After the Callaway acquisition, engineers were on the hunt for improvement, and according to the company, Ely Callaway said “Why not try using the same materials balls are covered in?” It had its drawbacks from a technical sense including rebound, but it was very ahead of its time. It was lighter and softer than steel which helped with feel of the extremely firm golf balls being used at the time. Stronomic inserts helped bring the brand to the forefront. To understand the genesis of this amazing popularity, we go back to something mentioned earlier in the article. Part of that was due to the incredible popularity of the White Hot insert, but the company had a thirst for more. Many, such as the Metal-X Milled lineup, had rabid fans, but it didn’t translate to large amounts of tour use or sales. “With today’s announcement we fortify our position as the number one equipment company in golf and add valuable experience to our leadership team.”ĭespite Odyssey’s amazing success, before the acquisition of the Toulon Design brand, the company had struggled to gain wide usage on tour with their milled releases. “Sean is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable leaders in the golf equipment industry, and we are excited to have him come aboard to help us continue to lead the putter category with great designs and the highest performing innovations,” commented Chip Brewer, President and Chief Executive Officer at Callaway Golf Company. In the original press release, Chip Brewer, President and CEO of Callaway Golf had this to say. In 2016, Callaway acquired Toulon Design, the premium milled putter company specializing in customization led by the company’s co-founder Sean Toulon. Despite the above talking in the present, we are still not quite there and heading back a little more than a handful of years. While many will view that as hype, the numbers do support it. Sean Toulon Doing His Putter Inspection Pose While that was fun to write, describing a 2-Ball to golfers is unnecessary, nearly everybody knows exactly what it is because of its incredible popularity. The 2-Ball at the time featured two white discs on top of an oversized mallet that are the shape and size of golf balls to assist golfers in lining up more accurately. The Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball putter hit the market and has gone on to be the biggest selling putter model in the history of golf. While PGA Tour acceptance is extremely important, so is the recreational golfer, and in 2001 magic happened again. That same year, 25 years ago, Odyssey was acquired by Callaway Golf and has been a part of the brand ever since. A year after that Masters victory, they established themselves as one of the premier companies in golf. Odyssey began expanding the number of models offered with new and revolutionary designs, as well as their take on popular styles. While already on the map so to speak, that win took Odyssey to new levels of being noticed. Nick Faldo had the Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II with a Stronomic insert in the bag and won the 1996 Masters. With in 5 years, the brand really took the next step and in 1996 magic happened. The Rossie I and Rossie II models were mallets created using a polymer called Stronomic.

These were one piece putter heads and they gained a fairly quick acceptance out on tour. Odyssey Golf began producing putters back in 1991.

Odyssey putter models