Since we’re already in the Ian Poulter theme/section of my “putter vault”, let’s just stay there this week. Now, the #7 head shape by Odyssey isn’t necessarily as “specific to Ian Poulter” as last week’s Tour Issue Rife Antigua/Aruba. That said, Poulter has regularly played #7s and one particular performance with a classic Odyssey White Hot XG 7 in 2012 drew a lot of attention and cemented “the Postman” as a European Ryder Cup legend forever.
It’s worth pointing out that one of the hottest putters on the secondary market following that Ryder Cup was Odyssey’s White Hot Tour 7. This specific model was a larger profile #7 than Ian’s, but had a butane-ish finish. They seemingly just disappeared from the internet and people were paying hundreds of dollars for these putters in used condition. I remember going to one of those overstock golf shows with a buddy and seeing brand new WHT 7s as far as the eye could see for $45, then two years later, they exploded.
I love the Odyssey #7 shape. It’s just a great putter. But man, finding butane-finish, early-model Tour Issue Odyssey putters is a tough feat regardless of head shape. Over years, I’d occasionally see a Tour Issue #7 show up, but never just right. Oh, and they’d be STUPID expensive.
Finding Just the Right Tour Issue Odyssey White Hot XG 7
Like I said, prior to finding this specific putter, I’d seen other Tour Issue #7s come up on occasion. I’m telling you, my criteria was specific. I wanted the small head size, a solid alignment line on the topline, the plastic silver cavity badge, the “XG” on the sole engraved rather than a plastic insert, and either a classic White Hot XG or a White Ice insert. Oh, and of course the butane finish was non-debatable. Occasionally, a larger head size, White Hot XG 7H, would pop up drawing my attention. This was the putter Luke Donald was using when he was lights out on greens and held the world number one ranking.
At one point, I found a #7 that met all of the criteria EXCEPT it had Odyssey’s three-dot alignment aid on the topline. I decided I was ok with this and it was close enough to go after. Then I saw the price tag…$675. Was/is that putter worth it? I have no idea, maybe to someone, but it was out of any price range I was looking to be in by a mile.
Then one day from the clouds, the putter pictured here popped up on eBay with a super low ‘Buy it Now’ and no reference to being Tour Issue at all. Knowing exactly what I was actually looking at, I immediately jumped on it and it has been in my collection ever since. It may not be worth the most in today’s putter market, which I guess I don’t really know if that’s true because I haven’t been looking. There’s no need. This particular putter pictured here is one of the crown jewels of my collection and I’m not looking to sell or add more.
