TaylorMade Putters - Are They "Tailor-Made" for You?

Our series of TaylorMade putters review articles are here to help you find your way between the all the different models. Year after year, TaylorMade Golf comes up with excellent new clubs, and this year they include some innovative putters. The company has built its strong reputation primarily on its clubs, and now most golfers would agree that TaylorMade stands shoulder-to-shoulder with PING and Callaway as the "Big Three" in the golf club industry.

Here are a few direct links to our TaylorMade putter reviews:

• TaylorMade Ghost Manta putter
• TaylorMade Rossa Core Classic putter
• TaylorMade Rossa Corza Ghost putter
• TaylorMade Rossa Monza Spider Balero putter

TaylorMade is best known for its drivers, fairway woods and irons, but here's a tip: Their putters are every bit as good. And like PING and Odyssey (a Callaway subsidiary), it might seem like there are more current putters than necessary. However, when you compare the 11 current TaylorMade putters to the 38 PING putters and the 29 Odyssey putters, TaylorMade actually seems like it's being quite restrained.

Before I start discussing their putters, a word about the company's "Ghost" putters might be in order. They take their name from the matte white finish on the putter heads. Not all of TaylorMade's current putters are Ghost putters, but many of them are. The color is definitely striking, but despite the ghostly name, it's not intended to be spooky - unless the company is thinking a Ghost putter can make you a scary good putter.

In fact, the purpose of the white color is to inspire confidence at address, eliminate glare and make alignment easier. Personally, I think it's distracting, gimmicky and even a bit faddish, but TaylorMade is convinced that white-colored heads have distinct advantages. As a result, the company uses this white club head finish in its current drivers, fairway woods and hybrid clubs in addition to some of the TaylorMade putters.

Now, here's a quick overview of the putters. As always, if you see something interesting, we encourage you to learn more by reading some of the reviews of specific TaylorMade putters you'll find on our site.

Currently, there are four lines of TaylorMade putters: the Ghost Spider (as of this date there is only a single model in this line, but I wouldn't be shocked if TaylorMade resurrected the Itsy Bitsy Spider and turned it into a "ghost"); the Corza Ghost (also only a single model); the Ghost Series, with three models; and the Est 79 line, with 6 models.

Dave Stockton, one of the best putters to ever strike a ball and now one of the premier putting coaches in the world, said he's "never seen a putter that's so easy to aim" as the Ghost putter. Rising tour star Jason Day seems to agree: he says it's given him a "whole new level of confidence. The white color makes it easy to aim and the shape makes it so stable." The shape and black alignment lines used by the Ghost Spider look very similar to those of the original TaylorMade Spider putter, which I came very close to buying for myself. It also uses TaylorMade's Movable Weight Technology to increase its Moment of Inertia for additional stability and distance control. All in all, the Ghost Spyder is a great putter - if you can get used to the white color.

I've tried the Corza Ghost mallet putter too. Its alignment aids also make it easy to roll the ball down your intended line, and I liked the way the ball rolled straight and true. In addition to being white, its unusual looks include a ball-shaped "hole" in the putter head, right behind the alignment lines. Unlike some other clubs, the Corza Ghost doesn't use Movable Weight Technology. Once again, though, this is a nice putter if you can get used to its appearance.

The three TaylorMade putters in the Ghost Series are, of course, also white. And like the other Ghost putters, the Ghost Series putters (called the Tour Daytona Ghost (a blade), the Tour Maranello Ghost (a half-mallet) and the Tour Fontana Ghost (a small mallet), also use high-contrast black lines as alignment aids. TaylorMade's Adjustable Weight Technology permits swing weighting on custom lengths.

The Est 79 line of TaylorMade putters is comprised of 6 different putters and includes the Fontana, Maranello, Indy, Sebring, Daytona 1 and Daytona 8 models. They use a black finish rather than white to give them a more "classic" appearance. Priced at an affordable (for a name-brand putter) $99, they use a surlyn face insert for a pure, straight roll and a soft feel.

That's a quick rundown on the current TaylorMade putters. For more details, please feel free to read some of our informative reviews.

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