I just picked up one of these and I like it a lot. It's in the bag. I now see why the lower part of the shaft is black. It must be to keep the shaft from being distracting. I always hated a center shaft putter because the shaft messed me with as far as where the ball should be. But the black shaft, I don't notice it. Although the more I think about it, they probably did it so it would contrast with the white alignment setup. Anyway it works for me.