I recently bought an Odyssey White Hot XG putter having tested it at the shop with their balls (a mix of leading types). I played a practice round in which I was trying out Titleist NXTs, and again there was no problem. Then two days later I played a round using Srixon Soft Feels - great putting balls with my old putter - and had a heck of a time with them. Left everything short, and worse still the putts felt and sounded "dead" off the face, rather than having a nice springy pling, and this persisted even once I adjusted the weight slightly.

Now it might have been a bad putter day, and I mightn't have been middling it, but it seems at least possible that the combination of soft face insert in the putter and super-soft balls was just too "flabby". Has anyone else experienced this kind of result?

hell yes, I bought an XG no.1 because it was just like my old putter I have had for years. Only started playing last October so I thought I had best invest first and foremost in a new putter. Then I started playing with Pro V1 lake balls and just as you have discovered they go nowhere. I was leaving 15ft putts 7ft short, then next hole you give it a bit more and it flys past the hole. I went to get a new putter and took over some pro v1 ball with me and ended up buying a 2 ball dfx, I think this has really helped and end up most times now past the hole and then hole it on the way back!!

Might just require some time to adjust to the extra pace required with that combo, especially with the wet weather.

But could be one of those instances where what is good for a Pro doesn't always mean it's good for the average golfer. Certainly soft insert + soft ball might well suited to very fast tour-like greens, but the average UK green I think is meant to be a bit slower than in the US. Which is why some have prefered the firmer DFX to the softer White Hot when using premium golf balls.

I have an XG putter (2 actually) and absolutely love them. I have never putted as well as I am doing now. I think once you get used to them they are very consistent.

I am using ProV1, Nike ONE-Black and Hx Tour 56 balls.

This is my opinion, of course, putting is completely personal - what is perfect for one person can be a nightmare for another.

I've stopped using ProV1s as they are just too soft of the face of my putter, a Cally Tour Blue, which is titanium.
It was like trying to putt a marshmallow, no feel at all.

Now trying a few slightly firmer 'soft', urethane-covered balls and getting along fine. Need to try Cally HX Tour to see how that works.

But, yes Gary, to answer your point, I did feel the same as you and changing to a different ball made all the difference on the green without a huge change to the longer game. Others have said that one should use the ball you putt best with and I'm beginning to understand that.

for all but the fastest of fast greens here in the UK , which relates to about the number of courses you could count on 5 fingers , I'm not sure what benefits 'soft face insert' putters are actually meant to yield ?

Thanks for the responses everyone - I'm glad I don't appear to be going mad.

To answer Paul's question, I think what soft face inserts do is aid putting on that felt-on-plywood surface in the golf shop :-). I didn't really take it into account when making my choice because I was more concerned with head shape and shaft length - I've had insert putters before and never noticed a problem.

So, the Soft Feels are going in the cupboard until I change putters again (give it a few months). I'll try the AD333s next time out and if they're no good either, it looks like I'll be ordering a couple of dozen NXTs!