50 Words or Less
With the Kirkland Signature KS1 Putter, Costco marks its first foray into the golf club space. While there’s certainly room to improve, you cannot deny this putter is a valiant first try for what many consider to be just a grocery store. The KS1 putter offers stellar value, premium components, and good feel.
Can Costco make a driver? Check out the $200 Kirkland driver HERE
Introduction
Typically, I don’t like talking about prices in reviews, because the quality, performance, and feel should be the main story. However, when talking about Costco clubs, price has to be mentioned. When premium putters like Scotty Cameron, Toulon, and Bettinardi sell for as much as $450 and even standard new putters like Odyssey, Mizuno, and PING sell for upwards of $200, it’s shocking to see a milled offering for just $150.
Looks
To the general golfing public, it may be hard to tell the difference between this putter and something much, much more expensive like some of those brands I mentioned above. It’s an Anser or Newport-style blade, with a plumber’s neck, silver in color, unassuming and understated in nature. It features a boxy blade head with two circular 10-gram weights on the bottom of the club, so there’s adjustable technology present.
The only other colors on the club are red and black, featured in the Kirkland Signature logos on the underside and back of the putter. The large SuperStroke grip features those same colors with the addition of some white, as well. The putter’s face, along with milled variable bumps, features a “KS1” logo that looked handsome. But that wasn’t the only branding on the club.
While I like the way that the Kirkland Signature logo looks on the bottom of the club, I wasn’t a fan of that logo behind the club. To me, the difference was that spacing. While on the bottom of the club it looked great, the logo on the back looked rather smooshed together. In the future, I’m hoping they can make a unique logo for their golf equipment to make it feel a bit more premium. Luckily, at address, you don’t see that detail anyway.
The KS1 comes with a headcover that is serviceable. It has great stitching and detail work, but you can tell Costco elected to use a cheaper material. Velcro was chosen over magnets, and the material feels lighter and less sturdy than it looks.
Sound & Feel
Often I find the feel of a club originates with the head, but even before striking one putt, I was shocked to see that this golf club comes with a $35 SuperStroke Mid Slim 2.0 CounterCore grip. It offered comfort, security, and tremendous value to the club. With how thick it is, it takes wrist action out of the equation.
For reference, I currently game a Special Select Scotty Cameron Newport 2.5 (review HERE), and there is a noticeable feel and sound difference between those two clubs. That Scotty head weighs in at 350 grams versus the KS1 weighing in at 340 grams. 10 grams isn’t a lot, but when using the KS1, it felt like it weighed noticeably less than my current gamer despite a chunkier top line.
The KS1 also felt less solid at impact. Hitting a ProV1 golf ball, the sound started off higher pitched than expected and trailed off to a more dull sound. It wasn’t a “click” and it wasn’t a “thud”, but more of a combination, a “clud”, if you will.
One of the big negatives I’ve seen in other reviews of this club is that you can’t try before you buy. However, that’s only partially true. Costco is pretty generous with their return policy, so if you’re not feeling the putter after a round or two, that’s always something to keep in mind. While the return period isn’t enough time to really get used to a putter, it is certainly enough to tell if you like the feel or not.
Performance
Ultimately, if a putter doesn’t sink putts, it’s no good right? Well, I can report that the KS1 made plenty of putts and performed well. While I was disappointed that it felt noticeably “thinner” than my current gamer, it still sank some putts. I will say that speed control felt like an issue — sometimes leaving puts short and often hitting it longer than expected. Some of that issue is likely due to the lighter weighting of the club.
The alignment is like the rest of the putter: simple. Their Truline technology is a black line on the back of the hosel, only visible if you’re not aligned with your eyes correctly over the clubhead, similar to SeeMore’s red dot. The other alignment aid is a thin, black line on the flange. It does the job, and it’s reminiscent of dozens of other putters that do roughly the same thing.
While my experience was decent, how a club performs is often down to being well fit and unfortunately, there’s not a lot of fitting capabilities with this club. Although there is a left-handed version (that’s currently unavailable for the Kirkland Signature wedges), the club is very standard. It comes in 3 degrees of loft and measures 34.5 inches. That’s the only length available, so it won’t fit everyone. Similarly, the loft cannot be altered.
Performance can also be heavily influenced by feel, and while it doesn’t come standard, you can purchase a weight kit separately from the putter. The kit not only comes with two 15g and two 20g weights for the putter itself, it also comes with a 50g CounterCore Grip weight to offer noticeably more customization options than the Kirkland Signature wedges. If it were up to me, I’d definitely prefer to add more weight to the head of the putter.
Conclusion
Kirkland Signature was trying to make a premium feeling putter for a fraction of what the major OEMs cost. They somewhat succeeded. I think the name “KS1” is very telling. To me, this reads like a proof of concept — a trial run. Similarly to how Cobra first partnered with HP to make a 3D printed putter in November of 2020 before releasing an entire line of 3D printed putters this year, I think Costco is gauging interest in a potential line of putters, and from what I can tell there is a lot of interest in this putter.
Maybe this means an evolution from a KS1 into a KS2 and beyond. I would be thrilled to see this putter evolve because there’s tons of value and a lot of potential here. This initial offering needs a little bit of tweaking and more time in development to improve the feel. But even now, those looking for a deal, new golfers, or those who are not too fussy about being fitted, really have a potential find with this putter.
- The 2024 Tour Championship Recap - September 3, 2024
- The 2024 Wyndham Championship Recap - August 11, 2024
- The 2024 Genesis Scottish Open Recap - July 14, 2024
24 Comments
This putter has always intrigued me. My local Costco has one out of the box for the customers to look at and at first glance it looks excellent. I’m a lefty so finding one has been a challenge but I keep checking the Costco app every few weeks.
That’s a great call, Jason, I have yet to see a lefty version in my local Costco, but I’ve seen them on their website before so you’re doing the right thing. I hope you can score one soon!
“While the return period isn’t enough time to really get used to a putter, it is certainly enough to tell if you like the feel or not. ”
Costco has a no questions asked return policy, there is no time limit either. Feel free to try for a year or more and then take it back.
Other than that, great write up!!!
Daniel! Thanks so much for your comment and for reading. I appreciate you!
Looks like another value for the buck item but they do not make left hand. so much for that.
They sell the lefty on Costco.com
Deborah, great call! This is now available in a left handed model!
Can you clarify what you mean by not being able to get fit for the putter? Any putter can be cut down. Or extended. They offer a weight kit or you can just use lead tape. Any putter can have the lie angle adjusted. It’s pretty much the same as a Scotty. Shorter putter will have heavier head weight than a longer putter. In this case you just need to do it yourself.
Agreed – I made myself an “armlock” version of this putter – extended the shaft and made significant adjustments to the loft + lie = no biggie.
Mike, you’re not the first person I’ve heard make massive adjustments to it! Another buddy of mine put a Stability shaft into it. If you’re not afraid to club build yourself or have someone you trust who can – it’s a great option. First time I’ve heard of someone doing an armlock version with it though. How is that going for you?
Dan — You’re exactly right, that’s all I was saying there – you’d just need to be able to fit yourself. Because you’re getting it from a box and not working with anyone in-store, you can’t get it fitted to your specs before purchasing. Plus, the weight kit is an extra charge. However, I think a big part of the market for this club is for people who wouldn’t know how to go about doing that on their own without going to another vendor.
Costco now has the lefthanded KS1 on-line for $109.
Quite a bargain!
April 12, 2022. $99.99 usd till 4/18
You seriously comparing this $109 putter to your $400 scotty. I think with the $37 weight kit it would be a lot closer to yours.
Just picked a left-handed version up for $99. two quick things:
1. Out of the box, it did feel lighter and more cheaply made.
2. I didn’t want to spend $37 on the weight kit so I went to the local hardware store and bought 2 – 7 g flat washers for 89 cents. I dropped them in the 10 g weights. Now we’re talking about a completely different club.
With the extra weight it feels much more solid both as you hold it and when putting. My friend has a Scotty Cameron and we compare the two. With the extra weight in my club they really did seem like almost the same club.
The criticism people have made about the club feeling too light and more cheaply made is valid when using just the base 10 g weights. But with the weights in it it feels like a completely different club that would rival a $400 counterpart.
The pudding with the KS one is really consistent and it just has an amazing feel. But, you have to add weight to the head. The washers work great but they will jiggle around a bit. So, I dropped a little bit of rubber cement inside the head to hold the washers down.
Quite the handyman to make your own weights with it! I’m thrilled to hear you’ve really made that putter your own and improved the feel in the process. Nice work! And thanks for reading, and your comment!
Is it possible to show how you did it?
Is there a bigger cover for original putter., original cover is to small.
Stanley, no bigger cover that comes stock no. But there are plenty of great covers on the market right now. Swag is a great option! I agree though, from what I remember, the cover was quite snug.
I bought one (lefty) a couple months ago. On sale. I was a 100+ guy (mind you I’ve just picked up the game during covid) using a gifted old Top Flite putter. Already had a great set of clubs, minus a real putter. Really wanted to research before buying a nice, new putter. Well since buying it, the weights, and dialing it in, after two months, I’m consistently in the low 90’s. Even breaking into the high 80’s lately. Unless you’re under the impression that a $3-400 putter is gonna make you some pro overnight or insist on fashion over function, I’d highly recommend saving the money and giving this a go. But BUY THE WEIGHT KIT. Lol.
Chris! Fabulous work on getting your handicap down. That’s a pretty impressive jump for someone who’s been playing for such a short amount of time. Hahaha seems like the weight kit was a must! For my review, I wanted to just take it as it was… but now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t try it again with the heavier putter weights to see what the fuss is about in this comments section!
Late to the game, but the biggest “drawback” to the KS1 was the weight kit not being included. They’ve since cut the price to $99 (i paid $110 last spring) and at around $150 USD for the putter and kit it’s an absolute steal. Is it the best, absolutely not, but does anything come close for the price, also absolutely not. I am hoping they can figure out a way to include the weights for around $129 USD, and then I think they’ll have a sweet spot, and/or figure out a way to keep the weights universal for future putters, and have a KS2 and KS3 in maybe different head designs.
Yup I did the same DIY weights with a drill, vise, grinder and hammer was able to add 20g to the base 10g 2X system. Also added some lead tape and the 70g weight in the shift. SWEET!
I like ԝһat yοu guys tend to be up too. Such clever work and exposure!
Kеep up the fantastic works guys I’ve added yоu guys to my personal blogroll.