After coming up pretty much empty in my quest to demo a Bobby Jones, ANY Bobby Jones club at my 3 local golf shops (shame, shame on you all), I decided to make the most of what would have been an otherwise wasted trip by spending a little time with two of the new putters on the market for the 2008 season.

As you may remember from my earlier Nike and Cleveland Filling My Bag posts, I’m very interested in the idea that improving one’s putting is potentially as simple as pulling a couple of tricks (high-tech as they may be) on the ol’ peepers. The approaches taken by Cleveland and Nike differ dramatically, and in truth, it’s probably not fair one way or the other to call the Cleveland VP series “visual acuity” putters. While Nike is all about the science of color, and eliminating distractions, the Cleveland system is more about making sure the golfer is lined up correctly over the ball. In short, it’s all about alignment. Differences aside, however; the intended design and function of both goes beyond the standard feel and roll components of putter design, which I think makes a (putter) head to (putter) head comparison reasonable.

Nike IC Series

In case you’re unaware, the idea behind the Nike IC series is basically this; if you can blend unimportant elements of the putter into the background, while creating high contrast against more important design elements (alignment aids for example), the golfer is more able to eliminate distractions, while his eyes are naturally focused on the important parts of the putter, and, of course, the putt itself.

I was able to test both the Nike IC20-10 and the IC20-20. The face design is nearly identical, it’s simply a blade vs. mallet difference. The head itself is an unappealing mossy green coupled with the brightest white alignment aid I’ve ever seen. Again, it’s all about creating contrast, and if nothing else, the IC series definitely does.

While I wasn’t able to take the IC putters out on grass, I did test them on two different turf set ups. The first was a very bright green (almost like a fresh range mat), while the other was a more subdued, darker green. In both cases, the IC did what it’s supposed to do; it blended into the background. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not talking about becoming nearly invisible, or some strange chameleon-like superpower. I’m simply saying that there is something in the design that actually makes your eyes become less aware of the putter head itself, while still making those alignment lines stand out very prominently. While it’s never going to be the most aesthetically appealing putter, for my money, it does work exactly as described - and that’s because of the color pallete.

Unfortunately for Nike, good putter design is made up of both look and feel. There may be some people who like a putt to feel like you’ve just hit a rock with a lead pipe, I’m not one of them. I feel like I have more control over a putt when the putter has a buttery-soft feel to it. The Nike IC series is the opposite of buttery (unless you keep your butter in the freezer), and so visual acuity aside (and I do love that aspect of the club), there’s not much chance one of these will find its way into my bag. There are plenty of people who disagree with me, and I’ve actually read several reviews that rave about the feel. As I said, it’s not a good choice for me, but I’d encourage you to check one out just to see how well the science works.

Cleveland VP Series

Cleveland’s approach to their new VP series is, in a sense, the complete opposite of Nike’s. Whereas Nike uses muted colors to try and get you to focus on things other than the putter head, Cleveland has incorporated a new alignment system designed to really get you to focus on where your eyes and body are in relation to the head. The alignment system works a little bit differently depending on whether it’s a blade, or mallet design, but the idea is the same; before you take a stroke, make sure both you and the putter are in the best position to sink the put.

Maybe I’m getting old or something, but I’m starting to think it’s about time I gave some serious thought to a blade style putter. If forced to choose, I would take the Nike 20-10 over the 20-20, and the same holds true with the Cleveland as preferred the look of the VP #1 blade to the VP #5 mallet.

With the VP #1, the idea is to move your body closer, or farther from the ball until the orange line is perfectly centered in the opening of the white alignment aid. With the VP #5, you’re supposed to re-position yourself such that the holes in the center channel of the mallet head are no longer visible.

The system itself works well enough, but I had to keep reminding myself to adjust my body, as my inclination was to simply adjust the lie of the putter until everything lined up properly. Clearly my technique isn’t going to help you sink more putts. Quite frankly, I may not be smart enough to carry a Cleveland VP Series putter.

My feeling is that both the Nike and Cleveland models roll very well, however; since I was limited to practice on turf, real world performance very well could differ from my “lab” tests. Take it for what it’s worth, which probably isn’t much.

With respect to feel, the Cleveland was a dramatic improvement over the Nike, which again, isn’t saying all that much. The Cleveland design utilizes a face insert to help improve the feel. Generally speaking I’m not a big fan of inserts (the TaylorMade AGSI+ being about the only exception). So many companies (Yes, Boccieri’s Heavy Putter, and reportedly the new Bettinardi models to name a few) have found a way to get ball rolling quickly and maintain a soft feel without using inserts, that in most cases, I don’t see a need for them anymore. My experience has been that inserts tend to be a little less resilient to the little unavoidable things that do damage to golf clubs.

As much as I dislike the feel, the Nike IC really is a better system for putting (if you want to call it a system). I don’t know about you, but my game suffers when I start over-thinking things. The Cleveland VP series, as well-intended as it may be, gives you something else to think about, something extra to check before each putt. The Nike IC putters actually remove distractions, leaving you with only the important stuff (like sinking a 20 footer to win a side bet) to focus on.

The actual visual alignment aids on the Nike putters are significantly more effective than their Cleveland counterparts. While the Cleveland designs allow you to make sure your body is in the right position (which in an of itself could be enough), the alignment aids for the golf ball itself, are lacking a bit (admittedly there right in line with what you’ll find on most other putters). Cleveland isn’t doing it badly, it’s just that Nike IC series does it better.

Truthfully, I’m not likely to put either of these putters into my bag, but my personal feel preferences aside, the Nike is the clear winner.

Have you tried either the Cleveland VP Series or the Nike IC Series putters? Please share your thoughts with our readers.

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