Losing my putter this fall may have been a bit of a blessing in disguise.

Putting had been a weak area of my game for a while, I rarely got the ball to the hole on putts longer than 12-15 feet. Generally, I’d lag it close and it might just have enough steam to fall over the edge. You don’t make a whole lot of putts that way.

Since the Ping Craz-E One wasn’t available yet and I needed a putter, I shopped around and ended up picking up a Callaway i-trax. I also seriously considered some of the Never Compromise models, but the i-trax was the most comfortable fit for me.

The i-trax is one of the putters Bob Bettinardi created for Callaway after Callaway bought Top Flite. Bettinardi had been creating putters under the Ben Hogan brand (like the Big Ben and Baby Ben that Jim Furyk used to win the US Open) for Top Flite, and has since moved on to Mizuno.

Anyway, the i-trax is a milled aluminum mallet putter with interchangeable “vision strips”. I use the 3 lines rather than the Callaway chevrons. The head is a little heavier than some, and swings nicely. The face is really hot, which is what I think I like so much about the putter.

The same putting stroke that would send a ball 10 ft with my old putter, will send the ball 15 ft or so with the i-trax. As a result, I can make a shorter, more controlled stroke and get the ball to the hole better. I also get a much better initial roll with the i-trax than I did previously. This may be the result of a better stroke, and it may also have something to do with the putter.

Putting still isn’t a strength of my game yet, but it’s becoming less and less of a liability. Holing 8-10 ft putts is a great way to save strokes. 🙂