The String Putter

Length 35"
Swingweight E 5.5
Overall Weight 505grams

2/13/01

"The String putter is whooping all of the current crop of putters in target shooting so far. It has worked for all of our testers, but one fell hard for it for the get-go. He won six straight shoot-outs with it and is looking forward to playing it. We have taken the String on several playing rounds. We had had suspicions that the blocky head shape may stub and snag on some surfaces, but we were wrong. Long, long putts from deep in the fringe presented no problems. In fact, The String is an effective, long-range weapon. On-course, The String had it advantages and disadvantages. Alignment was a breeze. The balls rolled exceptionally well with a large amount of effective top spin. Drilling strong putts at the back of the cup were no problem at all. Those who never like to come up short and are always willing to gun it for the hole should appreciate the dynamic quality of this lively head design. The downside on-course came in learning to gauge pace and touch. Input is filtered through a lot of aluminum, hosel bends and face cavity. Touch was anything but intuitive for the three on-course testers who have used this putter. A player has to pre-calculate the amount of input that will be called for. A mechanical thought process is required as opposed to an intuitive one. The Railgun frightened putters on the green, but all soon found it to have those intuitive qualities not yet found by us in The String. Accuracy was first rate, however. We will bring The String out again in the spring. Our Vermont tester who related most strongly to the features of this putter did not join us on this past Southern testing foray. More to come. "

1/17/01

"We have only just begun testing this highly unusual putting instrument. But, if you've seen the TV ads and have felt tempted, you may want to gamble and go ahead with the purchase. We have had a number of offbeat putters sent to us recently that have surprised us with their effectiveness. None - except perhaps the Railgun - have been more offbeat than the String putter. Its inventor, Philip Albenze, had a dream wherein he envisioned a perfect putter with a face of taunt strings - ala a guitar face. He woke up and went to building it. He used aluminum and thin metal ridges and recessed grooves in lieu of actual strings. A large hollow recess is just behind the face. Both are "preset" in front of the double bend shaft. The result is very surprising. We have been getting excellent rolls with substantial over-roll. Putts carry through irregularities well. Feel and sound are very pleasant - metallic, but pleasant. The tone of the sound varies with the purity of the impact. Votes are divided as concerns the looks - half vote for ugly as sin; half think it's beautiful. All think that, in spite of its peculiarities and heavy weight, it sets up well, swings easily and has good balance. The alignment aids are exaggerated and intuitive. Little or no adjustment time has been required.

The String putter is whooping all of the current crop of putters in target shooting so far. It has worked for all of our testers, but one fell hard for it for the get-go. He won six straight shoot-outs with it and is looking forward to playing it. We will update this with on-course playing rounds in the upcoming month. We have suspicions that the blocky head shape may stub and snag on some surfaces, but we may be wrong. For now - damn nice putter. For more info; www.stringputter2000.com "

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