Are you a “tinkerer”? Do you love tweaking your putting stroke, changing putters, weights, lie angles? Do you have a bunch of putters in your garage?

Perhaps you should check out the Elmer Golf M1 Putter. It’s about 439,745 putters in one. The Elmer is a fully configurable, tweakable, tinkerable, “interchangeable face-able” putter. The Elmer putter employs the popular new concept of interchangeable putter faces but adds a whole slew of other dynamics to the concept.

Technology

Face It

The Elmer comes with two putter faces. Both faces have porous, milled surfaces which put a great roll on the ball.

The first putter face is made of milled aluminum with a polymer insert inside, which provides a softer feel and may be better for speedy greens.

The second putter face is a solid block of milled aluminum and has no insert. This face provides a little harder feel, and in my opinion may be better for slow greens (or if you just can’t seem to get your putts to the hole).

Ok great… So the interchangeable putter face technology is awesome. But that’s only a fraction of what makes the Elmer M1 putter so cool.

Adjustable Lie Angle

One awesome feature which sets the Elmer M1 apart from just about any other club (putter, iron, wood or hybrid) I’ve seen, is the built in ability for lie angle adjustment. Typically if you wanted to adjust the lie angle of a club, you’d have to take it to a golf shop. They’d “bend” the club to your requested lie angle. Then you’d have to put it in play and see if it works for you. If it didn’t work, you’d have to go back to the shop and have it bent again. Many techs will tell you they don’t recommend bending it too many times or you’ll start to weaken the metal and compromise the club’s performance.

With the Elmer M1, adjusting the lie is as simple as getting out Allen wrench and turning three screws (see video below).

Loosen the screws a bit, but not enough that the club head moves too freely. Stand over your putter and adjust the shaft so that the lie looks and feels just right. Then tighten down the screws. Total time? A few seconds. This can be done right on the practice green before your round. No appointments. No dropping your club off and hoping the tech bends it right. No waiting for days. Adjust your lie on a daily basis as needed.

Not only could you adjust the lie as needed, but you could literally switch orientation from right handed to left handed. Show me a mallet putter anywhere that can be switched from right to left-handed in a few seconds, on the practice green. I’ve never seen one.

Adjustable Weight & Billet

The back portion of the mallet, or “billet,” can also be tweaked. First you can adjust the billet’s distance from the face. By doing so you can move the center of gravity (cog) around to your liking. Being able to adjust the COG while on deck to tee off is something no other putter I’ve ever seen can boast.

The weight of the putter can also be quickly adjusted by exchanging the rails which connect the billet to the face. The Elmer M1 putter comes with two sets of rails, combinations of brass and aluminum.

After getting my calculator out, I determined that between the interchangeable faces, changing the lie angle, changing the weighting/rails and changing the billet’s position, there are 439,745 combinations. Oh no. Wait a minute. I didn’t figure the LEFT handed possibility too. That makes 879,490 combinations… A tinkerer’s dream.

On The Course

I first tried the M1 with the polymer insert. I putted extremely well. I didn’t even hit the practice green with the M1. I just put it in play in my Tuesday league. I had about a 40 foot eagle putt on the first green which I snuggled to about six inches. No three putts and a handful of birdies in my first round, but I wanted more feel.

This doesn’t make much sense, but when I switched to the solid aluminum putter face I liked it even better. That’s the opposite of what a “feel” concept should be, but I liked it even better and putted superbly.

Regardless of the face configuration, I had a very good time messing with the weighting and the lie angles. I found that for me, I like a different angle (more straight up) in very windy conditions as I stand wider and more over the ball like Padraig Harrington. In less windy conditions I stand more upright with a less wide stance, so it’s nice to adjust the lie angle to match that as well. How many golfers do you know who adjust their putter’s lie angle on a daily basis, based on wind conditions?!

Conclusion

Consider the Elmer M1 putter, especially if you’re in the market for an interchangeable face putter like the MacGregor Face-Off putter. The interchangeable face alone is as good as any other company’s offering, but with the ability to adjust weight, orientation, lie angle, COG and more, it blows other putters out of the water.

More Pictures And Videos

Video one: Adjusting the billet.
Video two: Tinkering…

Hooked On Golf Blog Elmer Photo Gallery:
http://www.hookedongolfblog.com/gallery2/v/Equipment/Elmer/