This Unknown Brand Just Dominated Our Putter Test: Introducing Runner Putters

My first encounter with Runner Putters, a unique putter company from France, was not my proudest moment.

It was the 2023 PGA Show and Runner founder Simon Linot was walking me through his rather fascinating putter fitting system. My mind, unfortunately, was focusing on this club that looked more like a foot than a putter.

Linot was laying out a perfectly sound and logical explanation as to why his putters deserved my attention. All I could think of, however, was that this was maybe the goofiest-looking putter I’d ever seen. Even when he showed me empirical evidence of how much my stroke had improved, I kept thinking that this was maybe the goofiest-looking putter I’d ever seen.

I would soon learn, however, the truth behind an old French saying.

L’habit ne fait pas le moine. (The outfit doesn’t make the monk.)

Or, if you prefer, don’t judge a book by its cover.

Putters trigger an odd reflex in golfers. We have the “I gotta like the look and feel” brigade. Then there’s the “a good putter can putt with anything” gang. There’s a ton of misguided mythology surrounding the putter than with any other implement we use to play this maddening game. Let’s put it this way: unless you putt with an old John Reuter Bulls Eye, technology is helping you putt.

Deal with it.

So, mes amis, as you dive into this piece on Runner Putters and find yourself thinking it would be impossible to sell a putter that looks like this, remember what Napoleon once said:

Impossible n’est pas français. (Impossible isn’t French.)

Better yet, remember this one from the great French statesman Francois Zappa.

A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it’s not open.

Runner Putters: From France avec amour

Simon Linot is, by trade, an industrial designer for the auto industry. Before COVID, his sole job was to design parts, pieces and interiors to make cars better.

“My best skill is problem solving,” he tells MyGolfSpy.

Like many people with restless minds, Simon got bored during the COVID lockdown and decided to indulge his other passion: golf. Specifically, he wanted to create a putter just for himself because he couldn’t find anything he liked.

“I read a lot of stuff when I was trying to make my perfect putter,” he says. “Like, what’s the best shaft position for different arcs, for example, and how balance affects the rotation of the face on the path.”

Linot was pleased with the result of his work. Coming from the auto industry, where modular construction is king, he then tried to create a system where his putter could adapt to anyone.

What he came up with was unique, albeit aesthetically unconventional.

Function over form

Runner Putters modular putter system is nothing if not efficient. The putter itself is made from five pieces: A center- or heel-shafted base, a blade or mallet back style with adjustable weights, shaft options, 3D aiming aids and lofted face plates. Based on the pieces and options, Linot can create well over 1,600 unique configurations.

It’s all supported by Runner’s fitting process.

“With most brands, toe hang is associated with a certain type of arc,” says Linot. “Not for us.”

Instead, Runner uses shaft position and offset to fit to your arc. Straight-back/straight-through or very slight arc strokes are best suited to a center-shafted putter. Moderate to strong arcs are usually heel shafted. Where in your stroke the arc is pronounced will determine whether you get a straight shaft or an offset one.

“If you have more arc on the way back, you’ll need more offset. If it’s the opposite and you have a straight backstroke and more arc when you go through the ball, you’ll need less offset.”

The movable weights in the back style create toe hang and are adjusted based on face rotation during the stroke. The center of gravity can be moved toward the toe or heel to help with either a chronic left or right miss.

“We’re adding or removing toe hang,” says Linot. “That means we can do configurations that wouldn’t exist otherwise. Most center-shafted putters are either face-balanced or torque-balanced. We can have some toe hang on a center shaft.”

A modular fitting system?

Linot has developed an online AI-assisted fitting system to complement his two in-store fitting programs. The simple system, he says, consists of four steps to help you find which putter can improve your game. The other system, called Expert Fitting, takes six steps to build the perfect putter for your stroke.

Note the emphasis. The simple system is designed to help you find a Runner putter that a particular store might already have or can order quickly and fine-tune. The Expert Fitting builds you a putter from the ground up.

“The simple system uses an in-store display with a camera and a tablet,” says Linot. “The camera helps you identify what kind of stroke you have and the tablet helps you answer the AI questions.”

Expert Fitting takes a little bit longer, up to half an hour, and uses a remarkable little putter fitting app called GolfBoy to analyze your stroke.

“It gets data on your path and face rotation in five strokes,” explains Linot. “You answer the AI questions and we can build the recommended putter from a fitting kit.”

The fitter then uses the app to re-analyze your stroke to make sure it’s more stable. Based on those new numbers, the fitter will fine-tune the balance.

“When you see data from SamPutt Lab and others, most fitters don’t even understand it all,” he says. “The GolfBoy app is simple. It’s face angle, ball direction and arc.

“We know how many degrees you’re opening the face on the way back and how many you’re closing it on the way through. We know your face angle at impact and we know ball dispersion left or right. This is your signature. We don’t want to change it. We just want to match the right putter to your signature.”

The elephant in the room

We hinted at this earlier but we might as well get into it now.

Runner Putters are, uhhh, distinctive looking. Everyone I’ve shown the standard model to has had the same reaction. Once they pull the headcover off, their eyes go wide in near shock.

It’s a reaction Linot warmly embraces.

“If I made a putter that looked like every other putter, nobody would have noticed me. People who are followers, they like things they know. If it’s different, they think it’s ugly.

“But anyone who holds a Runner on the green, people want to know what it is. That’s the most important thing.”

There is a reason the original Runner models are as big as they are. Linot is very much a function-then-form designer. Many of the original model’s components are made from lightweight aluminum. To get the mass properties right, the putter needed to be big.

Linot is releasing a new line this month, the Pro Range. Whereas the original looks oddly like a large toe, the Pro Range looks more like a putter.

“It’s made from the same system,” he says. “But we’re making it out of stainless steel. It’s a denser material so we can make the putter slimmer.

Either way, the success of L.A.B. putters has rewritten the rulebook on what putters can look like. As the French say, plus vous faites de putts, plus le putter est beau.

(The more putts you sink, the better-looking the putter gets.)

Cracking the global market

Make no mistake. Runner may be a small company but Linot is in it for the long haul.  At the 2022 PGA Show, Runner won the Best In Show Innovation Award. For a company less than a year old, it was a big freaking deal.

“When we won, I didn’t even know there was an Innovation Award,” Linot laughs. “I just took a vacation from my job and went there with my prototypes. I wanted to test my concept with PGA professionals.”

Runner is now Linot’s full-time gig and he has a team of three helping with sales and marketing. He had been doing assembly himself, but he’s now outsourcing as the business has grown. Assembly is now done at a local facility that provides jobs for the handicapped.

Breaking into the North American market is, has been, and will be a challenge for any small European OEM. Runner currently has six resellers in the U.S. He’s working to expand that network but plans to do so slowly.

“I’m translating this saying into English but I don’t want to burn my wings. A lot of people have tried to get into the U.S. market too fast and got burned. They don’t exist anymore.”

The first step is to set up a U.S. subsidiary. After that, the goal is to line up some partners.

“Club Champion, True Spec, Cool Clubs, Golftec – they’ll be the ones who can use the fitting process we have. It takes time and lots of money but we will get there.”

Runner Putters and the price question

I’m the last person to tell anyone how they should or shouldn’t spend their money. You’re a grown-up and can spend it any way you want. That said, a basic Runner Blade starts at around $500 U.S while a Runner Pro model can run over $700.

“People will spend $700 on a driver they hit 14 times a round and regret it 11 times,” says Linot. “Our products are very complicated but that’s why we can make a setup that’s unique and fit just for you.”

That kind of spend for a putter you can’t try is a big ask, especially for one that looks like a Runner. Despite that, Linot says he’s sold enough $700 Pro Range putters in the U.S. to know there’s a market. Additionally, Runner’s surprising performance in MyGolfSpy’s 2025 putter testing has helped, as well as actual golfer tests on MyGolfSpy’s Community Forum.

MGS Forum tester SDunne: “This putter is exceptionally well-crafted and has significantly improved my game.”  

MGS Forum tester Northern Monkey: “This is a fantastic putter that can be customized to suit whatever style you prefer. The ball leaves the face smoothly.”

MGS Forum Tester Bobbers: “The fitting process was outstanding. It made me feel the putter was being created for me. I’ve never had that experience before.”

As with any club, PGA Tour validation would be nice.

“If you want to be on the putting green before a PGA event, you have to have a player playing your product,” Linot laments. “It’s like they’re saying if you want to get players to play your product, you first have to get players to play your product. Once that happens, you can get on the putting green and get players to play your product.”

Somewhere, a certain Captain Yossarian is having a moment.

Runner putters: Final thoughts

It’s not a stretch to say that Linot has a little Karsten Solheim in him. Like Karsten, Linot is an industry outsider. He has no preconceived notions that a putter has to look a certain way or be built in a certain way. Function is first. Form is an afterthought.

“It’s a strength not coming from the golf industry,” says Linot. “I got to see my problem and think about how to solve it. I did not copy anyone.”

That, as they say in France, is a la litote (look it up).

It’s often said the biggest obstacle to golf innovation is, in fact, golfers. If your reaction to any of the images of Runner Putters shown here is to gag and say something clever like, “There’s no way I’m putting with that ugly-ass thing,” you’re probably not alone.

However, you may wish to reread Monsieur Zappa’s quote way back at the top of the page.

Put a Scotty, Odyssey, PING or even a L.A.B. in your bag and no one’s going to laugh at you. Those are safe choices. Runner is a risk, especially if a hands-on demo is difficult. The PGA Show Innovation Award and Runner’s performance in MGS testing mitigates that risk somewhat, but it’s still scary. No one wants to be the first guy out of the foxhole.

“But what if you knew the putter you’re holding in your hands fits you perfectly?” asks Linot. “That’s what we have to prove.”

For what it’s worth, Linot says his phone is beeping with new orders for Runner putters so the wheels of commerce appear to be turning for him.

“When a putter is well fitted to your natural stroke, it feels natural to putt with. That’s the best feeling you can have with a putter.”

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