Mooted “The worlds most wanted blade”, We certainly believe the Hype.

The CRISP. team took the critically acclaimed ER2B Midblade to the Luton Hoo Country Estate to put it through its paces.

Before we get into the details of the putter, it’s probably best to start at the top and talk about EVNROLL as a business and its early beginnings.

Back in 2015 Guerin Rife and Stephen Riley would begin a quest to create a putter that would disrupt the market through innovation and technology. Rife would go on to be the brains behind technology and design and Riley would be able to turn it into a business through his previous experience.

Fast forward to today and EVNROLL have a total of 18 putters in their portfolio. All made to suit every stroke type/technique and all powered with their patented “Sweet face technology”.

 

Who is Guerin Rife?

CEO and Cheif Designer Guerin Rife has been creating putters For 25 years, however EVNROLL wasn’t just an overnight success. Rife actually started in advertising worked his way up to start his own little advertising agency. His calling in Golf actually happened when he hooked up with David Leadbetter to create the Leadbetter putting system.

From there Rife when onto create the first cavity mallet putter and also patented putter grooves. From there came the famous Rife “two-bar” putter.

Unfortunately, Rife and Rife putters were hit by a recession and the company was sold in 2009.

Rife started again and started EVNROLL, challenging himself to take grooves to the next level and he has.

I try to design and innovate putters that perform at the highest level. The EVNROLL line of putters represents the best of what I’ve learned from 20 years of getting it wrong and getting it right. Guerin Rife, CEO, EVNROLL.

 

Technology

The ER2B like other products in the range, comes with a patented “Sweet Face Technology”,  but is that exactly?

Instead of having a  “sweet spot” on the putter’s face, the whole face is milled but with grooves that decrease in width from the centre the further out, you go towards the heel or the toe.

The technology in EVNROLL putters is predominantly designed to aid distance control and compensate for mishits off-centre. Any shots coming out from the heel or the toe of the putter should effectively still give you the desired distance as you would have coming out from the middle giving it a more (hate to say it) even roll.

If that wasn’t enough, the milled lines gently re-direct the ball back to the centre eliminating dispersion from off-centre hits.

Here are two video’s to help explain distance control.

Other industry Putters

EVNROLL Putter

 

The Design

The ER2B follows the success of its award-winning predecessor the ER2. Dubbed “murdered-out”, the ER2B looks like a tool that’s ready for action. Everything from the Headcover, Head, Shaft and Grip are Blacked-out and my god is it beautiful. If it didn’t mean business, it certainly turns up and looks like it does.

Let’s start with the headcover. This is just about as premium of headcover we’ve ever felt. It’s made out of thick and durable full-grain leather in with a tumbled finish. Soft on touch but sturdy enough to give you comfort it can take a beating if needs be.

On top is an embroidered logo with a very premium finish coupled with a “Get Even” Red Levi’s-esque tab. Inside the headcover, you’ll find a silky micro-fibre finish and the closing mechanism is magnet strong enough to make the headcover “pop” open rather than a cheaper velcro.

 

 

The shaft, is a single-bend available in 33″, 34″ and 35″, all providing different swing weights. Lighter for 33 and heavier for 35. We tested out the 34 which we felt was perfect for us based on previous putters used.

The head of the club is a shorter yet wider mid-blade that is flanged. It took a little while to get used to having used mallets previously but we really took to it very quickly. On the underside, you’ll find detailed engravings with high a level finish. Logo, weight, model are all there with a “designed by Guerin Rife” just to finish it off and give it touch.

 

 

On the back, you’ll see a bold white alignment line which is striking when offset against the black base and the two small dots remain to help you roll the ball when you’re trying to sink a breaking putt.

The stealthy, matte-black armour finish make this one of the most striking and beautiful putters we’ve ever seen.

 

 

The Gravity Grip

The Grip on the ER2B is so impressive, we thought it needed its own section to talk about.

Another technological advancement from EVNROLL is the Gravity Grip. Longer than the stock pistol grip, its made out of lightweight EVA foam but instead of being made from 1 piece, it features a 70-gram steel rod running down the spine around 1/2 inch away from the shaft.

The result is a more weighted grip to improve feedback and reduce face rotation through impact which is our biggest problem when putting.

We instantly felt slightly more connected to the head of the club on the takeaway and felt a lot more square-on on the push. The weight of the grip also helped gives us the sensation of keeping the clubhead pushed down which certainly helped.

 

Performance

Being mid handicappers (15 and 20) we’ve used a few putters from bladed to mallet but it the first time we’d used a midblade head such as this one.

The sensation of the gravity grip took some getting used to just because it feels so different on the hand in comparison to other putters. 

The first couple of holes we could feel the difference and it felt a hell of a lot more accurate although the scorecard would disagree.

It was only until we hit 5 onwards where we truly started to feel comfortable and settled with the putter. After that, it really begins to feel like an extension of your body with the balance.

The look of the EVNROLL on top of the ball also gave us a level of confidence we’ve never really felt with any other putter. 

I’m not sure whether we had a preconceived expectation of its performance or whether it was the design and feel, either way, it worked and that’s all that matters right?

We finished with our personal best at the Luton Hoo and we can directly attribute at least 5-6 shots on the round solely down to the putter which is a massive improvement.

The greens were slower than what we’d been used to before so it’d be interesting to see how it fares on faster greens. Perhaps we’ll come back and update this review when we take it out again.

Verdict

Having used it in practice and around the course we can whole-heartedly say this putter is a game-changer. Being notorious ‘3-putters’ in pressure situations, the ER2B instantly gave us the feedback needed to change that. The balance of the club on the takeaway was like nothing we’ve ever used before. Coupled with the phenomenal innovation of the Gravity Grip, The clubhead just felt evenly balanced throughout. Even our mishits magically turned out to be great putts. At one point there were questions about the legality of it because it just works.

The question on everyone’s mind is the price. Can you justify a price tag upwards of £300 for a putter? Well yes, of course, you can.

Whether its the way it feels or the way it looks, The ER2B has a way of giving you confidence standing over the ball and that is worth the money alone.

A common misconception is that the driver is the king of the bag and all too often we’ll see amateur golfers investing bucket loads in the latest technology.

The putter, however, is the most used club in the bag per round and when mastered is the quickest way to bring your score and handicap down. At £300 we’ll honestly say it’s one of the best golf investments you’ll ever make.

We love this putter so much we’ve awarded it a CRISP. Editors Choice Award for 2020.

 

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