Product Review-Straight Aim Putters Feb2010

Richard Patten is a man who sees a problem and figures out how to fix it. During his years as a human-factors psychologist, he helped make products better, safer and easier to use. As he puts it, he has the ability to look at a product, and “see aspects of it that make it difficult or dangerous to use.”  This unique ability made him realize that most store-bought putters on the market were, in fact, quite difficult to use, or at least didn’t give him the results that he was looking for. So, he set out to design a putter that was both user-friendly and highly effective. Now, twelve years later, he has turned his quest for an improved putter in to a business. He sells his Straight Aim brand putters through his website, www.straightaimgolf.com, and through face-to-face fitting sessions.
    There are several unique features built in to each Straight Aim putter that you won’t find in other putter brands. The first and foremost feature that Dr. Patten incorporated in to the design of his putters was a bold and distinct aim line that makes for easy alignment. This aiming line looks even brighter since every putter head is given a nonglare finish. This strikingly bright aiming line really helps a golfer to keep their eyes right on target.
    Straight Aim putters are all face-balanced and they all have extreme heel-and-toe weighting, and removable tungsten weights that allow the user to customize the weight from 300-330 grams. Now golfers can test out their putter on the practice green and adjust the weight before the start of their round.
    Another innovative feature of Straight Aim putters is the tall face height. Dr. Patten noticed that many popular putters have faces that are too low, and often hit the golf ball below the centerline, causing the ball to jump in the air upon impact. Straight Aim putters have a face height of 1.25 inches, almost half an inch higher than many other putters. Added to this tall face is one of two insert options. The first option is a standard polymer insert, but the newest innovation coming from Straight Aim is called the Error Variance Reduction, or EVR insert, which provides die-at-the-hole distance control, according to Dr. Patten. This new insert has undergone strict testing, and reports show that it can improve putting accuracy by up to 25%. I’m not sure how it all works, but I can say that this new insert feels very nice while striking the ball, which should at least improve your confidence. The EVR inserts have a wonderful soft feel that really gave me confidence while striking the ball.
    One of the coolest features of every Straight Aim putter is the built-in ball pick-up. Being in my mid-thirties, I can admit that I always thought of ball pick-ups as being aimed at older golfers, and something that I wouldn’t need for a long time. But the Straight Aim pick-up is really cool. It came about because of all the weight Dr. Patten wanted to remove from the middle of the putter. He took a ball-shaped mass out from the underside of the putter head, added a rubber gasket that perfectly fits around a golf ball, and voila, the coolest ball pick-up mechanism that I’ve ever used was born. Genius!
    Straight Aim putters come in both blade and mallet versions, and are very customizable as far as length, choice of grip and insert options go. Prices are extremely competitive, starting at only $50, and ranging up to $75 – a mere fraction of what the name brand putters go for these days. Check out the Straight Aim website to get more information: www.straightaimgolf.com; call Dr. Patten at 612-722-1189; or email him at richardpatten@comcast.net.