Today we have the match I’ve had circled ever since the Disc Golf Reviewer World Series of Putters bracket was finalized. This is the fifth match in the Alpaca Region. The 6 seed EV-7 Penrose faces off with the 11 seed Gateway Voodoo. Let’s first take a closer look at each of the competitors.
EV-7 Penrose
EV-7 is a brand new name in disc golf manufacturing. Phil Arthur, formerly of Prodigy Disc, started EV-7 earlier this year as a putters only manufacturer based out of Georgia, USA. EV-7 has 4 putter molds so far, and their one representative in the World Series of Putters is the very popular Penrose mold.
The Penrose got a lot of attention at the opening event of this year’s Disc Golf Pro Tour where Drew Gibson used the Penrose as his putting putter all weekend long on his way to becoming the champion of the Las Vegas Challenge.
The Penrose is a moderately tall beaded putter that flies straight to overstable. For today’s match I used the OG Base Penrose.
Gateway Voodoo
Gateway isn’t a putters exclusive brand, but they definitely know a thing or two about molding putters. Based out of St. Louis, Missouri, Gateway has been pumping out discs for a long time, and they’ve built their brand around their very popular putter molds, especially the Wizard, which will be featured next week as a 2 seed in the P2 Region.
The Gateway Voodoo is a tall, straight flying putter that boasts lots of glide in its flight. The Voodoo features a true “microbead” on its rim, as you can barely feel the rounded edge on the bottom of the disc.
Gateway is also known for its wide variety of putter plastic blends, but today we used their standard “Firm” blend to test the 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.
Penrose
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Voodoo
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Flight Numbers: 2/4/0/2

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Max Weight: 175.1gr
Diameter: 21.1cm
Height: 2.1cm
Rim Depth: 1.5cm
Rim Thickness: 1.1cm
Inside Rim Diameter: 18.9cm
Rim Depth / Diameter Ratio: 7.1%
Rim Configuration: 60.25
Flexibility: 6.37kg
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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
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When you run down the specifications, you can see that these discs are quite similar in size and shape, but when you hold and look at the profiles of each disc (pictured above), you can quickly see the differences. One similarity that shows up in very different ways are the microbeads that each of these putters have along the bottom of the rim. The Penrose’s bead feels more prominent than the Voodoo’s because of the shape of the bottom half of the rim. The Penrose curves back toward the disc, while the Voodoo curves away from the disc to make a more rounded rim.
This slight shape difference helps to create the difference in stability between these discs, with the Penrose flying more overstable and the Voodoo flying more straight/stable (though I can’t say I noticed this difference too much on the shorter putter shots).
The plastic blends feel quite different from each other, as the OG Base Penrose is a bit softer and more flexible than Gateway’s Firm plastic blend. They both feel like a high-quality putter blend–they are thick and tacky, and though I generally prefer a stiffer putter like the Gateway Firm, I didn’t find the EV-7 OG Base’s softness to be a problem as I was testing the discs.
The Match
I conducted this match on an early windless 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 Gateway Firm Voodoo. Here is how it all played out:
(6) Penrose Scorecard
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(11) Voodoo Scorecard
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20ft: Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y (9/10 putts made)=27 points |
20ft: N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N (8/10)=24 points
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30ft: N N Y Y N N N N N Y (3/10)=12 points |
30ft: N N N Y Y Y Y N N N (4/10)=16 points
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40ft: N N N N N N Y N N N (1/10)=5 points |
40ft: N Y N N N N Y N N Y (3/10)=15 points
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Total: 44 points |
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The Winner
In a battle between the old school and the new school of putter manufacturers, the old school came out on top today. The Gateway Voodoo defeated the EV-7 Penrose 55-44.
Notes from the Match

I mentioned that I was excited for this match, and part of my excitement was because this would be my first time trying out any of the EV-7 putters. I overall liked the Penrose, but the first thing I noticed about it when I picked it up is something that I think attributed to its defeat–the bead.
As I’ve said before, I like beaded putters, but the Penrose features a pretty unique small bead. Above I explained how the shape of the Penrose’s rim made this microbead prominent, but the more honest description for me is that the bead felt sharp in my hand. It dug into the joint in my finger, and I had a hard time coming up with a consistent release of the disc.
When you look at the scorecard, you can see this grip/release issue caused by the Penrose’s bead really started to be a problem once I stepped out to the 30 ft range and beyond. I think that a reliable, trustworthy grip is so crucial on longer putts, and the Penrose just wasn’t providing that for me. Of course, Drew Gibson and other great disc golfers out there have been able to find that reliable grip with the Penrose, but I just don’t think this is the disc for me. I’m curious to try out some of the other molds from EV-7 though!
Also, the Voodoo was great. I’ve putted with the Wizard before, and I think the Voodoo feels very similar in the hand. It just has a smaller bead–so small, that the Voodoo really feels more like a tall beadless putter in the hand. I really liked it, and I’m excited to test it out again in the next round.
My Recommendation
This matchup presents a question of old school or new school, and in this case for me, I’d recommend the old school Gateway Voodoo, especially if you are unsure about using a beaded putter. But if you like a prominent bead and you want to try out something new, you shouldn’t hesitate to give the EV-7 Penrose a try.
The Gateway Voodoo will find out who it will be facing in tomorrow’s article that will feature the 3 seed Axiom Proxy going head-to-head with the 14 seed and newly released Latitude 64 Hope. See you there!