Zen ZA1 Prototype

em...i had a game tomorrow in palm spring...

really make me wanted to give this putter a try ...hand itchy liao...haha !!

master..can i ?..haha !!

DGman wrote:

the very nice midslant bronze is now at SFG....i do not have any of those left...

but you can still try the ms slight dot and the ms with the special shaft.

DGman

Any of them meant for me, cos I will come down now if they are!



~ icebocc ~

*** Someone will not be bragging this week cos I won my money back! ***

icebocc wrote:

DGman wrote:

the very nice midslant bronze is now at SFG....i do not have any of those left...

but you can still try the ms slight dot and the ms with the special shaft.

DGman

Any of them meant for me, cos I will come down now if they are!



~ icebocc ~

*** Someone will not be bragging this week cos I won my money back! ***

Wau, like that also can... must close computer come down quick quick liao...bye..

Wow, these putters especially the slant neck one...really no horse run...I so scare til dare not touch a second time...If only I have enough vitamin M...Anybody want a TP milled putter ??

Technospaz wrote:

S70B wrote:

Technospaz wrote:

Out of curiosity, would you keep these putters as part of a collection or do you game them? They look way too pretty to be gamed but I bet they game darn well.

TS, never ask a golfer what he does with all his equipment.

Anyway, some will be gamed, some won't. It depends on how desperate I am of saving my golf game.

DGman, I just re-read your post on the special shaft. I sure hope its not really 59 miles of steel fibre per shaft. Thats alot of steel!!!!

LOL! Yah... better not to say anything Don't get me wrong... I have an Odyssey putter which remains unused and yet, I want more more more!!!

stop that addiction.....

They don't call it an addiction for nothing

Eric, thanks for the putter ... very nice and soft feeling .... may be selling my Ody WH Tour and Ping Redwood putters ... haha ...

DGman wrote:

that is done...Rex...do you want me to ship it to you? 34 inch 69 degree lie, ping man black double wrapped?

btw Icebocc....the shaft you have tested is a special graphite shaft wrapped with 59 miles of steel fiber. it is made by Aerotech and we are doing some joint development to test its feasibility as a putter shaft.

we will complete the frequency testing today and i should have the reading versus a regular steel shaft. the way the putter was performing yesterday, i think the shaft will be a big success. In fact CR came in on friday, putted with the same shaft and asked me if he can have it in his ZO. (he is using that putter on tour).

maybe we can ask Aerotech to make the shafts available in different colours.

anyone wants to test, its available at BM for the next few days.

DGman

can let me try one ?

Lamts18...at least you are the first left hander and the 2nd one is a Pro....

i think from his reaction, he is very happy to be using it....he must thank Shotah for the update.

addiction about nothing?...i think someone did not get the usual NS reply today.

DGman

i may want to try it with the aerotech shafts ...

DGman wrote:

Lamts18...at least you are the first left hander and the 2nd one is a Pro....

i think from his reaction, he is very happy to be using it....he must thank Shotah for the update.

addiction about nothing?...i think someone did not get the usual NS reply today.

DGman

Hahaha...this someone still have a NS reply lah..one important part of the putter..so no choice, no fish, prawn also can...fitted..

This left hand Pro, think quite happy, than more and more things start changing...hahaha

MC your feedback needed....

btw Bob...the guy who took the centreshafted sms me last nite...looks like he is not coming back to the shop anymore.

DGman

Oh nooo............there goes the centre shaft.....it's ok.At least it is with a happy owner. I think still have the slant neck..

towkay,
yur zen putters wat models r there??

i think we have a couple of shortslant 350g heads plus plumbers neck 355 g. lie angle 69 degrees. maybe a bronze PN.

i have asked for more CS to be milled cos they are a pleasant surprise.

DGman

Wasted. Bronze with PN.....Must put on thining cap liao...SS or PN bronze....

after all the ruckus and wooha... heckling eric for zen blades when he was introducing the zen oracle in toonshouse the other time, going around him and emailing nick middleton for a customer order of zen blades, and mr. middleton referring me back to eric, then with eric laughing at me, after a long year of waiting, just to learn that i missed out on the first shipment because i was not in singapore at that time, then finally managing to lay my hands on this baby last week.


oh. it is so damn worth the wait. there is even more of a story of my acquiring this putter finally. it involves with me rummaging through the stores of bigfish, getting caught, answering the consequences then escaping custody and then more 'harold-and-kumar' antics.

ok. objective review time~!

Technology - Reduced Dimple Error
When I first heard about Zen and did some reading on their 'RDE'. It made alot of sense to me and I am an immediate believer to it. There has been others that do not have the same agreement with me. Comparing it to Rife's Grooves, Scotty's millings/inserts and claiming that they are actually all the same. To me, it just feels different. This is prelude to even owning a ZEN. I have gave the Zen Oracle alot of tries. In the den with the demos and with my sister's little iddy-biddy 30" Zen Oracle out in the greens. My sister's putting has improved greatly since she was using the Zen. She was using the Ping Crazee before that came with a junior set. Right now, we are further improving her putting with change of putting grips and drills. I just did not dive into the Zen Oracle as I did not like the flush set up and the whole mallet thing. I was already beginning my transition from mallet putting to blades back then. I did not want to go back to mallets as I am starting to like the 'feel' of blades more rather than the forgiveness and deadness of mallets.

Looks
The first thing that struck me greatly about the ZA2 is the matte finish. Although it is sliver/gray in colour, it did not really shine or reflect the sun back into my eyes as with some other putter that i have tried. I was going to talk about the clean, flush look of the putter but realised that most other blades today all have the same look. It may just be me and my love for my new toy but I think the ZA2 looks abit cleaner or simpler than others. Maybe my Ping Anser also started rusting that much that a new putter is now refreshing to my eyes.

Performance
My setup is a 345g head, short mid-slant, 35" long with a TT Stepless Putter Shaft and also with no-other but the Ping Blackout Grip. The putter feels REALLY soft and I would even dare to say as soft as Scotty's insert putters which before was the softest putters that I have ever used. I was fanatically looking for Mid-slant Blade putters with inserts before. But the ZA2 is the real answer to my quest. My ball rolls well and it sticks to the line, sometimes abit too firmly for my comfort. There were a couple of putts that I made; either I mis-read the line or have gave it too much strength, the putt just stuck firmly to the line. As this is a very much a personal feel thing and I do not mean to really make it sound like a cliche, but it is just beyond words. I can now aggressively go for the hole. My putts for that day mostly went behind the hole, rather than short of the hole like what most people who play with me will see. Statistically-wise, it has not been really impressive but I am giving it a benefit of a doubt as it has only been 1 run, its a new putter and I need time to get used to it.

In a nut-packet (I am mUAr_cHEe after all)
This putter would most probably stay in my bag for a LONG LONG time. Before I like my Ping Anser alot. Yes, I have been a whore and unfaithful a-hole and changing my putters ever so frequently, but I still went back to my Ping at the end of the day. Statistically, I am also playing better with my Ping Anser; 31 putts. On an average, my Ping is giving me about 34 putts a game. That is 3 to 4 strokes less than using other putters; Scotty Detour 2, Nickent Pipe (but that gave me my best; 27 putts), TP Mills Soft-tail, TP Mills Klassic. I believe the ZEN would be better, as it does look better and feels better. Only time can tell.

Thanks MC.....this really give a different spin to my wish for my xmas present liao.....but a good headache nonetheless

Like that...Den here I come in the evening...

really so gggoooodd ah? hmmm any T loans to try??? can reserve 1 to try this weekend?

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

...My ball rolls well and it sticks to the line, sometimes abit too firmly for my comfort...

This sounds so wrong...

nothing is perfect.

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

This putter would most probably stay in my bag for a LONG LONG time.

So this is the same as the "end of journey" thread????



Eh.. I think you'll change putter before the year is up....

Ssquirrel wrote:

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

This putter would most probably stay in my bag for a LONG LONG time.

So this is the same as the "end of journey" thread????



Eh.. I think you'll change putter before the year is up....

+1

kena again lor.......

MT, the Rage and Jason can make you know who change putter next month.