The Frankly Frog putter was designed by Frank Thomas, inventor of the graphite shaft and USGA technical director for 26 years. Thomas designed the original Frankly Frog in 2003 at 2am and said that when he made the final drawings for the CNC machining, he noticed it looked like a frog, hence the name.

The design concept of the original Frankly Frog was to remove all sources of error in the instrument. Thomas said: “The Frankly Frog is the most user-friendly putter I could ever design. With perfect balance and ultimate forgiveness, it will optimise performance on the green and build extraordinary confidence in your game.”

DEMO DAY
The Golf Village Somerset West (www.tgvsw.com) hosted a demo and “Putt Out” challenge for members and guests to try the Frog putter, with the prize being a custom-fitted putter valued at R6 000.

FlightScope were also brought in for the event, where Richardo Braz set up their monitor on the green to track and provide data on: contact/sweet spot, roll of the ball and forgiveness. He gave this feedback to The Golf Mag: “From observing multiple putts with the FlightScope X3, the Frankly Frog putter stands out for its ability to deliver a smoother, more consistent roll.

“The reduced skid ensures the ball starts rolling earlier, minimisng hopping and creating a purer, more accurate roll. The larger clubface also enhances the sweet spot, making the putter more forgiving. This was evident in the improved consistency of putt groupings across short and long distances.”

Three golfers also tested the Frog putter and were asked the following questions:
1. What do you think about the look of the putter?
2. How does it feel off the face and how is the roll?
3. Is it well balanced and what are the alignment lines like?
4. Does it offer stability and forgiveness?
5. Was the custom-fitting information of value to you? Did it help in putting better?

ANRI VAN HEERDEN (SCRATCH),
​​​​​​​STRAND GC/THE GOLF VILLAGE

1. It is completely different and has great appeal. It does look like a frog!
2. It has such a true-end over-end roll and is very responsive off the face.

3. It is the best-balanced putter I have seen, it is dead-square. My alignment lines are usually set up open, but the Frog squared me up much better. This resulted in me hitting the ball on the intended line and sinking more putts.
4. Absolutely 100% to both.
5. Definitely, as we have always emphasised the importance of the full extension of the arms without any hinge in the wrist. This helps hugely with minimising the margin of error. I also love the design of the back of the head and that it has a radius sole, which allows for undulations of the green and if the ball is sitting on the fringe/collar of the green, or slight imperfections in the set-up.

CLEO DELPORT (12 YEARS OLD, 13.1 HI),
​​​​​​​SOMERSET WEST GC

1. I think it looks so cool and I love the colour [pink].
2. The putter feels receptive and the roll is more consistent than my current putter and is more controllable.
3. It is well-balanced and much lighter than my putter. The alignment lines are great and I find it much easier to align the ball.
4. It is very stable, I had more consistent strokes. Forgiveness was great and my ball still rolled well, even with contact being slightly off the sweet spot.
5. I learned so much from the custom-fitting and correct set-up as it revealed that my putter is too long for me. Once I putted with the Frog at the correct length, I had more control with the putter and my putts were more consistent. I would love to own and play with a Frog putter.

Cleo wasn’t to know that her wish would be granted! This passionate up-and-coming golfer and proud member of Somerset West GC won a brand-new, custom-fitted pink Frog putter in the “Putt Out”, which she was over the moon with!

DEAN SCHONEGEVEL

(PGA OF SA ASSOCIATE MEMBER, 3.5 HI), STRAND GC

1. It’s really cool. My favourite thing is the alignment, it’s easy to “point and shoot”. It has a funky feel and I like the pink colour.
2. The feel off the face is amazing. I love the milled face. It produces much better roll than an insert face. It gives a more receptive feel with contact of the ball and the roll is also good. A lot depends on how you catch it out the sweet spot.
3. It is perfectly balanced and the alignment lines are one of its best features.
4. It offers great stability and forgiveness with its broad face; the mallet design is well weighted so it gives a good forgiveness on off-centre strikes.
5. Custom-fitting is of utmost importance; set-up and arm hang/length is comfortable and helpful with producing a consistent putting stroke.