The Ryder Cup Has Begun, But It's A Milled Putter From New York That Has Caught My Attention

In a world of mass-produced golf equipment, T Squared Putters offers an alternative rooted in precision and passion. Born in a family-owned machine shop south of Buffalo, NY, founder Tony Tuber and his father craft their putters with an obsessive attention to detail. With a lineup that includes everything from timeless blades to modern, high-MOI mallets, like the TS-1104 that I put to the test, and a full custom program, T-Squared provides golfers the opportunity to own a truly master-crafted putter.

From an aesthetic standpoint, the T-Squared TS-1104 putter presents a clean, minimalist design, featuring chrome screws that contrast with the satin black body. While this can be interpreted as ‘cheap’, it’s actually a style that I enjoy. The shape of the putter is a ‘fang’ mallet-style putter, similar to that of the Scotty Cameron 5.5 or the Toulon Las Vegas H1 25 - some of the best putters on the market, albeit with slightly elongated wings.

The hosel features a flow neck design engineered to produce 30° of toe hang through a patented ‘Built-Not-Bent’ technology. Speaking to Tony Tuber, he states, “We can achieve toe-hang and face balance on any of our putter models while getting the golfer their desired loft and lie without compromising the integrity of the club.” When out on the golf course testing this putter, I felt it sat down behind the ball beautifully and swung with superb balance throughout my stroke.

While choice is abundant when fully customizing a T-Squared Putter, even when selecting a ‘stock’ model, you have the choice of head color, neck color, and alignment aids. I opted for the dual alignment system, which sees a small line on the top of the head, alongside a line on the flange.

I was a little sceptical that this might get me focusing too much on my mechanics throughout the stroke, but instead, matching up the lines gave me full confidence in my setup and allowed me to make a free stroke while focusing on my pace.

Truth be told, I was expecting a slightly softer feel from the TS-1104 putter due to the fairly deep milling on the 6061 aircraft-grade aluminium insert, and while it wasn’t necessarily firm, it wasn’t as soft as other milled putters I have tested this year. The sound through impact is also something that caught me off guard, with the TS-1104 putter producing a fairly loud ‘tinny’ sound - reminiscent of an original Ping anser.

I have traditionally always played a milled putter, whether that be a mallet or blade style putter, but for some reason, I really struggled with my pace control when testing the T-Squared TS-1104 putter. I do think part of the reason would be the firmer feel and higher-pitched sound, as well as the large Flat-Cat putter grip, I’m sure, was also a factor.

I actually liked how this grip sat in my hands, and with a little more time to get used to it, I think it could really help my game, but where I’ve previously gravitated towards using a standard pistol grip, I just felt as though I lost a good amount of feel.

The grip did, however, help with alignment on the shorter putts, and I felt as though I could barely miss from inside 8ft. The dual alignment system worked perfectly in setting up my putter at my target, although I did find it slightly odd to look down on when putting on severe slopes where the lines didn’t match up.

Overall, I was genuinely impressed by the looks, weighting, and overall performance of a T-Squared putter. I wouldn’t quite put them on the same pedestal as some other premium putter brands in terms of their sound and feel, but it was clear that once you get a T-Squared putter in your hands, you can tell how meticulously crafted these putters are.

Retailing at $499, these putters are a pretty serious investment, and you have to be certain about making your custom color and alignment choices, as well as being sure you prefer a firmer feel and slightly louder sound through impact.