Rife Two Bar Hybrid Putter Review: Ever go to a golf tournament to watch the pros warm up? Guess what, they spend most of their time on the putting green. You know why? Because it’s where they make their living. All those guys can hit the ball, but it’s the ones who are making the putts that are at the top of the leaderboard week in and week out. I remember my father-in-law’s caddy telling me that during a stretch of years when Hale Irwin was pound-for-pound the best golfer on the planet, it wasn’t his ball striking, no it was his putting.

Despite the fact that Rife has only been around since 2004, they have become one of the fastest growing putter companies in the world. They now boast 100 tour players and 40% of the putters that are used on the Champions Tour. Most recently, Matt Kuchar used a Rife putter to win the Player’s Championship and place 3rd at the Masters. So yea, Rife knows what they are doing.

For the past six weeks I have been using the Rife Two Bar putter in various conditions and I can tell you that I have been quite impressed. Believe it or not, my very first putt was a center cup 8 foot birdie putt, so suffice it to say we got off on a good start. Since that time I’ve used the Rife Two Bar Hybrid Putter for roughly 16 rounds and in some friendly putting green competitions. To date, I remain very happy with the Rife and have gotten a number of positive comments from those who have tried it. Actual comments include:

“good looking putter”

“great balance and feel”

“putts come off the face as smooth and clean as anything I’ve ever seen”

“this thing putts really true”

“this thing is so easy to line up”

It’s true, the Rife Two Bar Hybrid putter make getting your eyes over the line of the target a piece of cake with the sighting notch that’s on the top of the putter, and with their LieAline Fitting System, it is a snap to quickly adjust the putter to your height so that the lie is perfect for you.

The other piece of science behind the Rife Two Bar Putter is their Twin In-Line Moment of Inertia (MOI), which basically means they have weighted the putter so that the head resists twisting when you hit offline putts, even on noticeably off-center hits. When you consider the fact that amateurs do not hit the sweet spot every time, this is a huge advantage because it will allow your putts to hold the line even on mis-hits. In other words, it’s hard to hit a yippy putt with this putter; it’s just begging to hit dead-online.

Okay, you are getting the point right? So before we tackle the more technical features, let me just say that I love the AVS Winn Custom grip they’ve put on the club. I would go so far as to say that it is my favorite putting grip that I’ve tried. It has a great, comfortable feel that still allows plenty of sensitivity to the putter head.

Back to the specs: Another great feature of this Rife Two Bar Hybrid putter is that Rife provides interchangeable weights (conveniently stored inside the putter cover). This means you can go from 360 grams for faster greens to 345 grams for slower greens. The logic here is that most pros use different putters for different green speeds… a heavier putter for fast, and a lighter putter for slow. One thing I did notice to that end – I enjoyed the putter immensely on medium and fast greens with their weighting system. During a few rounds on extremely slow greens, I was aware that it’s hard to make a ‘wristy’ stroke, even if you want to… this putter wants you to make a nice smooth move at the ball, and so I might not be as inclined to use it if I was back in the era of the “Big Three” from Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf. But thankfully, most of us don’t have to play on shag carpets like that very often, and the interchangeable weights for this putter are a big plus in my book and make the putter very versatile for different conditions.

And along with it’s sharp looks and clean manufacturing, I should mention that Rife’s patented RollGroove insert made of milled anodized aluminum has a pleasing sound on impact, but most importantly gets the ball rolling right off the putter face without skidding or hopping. Many putters contact the ball and put a bit of a knuckle-ball kind of action on the putt after initial contact, that you can only see with a slow motion camera. Unfortunately, this skid creates putts that can move offline like a knuckle-ball, and as the skid transitions to rolling, the putt can lose speed from the friction involved. The grooves on this putter physically grab the ball, and get it rolling almost instantaneously. Practically speaking, this means that people will be remarking to you, as they have to me, about how beautifully you are rolling the ball across the green (and hopefully into the hole).

True story– one of the guys I putted against asked if the insert was legal, because he couldn’t believe how smoothly the ball came off the putter face. I assured him, it is! I’m not going to lie, this putter can’t read the greens for you; however, if you can do your part, this Rife Two Bar Hybrid putter will do it’s part and then some.

So, check out the Rife line on their website  and give a look at the new finish they’re putting out in their tropical series- even more styling than before. Then give one a test on a green near you.

You can see all of the high res images in our Facebook Gallery.

SeeMore m9 Putter Review: If the only thing you knew about golf came from watching commercials, you would surely be convinced that the driver is by far the most important club in the bag. While the big stick may be the club that we use to hit the ball the farthest, the reality is that the driver accounts for less than half as many strokes as the putter does.

Why, then, do we gladly shell out $300 for a new driver every year or two but are content with a putter we found at Play it Again Sports? Because most mid-handicappers (me included) are morons, which is why we don’t use alignment sticks, barely maintain a pre-shot routine, and ignore the multitude of good advice we read every month in golf magazines.

One of the very few cool things about writing a blog (and I mean very few) is that you get to test out golf equipment. This spring I was given a SeeMore putter to use and I must say it has been very eye opening on a number of fronts (no need to thank me for omitting the obvious pun).

First a bit of history – SeeMore Putters was founded in 1998 and got a huge media bump in 1999 when Payne Stewart sank a monster putt on 18 to win the US Open. Unfortunately, we lost Payne Stewart the following year and sales of SeeMore putters lagged to the point where they almost closed up shop. Then in 2006, former Odyssey executives Jim Grundberg and Jason Pouliot purchased the company and SeeMore was again off to the races. Since 2006 SeeMore has grown rapidly and has found a new champion in Zach Johnson who used a SeeMore putter to win the 2007 Masters (in which he putted a mere 27 times in the final round). Currently, Zach Johnson still uses a SeeMore putter and continues to be one of the best putters on tour.

Now back to the SeeMore m9 putter: the most unique feature of the SeeMore Putter is their RifleScope Technology, or as I call it, “hide the dot”. Simply put, if you line up the putter correctly you will not be able to see the red dot. If you can see any part of the red dot or if the shaft is not dead center between the lines you have either set up with the blade slightly open or closed. Stupid simple but really powerful if for no other reason than you feel totally locked in as you stand over your putt.

Hide the dot and you are good to go!

My take: I have primarily putted with an Oddessey #9 putter which is why I chose the m9 seeing as it is a similar shape. The major difference for me was that with the SeeMore m9, the shaft drops in near the center of the club rather than on the heel. It took me about two rounds to get the feel for the putter, but once I got it, I started rolling the ball really well. In fact my 3rd and 4th rounds with the SeeMore putter I had only 26 and 27 putts. While I am still only 12 rounds in with it, my putts per round have declined. Yes, I know the new putter mojo is still at work but I also believe that the riflescope feature absolutly helps me to be mentally locked into the line so I can concentrate just on speed.

Technically speaking the SeeMore m9 has a head weight of 335 grams, has 2.5 degree loft and can be shipped with a custom lie between 68-74 degrees. Additionally because the hosel is an internally milled you can always have the lie adjusted. Essentially, this feature allows the putter to be bent with greater integrity, because the stud is being bent, rather than the shaft.

In terms of look, the SeeMore m9 has very clean lines and features a platinum finish over the milled stainless steel body. Sidebar: is the term “hand milled” code for bad-ass? Either way, what it means is that there are no seams or imperfections. The entire club looks perfect with even the hosel being set with precision. If your driver is the burly lumberjack in your bag, your putter is your honey. Putters need to be hot and the SeeMore m9 is a looker!

Of course you don’t want your SeeMore putter rattling around in the bag so they provide a leather head cover that features a stitched American flag on the side – yup, it’s money!

SeeMore Putter Cover

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the customer service. SeeMore offers lifetime access to their staff of helpful folks. They also provide a number of putting drills and tips on their site. Speaking of drills, I used the Putting Alley a bunch when I got the new putter so that I could make my small adjustments to my setup. You can see my SeeMore m9 in action on our Putting Alley review.

In short I love the SeeMore m9. You can see the whole line on their website.

You can also see all of the high res images on our facebook page.

Taylormade Burner 2.0 Irons Review: Like most guys, I hate shopping unless it is for a new car or new golf clubs. And like cars, I go from, “I don’t need new clubs”  to “I must have new clubs NOW”?  The new club bug bit me the moment I snapped my 6 iron on the range. I simply took it as a sign from the golf gods . . . who am I to refuse?

Part of the fun of buying new clubs is the research that goes into the decision. Whether it is poking through the bags of guys in your foursome, spending 2 hours on MyGolfSpy reading every review possible, or hitting a bucket of balls in an indoor driving range, a.k.a. Golf Galaxy –  picking out a new set of irons is simply more fun than should be legally allowed and therefore should never be shortchanged. Hint, go read about 40 other reviews before you go buy the Taylormade Burner 2.0 or any other club if for no other reason you will be that much more excited about buying them.

For the past 4 years I have been playing Ping G5’s and have been quite happy with them. They are a good mix of performance and improvement. The obvious choice was to simply get the G20 but I wanted to expand my proverbial horizons. The irons I narrowed it down to, after twelve hours on the internet and 4 golf magazines, were Titleist AP2, Taylormade RocketBallz, Cobra S2, Mizuno 800 and Taylormade 2.0

First, let me be clear on how I buy irons. While performance is important, I want to fall in love. I figure if you don’t fall in love you have no chance to make it over the long haul. I mean these babies are gonna be in my bag longer than my first marriage, and since not every round is going to be “one for the ages” I do not ever want to question my equipment. Therefore, all of the clubs I initially picked out to demo had already made the first cut in terms of looks. I had no doubt that I was going to be perfectly content to look down the hosel of any one of these beauties.

Ok, now to my “scientific research”. I took a 7 iron from each of the sets and stepped into the launch monitor. That day, I was swinging pretty well and all of the clubs went more or less straight about 154 yards, except the Taylormade 2.0, which went about 168 yards. Seeing this huge difference, I went back to the other clubs and really tried to put a good swing on them but could never break 160 yards. Normally, I would somehow chalk this up to subconscious activity but I have heard that this is in part because they are slightly de-lofted. In either case, I appreciated the extra distance since I am not known as a long hitter. My review after having now played with these clubs for over a month – I can say with certainty that they go farther.

Working through the set, I thought they had similar control to the PINGS but with a bit more zip. I also like the fact that each iron has a slightly different mass in that the longer irons are a bit thinner to add distance while the shorter irons are thicker to add control.

As for looks, I typically like a nice shiny steel club but I really dig the Taylormade Burner black on the toe and heel, plus the cavity back looks super cool. Again, if you don’t love the looks of a set of irons, don’t buy them no matter what. Just like that girl you thought you could learn to love despite her goofy quirks, it ain’t gonna happen.

Having gone through the honeymoon stage with these clubs, I am still very pleased. Along with the added distance, the control is quite good and being an 11 handicap, I have no illusions of “working the ball”. If it goes straight you will not get any argument from me. With that said, you can absolutely put a draw on this ball (I have seen my playing partners do it).

Finally, these puppies have just come way down in price since the Rocketballz release. Now I liked the Rocketballz, but not $300 more. In fact, I would have likely chosen the Burner 2.0 regardless of cash considerations, so the fact that they were nearly 1/2 price was simply a bonus.