The Nike Method Origin

Nike have been making grooved putters for a while. The Method line has long been known for putting a great roll on the ball. We’ve liked them when we’ve tried them. Rory has obviously liked them and so has Tiger. But it doesn’t mean they can’t make something better. Enter the Nike Method Origin. 

The theme in putters this year seems to be making all your putts roll the same distance, centre hits and miss strikes alike. Ping has it’s TR grooves, EVNROLL have their smart face. Nike believe their tech is better.

First up the face. The new face design features twice the number of polymetal grooves of previous Method putters. More grooves means increased friction and traction on the golf ball, creating earlier forward roll and a smoother, softer feel at impact. 

“When I first tested it in Dubai in January 2015, I realised the long putts kept rolling just a little bit more. It just kept rolling and rolling, which was awesome,” said Rory Mcilroy. So that’s roll sorted. How about consistency?

Everyone likes a one piece milled putter. But it has it’s limitations. Nike believe their design offers something more. Instead they’ve used a three piece design. The face, a secondary mass on the back and a RZN layer compressed in-between. The RZN layer is comes into play on off-centre hits, returning energy to the golf ball within the contact time. What does this mean? Miss struck putts will travel the same distance, or closer to the distance of perfectly struck putts. If all your putts go the same length in theory you should hole more putts. 
 
“The response is incremental across the face. A hit on the centre of the face elicits a dampening effect,” Dave Franklin, Nike Golf’s Master Modelmaker says. “The more off-centre the hit, the more the RZN compresses and the more energy is returned to the ball. The response is similar to our Compression Channel and improves consistency across the face.”

The science must be working, as Nike have four wins with the Method Origin already this season. David Franklin explained the thinking behind the putter, “When we design a putter, our entire goal is to make the putter an extension of the athlete. We want them to step onto the green without even considering the putter in their hands, but rather just be thinking about getting the ball in the hole.” And when we think about the best putters we’v ever used, they’re the ones we don’t have to think about. We don’t question the shape, or the weight, or the feel. They just work. If that’s what Nike have managed with the Nike Method Origin, then they are onto a winner.

Available in two models, the B1-01 and B2-01, the Method Origin putter is in the bag of McIlroy (B2-01), Schwartzel (B1-01), Russell Henley (B2-01), Scott Pinckney (B1-01), Ryan Ruffels (B1-01), Nick Watney (B2-01), Lucas Bjerregaard (B1-01) and Ross Fisher (B2-01).

Availability from the 15th of April on Nike.com
 

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