Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K putters for 2023: What you need to know

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Odyssey debuted the Tri-Hot 5K series of blade putters last year with the idea that through multiple materials (heavy tungsten, light aluminum and steel weights), a relatively traditional-shaped blade with a forward center of gravity could perform with the stability of a larger mallet. Now, Odyssey extends the idea to mallets by giving them a similar, blade-like forward center of gravity but very high stability on off-center hits for consistent distance and direction.

PRICE: $400 (12 overall models, including seven new options for 2023: Double Wide with double bend shaft, Triple Wide with center shaft, Rossie with double bend and slant neck, Seven with double bend, slant neck and crank hosel). Available at retail Feb. 3.

3 COOL THINGS
1. Blades like mallets? How about mallets like blades? Maybe it’s time we stopped categorizing putters as blades or mallets. Or at least stereotyping them. Because designs like the Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K, first introduced last year, sought to end the perception that a blade putter couldn’t have the forgiveness of a large mallet. (The “5K” is a reference to the putter’s moment of inertia being greater than 5,000 grams-centimeters squared, a measurement of stability on off-center hits that would put those blades as stable as a much larger mallet-type shape.) The key was the mix of heavy tungsten and steel with lightweight aluminum in the multimaterial construction of these heads. That allowed the center of gravity to be closer to the face while at the same time providing extreme mass at the heel and toe for high stability on off-center hits. In short, blade control, blade feel and mallet forgiveness.

This year’s update to the Tri-Hot 5K line adds a couple of hosel options to the blade lineup, but then turns the whole blade-mallet debate on its head by offering up two mallet shapes that have the forward center of gravity you might see in a blade-like design with the overall stability and aiming benefits of a mallet. In fact, these mallets have a CG that’s nearly as forward as much smaller versions but because of the weight redistribution through the heavy tungsten pieces, it has a much higher MOI.

“It’s not just put all the weight up in the corners,” Dawson said. “It’s purposeful balancing. Putting the weight forward is probably our first priority and then get the inertia as high as we can, and the result is we get better dispersion down range. You see it in less twist and better ball speed robustness.”

These mallets use as much as 120 grams of tungsten inset in the back of the front section to push weight forward, while the 303 stainless steel front and hosel further move the CG toward the face. Interchangeable heel and toe sole weights let a player dial in the preferred total weight. Meanwhile the back section is lighter aluminum construction to help keep the weight forward.

2. Most favored shapes. These new mallets may do more to bend perceptions because they feature that forward CG location in some of the company’s more historically popular shapes. The clamshell-shaped Rossie was the first shape in company history, while the parallel-pronged Seven has been a stalwart for more than a decade.

The line features multiple hosel options within those recognizable shapes, too. The Rossie will feature the traditional double bend shaft for a face-balanced design that works best for straighter strokes, as well as a short slant neck hosel version that will have a degree of toe hang for players that prefer more face rotation in their strokes.

Meanwhile, the Seven is available in three neck options. The double bend is best for straighter strokes, the crank neck hosel is for strokes with slight arc, while the short slant neck offers the most toe hang for strokes that tend to open and close the face more.

3. Familiar feels. CG and MOI sound an awful lot like science, but we all know putting is about feel. That’s why all these models feature the ever-popular White Hot urethane blend face insert.

“It's very difficult for us to get those out of play on tour, and that’s why we went back to it with the White Hot OG putters,” said Luke Williams, senior director of product for Odyssey. “It has a great sort of relationship between the sound, the feel, the speed, the distance the ball travels, and those unique properties make it a really special material.”

The White Hot insert yields a softer impact feel but at the same time produces meaningful ball speed through its strong resiliency.

Further adding to the familiar is the latest iteration of Odyssey’s graphite-steel combination StrokeLab shafts. Awash in the familiar red seen routinely on tour, its lighter weight still comes with the stabiliity of that steel tip section. Odyssey’s research suggests the shaft helped with improvements in the consistency of the length of the backswing, club position, face angle in backswing, forward swing pace and face angle at impact.