50 Words or Less
The Performance Golf RS1 putter uses a series of unconventional design elements to help golfers make a straighter, more repeatable stroke. Good forgiveness. Soft, controlled feel.
Introduction
Lots of golf equipment claims to be revolutionary, groundbreaking, and game changing. We get numb to the hyperbole, especially when most golf equipment is, at most, an iterative improvement on what has come before.
The Performance Golf RS1 putter is different. It takes what almost every other putter does and turns it around 180 degrees. Is this the first step toward a new putting paradigm or a bad idea swimming upstream? I tested it to find out.
Looks
When I unboxed the Performance Golf RS1 putter, the first thing that caught my eye was the headcover. Black, red, and white, the design made me think of a race car and prepared me for something unusual underneath. I was not disappointed.
The RS1 putter looks equal parts medieval weapon and spaceship. And while it’s miles from traditional, there is a pleasing symmetry to the bold design. The black hourglass shape is flanked by silver at the leading and trailing edges, all angling to suggest a fat middle of the club that’s absent. Three long, white alignment lines are topped off with a perpendicular line nearest the ball, providing ample assistance with aim.
Under the hood, there’s just as much going on. The Performance Golf RS1 putter has moderately sized branding on the rear of the sole. There are also two weights near the face and slashes of orange. What I found most eye catching is the shaping – the putter is extremely thin and recessed from the ground in the middle. [See Price / Buy]
Sound & Feel
Despite the fact that I’ve seen putters of all shapes and sizes cover the spectrum of feels, I can’t help but expect that large, non-traditional mallets will feel harsh. The Performance Golf RS1 putter does its part to continue breaking down this stereotype. With a Tour-quality ball, impact feels medium-soft, and the ball comes off the face with control. As I moved out to longer distances, I noticed the feel stayed soft and gentle, which I attribute, at least in part, to the graphite shaft. [See Price / Buy]
Performance Golf touts a “Harmonized Multi Material” construction of steel, composite, and aluminum. I like the word “harmonized” as it relates to the sound of impact. At all distances, the RS1 putter produces a clear, pronounced “tock.” The volume modulates slightly with distance, but the character remains the same.
Both the feel and sound of the Performance Golf RS1 putter stay very consistent if your strikes are “inside the black.” If you move to the edges of the heel or toe, the sound changes to a hollow “tonk.” I also noted a slight twisting but only on intentionally poor strikes.
Performance
Let’s start by discussing what makes the Performance Golf RS1 putter unique. The biggest thing is that 75% of the putter’s weight sits in front of the shaft. Most putters brag about how much weight they get behind the shaft and face. Zero torque putters balance the weight around the shaft. The RS1 pushes as much weight forward as possible. This gives the RS1 its unique “Face Down Balance.”
According to Performance Golf, having weight behind the shaft creates toe flow, the tendency for the putter to open during the backstroke. By moving the weight in front of the shaft, the RS1 “counteracts mechanical toe flow,” keeping the putter face square to the target and, in theory, promoting a more repeatable, consistent stroke.
Another factor that promotes a straight path and minimal face rotation is the upright lie angle. Where most putters have a stock lie angle of 70 or 71 degrees, the Performance Golf RS1 putter comes in at 74 degrees with options for 70 and 72. Performance Golf refers to this as a “Square to Square Lie Angle” as it promotes an address position more on top of the ball and a stroke path that’s more square to target. [See Price / Buy]
A third unique trait of the Performance Golf RS1 putter is the grip, what they call a “Dual Pistol Grip.” This is designed to encourage your hands to bend downward while reducing face rotation and grip pressure. It’s similar to the grip they used on the SQ putter [review HERE], and they promote it as working with all types of hand positions: conventional, cross hand, or claw.
With all these elements trying to keep the putter face square to the target, the obvious question is, “Does the Performance Golf RS1 putter actually roll the ball straighter than other putters?” Based on my testing, I would say that the answer is yes. It’s impossible to disentangle the effects of the grip, the lie angle, and the weighting, but the cumulative result is a putter that was putting one ball on top of another at all distances.
A reasonable follow up would be, “Is the RS1 better than zero torque putters at starting the ball on line?” To that, my answer is that both are good, and it’s hard to say one is objectively better because their approaches are different. A zero torque putter sets up and is swung normally, the player just needs to avoid manipulating the face. The Performance Golf RS1 putter “forces” the golfer into a specific position that’s very likely to get the ball rolling to the target.
Despite weighing 365 grams, the RS1 putter feels light, as many zero torque putters do [read more HERE]. The weight being forward of the shaft is noticeable, especially as you get to longer distances. As with any new putter, especially one that’s radically different, it took a little time to feel like my distance control was dialed in. One thing that helped the RS1 is the controlled feel off the face – I felt like I could make an affirmative stroke without the ball streaking across the green. [See Price / Buy]
The final piece of the puzzle is forgiveness. High MOI and stability are the reasons that most putters position so much weight away from the face. Performance Golf doesn’t argue with the effectiveness of that idea, but they emphasize that their weight placement is a different approach to creating a stable face.
I tested the Performance Golf RS1 putter against the LAB DF3i [review HERE] – the current king of forgiveness, in my book – both indoors with a launch monitor and outdoors on a green. Indoors, looking primarily at smash factor over a large sample of putts, the RS1 was the equal of the DF3i. This means the RS1 kept ball speed very consistent relative to club speed. Outdoors, the DF3i was slightly better. On putts of 30 feet or more, large, intentional mishits with the RS1 stopped a few inches short of those with the DF3i. In sum, despite its unconventional approach, the RS1 is a very forgiving putter. [See Price / Buy]
Conclusion
The Performance Golf RS1 putter is a genuinely novel design that offers golfers a new – and arguably better – way to get the ball in the hole. Only time will tell if the rest of the industry will follow their lead, but players who are interested in a fresh approach on the greens should give this a try. [See Price / Buy]
The only premium putter with Forward Axis Weighting that eliminates face drift and improves your stroke at the same time.
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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