- 8 minutes ago
Joe Ferguson gets his hands on arguably one of the most innovative golf clubs ever made - the Sausage Golf Boudin Noir modular putter to test out the technology and see if it could represent the future of putter design.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Come and take a look at this. I'm a gear tester and I've never seen anything like this before
00:04in putting and I think it might just change the putting game. Let me introduce you to the
00:08Sausage Golf Boudon Noir putter. Right, so what am I talking about? What is the Sausage Golf
00:23Boudon Noir? Well, essentially what we've got here is a putter that's kind of broken social
00:28media lately. I've never had so many people contact me with DMs and renders and pictures of this putter
00:33saying, make sure you review this. We want to know what it's all about. Essentially what we've got is
00:38the first that I've seen, modular putter. We've got a putter here that's got little gaps in the head
00:44that you can unscrew and re-screw to make this putter low torque, face balanced and toe hanger.
00:50Not only that, you can flip it around and do the same left-handed. This thing's absolutely incredible.
00:56Now, Sausage Golf's a bit of a strange name, I hear you say, so where's that come from? Well,
01:00the founder and the designer of Sausage Golf is a man called Dave Rolls and he came from Manchester
01:05and people in Manchester have a very good sense of humour. He was called Sausage Rolls at school,
01:10hence the name Sausage Golf. He originally designed this putter as a bit of an experiment because him
01:15and his dad wanted to share a putter and he wanted to do something nice for his dad who'd helped
01:19him out
01:20over the years. This is how all this started. He hit upon something and he's just sausage rolled with it.
01:26It's gone on and on and on to see what we've got in front of us today. I'm really impressed
01:31and I'm
01:31really excited to give this a whirl. Right, come a bit closer for this, but I need to show you
01:38what I
01:38mean. What we've got on the top here, you'll notice when you look a little bit closely, there's a few
01:42little rectangular pieces and underneath, we've got a little screw set up here. You unscrew these
01:48pieces, little bit slot out and then it kind of works like a little jigsaw puzzle. You move the thing,
01:53you move the pieces to where you need them to be to create the gap for where you want this
01:58shaft to
01:58enter the head and then you've got your three different torque profiles. It really is incredibly
02:04impressive. I'm intrigued to see how that mechanism works as we go through the video because I've got
02:09my sort of, not skepticism, but I want to know how quickly and how easily it works and how tight
02:14the
02:14fit is more to the point because we don't want any gaps in these putters. Let me hit a few
02:19putts away,
02:19let's start to get some initial impressions before we start moving things about.
02:25First impressions are really genuinely quite good. I thought I'd left that short then.
02:30It's an incredibly premium looking putter. I love what they've done here with the kind of premium,
02:34all blacked out, murdered out look, which I think is really cool. We've got a black pistol grip with
02:39sausage sort of emblazoned there and really subtly, but you can still see it. A nice matte black shaft into
02:46the all black head bar the alignment aids. The alignment aids are really nice, bright white,
02:51which pops really well against the black. We've got one across the top edge, which is really helpful
02:56for those who use the leading edge of the putter to line things up. We've also got one on the
03:00back
03:01here to help those people who are used to kind of a flange line and do their aiming with that.
03:05There's
03:05a little dot as well, which helps you center the ball in the face and also has a little benefit
03:11when we
03:11start moving into different settings, which we'll talk about in a little bit. Even just on that first putter
03:16hit there, the feel is it's a very familiar one to me because I use a lab putter and this
03:20is made
03:20out of the same 60-61, I think that's right, aluminium or aluminum from our US viewers there.
03:27It really feels very similar to all the labs like my Mez Max that I've been using for the last
03:32few
03:32weeks. What I would say is there is slightly more maybe ring or ting to it at strike. There's a
03:37little
03:38bit more vibration, which isn't a bad thing at all. It actually feels really nice and I'm guessing
03:42that's probably something to do with the slots as tight as these are and beautifully engineered
03:47and the fit is great. Just creating any sort of air gaps might create that little bit more vibration
03:52and feedback up the shaft, but it's something that I really like the feel of. Super easy to line up,
03:57like I said, those alignment aids really pop and the lines and the curves are really soft. A lot of
04:03the
04:03time when you get on even some of the better mallet putters on the market, you see very sharp
04:09angles between the top edge and the sides. They've rolled and softened these edges really nicely
04:14and it gives it a beautifully rounded and soft feel, even from the top edge here
04:19into the face. Quite often that's just a sharp straight right angle. They've softened that nicely
04:24and it really looks good. So let me get a couple more. I've got it in the, what they call
04:28the low
04:29torque setting. It's not zero torque, but it's low torque. It does feel incredibly stable. Like I said,
04:35off the face, it just, it does feel familiar, but it's got that, just that little bit of pop at
04:43strike and the roll seems to be really good. We've got some grooves on the face here to really help
04:48with that roll. So yeah, initial impressions feels premium, looks great, easy to line up.
04:54Let's get into moving it about and see what this modular stuff's all about. Just as a quick reference
04:58point for those who may not know. So I mentioned this is in the low torque or zero torque setting.
05:03And if you've seen lab putters, you'll be familiar with that technology where
05:06you're controlling with weights in the head and the shaft entry point of the torque profile or toe
05:12hang or lack of toe hang of this putter. So if I just hold this putter unaided in that low
05:16torque
05:17setting, you see how the toe kind of points up to the sky. Now that gives us, makes the putter
05:22in
05:22the essence, want to orientate very square to your path. So there's not going to be much opening and
05:27closing on that. It doesn't require any manipulation to square the face. You're better off leaving the face
05:32alone in that setting. So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to take it out of that
05:36low angle balanced or low torque setting, if you like, and I'm going to move it into what we call
05:41more face balance. It's going to be more traditional center shafted putter. So let's see how easy this
05:46is. I'm going to kneel down because I know these screws come out. So I'm going to take, initially going
05:52to take the shaft out. So we've got two screws to do that. Get the bulk of it done with
05:57the wrench.
05:58One comes out. I've got a few screws to work with. I'm going to lay them on the ground.
06:04Second screw out can already feel the shaft loosening, which is kind of weird and cool.
06:10That should be nearly there now. So there we go. That's the shaft that comes out of the head. We've
06:17got little screw holes in the bottom and then we just got our little sausage head where the screws
06:21just fallen out or I just unscrewed it. And we've got some gaps to fill here. So what I need
06:25to do now
06:26is take this centerpiece out, pop it in where that shaft was and swap the shaft over.
06:32So, I mean, it's not the quickest job in the world, but it's not, you know, it's not exactly,
06:37let's be patient. We're all things in the modern world. We want them straight away,
06:40but let's just be a little patient and see what we get. Two screws again.
06:49I just think it's really cool. I just think it's so cool to be able to just create three separate
06:54putters. Well, actually six when we talk about left-handed in a minute from one putter.
07:00So there goes the centerpiece out. So then we've got a head now that's got two gaps.
07:04We need to refill them. So we're going to move the shaft one into the front. I'm just going to
07:08clean a
07:09little bit of sand off that because I don't want that getting in there. I'm going to move the shaft
07:12into the front. Just a perfect tight fit. There's no wobble at all. That's beautifully engineered.
07:17That's incredibly well done. That would be my concern that there'd be sort of significant gaps and
07:21wobbling, et cetera, but that's brilliantly well done. Let's get those screws back in there.
07:31So what do you reckon? We've got about a minute for that so far, I reckon. Not too bad.
07:40That's the second screw done up. Slot our little modular piece back in. So we've just got our little
07:45gap to fill there. Slot that modular piece back in. A couple of screws again and we're away.
07:56So I would say if you're, it's a bit moist and dewy out here today and these greens have had
08:00a little
08:00bit of top dressing, I think. So I've got a few grains of sand. So I think if you're doing
08:04this,
08:04if you do get one of these putters, I'll just be a little bit cautious about popping the
08:09modular piece in with any grains of sand in. You don't want any scratching or anything going on
08:12there. So just give it a little wipe before you do so. And that is that. I've now got
08:17a face balance, sensor shafted putter to have a little whirl with. Probably, I don't know,
08:22minute and a half. So when I hold this unaided on my hand there, finger,
08:27face points perfectly up to the sky. So it's a perfectly face balanced putter.
08:31So if you're a tinkerer who wants to try these things, fantastic. You can do that in two minutes,
08:35but you eliminate all the variables. We've got the same swing weight, we've got the same head weight,
08:39we've got the same alignment aids, the same grip, the same length. All variables are eliminated.
08:44We've just got two completely different torque profiles. Let's hit a couple of putts and see how
08:47we get on.
08:52One thing I should have mentioned that cameraman Dan pointed out very well there is when it's in
08:56that previous low torque or nearly zero torque profile, you do require a two degree forward press.
09:02That's why they put this little white mark on the grip and the leading edge line there on the face.
09:08You've got to get those lined up for it to play its true loft. If you played that with a
09:11straight
09:11up shaft, you'd have an awful lot of loft. So you've got to factor that in if you're in that
09:15zero
09:15torque or low torque setting as sausage golf call it. Something that is worth noting, this is something
09:19I've absolutely loved about this putter from a field point of view. It's quite heavy in the head.
09:23So all these extra screws and bits that are required to make it modular brings this head weight up to
09:28365
09:30grams and most modern day putters come in around the 350 mark. So that kind of 365 number, if you
09:36prefer a heavy feel and a bit of stability in your putter, you're going to really like this like I
09:40do.
09:40We're in the face balance one now. So let's hit a couple of these longer putts just down the slope
09:44here. I have to say it sits brilliantly. There's no, quite often with putters you get some doming or
09:50some raised spots. This is just like a perfectly flat head and it just sits, looks like it's sort of
09:56glued to
09:56the ground. It sits beautifully in the sole quite often. You get a little bit of wobble and a bit
10:00of twisting when it hits the ground. I'm seeing nothing of that where I put this down and aim it
10:07and then I can build my stance. There's no twisting or wobbling, which is really, really nice to see.
10:13Again, just that little bit of a pop, that little bit of a ting off the face. That's nicely red.
10:17That's a good start. That looks really good in that setting.
10:23I wouldn't say maybe I'm not precise enough with my feels. I wouldn't say I'm mass feeling,
10:28even over this length, I put a massive difference in torque profiles here. There's not too much
10:33between a low torque and a face balance putter. They're both, the principles are to try and keep
10:38that face relatively square and they're for strokes that don't have an awful lot of arc or opening and
10:43closing to them. So there's not masses in between them, but it has dramatically changed the look.
10:47I would have to say, I think I much prefer it in this pure face balance setting with the shaft
10:53looking straight up and down. Those are three pretty solid putts. It'd be nice to hold one.
10:59There you go. That's a good finish. That's it in the face balance setting. Let's see what we can do
11:04in the toe hang setting. Then I want to give you some thoughts about where I think we're heading with
11:09this and the type of people that could help. Sorry to interrupt the sausage party on Saunton's
11:14putting green. If you are enjoying this video, please subscribe to the channel, hit the like button.
11:19It really helps us and comment down below. What do you think about this whole sausage golf revolution?
11:24So we're going to try it in that third setting now, which is going to be heel shafted. You've seen
11:28it
11:28took me a couple of minutes to do from the low torque to the sensor shaft. I won't put you
11:32through
11:32watching me screw and unscrew these things again, but how that's going to work is I'm going to use the
11:37two
11:37screws in the center here that are holding the shaft in place at the moment. Take the shaft out.
11:41We've got this little tiny little block there, which I think you can probably see because the cameraman's
11:46brilliant. Then we're going to nudge that across. That's going to sit over here, which creates more
11:51space for the shaft to go in on the heel here. Then I've got a heel shafted putter with, I'm
11:57going to
11:58say, I reckon about 45 degrees of toe hang. So let's have a look at that. Right. So that is
12:03it in the toe
12:04hang position or the heel shafted position, whatever you want to call that. So when we again do that same
12:09test,
12:09we're going to hold it unaided there. You can probably see down the lens, I'd say it's around
12:14that 45 degree toe hang. So this should in theory suit people who have a little bit more arc and
12:19rotation to their stroke. It will just want to move with you a little bit more. So let's hit a
12:23few
12:23putts and see how it feels in that orientation. It is really strange having what is essentially the same
12:33putter. I know it's the same putter because it's not left my hands and just seeing it in
12:36a completely different orientation. They're looking down whilst the head looks the same,
12:41obviously that shaft is going in a very different place. And even on that first putt and that one in
12:48particular, I can feel, I can actually genuinely feel some torque profile there of some opening and
12:54closing of the face. That's something probably wouldn't suit me. I'm somebody who likes to feel
12:58that square to square ish style stroke. I know it's never square to square, but I like to feel sort
13:04of minimal rotation stability. And that is just really, really cool. Left it in the jaws there.
13:13I can hear a couple of people at home and I know some of my putting coach friends who will
13:17be
13:18screaming at the TV going, what's the point? That's frivolous. All these golfers have got a torque profile.
13:24If you go to a custom fitting, they will suit either toe hang, either zero torque or face balance,
13:30but I'm of a different set of beliefs. So they'll be thinking, what is the point of having a putter?
13:34You can move them to three different orientations when you should, in theory, just have one torque
13:38profile that suits your stroke. I'm of a completely different set of beliefs. I don't believe someone's
13:43torque profile or their putting stroke necessarily is like their DNA or their fingerprints. These things
13:48are malleable. They move a little bit over time. We're humans and strokes change and people change.
13:53So I think having the ability to create, like I said, eliminate those variables and create
13:58essentially three different putters, but with the same basic specifications of length,
14:04of lie angle, of swing weight, all that stuff is an incredibly valuable tool. Just look at people like
14:08Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose. Fleetwood's been through a number of different putter head
14:14styles and torque profiles over the last couple of years, but specifically this year before landing in
14:19the spider that he's just used at the Ryder Cup to hold putts all over the place. And I doubt
14:24that'll
14:24be the end of his putting journey. Rose is trying a different torque profile almost every week. These
14:29people want to change these things. And this is a brilliantly, potentially cost-effective way of
14:35doing that. So you're not having to buy different torque profiles. You can create what you want out of
14:39this putter. And let's be honest, who of us out there haven't had one of those putting days where
14:44you just think, oh, I need to change something. I need to freshen it up, but you don't have another
14:50putter. Some people even change grips overnight, do all sorts of things. What you've got here is the
14:54opportunity to stay in the putter you've been using, maintain that sort of feel, all the swing weights,
14:59all those variables I've spoken about, but just freshen up the feel and the look slightly. What a brilliant
15:04way of being able to do that without doing anything too radical. So I've gone into this
15:10tow hang here. If I'm struggling on that, which I have been over the last couple of days, I've been
15:16playing a tournament here on the greens, you know, just get the wrench out the night before this round
15:21that I've got coming up today, go into a slightly different torque profile. And who knows, there might
15:28be a bit of success around the corner. And let's be honest, who of you out there, now don't lie
15:33to me
15:34here, haven't thought after a round of golf, I could do better left-handed. Well, with the Sausage
15:39Golf, you've even got that option. I hope you've enjoyed that look at the Sausage Golf Boudon Noir.
15:44I've had loads of fun testing this out. As a gear tester, as I said, we see a lot of
15:48samey products
15:49from time to time. So to get something this different and this innovative is really exciting.
15:55I was just starting to think, looking around the putting green at this event I'm playing here,
15:58I'm still looking at Ping Ansa style shapes that have been around for 50, 60 years. We've been through a
16:03big
16:03driver revolution with adjustable weights, loft sleeves, face angles. Have we exhausted that?
16:10And is it time, is it the putter's time to get in that space of serious innovation and tech and
16:15adjustability? I certainly think so. I think this could be the start of something big. Let me know
16:19what you think in the comments down below.
16:21Bye.
Comments