{"id":666514,"date":"2026-05-13T11:05:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T11:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/666514\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T11:05:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T11:05:30","slug":"performance-golf-rs1-putter-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/666514\/","title":{"rendered":"Performance Golf RS1 Putter Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t50 Words or Less<\/p>\n

The Performance Golf RS1 putter uses a series of unconventional design elements to help golfers make a straighter, more repeatable stroke.\u00a0 Good forgiveness.\u00a0 Soft, controlled feel.<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/p>\n

Lots of golf equipment claims to be revolutionary, groundbreaking, and game changing.\u00a0 We get numb to the hyperbole, especially when most golf equipment is, at most, an iterative improvement on what has come before.<\/p>\n

The Performance Golf RS1 putter is different.\u00a0 It takes what almost every other putter does and turns it around 180 degrees.\u00a0 Is this the first step toward a new putting paradigm or a bad idea swimming upstream?\u00a0 I tested it to find out.<\/p>\n

\"Performance
\nLooks<\/p>\n

When I unboxed the Performance Golf RS1 putter, the first thing that caught my eye was the headcover.\u00a0 Black, red, and white, the design made me think of a race car and prepared me for something unusual underneath.\u00a0 I was not disappointed.<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

The RS1 putter looks equal parts medieval weapon and spaceship.\u00a0 And while it\u2019s miles from traditional, there is a pleasing symmetry to the bold design.\u00a0 The black hourglass shape is flanked by silver at the leading and trailing edges, all angling to suggest a fat middle of the club that\u2019s absent.\u00a0 Three long, white alignment lines are topped off with a perpendicular line nearest the ball, providing ample assistance with aim.<\/p>\n

Under the hood, there\u2019s just as much going on.\u00a0 The Performance Golf RS1 putter has moderately sized branding on the rear of the sole.\u00a0 There are also two weights near the face and slashes of orange.\u00a0 What I found most eye catching is the shaping \u2013 the putter is extremely thin and recessed from the ground in the middle. [See Price \/ Buy<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\"Performance
\nSound & Feel<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that I\u2019ve seen putters of all shapes and sizes cover the spectrum of feels, I can\u2019t help but expect that large, non-traditional mallets will feel harsh.\u00a0 The Performance Golf RS1 putter does its part to continue breaking down this stereotype.\u00a0 With a Tour-quality ball, impact feels medium-soft, and the ball comes off the face with control.\u00a0 As I moved out to longer distances, I noticed the feel stayed soft and gentle, which I attribute, at least in part, to the graphite shaft. [See Price \/ Buy<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Performance Golf touts a \u201cHarmonized Multi Material\u201d construction of steel, composite, and aluminum.\u00a0 I like the word \u201charmonized\u201d as it relates to the sound of impact.\u00a0 At all distances, the RS1 putter produces a clear, pronounced \u201ctock.\u201d\u00a0 The volume modulates slightly with distance, but the character remains the same.<\/p>\n

Both the feel and sound of the Performance Golf RS1 putter stay very consistent if your strikes are \u201cinside the black.\u201d\u00a0 If you move to the edges of the heel or toe, the sound changes to a hollow \u201ctonk.\u201d\u00a0 I also noted a slight twisting but only on intentionally poor strikes.<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

Performance<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start by discussing what makes the Performance Golf RS1 putter unique.\u00a0 The biggest thing is that 75% of the putter\u2019s weight sits in front of the shaft.\u00a0 Most putters brag about how much weight they get behind the shaft and face.\u00a0 Zero torque putters balance the weight around the shaft.\u00a0 The RS1 pushes as much weight forward as possible.\u00a0 This gives the RS1 its unique \u201cFace Down Balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

According to Performance Golf, having weight behind the shaft creates toe flow, the tendency for the putter to open during the backstroke.\u00a0 By moving the weight in front of the shaft, the RS1 \u201ccounteracts mechanical toe flow,\u201d keeping the putter face square to the target and, in theory, promoting a more repeatable, consistent stroke.<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

Another factor that promotes a straight path and minimal face rotation is the upright lie angle.\u00a0 Where most putters have a stock lie angle of 70 or 71 degrees, the Performance Golf RS1 putter comes in at 74 degrees with options for 70 and 72.\u00a0 Performance Golf refers to this as a \u201cSquare to Square Lie Angle\u201d as it promotes an address position more on top of the ball and a stroke path that\u2019s more square to target. [See Price \/ Buy<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

A third unique trait of the Performance Golf RS1 putter is the grip, what they call a \u201cDual Pistol Grip.\u201d\u00a0 This is designed to encourage your hands to bend downward while reducing face rotation and grip pressure.\u00a0 It\u2019s similar to the grip they used on the SQ putter [review HERE<\/a>], and they promote it as working with all types of hand positions: conventional, cross hand, or claw.<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

With all these elements trying to keep the putter face square to the target, the obvious question is, \u201cDoes the Performance Golf RS1 putter actually roll the ball straighter than other putters?\u201d\u00a0 Based on my testing, I would say that the answer is yes.\u00a0 It\u2019s impossible to disentangle the effects of the grip, the lie angle, and the weighting, but the cumulative result is a putter that was putting one ball on top of another at all distances.<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

A reasonable follow up would be, \u201cIs the RS1 better than zero torque putters at starting the ball on line?\u201d\u00a0 To that, my answer is that both are good, and it\u2019s hard to say one is objectively better because their approaches are different.\u00a0 A zero torque putter sets up and is swung normally, the player just needs to avoid manipulating the face.\u00a0 The Performance Golf RS1 putter \u201cforces\u201d the golfer into a specific position that\u2019s very likely to get the ball rolling to the target.<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

Despite weighing 365 grams, the RS1 putter feels light, as many zero torque putters do [read more HERE<\/a>].\u00a0 The weight being forward of the shaft is noticeable, especially as you get to longer distances.\u00a0 As with any new putter, especially one that\u2019s radically different, it took a little time to feel like my distance control was dialed in.\u00a0 One thing that helped the RS1 is the controlled feel off the face \u2013 I felt like I could make an affirmative stroke without the ball streaking across the green. [See Price \/ Buy<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

The final piece of the puzzle is forgiveness.\u00a0 High MOI and stability are the reasons that most putters position so much weight away from the face.\u00a0 Performance Golf doesn\u2019t argue with the effectiveness of that idea, but they emphasize that their weight placement is a different approach to creating a stable face.<\/p>\n

I tested the Performance Golf RS1 putter against the LAB DF3i [review HERE<\/a>] \u2013 the current king of forgiveness, in my book \u2013 both indoors with a launch monitor and outdoors on a green.\u00a0 Indoors, looking primarily at smash factor over a large sample of putts, the RS1 was the equal of the DF3i.\u00a0 This means the RS1 kept ball speed very consistent relative to club speed.\u00a0 Outdoors, the DF3i was slightly better.\u00a0 On putts of 30 feet or more, large, intentional mishits with the RS1 stopped a few inches short of those with the DF3i.\u00a0 In sum, despite its unconventional approach, the RS1 is a very forgiving putter. [See Price \/ Buy<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\"Performance<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n

The Performance Golf RS1 putter is a genuinely novel design that offers golfers a new \u2013 and arguably better \u2013 way to get the ball in the hole.\u00a0 Only time will tell if the rest of the industry will follow their lead, but players who are interested in a fresh approach on the greens should give this a try. [See Price \/ Buy<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPerformance Golf RS1 Putter\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The only premium putter with Forward Axis Weighting that eliminates face drift and improves your stroke at the same time.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\"Performance
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tHelp support our mission. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/a> <\/p>\n

Editor In Chief at Plugged In Golf<\/p>\n

Matt has worked in nearly every job in the golf industry from club fitting to instruction to writing and speaking.<\/p>\n

He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.<\/p>\n

Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/a>Latest posts by Matt Saternus (see all<\/a>) \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"50 Words or Less The Performance Golf RS1 putter uses a series of unconventional design elements to help…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-666514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}