Originally published in Sports Illustrated by Paul Liberatore, October 30, 2024.
Sports Illustrated took an in-depth look at PUTTR — the world's first AI-powered smart putting mat — and came away calling it "the coach you never knew you needed." The review, written by Golfers Authority founder Paul Liberatore, examined every aspect of the system: the hardware, the computer vision tracking, the app experience, and how it all comes together to make putting practice genuinely fun.
Read the full Sports Illustrated review →
What Sports Illustrated Highlighted
The Technology
The review focused heavily on PUTTR's computer vision camera system, which tracks every putt in real time. Liberatore noted that the high-speed camera captures ball speed, launch angle, and the exact trace of each putt's path — data that gets sent instantly to the PUTTR app. He described the experience as having a putting coach providing instant feedback and analysis on every stroke.
The 27 Putting Positions
Sports Illustrated highlighted PUTTR's 27 marked tee positions arranged in a hexagonal pattern across the 11-foot mat. These positions span distances from 3 to 11 feet and allow golfers to practice putts from varying angles and breaks — replicating the variety of putts encountered on an actual green, rather than just hitting the same straight putt repeatedly.
The App and Games
The review praised the breadth of PUTTR's app content, calling out classic putting games like Around the World, H.O.R.S.E., and darts-style accuracy challenges alongside serious practice drills focused on distance control, green reading, and pressure putting. Liberatore emphasized that the app makes putting practice genuinely enjoyable — a problem that traditional putting mats have never solved.
Video Analysis and PUTTR Club
The review covered PUTTR's video recording and stroke analysis features, which let golfers capture and review their putting mechanics in slow motion. The PUTTR Club subscription was noted as unlocking global leaderboards, exclusive tournaments, and the AI coaching features that take the training experience to a professional level.
The Verdict
Sports Illustrated concluded that PUTTR provides putting insights and feedback previously available only to tour professionals and elite amateurs. Their assessment: for golfers serious about improvement, the combination of real-time data, engaging games, and structured practice makes PUTTR a standout in the putting mat category.
Read the full article at Sports Illustrated →
About PUTTR
PUTTR is the world's first AI-powered smart putting mat. It combines an 11-foot putting surface (stimpmeter 10-11), computer vision putt tracking, 100+ games and drills, breaking putt simulation via 27 putting positions, and AI coaching — all in a portable aluminum case. PUTTR works with any standard putter and golf balls, requires no subscription for core features, and is available at puttr.co and PGA TOUR Superstore.
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