Gear: Cleveland Frontline Elite putters
Price: $249.99 (steel shaft), $299.99 (ALL-IN steel/graphite shaft) and Lamkin Sinkfit Pistol grip
Specs: Stainless steel body with aluminum sole plate, tungsten face, vibration-dampening tape and steel weights
Available: February 22
Who It’s For: Golfers would want more forgiveness and stability on mis-hit putts.
The Skinny: The Cleveland Frontline Elite putters have tungsten faces and forward-positioned sole weights to shift the center of gravity to the front of the heads and boost stability.
The Deep Dive: Tungsten is a very handy material for golf equipment designers to use when they are making drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons because it is extremely dense. Heavier than stainless steel and significantly heavier than titanium or aluminum, tungsten allows designers to concentrate a lot of weight into a small area and shift a club’s center of gravity (CG) location without making the club bigger.
Cleveland Golf is now using tungsten in its Frontline Elite putters to do the same thing but in a new way. There are five different head shapes in the Frontline Elite family, and all of them have been made with a 30-gram metal-injection-molded (MIM) tungsten face. Combined with milled steel weights that have been added to the front heel and toe areas of the sole, the tungsten-weighted face helps to pull the CG location significantly more forward, which according to Cleveland’s research, reduces face rotation and twisting on off-center hits. That should result in putts that roll along your intended line more often, even when you hit the ball outside the center of the face.
Cleveland Frontline Elite putters have a tungsten face that helps to shift the CG location forward. (Cleveland Golf)
To soften the feel of impact, Cleveland added a layer of vibration-dampening tape behind the tungsten-infused insert. There is also a vibration-dampening adhesive layer under the aluminum sole plate.
To enhance distance control, Cleveland made the Frontline Elite putters with its Speed Optimized Face Technology (SOFT) grooved face. Each club has a unique groove pattern that is designed to reduce ball speed in the middle (where the strike is most efficient) and enhance ball speed in the heel and toe areas, effectively normalizing ball speed over the entire hitting area.
To help golfers create a more-consistent stroke, Cleveland has added weight under the handle of the Frontline Elite putters to counterbalance them and reduce the usage of your hands and wrists.
Cleveland Frontline Elite 1.0, 8.0, Elevado and RHO. (Cleveland Golf)
Finally, in addition to a standard steel shaft, the Frontline Elite putters are available with a UST Mamiya ALL-IN shaft that combines graphite and steel to create more stiffness and consistency.
The Frontline Elite putters come in five different head styles, ranging from the heel-toe weighted blade 1.0 and 8.0 to mallets like the wing-style Elvado, semi-circular CERO and square-style RHO.