The RPM Kotuku is a stable midrange in the straight-to-slightly-overstable slot — a disc for holding the line you aimed at and finishing with a small, predictable fade. RPM lists it at 5 / 5 / 0 / 2.
Five glide is the number that sets it apart from most control midranges, which sit at three or four. It carries. Zero turn and two fade means that carry happens in a straight line rather than a drift, and the flight ends with a modest left finish rather than a hook. A faster arm will see it hold flat most of the way and fade late; at lower arm speeds the fade arrives earlier and the flight is shorter, but the shape is the same. It does not need power to behave. At 217mm it is the widest-diameter mold RPM makes, which is part of why it feels bigger in the hand than its speed suggests.
That puts it in the everyday midrange slot — placement shots off the tee, approaches from 250 to 300 feet, hyzers that need to hold their angle, and controlled anhyzers where two fade is enough to bring it home. It is not a wind disc: five glide against only two fade will move on a crosswind and float long on a downhill. Players who have thrown it alongside a Buzzz generally put it a touch more overstable, and one review offers the sharper comparison of an EMAC Truth that actually flies to its numbers, though these are player comparisons rather than specifications.
The name is the kōtuku, the white heron — the bird on New Zealand’s two dollar coin. RPM notes it nests at a single site in the country, on the Waitangiroto River on the West Coast of the South Island, reachable by guided tour only, and that seeing one was traditionally held to be good fortune, with comparing a person to a kōtuku counting as high praise. RPM names its lineup for New Zealand native wildlife throughout.
PDGA approved in November 2020. It is made in Strata, Cosmic, Atomic and Glow, with Magma also sold at retail. Retailer descriptions put Strata as the grippiest and straightest of the runs and the quickest to beat in — worth knowing if you want the disc straight now versus straight for a long time. It is also the mold RPM chose for its David Feldberg signature series, which is the clearest piece of pro use anywhere in the lineup.
How much the Kotuku turns and fades depends on how hard it is thrown. These three shapes are drawn from the manufacturer’s numbers, not from measured throws.
Measured by the PDGA when the Kotuku was certified. Each card names discs that share the number, so you can feel it in the hand.
