PRODUCT REVIEW

Castlehawk’s LeX-1 Putter: Added
Confidence in Your Bag

By Kiel T. Christianson,
Senior Writer

LANSING, MI -- Golf is nothing if not a mental game. If you feel confident, chances are that you’ll play well. And no aspect of the game is more mental than putting.

Confidence on the putting green grows almost organically from “feel.” Good putters can simply feel good putts, can feel each pearly dimple of the golf ball through the putter face, shaft, and grip for just a micro-second. These are the golfers who start walking toward the cup before the ball drops.

Now, there’s a putting fad started monthly it seems: Belly putters, claw grips, milled faces, long putters, face inserts, etc., etc. And the wary golfer would be forgiven his or her skepticism at yet another trendy-looking, rather expensive putter like Castlehawk’s LeX-1. But the fact is, the flashy looks of this flat stick belie remarkable technology that delivers a level of feel and confidence that this golf writer has never experienced before.

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Douglas P. Johnson, President of Castlehawk Golf, says that the hosel’s unique shape and material – which have earned the LeX-1 five U.S. patents – create a roll “unlike any other.” Heck, he even put that phrase on the headcover.

But isn’t all of this just more hype?

“Hype,” replies Johnson, “is the whole concept of face inserts. You can get that same feeling from putting a strip of masking tape over the face of any putter.”

It is the hosel that delivers the feel in the LeX-1. And in fact, putts struck with it feel every bit as soft as those struck with insert putters, even though the face of the LeX-1 is surgical-grade steel. The unique shape of the hosel and internal T-square weighting in the head, according to Johnson, “deliver the force of the blow at the equator of the ball, creating perfect roll.”

We recently put the LeX-1 through a 154-hole, one-week marathon test on wet and dry greens, rolling between 7.0 and 10.5 on the Stimp Meter. And quite frankly, the results were amazing. Nearly everything within five feet was a gimme, and three-putts? What’s a three-putt?

A number of golfers tested the LeX-1 on the practice green as well, and although several balked a bit at the unconventional look and bright color (it comes in a choice of 12 different colors), and a few had some issues with alignment at first, none could argue with the unparalleled feel.

The only real down side to the LeX-1 is the price -- $229.95 ($249.95 personalized). Another potential problem is durability: The letter that comes with it says not to bang it on the ground, lean on it, or throw it. The composite hosel material is not as strong as metal.

But let me tell you, when you become one of those “feel” putters who begins walking toward the cup even before the ball drops, you don’t do much club-tossing.

LeX-1 Specs