The Disc Golf Reviewer World Series of Putters is on its fourth match today and it features the 4 seed and newly released Discmania Rainmaker taking on the 13 seed Yikun Gui.
Discmania Rainmaker
Discmania has been going through some big changes over the last few years, and the new Eagle McMahon Signature Series Rainmaker is the latest new edition to their putter lineup. The Rainmaker is part of their new Creator Series and is one of their made in Sweden by Discmania molds.
Eagle McMahon was brought in to help design the Rainmaker, and he has been putting with the Rainmaker quite successfully all season long. It is a moderately tall, beadless putter that is quite similar to Discmania’s P2 mold but a bit shallower. The Rainmaker features a beautiful stamp design and is currently exclusively available in Discmania’s Flex 3 Glow D-Line plastic that is stiff, tacky, and glows in the dark.
The Rainmaker has been a top seller throughout this year, earning it the highest seeding of any disc released in 2022 in the World Series of Putters.
Yikun Gui
The Gui is one of several Yikun putters to be given a spot in the World Series of Putters. Yikun is a Chinese company known for manufacturing quality, unique, and affordable discs. Their putters are especially unique, though the Gui is probably the least novel of their putter molds that we will be testing.
Close up of texture on bottom of Yikun Gui
The Gui is a flat, beadless putter that features two textured areas on the bottom of the flight plate. These textured spots on the bottom of the disc are designed to give you options for gripping the disc. This texture remind me of the old Latitude 64 Sinus and Spike, though those discs featured texture spots on the top of the disc rather than the bottom.
The Gui is a straight to overstable flying putter that actually reminds me of the popular Axiom Envy in how it feels and flies. For our test today I used the Gui in Yikun’s Tiger plastic blend. Tiger is a traditional putter or “base” plastic blend with medium flexibility and good grip.
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.
Rainmaker
Gui
Flight Numbers: 2/3/0/0.5
Flight Numbers: 2/3/0/2
Max Weight: 176.0gr
Diameter: 21.2cm
Height: 2.0cm
Rim Depth: 1.5cm
Rim Thickness: 1.1cm
Inside Rim Diameter: 19.0cm
Rim Depth / Diameter Ratio: 7.1%
Rim Configuration: 66.25
Flexibility: 11.25kg
Max Weight: 175.1gr
Diameter: 21.1cm
Height: 1.8cm
Rim Depth: 1.5cm
Rim Thickness: 1.0cm
Inside Rim Diameter: 19.1cm
Rim Depth / Diameter Ratio: 7.1%
Rim Configuration: 59.00
Flexibility: 8.39kg
When you hold them in your hand, these two putter molds look and feel quite similar to one another. The Rainmaker doesn’t have the textured areas on the bottom of it that the Gui has, but beyond that, these two discs are basically identical to the untrained eye. The plastic blends I tested are both tackier, traditional putter plastic blends, though the plastic of the Rainmaker was a bit stiffer and felt a little more dense/thick in the hand.
Both of these discs feature a flat top though the Rainmaker is a touch taller. it gets that height from the flight plate having a more gradual rounding off away from the flat top and toward the rim, while the Gui features a larger area of flatness on the flight plate. This slight difference in theory should make the Rainmaker float a bit more in the air, though I can’t say I particularly noticed a difference in how the discs glided on the putting green.
The Gui is rated to be a bit more overstable than the Rainmaker, but as is often the case, from 40 feet and in, there really isn’t enough length or speed to notice that difference much. There were maybe a couple putts that I putted too soft with the Gui that caused it to fade early, but it wasn’t anything that I felt required me to adjust how I would normally putt the disc.
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 in the morning at a 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, and it was the Yikun Tiger Gui. Here is how it all played out:
(4) Rainmaker Scorecard
(13) Gui Scorecard
20ft: Y Y Y N N Y Y Y Y Y (8/10 putts made)=24 points
20ft: Y N N Y Y Y Y Y N Y (7/10)=21 points
30ft: N N Y Y Y N N N Y N (4/10)=16 points
30ft: Y N Y N Y N N Y N Y (5/10)=20 points
40ft: N N Y N Y N N N N N (2/10)=10 points
40ft: Y N N N N N Y N Y N (3/10)=15 points
Total: 50 points
Total: 56 points
The Winner
Looks like we have another upset! This one was much closer with the Gui making just one more putt than the Rainmaker to win by a score of 56 to 50.
Notes from the Match
This one wasn’t as shocking to me as the Narwhal’s victory yesterday, but I did like the Rainmaker quite a bit and I’m bummed I won’t be able to test it in another round. That being said, I also really enjoyed putting with the Gui and I think the second round matchup between the Gui and the Narwhal should be an interesting one.
As I mentioned before, both of these discs have a similar shape and flew very similarly on the putting green for me, so I found myself enjoying both of the discs more and more as the match went on. They are a touch shallower than what I’ve generally preferred putting with, but their rim shapes fit my hand very comfortably and I felt pretty confident putting with each of them by the end of it.
I mentioned the texture on the bottom of the Gui. At first I didn’t really notice or pay the texture much attention, but as the match went on, I found myself deliberately avoiding the textured areas as I was getting my grip lined up for the putts. The design of the disc is smart, as it gives you the option to use or not use the textured parts of the plastic depending on your preferences.
My only other note is that this one throughout really felt like it could go either way. There was no problem or advantage that made itself clear as the match went on, I just happened to make one more putt from distance with the Gui than I did with the Rainmaker. In a standard review article, they’d both be winners, but this is the World Series of Putters, and only one putter can move on, and today it is the Yikun Gui.
My Recommendation
The Discmania Rainmaker and the Yikun Gui are both excellent putters that I would highly recommend to anyone. I’d maybe give the Rainmaker a slight edge because the plastic blend is a bit stiffer, plus I know I don’t need to use the textured part of the Gui, so I wouldn’t need to worry about avoiding it with the Rainmaker (I think I also just like the stamp design on the Rainmaker a bit more, though the Yikun stamps are really nice too!).
All that being said, the price difference between these two discs can’t be ignored either. The Rainmakers are currently priced at $17.99 on Infinite Discs, while the Yikun Tiger Guis can be purchased for just $7.49 each! The Eagle McMahon special design and glow plastic is really cool, but you are definitely paying a premium to stock up on the Rainmaker for putting league while you could buy about 2 and 1/2 Guis for the price of one Rainmaker.
We return again tomorrow for the match I’ve had circled ever since the bracket was finalized– The 6 seed EV-7 Penrose vs. the 11 seed Gateway Voodoo. I hope you are enjoying the content and hope you will check back again tomorrow!
Discmania has been going through some big changes over the last few years, and the new Eagle McMahon Signature Series Rainmaker is the latest new edition to their putter lineup. The Rainmaker is part of their new Creator Series and is one of their made in Sweden by Discmania molds.
The Gui is one of several Yikun putters to be given a spot in the World Series of Putters. Yikun is a Chinese company known for manufacturing quality, unique, and affordable discs. Their putters are especially unique, though the Gui is probably the least novel of their putter molds that we will be testing.
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.
This one wasn’t as shocking to me as the Narwhal’s victory yesterday, but I did like the Rainmaker quite a bit and I’m bummed I won’t be able to test it in another round. That being said, I also really enjoyed putting with the Gui and I think the second round matchup between the Gui and the Narwhal should be an interesting one.
