Tag: Scotty Cameron

CADI is Changing Golf Retail

For decades, the usual procedure for buying new clubs was to drop by the local golf retailer and buy your clubs off the rack. If you were lucky, one of your friends had the same club(s) and you got a chance to try it for a few swings before you bought it. Chances are more likely however, that the new driver sitting in your bag was a blind purchase. You took a chance that it would work out. Sometimes it does and you love the club, but most of the time it doesn’t and the club either sits in the garage or ends up as a trade-in or eBay auction. Now that driver prices have risen beyond the $500 mark, it’s no longer worth it to simply buy a driver off the shelf without a live demo first.

That’s where the ingenious Cadi Kiosk comes in. Every day can be a demo day if your course has a Cadi Kiosk installed. Simply use the touch screen interface to browse from a selection of the latest driver, fairway, hybrid and putter models, choose the one you like, swipe your credit card and a door will open with your club within reach. Simply grab it and it’s yours to try for the day on the course! Warm up with the club, take it on the course and hit it under real conditions. If you love the club, simply keep it and your card will be charged the full purchase amount. Easy peasy!

If you don’t like it or want to try something else, just return to the Cadi Kiosk and scan the club’s barcode. The system will ask if you want to return or exchange the club and you simply follow along. When returning the club, it will open a locked door for you to insert the club, then you simply walk away. The fee for a full day demo will likely be around $10. If you end up purchasing the club, the demo fee is credited back to you.

During the demo process, it is inevitable that some clubs will start to show signs of use. Not only will the Cadi Kiosk’s inventory will be updated regularly with new clubs, but the prices of slightly used demo clubs will also be adjusted to reflect their condition. This is another way to save money if you don’t mind buying a slightly used club.

With Cadi, there’s no need to go to the big box or specialty golf retailer. If you prefer to hit clubs on the course in real conditions instead of into a net or some jacked-up simulator, the Cadi Kiosk is for you. For golf course operators, placing a Cadi kiosk in a strategic location is a simple and effective way to enhance the golfer experience and expand their services without carrying more inventory.

Cadi plans to offer drivers, fairways, hybrids and putters from the most popular brands such as Callaway, Taylor Made, Cobra, Titleist/Scotty Cameron and more. The first of their innovative Kiosks is located at Orange Lake Resort in Kissimmee, Florida near the theme parks in Orlando. Plans are to open more locations in Florida and California in the near future.

For more information and to locate a Cadi Kiosk near you, visit https://www.cadikiosk.co m or check out their Facebook Page!

February 25, 2019
Breakthrough Golf Technology Instantly Made Me A Better Putter

Breakthrough Golf Technology (BGT) is a new golf company that makes putter shafts. Founder Barney Adams is a golf industry veteran and pioneer, bringing Adams Golf from nothing to become one of the major players in golf innovations in the 1990s & 2000s. Adams golf turned the industry on its head with the Tight Lies fairway woods and then changed golf forever by popularizing hybrids, making them a staple in amateur & touring pros’ golf bags around the world.

Mr. Adams left Adams Golf when Taylor Made Golf purchased the company in 2012 (and promptly killed the iconic brand through neglect) He started BGT a few years later in 2014, and we’re now able to see the fruits of his labor with the Stability putter shaft.

There are four parts to the Stability shaft that work together to improve putting performance. This “Advanced Materials Integration” uses advanced multi-material design combined with geometries never before used in putter shafts. The Stability shaft has the same look and weight as traditional steel putter shafts but feels more solid and stable. The Stability shaft delivers the face of the putter more square at impact for better accuracy. The shaft also produces a lower launch for more predictable roll, resulting in better distance control.

Real World Testing

I found my latest gamer putter – a Scotty Cameron Futura 5W – last winter after my last Scotty Cameron met its unfortunate end at the bottom of a lake at the Mines Golf & CC in Malaysia following one too many three-putt greens. Since then, I’ve been a one-putter man. It has been my gamer for over 8 months, which is pretty remarkable given my history of frequently changing putters.

I sent my Futura 5W off to Texas for BGT to work its magic, and I got the putter back in about 10 days from the day I sent it. My Scotty Cameron was now attached to the Stability shaft, and I started rolling putts in my living room with it the same day. Almost immediately I noticed the solid feel, free of unwanted vibrations. In fact, I never knew how much vibration you get from a putter until I tried this shaft. The difference to me was dramatic. Breakthrough Golf Technology claims that the Stability shaft launches the ball lower. I can’t confirm that claim without some fancy and expensive testing equipment, but I’ll take their word for it because the end result of lower launch is better roll, and this shaft seems to make the ball roll better coming off the face.

Another claim made by Breakthrough Golf Technology about the Stability shaft is improved accuracy because the putter face will be more square at impact. Again, without some fancy testing equipment like the SAM Putt Lab, I can’t verify those claims with raw data, but I can tell you that in the five rounds (90 holes) of golf I’ve played since getting the Stability shaft installed, I’ve made (Pardon my French) a shit-load of putts! What that translates to in numbers is 26 birdies in 90 holes, or a birdie percentage of about 34%. Obviously, I can’t attribute all those birdies to my putter alone, but it has been a great month for me on the greens.

Bottom Line

Confidence with the putter can be very fleeting for me, but maybe the Stability shaft is what I needed to get me over the hump and get my handicap back in the highly desirable plus range. Even when putting poorly I’m usually around the hole, but the added stability and consistency of Breakthrough Golf Technology’s Stability shaft might be the edge I needed to convert two or three more 10-footers per round.

The list price for the Stability shaft is $199.99 with free installation, and it’s worth every penny. People don’t hesitate to drop $400 or more on a new driver that they can only use 14 times per round, but balk at spending money on a putter. When it comes to improving the performance of the most-used club in everyone’s golf bag, every dollar is well spent. Just don’t tell my playing partners!

November 5, 2018
MLA Tour XDream Putter

When it comes to putting, I’ve tried it all. I’ve always considered putting to be my weakness, even if the numbers don’t support that. Turns out I’m a good putter for my handicap, so perhaps I’m being a little too hard on myself. It’s just that I expect to make more putts than I do, and I’m always looking for a putter that’ll help me do that. Maybe that’s why I have over 20 putters in the garage collecting dust…

The latest putter that’s helping me make more putts is from a small Swiss company called MLA Golf. They make very high quality, 100% milled putters that feel and perform great. The model I have been testing is called the Tour XDream Black Edition. It’s a special version of the regular Tour XDream with black paint fill instead of the usual green. With interchangeable weights and a very forgiving, high MOI head shape, this putter helps your slightly mis hit putts end up closer to the hole.

The almost perfect combination of weight, forgiveness and high quality materials makes the Tour XDream is one of the most solid feeling putters I’ve ever used. Rolling putts with the Tour XDream putter is a joy, with the kind of positive feedback you would expect from a solid hunk of metal hitting a golf ball. There is a small, recessed sight dot on the top edge near the face to help you tell where the sweet spot is, but what really sets MLA putters apart is their unique alignment system.

MLA stands for Multiple Line-detector Activation. Since I’m not qualified to describe what that means, I’ll let someone who is explain it for me:

MLA (Multiple Line-detector Activation) is the new patented alignment technology that will revolutionize your putting. This is how it works…

We all have internal guides to compare and analyze sensory information that control pace and direction of putts. The MLA putters are designed to take advantage of these guides. MLA Putters worked with Dr. Lennart Högman, Ph.D. Dr. Högman has studied the perceptual process for more than 20 years and has performed studies that have revised the science between the human’s perceptions and the human being’s motor skills.

He says: “An alignment system that acts upon multiple line detectors is a key to obtain veridical motion perception and a perfect in-line stroke surface.”

The brain consists of 100,000 line detectors that are divided into a number of groups that help us decide what is straight. A simple line, for example, activates a group of detectors. When several groups of detectors are activated, these help the brain to make correct judgments.

However, the more line detectors that are stimulated will not automatically lead to a better line judgment. On the contrary, this can create a “competition” between the line detectors that will lead to different degrees of (so called) optical illusions, as shown in the illustrations below (front and perspective views).

MLA is developed to activate the maximum number of coordinated detectors
for optimal aiming judgment.

In English Please…

Detectors? Perceptual process? What the heck does all that mean for the golfer? The bottom line is, this MLA alignment system is supposed to make it easier for golfers to line up the putter more accurately. I have no way to test this theory scientifically, but I have no reason to doubt the science behind the MLA alignment system. Personally, I tend to prefer putters with a lack of alignment lines so I was drawn to these immediately. My favorite putters tend to have a sight dot or nothing at all. This putter doesn’t have lines but is still easy to line up because of the MLA alignment and also because it has a mostly square shape with a wide face.

I found the best balance between high MOI (resistance to twisting on off center hits) and feel with the 5g weights. 10g and 15g weights are also included to customize the putter. Heavier weights add MOI but reduce feel, and lighter weights increase feel at the expense of MOI. Even with the lightest 5g weights installed, this is a heavy putter with pretty high MOI. You can miss hit it all over the face and still get good results.

It would be harder to find a higher quality piece of work than this MLA Tour XDream putter. The milling work is clean and precise. The finish is shiny on the bottom where it makes sense to polish it and has a nice matte black finish on the top side where glare could be an issue. I love a dark color putter with dark paint fill like this limited edition Black Series. The weights screw in to the weight slots with surgical precision. This is a very well built putting implement.

SPECIFICATIONS

HEAD WEIGHT: 375g
LOFT: 2,5°
LIE: 71°
LENGTH: 32”, 33”, 34”, 35”, 36”
WEIGHT KIT: 2x 5g, 2x 10g, 2x 15g included
GRIP: Midsize Forward Golf black
COLOR: Black PV

OPTIONS

CUSTOM LOFT: -1° +1°
CUSTOM LIE: -2° +2°
GRIP: Jumbo Forward Golf black

For golfers with a square-to-square putting stroke or those that prefer a face-balanced mallet style, the MLA Tour XDream is a putter you should seriously consider. The Tour XDream is priced at $299 online and the Black Edition I have sells for $349. This puts them squarely in the high-end category along with the likes of Scotty Cameron, Bettinardi and other boutique putter craftsmen like Piretti and Evnroll and that’s right where MLA Golf belongs.

November 3, 2017
WITB – June 2017

My very first WITB post was written in September of 2015 before I left for the WAGT National Championship in Pennsylvania. Since then a lot has changed. In fact, nothing from that bag remains in play for me today, including the bag itself! All fourteen clubs have changed, I got a new staff bag from the WAGT and I’ve even switched golf balls.

I love to tinker with equipment, but being a low handicap golfer with a self-taught swing means that in order to play my best I need custom fit clubs. This makes testing new clubs a bit of a challenge. Variations in a shaft’s weight, kickpoint and flex can send shots way offline if not fit properly. I’ve worked hard with my amazing club builder to get every club in my bag set up perfectly for my game, and I can’t tell you how important it is for your game to have your clubs properly tuned and fitted by a competent club fitter.

Now – Let’s dive into my golf bag(s) and talk about my clubs, and how they’re set up as well as my favorite gadgets and gizmos that help me play golf.

My Golf Bags, Accessories & Favorite Gadgets

While I would prefer to walk, I play golf using a motorized cart most of the time since it is mandatory at many Florida golf courses, and most of my golf buddies are too lazy to walk with me at the courses that allow it. For that reason, I alternate between a custom 10.5″ Burton USA staff bag I got when I qualified to represent Team USA at the World Amateur Golfer’s Championship in 2015 and a new Sun Mountain 4.5 LS carry bag.

I’ve only had the Sun Mountain 4.5 LS carry bag for a few months, but I’m a big fan of the innovative design and efficient use of space. It’s the heaviest of Sun Mountain’s carry options, but also adapts well to life on a golf cart and holds everything I need to bring with me with ease. My Burton “Team USA” staff bag is huge and heavy, but I can pack it with everything I’ll need for tournament golf like some snacks, 32oz sports drinks, extra towels, rain gear and more. Despite the large size, I can shoehorn it nicely into my Club Glove Last Bag travel case and go anywhere in the world with it easily. So far I’ve logged over 20,000 miles of international travel on in without incident.

I like to have as much information as possible when playing, so I frequently combine the use of a GPS distance device with a laser rangefinder to get accurate yardage information and help plotting my way around the course. To that end, my distance measuring devices of choice are the SkyCaddie TOUCH and the Leupold GX-5i³ laser rangefinder. Both devices are one of the best available in each category, and function flawlessly. Adding Frogger Golf’s Latch-It rangefinder strap makes using the rangefinder that much easier, and the Latch-It ecosystem is my favorite new golf gadget in years. While I haven’t posted a round with it in a while, GAME GOLF is still a fun and easy way to track stats and help you improve. Since most of my clubs have changed, I plan to start using GAME GOLF again this summer to see how the newer clubs perform compared to the older ones.

Driver – Ping G LS-TEC 9°

Ping gave us one of the best drivers in the game a few years ago when they introduced the G30 and G30 LS-TEC drivers. I was fortunate to see amazing accuracy gains of 30% with it while still getting more distance over my old driver. Also fortunate for me, Ping later introduced the G LS-TEC driver that I now use. It is fitted with the Ping Tour 80 shaft in X-Flex, which is a custom option. They updated the head and made it sound a little different, but I haven’t gotten enough data to know if it’s really longer and straighter as they claim. Either way, I hit it great and recommend it for anyone that wants the best blend of distance with accuracy and forgiveness.

Fairway Woods – Tour Edge Exotics EX10 Beta

My recent struggle to find the perfect three-wood has been well documented, but when Tour Edge came out with the Exotics CB Pro f2 last year thought I had found my new fairway howitzer. It is a very high performance, versatile three wood that averages almost 260 yards and I couldn’t be happier with it. But – Tour Edge being one of the leading golf club companies when it comes to technology, they took some of the best design features from previous fairway wood designs and combined them using new a manufacturing process and created the Exotics EX10 and EX10 beta fairways. I immediately ordered the EX10 beta in 13 degrees with the new Project X HZRDUS Black shaft. I had my club fitter tweak it to my specs with a spine-alignment and swing weight adjustment, re-gripped it with my preferred Golf Pride MCC Plus4 grips and it is now ready for prime time. It’s very new and I’ve only played 18 holes with it so far, but the results have been impressive and I’ve already hit some tee shots with it to places I’ve never seen before. I can’t wait to try it out on the launch monitor.

Hybrids/Long Irons – Srixon Z H45 & U45

I got my Srixon Z H45 hybrid and Z U45 utility irons back in 2015 and from the first ball I knew I had something special in my hands. Even though it is marked with a number two, the Z H45 hybrid has 16 degrees of loft which makes it more of a one iron. As a result, it hits low, piercing bullets which makes it great for use off the tee, but not very versatile for approach shots. Depending on the course, this club may be swapped for a 50 degree gap wedge. It is fitted with an amazingly consistent Aerotech hls880 hybrid shaft.

I have two Srixon Z U45 long irons in the bag – The 20º and 23º models, which are my three iron and four iron. I absolutely love hitting these clubs. Forget about traditional long irons, these utilities are amazingly easy to hit while being more versatile and just as forgiving as a hybrid. My only regret is not replacing my old long irons with utilities like these much sooner.

Irons – Srixon Z745 (5-PW)

My irons are the 2015 model year Srixon Z745 cavity back forged irons. They replaced my Cleveland CG16 Tour Concept irons from 2010. The Srixon irons have a little less offset than the Cleveland irons which took a wee bit of adjustment for me, but I adapted to the new clubs quickly. I’ve been playing Aerotech Steelfiber shafts in my irons for over 5 years and I saw no reason to change with these clubs. I fitted them with the Steelfiber i110 constant weight shafts. There’s nothing like the feel you get from a forged iron with a graphite shaft, and with Aerotech you get that awesome graphite feel with the consistency and control of steel. I keep saying it over and over, but Aerotech really does make the best shafts in golf.

Wedges – Hopkins CJ1 (54 & 60)

When Greg Hopkins left Cleveland Golf in 2012, took one of Cleveland’s lead designers with him and formed Hopkins Golf, I became an instant fan. What Hopkins was doing essentially was selling a Cleveland look-alike wedge cast from soft 8620 steel direct to the customer that you could customize with various grind options and plenty of paint fill and stamping choices. I got a raw lob wedge with the channel grind and fell in love instantly. Sadly, Hopkins Golf seems to have shut down operations since mid 2016, so I took to the interwebs to find some and discovered a website that had the discontinued wedges I wanted in stock, so I ordered two for $60 each.

The other change I made in my wedges was going to a softer shaft. After consulting with my club fitter, we decided it would be best for me to switch from a Dynamic Gold X100 to the softer S400 that is so popular on tour. After a half-dozen rounds with the new wedges I’m glad I did and a little peeved that I didn’t so it years ago. At least now I have a three-wedge setup that works well for most situations. I still swap the 2 hybrid or 3 iron out for a SCOR 50º gap wedge on occasion if the course demands it, and will be replacing the SCOR 50º with a Hopkins 50º soon for a matching set.

Putter – Scotty Cameron Select Newport 2 Notchback Dual Balance

The most important club in my bag is the putter. It is also the club I struggle with the most, and as a result it becomes the club that changes most often. I have a bad habit of changing putters whenever I have a bad day on the greens, and these frequent putter changes only compound the problem by hurting consistency. I suppose that’s one of the drawbacks of being a golf blogger and having a couple dozen putters in the garage, all fighting for my attention.

When I really think about it, I’m being unnecessarily hard on myself because my putting statistics are very good compared to other players of my ability, but that’s the point – I’m trying to improve, not be average. Using a tool like GAME GOLF has shown me that I need to make more putts in the 5-15 foot scoring range. I think just sticking with one putter will help, so that’s my goal.

GAME GOLF Putting Stats

The putter I’ll be sticking with is a good one, even if the name is way too long and complicated – In my bag is the Scotty Cameron Select Newport 2 Notchback Dual Balance. It is like the standard Newport 2 Notchback but measures 38 inches long, has a 50 gram back-weight in the handle and features a larger head with an additional 50 grams of weight – hence the name Dual Balance. The idea with all the extra weight is to help slow down your stroke and eliminate the small muscles that tend to sabotage putting strokes. I love the heft and balance of this putter and if it’s a Scotty you know it rolls the ball well. My only gripe with Scotty Cameron is that they tend to have more loft (3.5º) than I like in a putter.

The Golf Ball

Last but certainly not least, since our last WITB post I have a new golf ball. In 2000 Titleist introduced the legendary Pro V1 golf ball and killed my beloved Titleist Tour Prestige and Tour Professional, effectively ending the wound golf ball era. In the coming years I struggled mightily adjusting to the new solid core golf balls. Eventually I found the Srixon Z-UR balls in 2005 and most recently played with the Srixon Z-Star & Z-Star XV until early 2016.

In early 2016 at the PGA Show in Orlando I met with the folks from Bridgestone to talk about their new B330 line and came away impressed. After a few rounds of testing the new B330, I switched. I ordered a case of the B330 balls with my logo, and an additional ten dozen without a logo so I’m set with enough golf balls to last me several years. The B33o is very similar to the Z-Star XV I used to play, but spins a bit more around the greens and flies a bit straighter in the wind. It’s very durable for a “tour” ball and I’ve been very happy with it so far.

June 13, 2017
Cure Putters 2016 Lineup

Cure Putters was born in 2013 in Flagler Beach, Florida – Just up the road from where I live. The concept was simple. Make a putter that has high MOI, is adjustable for weight, lie angle and also has interchangeable shafts. Once designers Steve Davis and Jeff Ryan showed their putter to former PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman, he liked it so much he wanted to be a part of the company. Since their official introduction at the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando the response has been overwhelming.

If professional tour usage is a measure of success for a club, the Cure Putter is doing very well indeed. Since its introduction a few years ago Cure Putters have gained a strong following on the PGA Tour Champions, LPGA Tour and PGA Tour.

Whats the Deal with MOI?

MOI stands for Moment of Inertia. MOI is a term used in physics to describe an object’s resistance to twisting. In this case the object in question is a putter. The higher the MOI, the less the putter will twist on off-center hits. Simply speaking, the higher the MOI, the more stable and forgiving a club will be. With putters that means a poorly struck putt will stay on line better with a high MOI putter.

Most blade style putters like the Ping Anser and Scotty Cameron Newport have an MOI of around 4000. One of the most popular high MOI putters on the market, the Taylor Made Daddy Long Legs mallet, has an MOI rating of about 8000. By comparison, the 2016 Cure RX5 has an MOI that can be adjusted (via interchangeable weights) from 8500 up to 18,000! Cure is the highest MOI putter on the market, and it’s not even close.

Cure Putter Goes in the Bag

Last summer I got the 2015 RX3f model putter and it rolled the ball so well that I put it in play just a few weeks before the WAGT National Championship in Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania. Despite not making as many putts as I wanted, I rolled the ball beautifully all week. In fact, one of my competitors I played with on all 4 days of the tournament remarked after the final round that most putts I rolled that week had perfect speed and most of them had a chance to go in. That was my “A-HA!” moment with the Cure Putter. As a player all you can really ask for is for your putts that don’t go in to finish close to the hole, and it’s exactly what Cure is promising – More consistent speed and line on all your putts, even if it doesn’t go in. That’s what high MOI will do for your putting.

Low Loft, High CG

Most putters come standard with 3 or 4 degrees of loft these days. Cure’s RX series have half that with 1.5 degrees of loft. The reason it works is because Cure Putters have a high center of gravity (CG) and a deeper face than traditional putters. The deep face and high CG combine to impact the ball closer to the equator which eliminates backspin and produces a more consistent roll.

2016 RX Series

For 2016 the RX Series get some updates. The shapes have been streamlined, three of the four models have a flange and the silver alignment disks that a few models had in 2015 are gone. The RX1 and RX2 models are also gone. The RX3 is a more compact size, with a face that is 5.25″ wide. The RX4 model is slightly bigger with a 5.5″ face, and the RX5 and flange-less RX6 model have a 6″ face for the greatest forgiveness and MOI. All models have adjustable weighting and a full adjustable hosel to custom fit the lie angle. Interchangeable shafts allow golfers to switch between straight and offset shafts. Every RX Series putter is adjustable for lie angle from 62 to 80 degrees (most upright allowed by the rules of golf) and has 1.5 degrees of loft.

RX3 – The adjustable weighting system may be the feature that sets the Cure Putters apart from the competition. The RX3 is adjustable from 332 grams up to 586 grams. At over 500 grams this putter can be a sledge hammer, but you can hit it anywhere on the face and still make putts. The RX3 is the smallest putter in the RX series.

RX4 – The RX4 is the middle child in the RX series. The 5.5″ face is a little bigger than the RX3 but still looks more compact compared to the RX5 and RX6. The RX4 is adjustable for weight between 349 grams and 603 grams for an MOI range of 6900 to 14600.

RX5 – The Cure RX5 is the biggest putter Cure makes with a flange. With a full 6″ wide face and adjustable weights from 361 grams to 615 grams with the extended weight kit, this putter is also the most resistant to twisting model Cure makes. At a weight of 615 grams, the MOI rating is 18000, which is the highest in golf.

RX6 – The Cure RX6 is similar to the other models in being adjustable for lie and weight, plus having the ability to change shafts. Unlike the other models however, the RX6 has zero degrees of loft, no flange and is available in 5 different colors.

2016 CX Series

Known as the Classic Series, the CX1 and CX2 putters from Cure have more traditional shapes while still offering high MOI and weight adjustability. The CX Series measure 5″ wide and have 2.5 degrees of loft. Weights range from 334 to 376 grams for the CX1 and 342 to 384 grams for the CX2. Both models have a spiral milled face and a 70° lie angle.

If the RX Series are too big or look too unconventional for you, but you still want high MOI with the design advantages of a Cure Putter, then the Classic Series may be the best option for you.

Availability & Pricing

Cure Putters are available at all major golf retailers and online directly from www.cureputters.com. Prices range from $229 for the RX6, $259 for the RX3,4 & 5 and $299 for the Classic Series putters.

April 5, 2016
Bridgestone True Balance Putters

Bridgestone Golf is one of the more conservative companies in golf. They seem to know what they are good at, and they stick with it. By and large they release solid products, but don’t make waves around the golf world. Their most recent irons came out a few years ago without much fanfare. The J40 Cavity Back and J40 Dual Pocket Cavity irons combine classic lines with modern cavity back technology to result in one of the best irons on the market, in my opinion. But Bridgestone is a golf ball company. That’s their sweet spot. The B330 and E series golf balls are some of the more popular in golf. I think the E6 is probably the best overall golf ball for “average Joe” golfers out there, and the new B330 is every bit as good as some of its competitors like the Titleist Pro V1 and Srixon Z-Star. When we showed up at the PGA Demo Day last January in Orlando, the last thing we expected from this quiet, conservative company is a radical new putter.

The Bridgestone True Balance putters are something unique, and an unexpected move for Bridgestone. With the current industry trend moving away from belly and long putters into a counter-balanced design, the Bridgestone True Balance putter goes in the other direction altogether, looking at the competition and saying “Talk to the hand!” Where many manufacturers are adding weight to the grip end of putters to counter-balance them, Bridgestone took as much weight away from the grip and shaft as they could to come up with a very interesting flat stick.

They achieved the weight savings by using an extremely light 35 gram graphite shaft and using a grip made of 100% EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) which is a chemist’s fancy way of saying “waterproof foam”. The standard size grip weights only 10 grams and the oversize version goes up to 20 grams. Compared to a standard rubber grip that weighs about 80-85 grams and steel putter shafts that weight over 100 grams, this putter has lost a lot of weight. Mated with a putter head that is 360 grams, the extremely head-heavy design leads to a balance point that is less than five inches from the sole.

With such a low balance point, the feel of the putter changes dramatically. You immediately get a better sense of the putter swinging like a pendulum as you stroke a putt. A grooved insert provides better feel and a true roll off the face, and the ball pops off the face with a solid clicking sound. This is a stainless steel putter, so the fell will be firmer than more expensive carbon steel putters, but the insert does a good job at dampening impact and the important thing here is that the ball comes off the face consistently and predictably every time. The other nice thing about this putter is because all the weight is at the bottom of the swing arc, it seems to want to square itself up at impact with greater ease than a standard putter.

My testing model was the TD-03 model, which is the classic heel-toe cavity back model. The putter resembles the classic Ping Anser and Scotty Cameron Newport designs that have become the standard for modern putters. The TD-01 model is a half-mallet design with a long neck to achieve a face-balanced putter. As mentioned above, there are two sizes of grip available. The standard grip is a 3cm x 2cm taper, and the oversize grip is 4cm x 3cm taper design. My tester had the oversize grip, but I prefer the standard size personally. Standard length is 34 inches, but it can be ordered anywhere from 32 to 36 inches online. Street price is $199.

I own a lot of putters, but very few have earned a regular spot in my bag. Many end up collecting dust in the garage, and some are given away to friends in need. I like this putter a lot, but there are a few things that can be improved upon to make this putter worthy of a spot in my bag on a regular basis. First is the price. I can understand someone paying $300+ for a limited run carbon steel putter from a boutique manufacturer like Bettinardi, Bobby Grace or Piretti, but $199 for a mass-produced stainless steel putter from a large company is a hard sell in my opinion. I predict we’ll see this putter do best in the $139-$159 range, but we’ll see.

The second minor complaint I have with the Bridgestone True Balance putters is the grip. While it certainly is very light, it isn’t very tacky. The oversize grip especially could be a little tougher to hold secure in smaller hands. I could see people using a tennis wrap over the EVA grip for a tackier feel without adding too much weight. You don’t want to regrip this putter with a rubber grip, as this would defeat the purpose. Even a tennis overwrap would dramatically alter the balance point, so beware. I think for most hands the standard size grip is much better.

Overall, the Bridgestone True Balance putter is a winner. Fitted with a standard size grip and a slightly longer 34.5” length, this putter will certainly find a spot in my putter rotation. I’m that guy that likes to tinker with clubs (especially putters), so it’s not uncommon for my regular playing partners to ask, “So, what putter are you using today?” I have two or three putters that I rotate into play, based on course conditions and (more importantly) my mental condition. The Bridgestone True Balance putter has now further complicated my decision…

June 5, 2014
McIlroy Brings Out Different Scotty Cameron Putter To Win US Open

By Jennifer Gardner – TheTourVan.com

U.S. Open winner Rory McIlroy put a little-used Scotty Cameron putter in his bag for the week at Congressional Country Club. The putter, a Newport GSS model, is a prototype that McIlroy first received at the 2010 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He’s carried it to tournaments before and even used it in European events, but the U.S. Open was the first occasion for him to use it in the States.

McIlroy put the putter in play after working with putting coach Dave Stockton and determining that he needed a putter with a slightly different toe to better accommodate his putting stroke. While McIlroy, a Titleist staff player, has used Scotty Cameron putters in the past, this one is a different style and features a chromatic bronze finish.

In addition to the flat stick itself, McIlroy said he worked with Stockton on putting technique.

“If I have any sort of technical thing in my thought, in my stroke, it would just be to keep the back of my left hand going towards the target, and that’s all we really worked on,” McIlroy said.

The 22-year-old averaged 29.75 putts per round to win his first major.

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June 23, 2011
Scotty Cameron California Series Putters

Scotty Cameron’s putters have been a prized addition to tour players’ bags for years, and his putters are credited with many tournament wins and major championships. Tiger woods has used the same Scotty Cameron putter for most of his major tournament wins. If you spend a few minutes searching on eBay for Scotty Cameron, you’ll find an amazing variety of putters, headcovers and other items from $10 all the way up to over $1000 for some of the more unique hand made putters. There is an entire market dedicated to Scotty Cameron putters, and tapping into the huge buyer base is easy if you have a hot putter and an eBay account. I sold my one of a kind, handmade Scotty with a welded neck that was built in 1997 for PGA Tour player Grant Waite for a number that still blows my mind today.

Scotty’s fans are able to stay up to speed from his website and various other internet clubs that keep track of what’s going on at the putter studio. His latest designs are taken from some older classic designs and were given a refresh and a new finish that Scotty calls Honey Dipped, which gives the putter a soft gold color. There are 4 new models – the Coronado, the Del Mar, the Monterey and Sonoma. Have a look at the video below, and you’ll realize that even though these putters look simple and very much like the older models, a lot of subtle changes have gone into them to produce the new California Series. I can’t wait to try them out! Enjoy the video.

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Video courtesy of Golf.com

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October 5, 2009