Axiom Proxy vs. Gateway Voodoo–World Series of Putters Round 2

November is here! Do you miss the warm weather yet? I know I do! Today we continue the second round of the Disc Golf Reviewer World Series of Putters. We are searching for the best putter in the world and hoping to provide the disc golf community with a plethora of information along the way to help them decide what putter is right for them. This is an NCAA basketball style tournament and project where every day I test two putter molds against each other on the putting green in a head-to-head competition before posting here about my experience and the results.

Today’s match is in the Alpaca Region of our bracket where the number 3 seed Axiom Proxy is going up against the 11 seed Gateway Voodoo. In the first round, the Axiom Proxy defeated the Latitude 64 Hope with a score of 50 to 44. The Gateway Voodoo defeated the EV-7 Penrose 55 to 44.

In the first round matchups I gave an overview of each disc (you can find links to every first round match at our main World Series of Putters post). For the second round, I’m sharing what surprised me the most about each disc the first time I threw it.

Axiom Proxy

The Axiom Proxy is one of two putter molds currently released under the Axiom brand name. I was surprised at first by how not understable the putter is on the putting green. It has a solid fade when it slows down despite its understable flight rating, but I’ve also found that this is consistent when putting with MVP/GYRO technology overmold putters. Despite the initial surprise, this flight characteristic was easy to adjust to.

While I wasn’t surprised by this because of my experience with Axiom, it is worth noting that they make some of the prettiest discs in disc golf. The two tone color schemes that they incorporate with the overmold always turn out beautiful.

For the World Series of Putters, I am putting with a pair of Electron Soft Proxys. Though Electron Soft is the softest putter blend in Axiom’s lineup, it isn’t nearly as soft as other “soft” putter plastics, especially because of the stiffness of the overmold around the rim. Actually, how stiff the Electron Soft Plastic still feels was probably the biggest surprise for me with this disc.

Gateway Voodoo

The Gateway Voodoo is one of several popular putter molds from Gateway. I don’t think there were too many surprises the first time I threw a Gateway Voodoo. It’s microbead along the bottom of the rim could be a bit surprising, but what was surprising to me about it is just how comfortable the grip is and how much I like the Voodoo’s small microbead.

If you aren’t familiar with Gateway, you might be surprised by just how many plastic blends the Voodoo is available in the first time you shop for one, but that is one of the things Gateway is known for. They provide high quality putter molds in a large variety of plastic blends to try to make sure you can find the right putter for you.

For today’s testing and match I used the Gateway Firm Voodoo.

Specifications and Flight Numbers

Let’s take a look at some of the specs courtesy of the PDGA and break down the major differences between these two putter molds.

Proxy

Voodoo

Flight Numbers: 3/3/-1/0.5

Flight Numbers: 2/3/0/0

Max Weight: 174.3gr

Diameter: 21.0cm

Height: 1.8cm

Rim Depth: 1.5cm

Rim Thickness: 1.1cm

Inside Rim Diameter: 18.8cm

Rim Depth / Diameter Ratio: 7.1%

Rim Configuration: 63.50

Flexibility: 6.58kg

Max Weight: 176.0gr

Diameter: 21.2cm

Height: 2.1cm

Rim Depth: 1.6cm

Rim Thickness: 1.0cm

Inside Rim Diameter: 19.2cm

Rim Depth / Diameter Ratio: 7.5%

Rim Configuration: 62.00

Flexibility: 9.41kg

When we just look at the specs, the most significant difference we see here that should impact how these discs fly and feel is the .3cm difference in height. That sounds like such a small difference, but in terms of putters, that is a pretty significant difference. Generally, taller putters will float a bit more in the air on the putting green. This can be an advantage because, depending on the type of putting form you use, a putter with better float and glide can require less power on putts of the same length. Depending on the putters, that difference can be pretty miniscule, but it becomes more significant the further away from the basket you get.

Another difference I often bring up here is whether the putters are beaded or not. The Proxy is beadless, and the Voodoo has a microbead, or a very small bead around the bottom of the disc. If you weren’t looking for it, you might not realize the Voodoo has a bead. The difference in bead or no bead for this match is relatively insignificant because both discs flew with a similar stability throughout the match on the putting green.

The bead/beadless elements of these discs really just came into play as part of the different rim shape as a whole between these two discs. The Proxy has more of a beveled rim shape that cuts into itself and rounds outward on the bottom while the Voodoo is very rounded all the way around the rim. I can’t say I had a major preference between these two rim shapes. I have found that sometimes discs with a similar rim shape as the Voodoo can feel a bit awkward if the rim is too thick as well, but I didn’t have that problem here.

The Match

For more info on the format and scoring system I used to test these putters against each other, be sure to check out our main World Series of Putters post.

I conducted this match on a quiet evening at my local disc golf course on a permanent Innova Discatcher basket. After warming up, I flipped a coin to see which putter would be thrown first for the first round of putts, and it was the Axiom Proxy. Here is how it all played out:

(3) Proxy Scorecard	(11) Voodoo Scorecard
20ft: Y Y Y N N N Y Y N Y (6/10 putts made)=18 points	20ft: Y N Y N N Y Y Y N Y (6/10)=18 points
30ft: N N N Y Y N N Y N N (3/10)=12 points	30ft: N N N Y N N N Y N Y (3/10)=12 points
40ft: N N N N N N N N N N (0/10)=0 points	40ft: N Y N N Y Y N N Y N (4/10)=20 points
Total: 30 points	Total: 50 points

The Winner

With identical scores from 20ft and 30ft, the 40ft putts proved to be the difference maker in this match as the 11 seed Gateway Voodoo gets an upset win in the second round over the 3 seed Axiom Proxy with a final score of 50 to 30.

Notes from the Match

I’ve sometimes felt bad when a single 40ft putt is the difference between a win and a loss in this tournament. I sometimes wonder if with a larger sample size we’d get a different overall result from the match. But a difference of 20 points from a 0-4 difference feels pretty telling.

So what gave the Voodoo such an advantage from the longer range? Primarily I think it was the height advantage the Voodoo has. The Voodoo being the taller disc was advantages in the ways I described it could be above. I was on line on several 40ft putts with the Proxy, but they came up short or faded left earlier than I expected as the disc slowed down. As always, I try to adjust for the differences between the two discs, but I struggled to get it just right with the Proxy.

I’ve also praised how the Electron Soft plastic blend on the Proxy doesn’t feel as soft because of the overmold around the rim, but it is still a softer plastic. I’ve sometimes talked about plastic blends being important on shorter range putts, but it definitely comes into play on the longer putts as well as you want to be able to trust to have a smooth release when you are throwing with increased power. I think I just felt a touch more confident in my grip with the Gateway Firm Voodoo.

My Recommendation

The Axiom Proxy is a really solid option out on the course, but Gateway has a strong reputation for putting putters for a very good reason. If I’m choosing between these two discs, the Gateway Voodoo is going to be the choice pretty much every time.

The Voodoo moves on to the round of 16 and will await the winner of tomorrow’s final second round match in the Alpaca region between the 2 seed Discraft Luna and the 10 seed Prodigy P Model US. Come back tomorrow to get those results!