Piretti Putter Review:
I’ve been looking for a “travel” or “backup”putter for quite awhile. You know, the putter you bring out when it is raining, or you are traveling and have multiple layovers and transfers. My 2001 Scotty Cameron Mil-Spec has been in my bag since I purchased it in early 2002. With all of the turmoil surrounding Titleist earlier this year, not to mention the extremely difficult task to replace a 36” putter I finally decided to take the plunge and get a backup. I did my homework on various putters and even did my usual e-bay trolling to find something that came close- to no avail.
During the last day of the 2011 PGA Merchandise Show, I stumbled on the Piretti Putters booth. After rolling some putts on a 35” putter and speaking with Michael Johnson among others, I decided to spring on a 36” Cortino in the Matte Midnight Black Finish. Of course they only had 35’s there, so I had to have one shipped from the factory. No big. Of course I really haven’t had a chance to use it on a decent green until Memorial Day weekend, so here you go: The Homeless review of a Piretti Cortino.
The Good:
The 1st thing that drew to the Piretti line was the look. From speaking with them, they mentioned that they were committed to making putters like Scotty Cameron used to, you know back in the late 90’s early 2000’s. Since I’ve started playing golf (really in 2001) I loved the black Scotty Cameron Newports (remember those?). Of course they were discontinued before I really knew how to get a hold of one, and good luck trying to get a reasonably priced one on the bay. The deep almost satin black finish on this putter reminds me of those early Cameron’s by Titleist. It’s a nice contrast to the pro-platinum on my Mil-Spec.
After getting the putter I was impressed by the attention to detail. Nice clean milling, smooth finishing and nice crisp lines- including some subtle Ionic style fluting on the back of the plumbers’ neck. From what I gather, what made Scotty Cameron into what he has become was that he took the standard PING Anser series putter shapes and made putters that were much more refined and elegant. You can definitely tell the difference when you put one of the earlier PING Ansers (the ones with the mailing address in the cavity) next to an older Scotty Cameron (Mizuno or Titleist). The lines on the Cameron were clean, and crisp not to mention the milled face of the Cameron vs. the smooth face of the PING. It made the PING look like a cheap(er) copy of the Cameron, not that the Cameron was a copy of the PING. When comparing the Piretti to my Cameron they are pretty close if not the same in this regard. (See picture)
Finally, this putter is milled from Carbon Steel, not the 303 Stainless Steel that most Cameron production putters are made from. Why is this a big deal? Well, carbon and stainless steel are different animals. Stainless is slightly harder which gives a different feel off the putter face. The early Camerons were all carbon steel. I can remember some prototypes and special editions being made from 303 German Stainless (Studio Stainless?). I guess with the rage of the softer ball revolution started by the Pro-V1, Scotty has compensated with making the putter out of a harder material to compensate. I (usually) use the Pro-V1x, which is slightly harder than the Pro-V1, so I prefer the carbon steel to stainless. In using the Piretti over 36 holes I think it has a slightly harder feel than my Cameron, but not enough to be annoying. It was my 1st two real rounds of the year, so I wasn’t using Pro-V1x’s for much of the round(s). I’ll need some more time with them to really give a more accurate assessment.
The Bad:
Ok, this isn’t really bad, but work with me here. Piretti makes putters with a standard of 2.5 degrees of loft. This is different. The standard for putters industry wide seems to be 4 degrees. Does 1.5 degrees really make a difference? It does to this golfer. With my Cameron, my ball positioning in my setup is slightly behind center- like less than a 1/4” from centered between my feet. For my stroke, this is where I seem get the purest roll and best results. When I set up in the same position with the Piretti, the ball would hop- which means there was negative loft on the face which drove the ball into the ground upon contact. Part of it could have been the putting green at this facility which was sloooooooooow to say the least not to mention cut pretty long. The contact sound was not very good, it was a muted thud like sound, not the crisp ‘click’ I was used to from a milled face putter. It was only after a couple of putts on a “normal” putting green I was able to determine that I needed to move my ball position about 1.5” forward in order to get the same roll from my Piretti that I got from my Cameron. Is it a coincidence that I need to move my ball 1.5” due to the 1.5 degrees of loft? I have no idea. Without a high speed camera I’ll never know. It’s just an observation.
While this isn’t a big deal, I just move my ball position depending on which putter I am using for any given round. For some golfers out there, this would be a big no-no even if they were able to figure it out. Perhaps I’m just different (I’ve heard that before, believe me) but it could be a potential turnoff to someone- not to mention perhaps putting some doubt in one’s mind about their putting stroke, where no problem exists. Again, this isn’t a big deal to me, and perhaps I’m nitpicking, but hey. It’s my review.
The Ugly:
Whereas the “bad” portion isn’t really bad, this section is ugly. The only thing that I don’t like about my Piretti Cortino putter is the grip. I believe all Piretti Putters come stock with a rubber ‘Etched’ Lampkin grip. I didn’t think much of it when I ordered it and perhaps the putter I demo’ed at the PGA Show had a different one, but I don’t like the grip at all. For a putter retailing at its high end price point ($275) the grip just feels “cheap”- like it doesn’t measure up to the rest of the product. Even the putter shaft is a True Temper shaft, which is quality. Now that I’m back on the East Coast in the South, where golf season goes hand in hand with high levels of humidity, the grip annoys me- bad enough for me to notice. Of course this is the easiest thing to change, and I am seriously considering a change either to a leather like grip or to a cord, like I have on my Cameron.
Conclusion:
The Cortino series of putters by Piretti Golf is a traditional Anser/Newport styled blade (the Piretti Cottonwood line seems to be more in the line of a Cameron Newport 2 for those who care) which is close to a early Titleist Cameron if not dead on- but with a slight twist. When Scotty Cameron entered the putter market in the early 90’s he raised the bar on what a boutique, professional quality putter was. With the entry of Piretti in the market here in 2011, they are already (in my mind) equal to such boutique putter makers as Bettnardi and Bobby Grace if they have not already surpassed them in overall quality. They aren’t mass produced excuses for a putter like an Odyssey or Callaway or Nike (who’s putter line was a joke before the Method…but that’s another post). This niche is pretty full with the aforementioned Messrs. Bettnardi and Grace. However, the gap has now never been narrower between the top end and the pack- with Piretti leading the charge. As a result, times have never been so good for golfers everywhere with another choice to consider when making a purchase. Thank you, Piretti Golf. www.pirettigolf.com
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