Cleveland ramps up its putter game with Frontline

Over the course of the last decade or so, Cleveland has certainly been best known for its wedges, but in the last couple of years the company has also taken steps toward carving out a niche in the putter space.

Cleveland enjoyed moderate success with its TFi 2135 putters and their unique alignment aids, and the Huntington Beach lineups also have been well received.

That said, new this fall from Cleveland is the Frontline range of putters, which appear to be the company’s best entry into the putter market to date in terms of technology and performance.

Most unique about Frontline is that more than 47 grams of tungsten weight has been positioned in the face of each putter to move the center of gravity forward. While most manufacturers opt for a CG position that’s further back, Cleveland found in its testing that gear effect was reduced by moving weight forward, with the result being that putts struck from areas outside the center of the face started on or closer to the intended target line.

Also incorporated into the Frontline design is what Cleveland refers to as SOFT, which stands for Speed Optimized Face Technology. More specifically, each Frontline putter features a groove pattern in its forged aluminum face that creates the same ball speed regardless of strike location, which helps players better control distance.

“We are very excited about Frontline because it is a completely new approach to putter design,” said Cleveland Research and Development Engineer Jacob Lambeth. “By pairing an extreme center of gravity with an improved speed optimized face, we’ve designed a putter that uniquely maximizes directional and speed consistency.”

Also noteworthy about the Frontline lineup is that it features four different head designs, while different hosel configurations are also available to better match a putter to a player’s stroke depending on how much arc they utilize.

Of the four models, the Elevado, Cero, and Iso are modern mallets, while the Frontline 4.0 is a classic blade. Additionally, the mallet designs feature Cleveland’s 2135 Technology, which positions the primary alignment aid exactly at the equator of the golf ball to help golfers line up properly regardless of where they have their eyes at setup.

As someone who struggles to find the center of the putter face on a consistent basis and who also fails to hit their line as often as they would like, I was excited to give the new Frontline putters a try, which I’ve been fortunate enough to do over the past couple of weeks.

First and foremost, these putters excel aesthetically. The black finish and black shaft provide a sleek, stealth look while the silver aluminum and grey tungsten inserts on the face provide an awesome contrast, as do the bright white alignment aids. And finishing off the visual package in style is a black Lamkin SINKFit Pistol grip with red highlights that looks as good as it feels in hand during the stroke.

In terms of feel, I would characterize Frontline as highly unique, as the feel is soft in the hands while still providing audible feedback based on strike location. More specifically, putts struck from the center of the face provide a crisp, muted sound and feel, while putts hit from either the heel or toe offer a slightly louder sound that lets a player know that impact was slightly off.

That type of feedback is valuable for anyone who’s trying to improve their putting, but it also provides evidence from a technology standpoint that Frontline is doing its job.

To elaborate, while testing each of the four models on the golf course, even when I missed the center of the face, which I could clearly detect based on acoustics, my speed control was exceptional.

Additionally, I felt like each of the Frontline models did a great job of getting the ball rolling quickly, which is something that every great putter strives for on the greens.

Also worth mentioning is that in my opinion the balance that these putters offer during the stroke is excellent. You can really feel the weight in the putterhead, which makes it easier to stroke the ball with a smooth transition, and the stock Lamkin grip is a great complement in that regard.

In terms of the four models, the Elevado, which is a winged mallet, probably stood out as my favorite, as I found it incredibly easy to align, and I would also highlight the Cero as a standout based on its classic mallet shape and incredible forgiveness.

Add it all up and based on my testing experience I would highly recommend that anyone who struggles with speed and distance control or who, like me, misses their intended line too often give the new Frontline putters a look, as Cleveland appears to be on to something with this technology.

Cleveland Frontline putters are available for purchase now, and each model is offered in stock lengths of 33, 34, or 35 inches. The Elevado, however, is the only model that is offered as a left-handed option.