Despite leading several product category counts on Tour, TaylorMade are still working on dominating the putter category.
Over the years they have created some nice shapes and clever high MOI designs, but usually the proliferation of the Surlyn based insert across the range has detracted from otherwise pretty good putters. However the TaylorMade Ghost Tour Black putter range could be the start of something new.
In the previous Ghost Tour range, the 8020 Pure Roll insert was 80% Surlyn and 20% aluminium. Now in the Ghost Tour Black putters it is 100% milled 6061 aluminium that still gives the soft feel, but with a much better sound.
Sound is an important part of the feel equation for most golfers and that is why metal faced putters always score highly for me as they give you this extra feedback that not all non-metal insert putters provide.
The TaylorMade Ghost Tour Black is much better in this regard than pretty much any of the preceding insert putters they have done, so hopefully they will continue down this path. I say continue because whilst it did give a very good feel, it could have been a little sharper as the overall feel was still a little muted.
Regardless of the length of putt, it was very consistent in the feedback and it felt lovely if you got it out of the middle, which is easier said than done as the Tour nature of these designs means that the sweetspot is relatively small.
The 304 Stainless Steel head also feels relatively heavy at 355 grams, but better players will probably prefer that. There is a choice of 4 head shapes that are tried and trusted on Tour with a lie of 70° and a loft of 3°. Each is named after motor racing tracks, hence the chequered flag graphic on the sole that looks pretty cool if you catch the light at the right angle.
As well as the face balanced Monte Carlo, 40° toe hang Daytona and 60° toe hang Indy designs, there is also the 80° toe hang Maranello below that I tried. On each of them I do like the long white alignment line on the back of the putter that contrasts with the matte black PVD finish.
Maybe that is the Ghost part in the name, as unlike all the other TaylorMade Ghost putters there is not much white on the putter head, unless it has been scared off by those pesky kids.
The Ghost Tour Black putters come with a Golf Pride pistol grip as standard, but there is a wide range of optional grips from TaylorMade, Iomic and SuperStroke if you prefer to get your hands on something else.
If you are a better player and like the TaylorMade style then the Ghost Tour Black putters are easily the ones to go for if you are in the market for a blade style putter.