Putter Talk

Profound Putters Dark Ace Review

There were very few NEW putters that I came across at the 2007 PGA Merchandise Show that I felt were worth bringing home. Everyone seemed to have a new gimmick, but most were available on any number of other putters. The few that really stood out were either because they were VERY bad, or very original. The Profound Putters booth was laid out in black carpet with orange accents everywhere…and no putting green. I HAD to find out what the deal was with a putter manufacturer making its debut without what some would consider the only essential element of the booth.

Craftsmanship:
This putter is a steel head that’s cast, and then face milled. The 375g head feels solid. When comparing it to other putters in it’s price-range, I think the craftsmanship is spot-on. I don’t see this as a collector’s item…it’s a putter that is meant to be played, or even used as a training aid.

Headcover:
Here’s a great example of a mallet putter with a REAL nice headcover. We’ve seen REAL bad ones in the past. You can tell that the designers at Pro-Found really took their time with this one. It is very solid, velvet lined, and the strong magnets keep it locked into place when it’s banging around in your bag.

Grip:
Profound Putters uses a Feeltec V3 Classic Paddle seamless design grip. It is very similar to the Winn AVS, but feels like it wouldn’t wear out as easily. That is a good thing if you ask me. I didn’t get a chance to play in in-climate weather with this putter, but I think it would remain pretty tacky all the way through.

I’m not a fan of skinny grips, and this one seemed to be nice and thick, without being overly squishy. Great grip in my opinion.

Address:
This is the part of the review you need to pay attention to. This is one of the best advancements in putting alignment I’ve seen in years. I’m not sure why no one else thought of this before, but it’s fantastic. Let me explain…or better yet, here is how the Profound Putters website explains it.

The 3Dinsight tracks are geometrically constructed by using the simple concept that a circular plane, or a disc, can be seen as a perfect straight line when two criteria’s apply. Parallel and perpendicular eyes to the edge of the circular plane.

Depending on misalignment one of the tracks will increasingly disappear behind its sidewall, while the other will appear increasingly elliptical. In other words, the image changes depending on eyes position in relation to the club head.

The mantra at Profound Putters is “Hide the Orange”. I wasn’t sure what that meant…until I picked up one of the putters. The Dark Ace’s alignment uses two white lines, that are the TOP of a 3-D allignment method they call “3Dinsight” The inside of the ‘hoops’ that make the white lines are orange. If your heel or toe is in the air, you’ll see orange. This is what keeps the putter’s MOI in the right place, and ensures that you’ll at least be striking the ball correctly. Whether or not you’ve read the green correctly is another story.

I have a pretty decent stroke, so I saw slivers of orange from time to time. My friend that picked it up in my office IMMEDIATELY said “The orange lines are distracting.” Mission accomplished.

Here is how the putter’s designer further explained the optical concept to me.

When you see no orange with a correctly fitted lie angle, your eyes will always be over the center of the clubhaed and over the ball, a unique visual alignment indication at all times. The putter then communicates your perfect set up or not through the whole round. It is actually the same indication as you get when practising with a mirror on a level surface, then you get eyes over ball indication. With our putters you get that same indication at all times, which helps you repeat your perfect set up position and AIM. To be able to get the ball rolling over that exact spot you chose as intermediate target, then you cannot have a skew view and aim, you need to be over the plane made up by ball center and targetline. This is what Profound Putters call Eyes on plane for true aim, and their unique alignment system get’s it right every time by that simple mantra - hide the orange - can it get any simpler then that.”

Feel:
The Dark Ace has a fairly thin face, with an elastomer block behind it. This gives enough ‘bounce’ to the putter’s face that it feels soft, without the sound of a traditional floating face. It never felt stiff or surgical to me. This is not a milled putter, but if you are looking for a “2-Ball” you aren’t going to get that kind of feel anyway.

The “Ultra High” MOI (5462 g/cm2) of this putter helps get the ball rolling very quickly, and is a LOT more forgiving that traditional mallets. Poorly hit putts went straight, whether off of the heel or toe. Being Face-Ballenced helps the putts along too.

“Skip to the end” Overall:
I think the Profound Putters Dark Ace is gunning for a chunk of the “2 Ball” market…and I think they deserve at least a piece of it. The putter is thoughtfully designed, well constructed, and has all the accouterments of the other putters in its class. It is gimmicky? Sure…but that is a good thing in this case. (When the 2-Ball putters showed up on the scene, it was a gimmick too.)

My only complaint is that they don’t have any visible presence in the US market. I expect that will change in the coming months, and think that it’ll just be a matter if time before you, or someone in your group, are “Hiding The Orange.”

BTW: To answer an earlier question…they had a putting green on the second day. It was delivered to the wrong booth. (Doh!)

Discuss Profound Putters Putters on the Profound Putters section of our Putter Community, or this review Here.