Wayne O’Callaghan’s putting studio in Cork Golf Centre is a busy spot, and that’s no surprise considering the state of the art training and putting analysis tools that are available at the studio in Ballincollig.  O’Callaghan has been focusing on the art of putting for the past few years and last month he became Cork’s first dedicated Odyssey putter fitting centre.  With a large number of putters in stock, Cork Golf Centre is now a one stop shop for golfers looking to improve their performance on the course.

While a large proportion of golfers will have been fitted for a driver or irons, very few will have done the same with their putter.  Given that the putter will always be the most used club in the bag during a round of golf it’s funny that the focus usually is on the driver and length gains, but now O’Callaghan is providing Cork golfers with the chance to get the stats and the science of their putting skills.  Wayne previously invested in the Capto and Sam Puttlab systems and he’s recently added to that with the latest Quintic system.  The system uses a high speed camera, capturing over 1,000 frames a second to measure up to 45 different parameters covering the club, the ball the ground and the stroke.  In fact the Quintic system is used by many of the leading manufacturers when developing new putters.

Over the past four years Wayne has earned a reputation as one of the leading putting coaches in the country and he has golfers from all over Ireland coming to Cork Golf Centre to learn more about their most used club.  According to the Advanced PGA Professional, there are three things to putting.  “The three elements of putting are the ability to read a green, the ability to start the ball on the chosen line, and speed control” explained Wayne.  “There’s the argument without a good sense of speed, you can’t pick a line.”  And that’s where coaching and custom fitting can make a big difference for the average golfer with Wayne providing a simple example.  “A mallet will suit a golfer if they are looking for better speed control, and a blade will come up a bit shorter on miss hits, but the other factor is that a mallet will twist a lot more on impact if there is a mishit as the centre of gravity is further back.”

The process for custom fitting is similar to that for any other club, and with Wayne’s experience and high-tech analysis the fitting session can be really productive.  “Some of the things that we look at in the centre are face angle and direction at impact, ball speed and pace control, the launch angle and the spin and roll and how it interacts with the turf.  The length is really determined by the posture and alignment and it’s all about getting the player into a consistent position, where they can easily see the line.  The other big thing in putting fitting is the shape of the head, helping clients to find a head that helps them to aim consistently.  A lot of people struggle to aim a putter and the new Odessey Versa range has black and white head with perpendicular lines.  The lines can really help people to aim thanks to the right angles.  We’ll also be dialling in the grip sizes when we are doing a custom fitting.  Grip size matters, if a golfer is very wristy or has a lot of rotation then a wider grip might suit.

For anyone looking the get deep into the performance details, Wayne’s latest bit of tech will help with that.  “The new Quintec system gives data on the three inches before and after impact so we can see how the putter is coming into the ball and where it exits, including any deflection at impact.”  A large lighting rig and high-speed camera provide instant feedback on the stroke and that allows Wayne to look at areas for improvement.

Wayne’s status as an approved Odyssey fitting centre means that he has a large number of putters in stock with a two week lead time for any club that are not in stock.  “Odyssey are a great partner for us.  We have over 25 putter styles to try from the toulon, the tri-hot, the versa and the OG range.  They are all premium putters and the quality is fantastic.”