putter. Players can choose their preferred weight dependent upon the type of greens they are playing, or to simply adjust the club to fit their preference.
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IND•X™
From the company: “IND•Xâ„¢ is a state-of-the-art design, produced by our patented, computer-driven milling process. Aesthetically beautiful, with a stunningly luxurious look and feel, the IND•Xâ„¢ face finish is CNC-milled technology “pushed to the edge”. Using an innovative cross-milling process in twenty-seven (27) different directions, the putter face is finished in a geometric pattern with exceptionally fine spacing. This structure enhances the mild and controlled feel of the putter.” Beyond all the technical talk that likely just confuses most of us anyway, this face is simply awesome. The ball pops off perfectly every time, always on line and always the speed you expected. If you miss the putt, it’s not because of how it came off the face that’s for sure.
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Performance
Finally let’s get down to what really matters the most, does the putter work? My initial appeal to the club’s looks helped in my first experiences rolling some putts with the SM-2. To be completely honest, it took a while to really start feeling the love. I didn’t like how heavy the putter was, but a quick change to the other weight supplied in the tool kit really helped me with that. At first I kept on getting the feeling that I was swinging a sledge hammer at the ball, this actually resulted in all of my putts coming up woefully short out of fear for hitting the ball too hard. But as I said, a quick change in weights and I was now equipped with something that felt more my speed and as a result I was immediately able to get a better feel for the distance of the putts I was practicing. I usually shy away from center shafted putters, but with the SM-2 that really didn’t bother me one bit; if anything I really feel that it complimented the design quite nicely. The AIM feature helped produce results for me, this alignment tool really gets me to focus more on making sure my feet, hips, and shoulders are all on the same line, the result is better putts on a better line.
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While I really liked how the ball came off the face of the Sizemore, I am not a fan of the stock grip offering. It looks great, but the overall feel did nothing for me. A standard sized leather grip; it just seemed to be a little too hard in my hands. I am used to a softer Winn grip on my putters, the Sizemore really left me missing the feeling my putter gives me when resting in my hands. The grip I prefer is definitely not the same as what everyone else out there may like, so I went seeking out the opinion of a few of my golf buddies; the consensus was that the feel of the grip did in fact take away from the overall enjoyment of this otherwise great putter. Now obviously this is a very simple fix, but with a MSRP of $199 it might not be that simple to just throw another grip on and in the process add roughly $10 to the overall cost.
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In my review I first took this to the practice green where I rolled putts from various lengths, I found that the mid to short range putts were pretty similar to the results I get from my own putter. This certainly is not a bad thing; after all, I’ve used the same putter now for a full year so I’m just a little more comfortable with it to say the least. So to see little or no step back is definitely a plus in my eyes. There was one place that the Sizemore SM-2 really shined; in the long putts. I typically classify myself as decent long putter, I don’t 3-putt too terribly often most of the time, but I sure wouldn’t mind improving to make those 2nd putts much less stressful when trying to dial it in from long range. I setup from somewhere around 60 to 70 feet from the hole for my long range testing and I was very impressed with the results. The ball really seems to come off the face of the Sizemore pretty hot so those long range putts don’t have to be such a violent whack to get the ball to cover the distance. Look at the below picture, remember I was practicing with 3 balls, 1 is in real tight, another one is certainly one that I’d expect to make…but where’s the 3rd? Yep, you guessed it, drain-o baby! I don’t think I have ever heard anyone outwardly celebrating holed putts on the practice green before, so I probably looked like a regular old weirdo, but that was cool!
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Overall
So overall, the Sizemore SM-2 is a putter that looks amazing. After a little bit of an adjustment period the putter also delivered (quite well I might add). If I could change anything that would certainly be the grip, but there again, that is definitely something that I could do if I were to own one myself. I kept on imagining myself in a golf shop with countless offerings staring me in the face, questioning whether or not I would leave with this Sizemore. The thing that scares me in the eyes of the consumer is that for me it took a change in weights and a slight adjustment period before I really started to like this putter as much as I do now. Regular Joe Putter Buyer is not going to be able to have this option most likely, so I would tell Mr. Regular Joe Putter Buyer to try to focus on the feel and result of the ball leaving the face of the club and to trust me when I say that the love will come with the rest, oh and if you’re like me, plan on changing that grip.

Here is to keeping it on the short grass

Jason K.

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Jason Kunze
Jason is a busy husband and father of 2 daughters who are both just starting to take up the game that he has loved for years. Golf is his passion, when Jason is not playing golf and testing equipment he's hanging out with all his friends on the THP forum discussing every aspect of this great game.
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