When you put The Brick putter down at address, you can see why Edel gave it this name as it looks like a large black rectangle behind the ball.
However for something with a premium feel that looks more dramatic from below and behind, I am sure they could have come up with something a little more stylish, stealthy or sinister to really give it some marketing punch. To say 'I am playing with a Brick' is not normally a positive phrase, but when it comes to performance, that does not need a name.
The Brick is the shape it is because it is a torque balanced putter, which means that it is designed so that the face does not rotate through impact and therefore stays square to the target line for longer.
It achieves this by placing all the weight in shaft using an internal 50g weight in the heel of the club under the hosel where the double bend shaft meets the head.
The 335g head also includes a 12g weight as standard, but this can be swapped with a 6g or 21g version if you purchase the optional additional weight kit.
Balance the putter on your palm and you will see that the toe points up to the heavens.
The face is kept balanced by the dramatic circles in the rear of the putter that put more of the weight towards the front of the putter and give it a cool look
Just behind the face is the 'deep-cut sound slot' that gives the Brick its distinctive ping sound, when you hit it right, as otherwise the sound does vary.
In some ways this gives you clear feedback on whether you have hit the putt correctly, but it does seem a bit variable.
However with the all metal head you do get a great feel and really this is a precision instrument that skilled putters will appreciate because it gives you a high level of feedback.
I do like the look at address because the long clean black lines of the face make it very easy to align the head towards your target.
Where you are then supposed to place the ball relative to the head is a little bit of a mystery as there is no alignment mark for the sweet spot. It's all just trial and error and I suppose you will find it over time. For me it was just the heel side of centre that seemed to give the best results, not always with a 'ping', but some sort of mark would help with the consistency of finding whatever position you found.
I would be sorely tempted to get a hacksaw and some white paint out and create my own alignment line on top, even if that did spoil the classy good looks of the 'Durable Black Armor' finish.
The rubber grip gets a special mention as it is oversized with a decent flat front and rounded shape that gives your hands plenty to hold on to.
The more I putted with the Brick the more it grew on me as I understood the subtleties of the different sounds and feel depending on where I hit the ball on the face.
The face alignment promoted by the bold shape made it very good on short putts, but even over longer range, the torque balance design made it easy to keep the face online.
As a toe up putter it suited my straight stroke very well and the feel was excellent. I like the look at address and more generally, but something is holding me back from going crazy over it.
I enjoy putting with it as it gave great feedback and that is probably the issue as if you don't get it just right then you will know about it. Whether it is the lack of a mark to line up the centre of the putter face or the varying sounds that confuse the feedback, it's not as forgiving in an overall sense as other premium putters on the market and I would very reluctantly have put it to one side.
Like blade irons, if you are a highly skilled putter then this premium weapon will give you the extra feedback you might need, but for most there are similar models that would give the same results with less effort and more margin for error.
I really hate to say that, as there are a lot of good things I like about the Brick like the easy face alignment, so try it out yourself as and let me know what you think, as I don't want to give it a bad name.