Discraft Ace Race 2015 Putter Review

We recently attended our first ever Discraft Ace Race.  Before we get into the disc review, we had enough fun at this event to recommend the event to all disc golfers.

 If you are unfamiliar with the Ace Race event, the name tells it all.  Your goal is to get as many aces as possible.  Hitting metal or chains gives you an advantage as a tiebreaker too.  In order to make the event fun (and possible) for everyone, the course is generally shortened.  Most of our shots this year were between 100′ and 250’.  Afterward, we competed in the long drive competition and the closest to the pin contest, both using the event’s disc and at the end of the event we participated in the ring of fire.  This is a putting contest with a twist, everyone throws at the same time.  Fifty putters simultaneously heading toward the same basket is a sight to see!

Still not sold on the Ace Race?  The player’s pack includes a dri-fit shirt, a commemorative mini, and a metallic bottle opener bag tag.  Include the two discs and the $25 entry fee is well justified.

We’ll have to come back and update this review later to fill in the manufacturer’s notes, the available plastics, and the flight ratings

The disc feels similar to the Latitude 64 Dagger we recently reviewed, though not quite as deep of a rim.  Some of the available discs were more domey than others, but that didn’t seem to affect the putter’s flight.  Interestingly, the white model I chose was a little more slippery than the blue one.  I’ve seen this before, where the dyed disc has a little more grip than the white one.  We both also noticed that the white putter was slightly more stable than any disc with color.

 

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Chris originally put this somewhere around a 3, 4, -1, 1.

Since you don’t putt in an ace race, this won’t be a useful review if/until the disc is officially released.  Although, knowing how to putt with a similar putter might help you to win the ring of fire.

The disc is just firm enough to allow a solid push putt.  Inside the circle, I aimed right at the pole with a decent success.  Every now and then a putt will turn a little too much on a longer putt.

Spin putting with the disc showed its understability the most.  Choosing a line allowing a decent amount of turn is a must outside the circle.  Watching Chris win the ring of fire was fun.  At the edge of the circle it seemed to perform similar to his Magic, just not as much turn and a fade similar to an Innova Colt.

The majority of the Ace Race has you throwing the disc as a driver or approach disc, depending on your distance capability.  This putter is straight to understable, with a flight path and glide similar to the Dynamic Discs Judge or a brand new Innova Colt.  Put too much power into the throw and you’ll be penalized with a quick turnover that doesn’t roll too well.

On a hyzer line, the disc flips to flight and finishes barely left of the target line.  To use this on an anhyzer line, the disc turns down enough that you’ll need to throw it higher to compensate and allow it to fade back.  I think this disc performs best when thrown flat from 150’ or less, with little expectation of a fade.  I couldn’t get a flick to work consistently, and the rest of the field seemed to have similar trouble.

Due to the turn we noticed with the Ace Race disc, we both switched to a fan grip after a few throws.  Many players had agreed that the flight was not as consistent as should be expected at the beginning.  However, changing to a fan grip allowed for a reproducible flight path and caused several cheers for near misses on the ace run.

Even with an early morning start, our event was treated with a gusty wind.  Knowing a little about how wind affects disc flight paths was useful, but I feel like the wind increased the luck factor of the event.  The 2015 Ace Race disc putts great with a tailwind that kept the disc a little more stable.  Into the headwind it turned much more as expected, but not enough to make the disc useless into the wind (though there are many better options).  In cross winds its glide stood out and many of us threw beyond our targets, but the overall flight path was not affected a great deal.

Check out our updated Roach review!

Overall, neither of us liked the putter enough to see it fitting in the bag.  For the straight putter slot, the Dynamic Discs Judge delivers a more consistent flight and it’s not understable enough to replace my Swan or Chris’ Magic.  However, don’t let that deter you from participating in the event.  This was a blast!