Highly touted by the TaylorMade design team as one of the most stable putters they’ve ever created, the Ghost Spider S Putter has a dramatically higher MOI (moment of inertia) than previous mallet putters they’ve designed. The result of the increased MOI is said to deliver a putter head that is easier to control and square the face at impact. Currently the only people who’ve laid eyes (and hands) on this breakthrough putter are PGA Tour pros like Jason Day, Pat Perez and Rory Sabbatini… until just last week, when our pals at TaylorMade hooked us up with a demo putter of our own! They asked us to put it in our bag and see what happens on the greens. We followed their advice and today we’re prepared to share the results of our testing sessions with you!
I’ve Never putted with anything this easy to square, this easy to control, and that feels this good. Nothing compares to the Ghost Spider S.– Jason Day, PGA Tour Pro
Key Features:
- 6030 MOI makes it easy to square the face at impact to start the ball on your inteded line, delivers tremendous twist-resistance on the backswing and off-center hits and promotes phenomenal distance control for more one-putts and fewer three-putts.
- Tour-designed crown flows smoothly into the outer frame for less distraction.
- Black/white frame and single white center-line promotes focus, accurate aim and stroke awareness.
- PureRoll Surlyn insert promotes incredibly soft-yet-solid feel and smooth roll off the face.
- Single-bend, short-slant hosel with face-balanced/30° toe-down promotes stability on all stroke types.
- Adjustable heel and toe weights located at the back of the putter.
Specs:
- Length: 33″, 34″, 35″
- Head Weight: 360g
- Shaft: Single Bend
- Loft: 2.5 degrees
- Lie: 70 degrees
In addition to the standard hosel, the Ghost Spider S Putter is also available in a Tour-inspired “short slant” hosel designed for the player who swings on an arc. Unlike the standard hosel, which promotes a straight back-straight thru swing path, the short-slant is toe-weighted to broaden the scope of players who can benefit from the performance characteristics of the Ghost Spider S.
– The Review –
Feel:
(8 out of 10) If you’ve never utilized a mallet style putter then the Spider S’s head shape may through you for a loop at first glance. Visually it looks more like a spaceship than a putter to some, and unless you’re able to sink some putts with it be prepared to catch a little grief from your playing partners over its XL size. Luckily for us after a few sessions on the practice greens we were dialed in quickly and the heckling was left in the club house. The Spider S has a wonderful grip that is easy to handle and delivers excellent response through the entire putting stroke. When striking the ball nothing more than a crisp “thunk” is registered audibly by the PureRoll Surlyn insert. This putter’s non-classic design can take a few practice sessions to get used to, but in out opinion it’s well worth it!
Alignment:
(8.5 out of 10) Looking down on the Ghost Spider S Putter you’ll find a familiar single white line designated for alignment surrounded by black, which is then surrounded by the white frame of the putter. The single white line is great for alignment in our opinion, but the Spider S helps you align in two ways… the white frame that extends across the front edge also gives you excellent contrast against the green, helping to keep the putter on-line though impact. We do however wish the alignment line on top could have been some how extended all the way to the front of the putter instead of just the middle. That being said we still found the Spider S to be quite accurate overall.
Design:
(9 out of 10) Say what you will about its somewhat large, science fiction inspired head, but when we unsheathed the Spider from its head cover we found it to be extremely stylish, eye appealing and best of all, purely functional! Its multi-material head provides excellent contrast making alignment a breeze on putts of all lengths. We were also quite impressed with its overall stability, which is no joke!! (more on that later). For golfers who have an issue with their putting stroke coming though a little toe or heel heavy, TaylorMade has also outfitted the Spider S with two adjustable weights to help keep the face square at impact. Though in our experience little or no adjustment was necessary.
Consistency:
(9 out of 10) Throughout our testing the Spider S proved to be shockingly consistent in both distance control and accuracy with much of the credit going to its impressive 6030 MOI which is keeps the club face stable and square at impact. Its ability to stay squared on off-center shot is what impressed us most. Rarely do you see a miss-hit putt find the hole, but with this putter we saw it time and time again. We were also happy to find that the Spider S rolls the ball very smoothly. On impact there is very little and often no “bobbling” of the golf ball. Meaning distance is very easy to judge with this putter even after minimal practice. If the saying “drive for show and putt for dough” is true, we’d be happy to have the Spider S in our bag when money gets involved.
Value:
(8.5 out of 10) In a perfect world we’d find the Spider S priced between $140 and $150. That being said it’s still a very good value at its current $180 asking price. And as with all TaylorMade equipment it comes backed by their consumer warranty which promises to repair or replace any defective golf clubs. A nice piece of mind when shelling out almost 200 big ones!
The Bottom Line:
We highly recommend the Ghost Spider S Putter from Taylormade to any golfer who is looking to upgrade their flat stick this season. Its ridiculous MOI makes it perfect not only for golfers who struggle to break 100, but also for scratch golfers who are constantly looking for and edge over the competition. The Spider S has a lot going for it, but what we like best is it consistency on both long and short putts. Accuracy and distance control is difficult to master… with the Spider S you’re ahead of the game straight out of the gate. Do yourself a favor and check out the Spider S at your local pro shop or sporing goods store and take it for a test spin yourself, we think you quickly understand exactly what we’re talking about.Buy Now: $179 or go to: TaylorMadeGolf.com
[…] we had a chance to fully test and review the new TaylorMade Ghost Spider S Putter and now we’re giving one away to one lucky fan! That’s right… spring has sprung […]
I would like to try one. My putting is the weak link in my game.
Need help with my putting