Toulon San Diego Putter
While I firmly believe the “major OEM high-end putter market” has been severely disappointing in recent history, the emergence of Toulon has been refreshing. Toulon started out as a small boutique putter company “making a go of it.” The founders were some big names from the golf industry using all of their past experience to establish a strong foundation and execute their plan. In what seemed like only a couple of months, Callaway/Odyssey Golf swept in and bought Toulon to make them the “luxury imprint” for Odyssey putters. Though prices are certainly on the high side, these putters are meant to compete with the Scotty Camerons and Bettinardis of the world. After putting with the Toulon San Diego, I’d say they’ve done it…
The Looks
Normally in this section of a putter review, I like to lead with the address picture to show the topline. Unfortunately, the address picture I took for this review is one of the worst I’ve ever taken. You can still find it in the slideshow below for a “good enough” view of the Toulon San Diego from address. Just accept my apologies in advance.
With that out of the way, let’s get to the basics. The basic shape of the Toulon San Diego is a modern Anser 2 shape. My personal feeling is that you’ll be hard pressed to find a much better looking #2 shape on the market from a major OEM right now. At address, the topline is a nice medium thickness, the lines are more “squared” but the head maintains a smooth overall look. The San Diego’s stock offering is a satin steel finish, but you can get different color options via the Toulon Garage program.
How Does it Feel?
Sound and feel are arguably the hallmark of the Toulon San Diego putter. The “deep diamond mill” is supposed to make the sound and feel directly correlate to the distance of your putt. When it comes to sound, I think this is true, but not as much in the feel. The San Diego’s feel is responsive, but fairly muted. Of course, putts missing the center of the face are a different matter. While the center of the face is very pure, missing the sweet spot will cost you. The feeling becomes somewhat harsh and the putt suffers. I wouldn’t classify the San Diego as a forgiving feel, but those that consistently find the sweet spot will have no issues. Tommy, who is a Toulon guy, will tell you that the feel is generally soft and great for players that don’t like a clicky feel in their putter and don’t like inserts.
How Does it Sound?
I do believe the “deep cross-hatch grooves” perform as pitched with the Toulon San Diego. Short putts have a much more muted “puff” with a hint of a click to them. Longer putts still have a muted sound, but there’s much more presence. I’ve spent a day trying to think of how to put it into words, and the best I’ve come up with is, “pup” with a firmer click. That’s not “pop” with an “O.” It’s intentionally pup with a “U.” It may seem intuitive that the sound is dependent on how hard you strike the ball, but that’s not always the case. with putters What I found advantageous with the San Diego was that I could just focus on “creating the sound” and trust my hands to do it. As I got used to it, I was able to associate different tones to different lengths.
On-Course Performance
I already mentioned that I don’t find the Toulon San Diego to be the most forgiving putter out there. In my opinion, that’s perfectly fine. If you’re looking for forgiveness in a putter, you might be more suited for a mallet or larger head shape. That said, if finding the sweet spot isn’t an issue, then the Toulon San Diego is rock solid. First off, it’s easily the best balanced #2 shape of the major putter companies. I’ve mentioned I can get squirrely hands in reviews before, but the San Diego kept them still. Admittedly, the larger grip likely played a role, but the difference was noticeable. The putter was just so smooth going back and through the putt.
Another claim of the deep diamond mill pattern is an improvement in “quality of roll.” I find you see this claim a lot. Frankly, I think it’s a tough one to sell because it’s so subjective to the player. 1) It depends on the putting stroke and how the player strikes the ball. 2) Different players prefer the look and feel of different rolls off the face. Personally, I like to see a ball quickly grab its line and track on that path like a magnetic slot car. That was the experience I had with the Toulon San Diego. The roll was quick and confident off the face. Making good putts felt like it was just on me to get the stroke length right.
Final Thoughts
In all honesty, I think that the “$400 Off-the-Rack Putter Market” has gotten pretty weak and lazy out of lack of competition. The long-time market leader has gotten away with making and selling putters that don’t stack up to previous generations. It’s easy to succeed this way when you have your established reputation and there’s no competition in your mainstream market to keep you honest. Well, Toulon‘s arrived to the party. Putters like the Toulon San Diego are going to make the rest of the market have to step up their game. Precision designs, great looks, and good performance with the backing of a major manufacturer makes Toulon dangerous. There has already been a rapid increase in Tour use and I think you’ll see the same on courses everywhere. You’ll even currently find a Toulon in our own Tommy’s bag, and it’s the best I’ve seen him putt in years.
