New putters
Sacks-Parente Drac putter: What you need to know
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The new Drac (short for Dracula) mallet putter from Sacks-Parente takes the traditional “fang” design, but updates it by using a lightweight shaft and grip combined with a head loaded with 100 grams of tungsten to foster a better forward roll while promoting a better stroke.
PRICE/AVAILABILITY: The Drac is available immediately at a cost of $400.
3 Cool Things
1. Lighten things up
Sacks-Parente, named for company founders Steve Sacks and Rich Parente (founder of Hickory Stick, the forerunner of Callaway Golf), use an ultralight graphite shaft (sub-40 grams or approximately 1 gram per inch of shaft length) and special reduced weight grip (35 grams or less, or half the weight of many typical putter grips) to shift the majority of the club’s balance within five inches of the sole of the putter.
What does that do? The lightweight grip is designed to encourage a natural release of the hands in the stroke, while the shaft maintains a low torque despite its lighter weight. The idea is that by concentrating the heft in the head, a player can more easily produce a natural pendulum motion and can more freely control the clubhead’s path and face angle by not having to work so hard to do it.
2. Adding weight back
Of course, you can’t just take weight out of the shaft and grip. Doing so without putting it back into the head would make for a poor-feeling (not to mention likely poor-performing) putter. Here, 50 grams of tungsten are added to the forward heel and toe areas. This not only boosts the moment of inertia to help lessen ball speed loss on mis-hits, but by having more weight forward, it reduces spin and promotes a truer roll.
“We are firm believers in weight forward in all our putters,” said Mike Ferris, chief strategy and growth officer for Sacks-Parente. “We conduct a bunch of roll tests and there’s virtually no skid on these putters, despite them having 3 degrees of loft.”
3. A different take on a familiar look
Sacks-Parente putters are known for their unique takes on traditional shapes and the Drac is no different. Milled (including the face) in the U.S. from a 6000-series aluminum alloy blend, the company’s engineers took the familiar fang-shaped mallet putter design but put their own spin on it.
The end product features an aluminum-milled pattern design on the crown that has a single alignment dot. Although minimalistic, it is unobtrusive to the eye when looking down at the putter. The sole of the putter boasts an artistic illustration of a bat that embodies the Drac name.
“Our philosophy has always been that we're not going to put funky designs in front of golfers, that's just not what we do,” said Ferris. “We want them to feel comfortable with the design and then we'll fit our technology within it and that’s what we’ve done here.”