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Nostalgia is a tried-and-true marketing tactic. Get your audience believing a retro product will make them feel younger by transporting them back to their more innocent years and rake in the proceeds.
Sometimes, you can spot the cynical opportunism of such a move from a mile away because the "new" product is a cheap facsimile of the old. But in the case of Odyssey's new White Hot OG line of putters, there's real value in the past. Parent company Callaway Golf has married the putter shapes and insert materials from 2000's original White Hot line with a measure of contemporary innovation.
If you were playing golf around the turn of this century, you recall how Odyssey came to prominence in the putter market, first by the introduction of its White Hot putters, featuring an insert made of the same material as Callaway's then-nascent golf balls. In 2001, the unveiling of the 2-Ball putter shape changed the game with regard to mallet putters. Some 20 years on from those original releases, around half of the pros who use Odyssey putters on the PGA Tour still use those old White Hot inserts, citing a preference for the feel, even over milled steel and newer insert materials. Why not revive such a winner?
The twist this time is, wisely, subtle. The OG putters ($219.99) feature that familiar insert and familiar shapes, from the 2-Ball to the half-mallet Rossie and #5 (the first insert putter I ever used). The newer but uber-popular #7 model, whose advent postdates the original White Hot days, gets its own representation in the line, too. Weight ports in the sole and the option to use Odyssey's StrokeLab shaft inject just the right amount of newness into an old standby.
What's cooler than a trusty old golf club?
Comments (1)
I had an XG#7 putter, after much successful use the 'White Hot' face started to bubble. I contacted Callaway ( Australia) who did not hesitate to replace the putter. By then the XG was no longer in the line up. They gave me a Versa of similar shape, the insert was black. This putter has performed well for a long time.