Long neck: Odyssey releases the Giraffe Beam putter family

USA Today

a day ago

Long neck: Odyssey releases the Giraffe Beam putter family Originally made for the Japanese market, Odyssey's long-neck putters are face balanced and feature a three-putt fighting face insert.
Gear: Odyssey Giraffe Beam putters
Price: $299.99 (standard models), $349.99 (Giraffe Beam Jailbird Cruiser)
Specs: Face-balanced designs with elongated crank hosels, grooved, variable-thickness urethane face insert, copper PVD finish with giraffe pattern
Who it's for: Golfers who prefer a crank hosel look but want the stability and forgiveness of a face-balanced putter.
What you should know: Originally developed by Odyssey's team in Japan, these long-necked putters bring advanced materials and AI-driven technologies to familiar shapes.
The deep dive: Sometimes inspiration comes from the most unexpected places. In this case, it was Japan and the animal kingdom.
The standout feature of the Giraffe Beam lineup is the extended crank hosel — what Odyssey calls the 'Giraffe Beam.' Designed for the Japanese golf market, this design tweak offers a very specific performance benefit: by lengthening the hosel, Odyssey has made these putters face balanced. That gives players who prefer the look of a crank hosel — often seen in more traditional blade and mallet styles — the ability to use a putter that's better suited for straight-back, straight-through strokes.
That face-balanced design is ideal for golfers with minimal arc and face rotation in their putting stroke, and in the Giraffe Beam lineup, Odyssey is pairing it with the same Ai-One insert technology found its 2024 and 2025 releases. Built on an aluminum backer with contoured shapes created using artificial intelligence, the AI-One insert is co-molded with the same urethane layer that gives Odyssey's White Hot insert its signature feel. The result is a more consistent ball speed across the face, and according to Odyssey research, it helps golfers avoid three-putting more effectively without sacrificing sound or feel.
Each putter also features a 'Panlite' window in the cavity — an automotive-grade polymer that allows you to actually see the AI-One technology within the putter. It's a modern, almost futuristic touch for a putter that features an elegant copper PVD finish. Flip any of the heads over and you'll also spot a subtle giraffe pattern on the sole, a playful nod to the putter's name and origins.
Five head shapes are available, covering both mallets and blades. The #7 is the most familiar and probably the easiest to align with its angular shape, extended heel and toe bumpers and three white alignment lines that stand off against the copper finish. There is also a Jailbird Mini and a Jailbird Cruiser, which takes inspiration from one of Odyssey's most talked-about designs and features a 400-gram head and is built at 38 inches with a 17-inch grip. Choking down on the grip as you hit a putt, the Jailbird Cruiser creates a super stable setup without needing to go to an armlock-style stroke.
Blade fans will gravitate toward the Giraffe Beam #2 and Double Wide models. The #2 has a squared-off profile that sets up clean behind the ball, while the Double Wide has an extended back flange for players who like the shape of a blade but want the forgiveness of a mid-mallet.
Each putter comes with one of Odyssey's SL steel shafts — either the SL 90 or, in the case of the Cruiser, the heavier SL 140. All models are built with 3 degrees of loft, 70 degrees of lie, and feature zero degrees of toe hang due to their face-balanced nature.