I just returned from the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association State Championships at Penn State, where 216 of the best boy and girl golfers in Pennsylvania — two of whom I happen to coach — competed for state titles.
I saw a lot of good golf and something else: low-torque putters. Lots of them! This has been the case at every junior tournament I’ve attended this year.
Why is that surprising? Low-torque/zero-torque/lie-angle balance/onset (call them what you will) putters are the hottest club category in the sport, but not to the point where at your local muni you’re likely to see multiple players in your group using them.
In junior golf, though, that might actually be the case.
There are no official usage numbers that we can reference, but standing on the putting green where about 60 players were practicing, I counted 10 low-torque putters. (Mostly they were L.A.B. Golf or Odyssey Square 2 Square models.) Also, at least two players who finished in the top 10 of the AAA boys’ division used a low-torque putter.
So, why are so many elite juniors using these putter types?
The answer likely lies in something GOLF’s Jake Morrow said on a recent episode of the Fully Equipped podcast. Morrow noted the ideal candidate for a L.A.B. Golf putter (or any onset-type putter) is someone who has never putted before, because established players have years of muscle memory and natural arc in their strokes. Junior golfers, on the other hand, don’t have to work as hard to reprogram their muscles.
In other words, there aren’t many junior golfers who grew up “hooking” their putts with Bullseyes and Wilson 8802-style putters and so they’d find it easier to adapt to low-torque putters. There’s no retraining needed.
Low-torque putters have already taken off in pro golf, but is the real explosion still to come when today’s top juniors start hitting the PGA Tour? Only time will tell.
3 Things I’m Thinking
New stuff is coming: Now that the Tour is back from Japan, 2026 gear is going to start popping up. We’ve already seen glimpses of PXG’s new Lightning metalwoods lineup and Odyssey’s Tri-Hot Square 2 Square putters. Keep an eye on the USGA Conforming list in the coming weeks for more newcomers.
Do I even need a driver? Tommy Fleetwood winning in India with no club longer than a mini-driver has me thinking: Do I even need one myself? While I’m happy with the driver I played this year, my goal heading into ClubTest 2026 will be (once again) to find the best driver for my game. That said, I rarely play courses long enough for me to even need driver, so maybe going without is worth exploring.
What is Jason Day up to? Day has been one of the more fun equipment free agents to watch, and this week is no exception: It seems he’ll be playing Avoda prototype irons in Utah. That’s the same company that made Bryson DeChambeau’s 3-D printed irons with bulge and roll. We’ll be monitoring!
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