Gear: Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K mallet putters
Price: $399.99 each with Stroke Lab graphite/steel shaft
Specs: 303 stainless steel and 6061 aluminum bodies with tungsten weights and urethane face insert
Who They’re For: Golfers who want a mallet putter that maximizes stability and forgiveness.
The Skinny: The Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K mallet putters have extra weight positioned in the front of the head to increase the moment of inertia and boost stability, while the White Hot insert delivers a sound and feel many players prefer.
The Deep Dive: Odyssey, the putting division within Callaway, launched a new family of blade-style putters last season. The Tri-Hot 5K offerings looked like traditional blade putters in the address position, but they were popular because Odyssey used multilateral construction to make them play like high-MOI mallets. The trick was to shift as much weight forward as possible so the clubs would resist twisting on off-center hits.
For 2023, Odyssey is broadening the Tri-Hot 5K lineup to include two traditional mallet shapes – the #7 and the Rossie – and using the same multilateral construction to boost stability without increasing the head sizes.
The front of each Tri-Hot 5K mallet is made from 303 stainless steel, a commonly used material in premium putters, and the backs are made from 6061 aircraft-grade aluminum, which is significantly lighter than steel.
Going with aluminum allowed designers to shift even more mass to the front of the putters in the form of two tungsten weights. The exact amount of tungsten varies by head shape, but it averages around 120 grams and helps to pull the center of gravity even more forward.
So while the overall head weight has not increased and golfers will see familiar shapes when they set a Tri-Hot 5K mallet behind the ball, the putters are more stable, resist twisting on off-center hits more effectively and should help improve distance control.
Each of the Tri-Hot 5K mallets also has Odyssey’s popular White Hot urethane face insert. On short putts the material feels soft and creates a low-pitched sound, while on longer putts the sound has a higher pitch that matches the amount of force golfers put into the shot.