Seeking to capitalise on the success of its Spider Tour mallet franchise, TaylorMade has introduced a scaled-down version of the club – the Spider Mini, a putter built on the Spider Tour platform, but without the “wings” in back, creating a smaller footprint for golfers seeking a mallet, but in a sleeker look.
As a result, the Spider Mini is 15 percent smaller in head size compared to Spider Tour. Because of the smaller head size, the centre of gravity is moved more forward, promoting a feel during the release in the stroke that is closer to a blade. The movement takes the centre of gravity from 37 millimetres from the leading edge of the putter to 30mm from the leading edge – nearly 20 percent closer.
The putter also includes TaylorMade’s Pure Roll insert where grooves are angled at 45 degrees to promote better forward roll. An adjustable sole weight allows players who want heavier options the ability to do so. The weights, which will be sold separately, are available in 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15 and 20-gram options. A new T-Line sightline on the crown was the direct result of tour player feedback. Dustin Johnson used a prototype of the putter at last month’s Players Championship.
The Spider Tour model accounts for two-thirds of TaylorMade’s market share in the putter category, helping the company rise to the No.3 putter brand according to tracking firm Golf Datatech’s most-recent reports and this new offering should do nothing but bolster that business going forward.
The face-balanced putters carry a price of $US299 and will be offered in both right and left-handed models as well as in the company’s Tour Red and Diamond Silver colours. The stock grip is a SuperStroke Pistol GTR 1.0. The putter comes in lengths of 33, 34 and 35 inches.
