For golfers of a certain generation, the mention of Zebra putters will conjure up memories of the Zimbabwean Nick Price rolling in putt after putt on his way to becoming Open Champion (and indeed World Number One) in 1994. The Ram Zebra made famous by Price and Raymond Floyd was one of the best putters of its era and featured on our list of the 10 best putter designs of all time.
These days, however, Ram and Zebra are two separate entities. Ram has been rebranded recently as a budget friendly option while Zebra sit closer to the other end of the price scale, while still remaining affordable. I recently tested the Ram FX-01 blade putter and it certainly lived up to its billing as one of the best value putters on the market, but the Zebra Milled Series 002 is a different animal entirely (see what I did there?) and is very much a premium product.
My first impression of the Zebra Milled Series 002 out of the box was very positive. It's a nice looking golf club, no question. It comes with a luxurious leather head cover featuring the Zebra logo and the premium mid-size Winn grip also carries some cool looking Zebra branding.
After removing the head cover the first thing that struck me was the number of alignment lines. There are lots of them, but it’s a Zebra so stripes go with the territory I guess. The 002 is a fang shaped mallet putter with a single white alignment line on each fang as well as one in the center of the crown. Either side of that center line are six grey lines (three on each side) which add to the aesthetic and in theory could help some golfers line up their putts correctly. Personally I’m not sure how much performance benefit there is to the “zebra stripes” but they do look good.
The head is precision milled from a single billet of carbon steel which the brand claims ensures purity and consistency in both feel and performance. There is a ‘Z’ on the heel of the milled face and another logo on the sole, making the putter unmistakably Zebra. Adjustable heel and toe weighting is another premium feature that helps boost performance.
I should also mention at this point that there are three other models in the Milled Series. Two are blade putters (one is a wide model) and the other is a rounded mallet shape. All four putters in the Milled Series family have adjustable weights in the heel and toe, which come with 10g as standard but if you wish you can add lighter or heavier weights to dial in your preferred setting.
I was happy to be testing the 002 model as I find that as a general rule fang shaped heads really suit my eye as well as my putting stroke. Thankfully this was no exception. I tested the 002 for a couple of weeks at home on my artificial turf putting green and played two full rounds at Berrington Hall Golf Club in St Helens. I also used it extensively on the practice green at my local golf club, Hurlston Hall, Ormskirk, to get a feel for how it performed on different greens and in various weather conditions.
The first thing I noticed was how squarely it sits to the ground behind the ball. Straight away that promotes confidence. It’s also very well balanced and feels nice in the hands. The forgiveness on offer was impressive as the weighting in the heel and toe helped to ensure solid results even on off-center strikes, making this a contender for one of the most forgiving putters I've tested this year.
The feel out of the sweet spot was very pleasing but the acoustics were more high pitched than I had expected. Less so when the ball comes off the sweet spot, but when you do miss it you can immediately tell by the sound. It was quite unique in that if you miss the center of the face by even a fraction you may not even know by the feel, but the difference in sound is clear. I don't want to overstate this as it definitely wasn’t a high enough pitch to turn me off, but if you like a soft feeling, muted sounding putter then this is probably not for you.
Based on my testing, I felt that the Milled Series 002 was a good all around putter that really came into its own from inside six feet, which is a range I usually struggle from. It performed very well for me from close in, which I put down to the stability and balance as well as the alignment assistance. I felt like it was easy to keep the head on the right path throughout the stroke which is obviously of extra importance on those short ones.
If I'm nit-picking then I would say that I would prefer a thicker grip but that’s just personal preference and the mid-size is pretty standard on these type of mid-mallet putters. I’m not in love with the sound either but overall those are two very minor gripes and this is an excellent putter that represents good value at the price point of around $300.
