Mallet Putter
Vice built its business selling golf balls straight to golfers online and cutting out the retail markup, and the VGP02C brings that same logic to a mallet. The C stands apart from the standard VGP02 in one big way: this head is face balanced. Set it on your finger and the face points at the ceiling, no droop toward the floor. That tells you exactly who it is built for, a golfer whose stroke moves straight back and straight through with very little arc.
Face balancing does one job well. It resists the tendency of the head to open on the backswing and close through impact, so the face stays square to your path longer. If your putting stroke is more of a piston than a gate swinging on a hinge, this head works with you instead of against you. Golfers who fight a pull or a push off the toe often find a face-balanced mallet settles the face down.
On top there is an alignment aid, and it pairs naturally with the straight stroke a face-balanced head wants. You get a sightline to aim at your start line and square the face to before you ever take the putter back. Aim first, then make a simple straight stroke down the line. That is the setup the VGP02C is designed around, and you pay online prices for it instead of a tour brand's badge.
Design
The mallet body spreads weight to the perimeter and back away from the face, which is what makes the VGP02C forgive a miss. Catch one off center and the larger footprint fights the twist, so the ball holds its line better than it would off a blade. The trade is feel. A mallet mutes some of the feedback a blade hands you, so you learn a little less about exactly where you struck it in return for keeping more putts on line. The face balancing comes from where the shaft joins the head and how the mass is arranged around it. The balance point sits so the face wants to stay square through the stroke rather than rotate open and closed. Add the sightline on top and the wide head framing the ball at address, and you have a putter built for a player who aims with lines and swings straight. It is the aim-and-go mallet in the Vice lineup, not the arc-friendly VGP02 or the minimalist VGP01 blade.
Who It's For
- Your stroke runs straight back and straight through with very little arc, and you want a head that keeps the face square to match it.
- You fight a pull or a push and want a face-balanced head that resists the face opening and closing through impact.
- Aiming off a sightline you can point at your start line feels more natural than reading it off a bare leading edge.
- Forgiveness on off-center hits matters more to you than the sharp strike feedback a blade delivers.
- You would rather buy direct and put the savings into the head than pay a tour brand for the name on the flange.
Technology
About Vice Golf
Vice Golf brings a distinctive approach to putter design, focusing on quality materials, precision manufacturing, and performance-driven engineering.
Specifications
| Brand | Vice Golf |
| Model | VGP02C |
| Year | 2024 |
| Type | Mallet |
| Toe hang | Face balanced |
| Alignment aid | Yes |
| MSRP | $179 |
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is the Vice VGP02C face-balanced or toe hang?
- It is face balanced. Rest it on your finger and the face points straight up with no droop toward the floor. That makes it a fit for a straight-back-straight-through stroke where the face barely rotates. If your stroke has a noticeable arc, drifting inside and releasing through the ball, the standard VGP02 with its mid toe hang is the closer match, and a strong arc points you to the VGP01 blade.
- What is the difference between the VGP02C and the regular VGP02?
- Same mallet shape and alignment aid, different balance. The regular VGP02 has mid toe hang for a slight arc stroke. The VGP02C is face balanced for a straight stroke. Pick by how your putter moves: if it stays square and moves like a piston, go with the C. If it swings a little like a gate on a hinge, the standard VGP02 suits you better.
- Who should use a face-balanced putter?
- A golfer whose stroke is straight back and straight through, with the face staying square the whole time. Face balancing resists the head opening on the way back and closing through impact, so it steadies a stroke that does not want to rotate. If you release the head hard and let the face rotate, a face-balanced putter can leave the face open and push putts right, and you would want toe hang instead.
- Does the alignment aid on the VGP02C actually help?
- It helps most players who use this putter, because a face-balanced mallet is built around aiming and swinging straight. The sightline gives you a line to point at your start line and square the face to before the stroke starts. If you prefer a clean topline and trust your own read off the leading edge, the line will feel busy, and the VGP01 blade is the cleaner look.
- How does Vice sell the VGP02C cheaper than the big brands?
- Vice is direct-to-consumer. It sells online, skips the retail middleman, and does not fold a tour marketing budget into the price the way an Odyssey or Scotty Cameron does. Your money goes into the head and the build, not a pro's name on the flange. It is the same playbook Vice used to undercut the premium golf ball market.
More from Vice Golf
Ratings & Reviews
No ratings yet. Sign in to rate this club.
Add this putter to your bag