Being the #1 Putter on Tour globally brings us immense satisfaction, but a relentless pursuit of excellence and performance drives us. For the past four years, we’ve been dedicated to innovating an insert that delivers consistent speeds across the face, even in the case of mishits. This four-year journey has empowered us to introduce the most advanced insert ever that will benefit golfers of all skill levels.
-Jacob Davidson, VP of Global Tour & GM of Odyssey Golf
Every year, every cycle, there is a story. The idea behind the product is that it will hopefully bless the golfing community with ball speed, forgiveness, accuracy, and so on. And in all honesty, the story behind every product carries with it years of work, millions of dollars in R&D, and a talent pool to choke a horse, and even then, that story will only affect “most golfers.”…but what about ALL golfers? And where could that scenario rear its head and make the most significant impact? Your PUTTER.
On TOUR, there is a distance where the 3-putt percentage goes up…substantially.
30-40 Feet is where MILLIONS of dollars are won or lost, and the biggest culprit in that scenario is SPEED control. According to Callaway, TOUR R&D speed control is more important than any other factor in elite putting.
“If our core staff turned their three putts into two putts, the financial swing is upwards of 25 Million Dollars…”
–Charlie DeStafano, Callaway Data Scientist
Now, to be fair, there have been many attempts via inserts, milling, and high MOI designs to make a putter more forgiving ALA MicroHinge and Tri Hot 5K, which was a titan of an achievement when it relates to forgiveness (HIGH MOI).
Many of those ideas have been successful, but no one has truly cracked the code…until now.
Introducing Ai-One from Odyssey Golf.
What is Ai-One?
Callaway Golf is the industry leader in Ai technology and its relation to golf performance. Now, for the first time, we applied that tech to the Odyssey Golf platform with one goal in mind: CONSISTENT BALL SPEED.
“Tour players miss the center all the time! One of the biggest things we worried about throughout this project was if Tour players would resonate with an insert that helps with mishits. Last year, we incorporated a new Odyssey putting studio on our PGA Tour truck, and through that, we now have a significant amount of data showing that, yes, Tour players miss center often – even on putts as short as 10 feet. And more than that, Tour players know they miss the center and are interested in anything that may make those mishits a little better. Those mis-hits get substantially more once you get to the 30 feet range. When that ball speed goes awry due to mis-hits, it becomes the difference between a 6-footer for par Vs. a 4-footer for par. The stats tell us that 1-2 feet more is a BIG DEAL.“
Eric Stubben Odyssey R&D
It’s a funny thing to consider…ball speed in a putter, but it’s a thing. Think of it like this: what happens when you mis-hit it? Well, for one, the ball may go sideways, but the main culprit is the LOSS of ball speed. It happens to ALL of us.
What does Ai-One do?
Consistent Ball Speed Across the Face…simple as that. Using Ai technology to track strike patterns from TOUR, Consumer, and Robots, Odyssey R&D was able to determine where on a putter face most strikes happen and what happens when the strike is off. Once that is determined, Odyssey R&D developed a face that doppelgangers heel and toe strikes to perform and roll just like the flushers. What that adds up to is mitigating the ball speed loss out of the toe and heel and maximizing roll out of the middle… It sounds a little like a Paradym Driver.
What do we have?
Ai-One:
Milled body with Ai-Tuned White Hot Insert. The WH insert has a grooved face to dial in launch and spin.
Ai-One Milled:
Milled body with Ai-Tuned all Titanium Face Insert. For those players who want the crisp feel of a milled face in a PREMIUM body, this is your model.
This is what Odyssey Tour Performance Rep Cody Hale had to say:
CH:
Speed control/approach putting are the areas we continue to highlight. We are still obviously in the early stages of collecting player data and feedback, but we expect to see tighter dispersion and more consistent rollout patterns. Tour players understand they occasionally miss the center of the putter face, and that’s where the Ai insert technology has the biggest impact with more consistent ball speeds across the putter face. If we can reduce just one three-putt, although we expect it to be many more than that over the course of a season, it may well be the difference in an extra cut made, making the playoffs, or even winning a tournament!
Feedback has been extremely positive regarding the feel of the Ai-One and Ai-One Milled inserts. Tour players have an extremely sensitive feel, so it was imperative to maintain our standard of feel that so many players are accustomed to with White Hot and Milled putters. Our R&D team did an excellent job, and players have been very complimentary of the feel and feedback.
How was it developed?
Now, I could tell you the story of how this idea was born, but i’ll leave it to Odyssey R&D brain children David Handy and Eric Stubben.
DH:
We started our process by breaking down all of the critical mechanics of a putter. We were in the development of the Tri Hot 5K prototypes and had validated the performance gains of high MOI, and we were trying to reach the next level of the “ultimate” putter. We thought, “What can we attack next?” The face was the obvious next step. We already knew that different grooves had an influence on the ball, but we wanted to create something where we could leverage the flex of different materials. We had success with micro hinge creating a better roll, so we decided to see how we could control ball speed. Luckily, we had colleagues in the woods and iron department who had set up the foundation for face optimization. We picked their brains a bit and decided to “try it out.” At the time, we had no intention of this product making it to production; we just wanted to see if it could work. Spoiler alert… it worked.
ES:
We honestly knew pretty quickly that it was something we could at least try for putters. David and I are really close friends, making us better colleagues. We sit down every Tuesday morning and just shoot the you-know-what, usually about putters and things we need to get done over the next week, but the laid-back nature of our dialogue also leads to some excellent brainstorming. That’s precisely what led to Ai-One.
We sat down one Tuesday just talking about every component of the putter, how we could attack it, and how we could make it better. At the time, the R&D Woods and Innovation teams were working on Epic Flash, and we thought, “Huh? Why wouldn’t that work for a putter?” So we took that idea and ran with it, changing the objective from maximum ball speed to consistent ball speed. There were several challenges along the way, but it turned into a really compelling product.
Who has it in play?
I was able to sit down with Odyssey Performance Rep Cody Hale on the TOUR aspect of all this, and this is what he had to say:
JW: How are players responding to the look of the putter?
CH:
So far, every player who has seen the Ai putters has mentioned how premium they look. We have had overwhelmingly positive feedback on the entire Ai line. We have received many compliments on the new dark blue finish paired with the champagne insert of the Ai-One Milled putters. The Six T has been a very attractive new model. Also, the workshop viewing window featured on the Ai-One models adds a cool feature that showcases the technology and visually helps players understand why it works.
JW: Is there a player or situation that comes to mind where Ai one really had a drastic influence on a player’s numbers or overall performance?
CH:
Jon Rahm and Sam Burns switched pretty immediately into their Ai-One putters. These guys rarely tinker with their putter setups, so we feel like that is a testament to how these putters perform and look. We believe the last time Sam put a new putter in play was in 2017. Sam is well known among his PGA Tour colleagues as a great putter, and for him to switch to the Seven S ahead of the Tour Championship speaks to the performance we think the new AI line has to offer. When we took Sam through the initial presentation, he mentioned if it reduces his three-putts by one per season, it’s worth it! Based on our research, we think it has the potential for more! In his first two starts with the Ai One Seven S, according to the SG Putting stats, Sam was positive 2.634 at the Tour Championship and positive 4.47 for the Ryder Cup.
JW: Who have you worked with so far, and what models do they have in play? Or are testing?
Jon Rahm – Ai-One Rossie S (in play)
Sam Burns – Ai-One Seven S (in play)
Xander Schauffele – Ai-One Seven CH (testing)
Brian Stuard – Ai-One Milled Eleven T DB (used at Sanderson Farms)
Adam Hadwin – Ai-One Seven S (testing)
Erik Van Rooyen – Ai-One Milled Two T CH (testing)
Adam Svensson – Ai-One Milled Two T CH (testing)
Dylan Fritelli – Ai-One Milled Eleven T S (testing)
Harry Hall – Ai-One Double Wide DB (testing)
Akshay Bhatia – LH Ai-One Seven DB (testing)
Chris Kirk – Ai One Six T SB (testing)
KH Lee – Ai One Milled Two T CH (testing)
Kevin Yu – Ai One Seven DB (testing)
We have fielded a lot of requests for Ai putters. Many players are just beginning to receive their putters or are set to do so over the next few weeks, so we are excited to start seeing more work into play on the PGA Tour.
“I had a ton of success with my old 7S, and it was one of those clubs that was “never” leaving the bag. I’m not a big switcher, but when I started hitting putts at Eastlake with Ai-One, it seemed to help the one thing I had been battling, which was speed control. It’s been great ever since, and I rolled the ball great that week and at the Ryder Cup. I guess I will have to hang the old one on the wall.”
Sam Burns on Ai-One
FEATURES AND BENEFITS
The Inserts
Ai-ONE Insert
Designed using Artificial Intelligence, we’ve created contours on the aluminum backer of the insert to promote consistent ball speed across the face. We’ve co-molded a grooved White Hot urethane layer into that aluminum backer for the classic White Hot feel that Tour players and amateurs love.
Ai-ONE Milled Insert
This milled titanium insert was designed using Artificial Intelligence to create the unique contours on the back surface. These contours help to maintain ball speed on off-center hits for better distance control across the face with a pure milled feel that many golfers pref
Ai Window
Our designers and engineers developed a Panlite window, which is a unique automotive-grade polymer, that allows us to showcase the unique topology of the back of the insert.
SL 90 Shaft
A lightweight steel shaft with 20-30 grams (depending on the grip) of counterbalance weight in the butt end. This is an evolution of our Stroke Lab Weighting that will appeal to even more
golfers.
Unique Navy Blue PVD Finish
These putters all feature a beautiful navy blue PVD finish that really sets them apart and gives them a premium look.
Interchangeable Front Weights
Available in 5, 10, 15, and 20 grams, these removable weights allow you to dial in your head weight to your exact preference
Ai-One:
Available Models (RH, LH)
Ai-One Milled:
Final Thoughts:
UNREAL. Knowing what I know and being relatively close to the development of Ai-One, I can say with confidence that the FACTS DON’T LIE. Not only are these putters checking off every curb appeal factor you can think of, but the performance is undeniable. In my own testing over the past summer, I even saw the difference in performance. It’s not often that a piece of technology touches golfers of ALL skill levels, but this will be the first time I will say if you don’t at the very least give this one a spin…you are leaving MEAT ON THE TABLE. There is no disputing that, and you will see the same to be true when they hit the shelves.
I was there when Jon Rahm tested this at Silverleaf…He hit three putts, looked at Performance Rep Joe Toulon, and smiled. It’s the quickest switch I’ve ever seen. He left a putter where he was #1 in the world and won a U.S. Open, a Masters, and multiple others instantly. Just that should tell you what we got here.
For me? I’ve ditched the Jailbird for an Ai-One 7CH…it’s mint.
Happy Hunting
LFG
JDub
