Toulon Golf 2024 First Run Collection putters: What you need to know

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Toulon Golf releases its 2024 First Run line of milled putters, which features 11 total models across eight head shapes, including four blade head styles and four mallet head styles with various toe hang options to accommodate a range of stroke types. The fully milled designs, including a double fly mill cut treatment on the face, are made of 303 stainless steel with all of the models and one of the blades featuring a lightweight 6061 aluminum sole plate. The weight-saving plate takes mass out of the middle of the sole and redistributes to the heel and toe sole weights for improved stability on off-center hits.

PRICE: $600, $650 for “heavy-spec” versions. Eight models: Four blades (Madison, San Diego, Austin, New York City) and four mallets (Atlanta, Memphis, Las Vegas, Alacatraz). Shaft is the 129-gram (uncut, 39 inches) KBS CT Tour, which because of its low torque and stiffness is able to be used in standard and overlength, counterbalanced models, as well.

3 COOL THINGS

1. Portraits of the artist. The Toulon Golf 2024 First Run line of putters returns the brand to the passion project of its founder Sean Toulon, the patriarch of the father-and-sons collaboration that is once again running the line of boutique-style milled putters that have grown to have consistent success on the professional tours around the world, including 63 worldwide wins.

That return starts with this collection of familiar designs that range from classic heel-toe weighted cavity back blades like the Madison and San Diego to the compact and winged mid-mallet shapes like the Atlanta and Las Vegas. As it has been since it began as a startup back in 2015, the main Toulon Golf line features fully milled stainless steel designs, but the 2024 First Run includes some meaningful changes that have come in the last decade much of which was spent as part of the Odyssey brand, said Preston Toulon, who along with brother Tony joins father Sean in this restart.

“We’ve learned quite a bit actually,” he said. “From a performance standpoint we’ve made the standard weight heads a bit heavier—about eight grams or so. That’s in line with agronomical changes in golf, namely faster green speeds. Because of this, we wanted to pair it with a shaft that would be a touch stronger and lower torque. When we did that, we saw a slight gain in ball speed. This creates a chain reaction to sound and feel, which led us to a mill pattern with a bit more sound. We felt it created a nice harmony to the faster ball speed. We think if the speed is faster, the sound should be a bit louder to help the golfer with control.”

That face milling is another departure from past Toulon designs, which featured diamond-shaped milling marks and grooves. This approach may seem less complicated, but the father believes it meets the golfer in the area of putter design that always seems to matter most: feel.

“It’s a double fly cut, mid-depth,” he said. “It’s a very responsive but soft feel and a little bit of audio so you really get the idea of sound and feel working closely together.”

2. Weighting list. Sole plates have always been part of the Toulon putter design focus, and the 2024 First Run collection will feature lightweight aluminum sole cutouts that displace heavier stainless steel. The sole plates are part of the widebody blade, New York City, as well as all four mallet head styles (Atlanta, Memphis, Las Vegas, Alcatraz). That pushes more mass to the perimeter for heel and toe weights in the sole that create more stability on off-center hits. Even on the mallet designs, those weights are towards the very front of the sole to push the center of gravity forward for more efficient energy transfer and better face angle control.

The sole weights also are adjustable allowing the head weights to satisfy a range from 350 to nearly 400 grams. They’re available in five-gram increments from 5 to 25 grams. They also allow for the stock heads to accommodate the heavier heads, called “heavy-spec,” that are required for the overlength designs that have become popular on tour in the hands of players like Wyndham Clark, Rickie Fowler and Keegan Bradley. The standard head weight for the heavy-spec versions is 380 grams, compared to the stock head weight of 360 grams.

3. Knowing looks. The family of 11 models covers six familiar shapes and two new designs, all gently refined from models having tour success. On the blade side, there’s the Madison and San Diego, two versions of the well-known heel-toe weighted cavity blade. The Madison features softer curves, while the San Diego offers more squared-off edges. Both use an H1 plumber’s neck. There’s also the Austin, very much like the Madison but with taller and softer bumpers and a wider cavity, and the widebody blade New York City, which also features a longer plumber’s neck to better match up with the larger blade size.

On the mallet front, the four heads include the Atlanta, a slightly angled mid-mallet with a slant neck; the Memphis, a more rounded half-moon mallet with both double bend and flow neck options; the Las Vegas, a parallel-pronged design offered in both a plumber’s neck and double bend configuration; and the new Alcatraz, the largest mallet in the family with a squared off window in the flange framed by a back bar that marries the heel and toe sections (offered in both plumber’s neck and double bend orientations).

Each head in the family features a darker brown finish Toulon calls “brilliant chocolate.”

“This is super deep, super lustrous and I think very elegant,” Sean said. “I think it just sets off the rest of the product wonderfully.”